This thread is meant to be informative and factual. No bias, no slander. If you must bring up the whole controversy, I'll kindly ask a mod to remove your post.
On Monday, July 4th, I made the trip to Wintergreen with Scott (Birdwang) and Matthew, whose bike handling skills make me sick. It took about an hour and a half total from Richmond to the top of the mountain. When you get there, you have to check in with the Out Of Bounds tent. There is a really nice building up there that one would think you should go into, but its not where you register. You register at the little tent by the bungee trampolines. It is $35 for a lift pass and shuttle pass for the day. For an extra fee (I don't know how much) you can rent a Kona Stinky. The shuttle is only good for loggers alley, which we did not get to ride on Monday. You can stay parked at the Out of Bounds Tent, or you can drive to the top of the lift and park there.
When we got there it had started raining. We met a few people up there, including coob0220 who is a really cool guy and doing a lot of good for us as riders at Wintergreen.
The trails are in GREAT condition. All of the old trails are still there, and are a few new additions and a lot of work being done mostly by coob. The trail map, as usual, sucks. It shows what trails are there, but it is not a good way to find where the trails begin. All of the trails are marked with numbers, and skill levels. Many of the trails intertwine, but are well marked of which way to go for your skill level.
We did not ride all of the trails on Monday, but we rode a good portion of them. They were all well groomed, no brush hanging in your face or anything like that. A lot of the trails dump you onto the ski slope, and one of the negative things I have to say is that there are still ditches dug through the bottom of the ski slope. Many of you may remember what happened to Scott on those ditches
They have marked the ditches and built bridges over them, but you don't find that out until you get to the bottom.All of the trails (except Loggers Alley) end very close to the lift. The lift is slow, like all lifts, and does not only cater to MTBers. There are a few tourists that ride them to see the pretty sights, or somthing like that. the lift will occasionally stop to accomodate them and let them on and off. Nothing thats really a big deal.
Now for a report on what a lot of you are interested in, Mecca. The stunt trail is still there, and most of the stunts are in good condition. There are some pretty sketchy lines there, and while we were up there, we were talking to coob about how to improve some of the stuff. Mecca is the only place we sessioned, and therefore is the only place I have pictures of, except the new road gap that we built while we were up there. All in all, I would rate Wintergreen very high. The day was very fun, and its not too far of a drive from Richmond. I am definantly going back.
Here are some pictures:
Check out this bicycle friendly affordable lodging nearby: