Wisp
Wisp Resort is a premier ski and snowboard destination located in McHenry, Maryland. Nestled in the picturesque mountains of Garrett County, Wisp Resort offers a variety of winter sports activities for all skill levels. Wisp Resort is the perfect place for skiers and snowboarders to hit the slopes when in the vacation town of Deep Creek. In addition to downhill skiing and snowboarding, Wisp Resort also offers cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, ice skating, and snowtubing. With a variety of lodging options and on-site dining, Wisp Resort is the perfect place to spend a winter getaway with friends and family.
The ski season at Wisp Resort typically runs from mid-December to late March, depending on weather conditions. Wisp Resort is known for its state-of-the-art snowmaking system, which allows the resort to maintain a consistent base of snow throughout the ski season.
Season Passes
Wisp is not a part of any nationwide lift ticket system. Passes such as Epic, IKON, or Mountain Collective allow pass holders to ski at multiple mountians with a single purchase. Unfortunately, none of those passes work with Wisp Ski Resort. To purchase season passes, you'll need to visit Wisp's website.
Lodging Options
There are numerous options to stay at Wisp around the resort. Check out the available options with the form below.
Wisp Mountain Resort Terrain Overview
Wisp has a total of 33 ski trails, which are serviced by 14 ski lifts, gondolas and/or trams. Wisp is considered a smaller than average ski area, with only a maximum of 172 acres available to ski. This area is equivalent to 70 hectares, 0.3 square miles, or 0.7 square kilometers.
Wisp's slopes see on average 100 inches (2.5 meters) of snowfall a year.
Total Runs
33
Lifts
14
Skiable Acres
172(1 km2)
Annual Snowfall
100"(254 cm)
Wisp Ski Resort Elevation
Wisp Ski Resort has a summit elevation of 3,115 feet, or 949 meters. However, not all of that elevation is able to be skied. The base of the ski slope sits at 2,415 feet above sea level, creating a ski hill that is 700 feet (213 meters) high. This is referred to as the slope's vertical drop - or a measure of how high the skiable hill is.
Wisp's summit elevation is about average. There are a lot of ski slopes that are quite a bit higher, but also many that are much, much smaller.
Summit Elevation
3,115'(949 m)
Vertical Drop
700'(213 m)
Base Elevation
2,415'(736 m)
Wisp Ski Resort Difficulty Level
Difficulty Score™
39.2out of 100
DID YOU KNOW?
At Parks & Trips, we've created a proprietary Difficulty Score that attempts to show how difficult a particular ski slope is. We get to this number by combining a number of metrics for each resort and comparing them to its peers. Most of the score is based off the amount of easy-intermediate-expert slopes by acreage and the maximum vertical drop of the overall resort, but also includes a few lesser-used metrics as well.
Our algorithm compares each resort’s metrics with all others in North America, then assigns each a Difficulty Score, which we use to rank them accordingly. Resorts with a lower score are easier to ski than those with a higher one. However, a high score does not mean that the resort does not have any easy slopes, or vice versa. This is just an overall score given to the resort based on all its metrics grouped together.
Skiable Terrain by Difficulty Level
Wisp has 172 total skiable acres, which can be broken down into the three main groups of difficulty: Beginner, Intermediate, and Expert.
Wisp is a beginner-friendly ski area, with about 27% of its trails as easy. However, it also has a fair share of more difficult runs - which account for the remaining 73%.
Beginner
27%(46 acres)
Beginner trails (identified by a green circle) are the easiest trails on the hill with a gradual 25% or less gradient, and are usually wide to accommodate beginner skiers.
Intermediate
42%(72 acres)
Intermediate trails (identified by a blue square) are usually the most popular and crowded runs, which have a slope of anywhere between 25-40%.
Expert
31%(53 acres)
Expert trails (identified by a black diamond... or two) are the hardest slopes on the mountain, and have very steep gradients over 40%.
Is Wisp Ski Resort good for beginners?
Wisp can be beginner-friendly, depending on the runs you take. While it ranks in the lower half of all North American ski areas in terms of overall difficulty, it still has 73% of its trails rated at or above intermediate.
Wisp Ski Resort Location
Wisp Ski Resort is located in the state of Maryland, USA. This ski area is nearest the town of McHenry, MD.
Address:
McHenry, MD 21541 USA
View on Google Maps
Website:
wispresort.com
GPS Coordinates:
39.14000, -76.70000
Getting to Wisp Mountain Resort
By Car: If you are driving, you would set your GPS to either the ski resort's name (Wisp Ski Resort), its coordinates of 39.14000, -76.70000 (latitude, longitude), or simply drive towards the town of McHenry, MD to get close.
By Air: If you are coming in from across the country, then you may need to board an airplane to get here.
A large airport has scheduled major airline service with millions of passengers per year. This type of airport always accepts international flights. Here are the closest large airport(s) to Wisp Ski Resort.
| Name | Code | City | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baltimore/Washington International Airport | BWI | Baltimore, MD | 3 mi |
| Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport | DCA | Washington, DC | 27 mi |
| Washington Dulles International Airport | IAD | Washington, DC | 43 mi |
A medium-sized airport has scheduled regional airline service. This type of airport may or may not accept international flights. Here are the closest medium-sized airport(s) to Wisp.
| Name | Code | City | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| New Castle Airport | ILG | Wilmington, DE | 69 mi |
| Lancaster Airport | LNS | Lancaster, PA | 71 mi |
| Harrisburg International Airport | MDT | Harrisburg, PA | 73 mi |
There may also be much smaller regional airports next to Wisp Ski Resort, but we didn't list them here due to the fact that no major airlines go through them.
Other Nearby Ski Resorts
Skiers will - especially if coming from far away - try and visit a couple different slopes all in the same trip. Here are the closest other ski slopes within 100 miles of Wisp Ski Resort.
| Name | Location | Summit | Difficulty Score™ | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liberty Mountain | Fairfield, PA | 1,190 ft | 36% | 56 mi |
| Eagle Rock | Fayetteville, PA | 1,810 ft | 28% | 65 mi |
| Alpine Mountain | Wellsville, PA | 1,150 ft | 39% | 66 mi |
| Blue Mountain | Newburg, PA | 1,600 ft | 45% | 87 mi |
Wisp Ski Resort Mountain Stats
| Name | Statistic |
|---|---|
| Summit Elevation | 3,115 ft |
| Base Elevation | 2,415 ft |
| Vertical Drop | 700 ft |
| Trails | 33 (27% Beginner, 42% Intermediate, 31% Expert) |
| Lifts | 14 |
| Skiable Acres | 172 |
| Avg. Annual Snowfall | 100 inches |