I had season passes at hv for the past 6 or 7 seasons and I have been riding there for around ten years. The resort has improved greatly in most aspects, especially with the purchase of the new snow makers, but for it to be voted the best park in the region is a joke. I bet management at hv had employees leave good reviews on this site. Anyone who did give the park a rating higher than 2 either works for hv or doesn't ride park and didn't accurately rate this resort. Seven Springs is 20 minutes from hv and Wisp is an hour away. Those are two resorts that had much better parks than hv. The big reason is that they actually try to make a good park and pay to do so. They allow the park crew to build good hits and they paid them to maintain it everyday. HV had employees who didn't ride park or know what they were doing maintain the park midweek. HV's park supervisor had one year experience at a resort in new york and wasn't given much leeway because of an incompetent person in upper management.

The terrain park award hv received is a joke.

Other than that, hv is a good resort. The new snow makers put out large quantities of good snow. It's man made snow so it's slow but it doesn't ice up. Either management or snow making couldn't seem to figure out when it was a good time to turn the snow guns on. Often there would be good conditions all day and they would then turn the guns on late afternoon, which would ruin the night skiing. It often occurred when 5 week groups were there and that was bad for them and the rest of the customers. Buncher's purchasing of new groomers was also nice. They groomed most slopes every night and they did a good job most of the time.

If you like a resort that isn't crowded and has a laid back atmosphere then give hv a try but don't expect a very good set up for the park

Money does make a difference. The facilities are upgraded and when they say they'll be open, they are (in the old days, if the lifties got bored or the crowd was small, they just called the whole thing off). Where, other than the Yellowstone Club, can you have lift served skiing with just a handful of people? The restrooms are even clean and neat. NEVER (even on Sunday) have to stand in line and the lifts are wonderful. (But what's with that superfluous Italian moving rug on the North Summit? Fixes a problem that doesn't exist.)

One word of caution, though - Hidden Valley has always kept a touch of "skiing the way it was" in the Golden Age of the 50s and 60s. It even kept a bit of the true hippie spirit of the 70s ("Man, who am I to deny you some slope time just because you don't have a pass?") and the rules were always relaxed. It was all a big family - locals and city folk. Don't lose that.

On the other hand, the new guys need to learn where and when to make snow (NOT while you have to ski through it -it's like glue - at night) and some more about the finer points of grroming. They started out well and sort of fizzled. To keep the locals, they also need to stay open later in the evening, like neighboring 7 Springs. On second thought, everyone from Pgh. and D.C. should keep going to 7 Springs.

Still can't beat the good old Valley for skiing right in your own back yard.

Hidden Valley is a great place to bring the family. It's a place where you can let the kids ski with minimal supervision. The bar is not a major feature of the lodge, which contributes to the sobriety of the skiers and the general safety of skiing at Hidden Valley.

Highly recommended!

We love Hidden Valley. It feels very homey and the staff is very nice. I love the music they have piping outside. If you go you must try one of the gob cakes from the cafeteria..I have NEVER had such a good gob cake..homemade!

One of the main reasons we choose to go to Hidden Valley over anyother ski resort is the pricing. If you have kids over the age of 11 at just about all the other resorts you have to pay an adult price for them. At Hidden Valley ages 5-17 are considered juniors. That keeps us coming back.

Overall this is a great place to ride. It has improved a great deal in the past year and will continue to get even better. The only complaint that I have is lack of a terrain park. All of the jibs and snow are there but they will not put the features in. It is a major disappointment to see 10 rails and boxes lying on their side in the middle of the slope. If they want families to come back and enjoy the experience there needs to be terrain features so that the kids in the family will want to come back. The way I look at it is that if the kids do not want to come back, the family will not come back.