A steep wooded section on the back side of Seven Springs serves as a divider between two popular slopes -- Giant Boulder and North Face.

The intimidating terrain, thick with trees and underbrush, wasn't open for skiing or snowboarding. But there appeared to be tracks leading into it.

Dick Barron, the resort's director of ski and snowboard operations, spotted them while making his early morning rounds on skis last weekend.

"You never see anyone in there because it's very steep, but enough people had been in there to form some moguls," he said, referring to bumps in the snow created by skiers.

The evidence was clear and convincing -- bushwhackers.

Bushwhackers are skiers -- downhill and cross-country -- and snowboarders who have the skills to navigate challenging terrain that is out of bounds. If they encounter bushes or low-hanging branches, they use their poles or arms to move or "whack" the bushes out of their way.

Their goal is to find -- and carve the first set of turns in -- pristine powder snow, the deeper the better.

Although there's usually not enough snow to cover all the usual hazards encountered in the woods -- fallen trees and branches, underbrush and rocks -- there's plenty of snow this winter, especially in the Laurel Highlands.

"We've had more than 15 feet of snow since Nov. 28," Mr. Barron said. "And we'll get more in March."

Resorts don't approve of customers who bushwhack and enforce it by pulling their lift tickets if they catch them. But the resorts sometimes follow the bushwhackers' lead by opening previously closed terrain, naming it and adding it to their trail maps.

That's how the Alpine, North Face and Turtleclaw glades evolved at Seven Springs. The resort removed all the underbrush to make it easier for customers to maneuver around the trees.

Mr. Barron, now in his 40th year at the resort, recalled the bushwhacking of Sam Grabiak of New Alexandria, who skied the back side of Seven Springs long before it was opened as the North Face.

"It was near what is now our [recreational race course]," he said. "Sam and his friends called it 'Suicide Hill.' They'd ski down and walk up."

But bushwhacking isn't limited to terrain bordering ski slopes. Mr. Barron said two bushwhackers recently were seen skiing a 30-foot-wide sewer line right of way about a half mile from the ski slopes.

Ed Miller, ski school director at Blue Knob from 1986 to 1999, recalled bushwhackers "back in the day" who poached a piece of wooded terrain they called the "D" trail.

"If the terrain looked open enough, they'd go for it," he said.

"Clearing out the woods with equipment or by hand during the off-season was kind of a tradition up there," he said. "Cross-country skiers also had a tradition when there was a full moon -- a trip through the woods complete with a bonfire."

Mr. Miller, now a ski instructor at Seven Springs, said bushwhackers often like to extend the snow sports season by skiing and snowboarding at resorts that have closed for the season. Since the chair lifts no longer are running, they use alternate forms of transportation to get back up the still snow-covered mountain.

Pickup trucks are a favorite.

"They call it 'truck skiing,' even if they don't always use trucks," he said. "Three or four of them get together, decide which run they'll take to the bottom of Blue Knob and tell the driver where to pick them up. The driver usually is a local boy who knows all the back roads."

Blue Knob, a former Air Force radar site that sits on the border of Bedford and Blair counties, is an "upside-down" area because its lodge, restaurant and other buildings are on the top of the mountain instead of the bottom.

Mr. Barron and Mr. Miller said bushwhackers should always wear a helmet, have at least one partner, and carry a fully charged cell phone and first-aid kit. They also should let someone know where they're going and what time they expect to return.

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