Wisp Resort
Wisp Mountain Resort in Eastern Maryland is in the excellent Deep Creek recreational area that is busy all year long with vacationers playing on the lake, trails, and golf courses even when it isn’t ski season. It’s a great mountain for beginners and Orange Triangle skiers because you are surrounded by similar level of skiers. Orange Triangles was there in Mod January which can be early on the East Coast of the U.S. if there hasn’t been much snow, so some trails were no open.
Muskrat – This blue is a great way to get to Boulder from the top. We believe it’s a blue and not a green because its comes down through the lift (watch the poles) and it isn’t groomed as well as other trails on the mountain. It’s a consistent downslope in the middle of the mountain with no turns.
Grouse Way – The hardest part of this trail is right at the beginning with a slope that is a little narrow and has a turn surrounded by trees. However the trail is very flat right after the slope and basically up until it ends at Boulder so you can point your tips downhill and take the right turn to scrub off just a little speed as you navigate the turn. It is fun to be in the tree for a bit on the east coast.
Boulder – This trail will have some fast skiers ripping down to the bottom of Lift #1 and there is one tricky section where those skiers have made some mogul-esque areas (lumps of packed powder) which as with any east coast trail has icy areas in between. But the area with thes tricky spots is wide and the slope down and to the left is wide enough and with diverse grade (steepness) that you can find a comfortable line for yourself. The bottom, before it opens back up, gets a little narrow but is easy to navigate. Use your turns on the wide, steeper bottom as you make it down to Lift #1.
Road Runner and Bear Paw – These aren’t two connecting trails, but they are both short and next to one another. They share the same trait that got their blue designation: One steep section. But they are both groomed and wide. Road Runner is just slightly steeper than Bear Paw but there is plenty of room to make turns and the slope finished out where Wisp-Trail comes in so there are many angles to take if there are traffic or to find the grade you want to feel safe. Bear Paw is actually only as steep as the final slope at the end of Wisp-Trail which is a green!