Skiing in Eastern PA??

yeah, contact Philpug he'd love to shred up Blue with you.

Welcome guitar73.  I'm a PA skier but from across the state. I've skied both Blue and Elk over the years but not recently. Finndog is pulling your leg. Philpug is from the Philly area but he has since "retired" to Tahoe. Phil had a special thing for Blue.

If you get some responses from Eastern PA folks here (and I know there are a few because they came to our Blue Knob Gatherings in the recent past) perhaps you might want to start a social group here on Epic to facilitate get togethers. Just click the link for instruction on how to.

I'm a Blue regular.  I'll be there 30-35 times this season.  Love Elk, only get there once a season though.

those meds and shock therapy did the trick.... I do still notice a slight tremor and facial tick but OTW, you are doing pretty well.....

Quote:

Originally Posted by Philpug 

Weeks of therapy along with the dry Tahoe air and ski conditions has cleared that up. 
 

 

I have a pass at Elk and am there most weekends if I don't have a race and try to get there as often as I can mid week but I live in Philly so not too often. I also hit Bear Creek one or 2 nights a week for Nastar.

It's too bad you live in PA, as it's been well documented the snow there only comes in ice form and there are no powder days, ever. 

We leave near DC and frequently ski Roundtop & Liberty in southern PA because they are the closest. Discovered Seven Springs (western PA) last year. Never tried Blue Mountain or Elk, but will probably get there eventually.

I ski Jack Frost and Big Boulder.  Good snow making, modest selection of trails but no real lift lines.  Elk is the best by far, but farther north.  Blue is farther south (below Rt. 80) with a diverse set of trails and a plentifull supply of ice.  Blue also has nice lifts, but also has long lines some times which are a drag.  Camelback gets crowded, but has some nice trails.  A good supply of hungover 20 somthings too.     

Quote:

Originally Posted by guitar73 

 

thanks!  i noticed there is already a social group for the Poconos....although there's only one member on it.   hmm....  i find it strange that there aren't more gatherings in Eastern PA since there are waaay more areas on this side of the state....no insult intended, just my observation from reading this forum. i hear blue knob is a pretty descent place....i've been meaning to check it out one of these years....but it's hard to justify driving 3 1/2 hrs and not go to windham or hunter, ya know?? 
 

 

 

sweet.  we got to blue at least 4 (hoping for more this year) times last year...usually on sunday or saturday evenings when the crowds are long gone.  i'm also thinking about taking their intro to bumps clinic b/c i've never been taught how to ski the bumps (or more like ice chunks here in the mid-atlantic ).... have you taken any lessons/ clinics @ blue?? are they any good??

 

It's pretty rare for me to stay at Blue past 11am on the weekends..  Get there before 8 and leave when the crowds arrive.  Some of the folks I ski with have taken the bump clinic, do it. It's a great time.  I've never taken any lessons there though.
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by guitar73 

cool; i've never been to bear creek but i keep on hearing good things about it...and it's a little closer to my house as well.  we're out in the western suburbs of the philly.

 

Skip Bear and take the extra 30 minutes to drive to Blue.  I can't see making more then 2, maybe 3 turns per run at BC.
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by handhdad 

I ski Jack Frost and Big Boulder.  Good snow making, modest selection of trails but no real lift lines.  Elk is the best by far, but farther north.  Blue is farther south (below Rt. 80) with a diverse set of trails and a plentifull supply of ice.  Blue also has nice lifts, but also has long lines some times which are a drag.  Camelback gets crowded, but has some nice trails.  A good supply of hungover 20 somthings too.     

 

 

Blue's grooming used to be so much better.  It can't be the equipment, I think there's something wrong with their grooming technique.  I really miss the 4pm groomings.  I hardly ever wait more then 10 minutes in line at Blue.

guitar72

Welcome to Epic Ski, official home of the “no love for Blue crew” chaired by Philpug. What Phil will not tell you, is that before he became a Tahoe skiing Bon Vivant, he spent his misplaced youth on the slopes of Camelback and has forgotten his skiing roots. Spoiled as he was by excellent C’back conditions, Blue is just the pits and no self-respecting skier ever went there. Finndog chairs the" N.J. no love crew", but, he's never there, other than to fly over during his trips to Steamboat, where snow comes mostly from heaven (secretly, I'm green with envy).

I have a Blue season pass, ski there 2 days midweek and sometimes very early on weekends. In the Blue defense, it has 1000 vert ft. and 2 high speed quads (plus 3 of the slowest double’s ever made) serving a mimimal amount of terrain. Opens at 8:30, closes at 10 pm, and gets skied heavily 7 days a week. It’s located at the southern edge of eastern skiing, therefore subject to rain and thaws. Tough place to make snow as it comes out wet, then it gets groomed into some awesome death cookies. A few seasons ago, UP Racer visited from Michagan and his review stated it was the only time in his life where he skied and saw absolutely no snow other than the machine made stuff on the trails.

Still, it’s a great place to ski for those in the Philly area, roughly a 90 minute drive. I always meet people from much further south as it’s the first of the larger hills heading north. Midweek, it’s very easy to get 20 runs before lunch, and, no matter what is generally said about snow conditions, the mountain usually skis pretty good until after lunch, but, one does have to be content to ski only a handful of trails. Ride the lifts and the conversation among those that ski there is very positive (assuming non-peak periods which should be avoided at all cost). There would be a big hole in Pa. skiing if Blue was not in business.

I’ll be glad to make some turns. Typically, Blue opens with limited skiing in mid-December. Personally, I can’t wait.

Quote:

Originally Posted by guitar73 

@RootDKJ.... that's good to hear blue's bump clinic is worth while.  it's really unfortunate that around here they only let bumps develop on the "expert" runs. it would sure make it easier to learn to enjoy bumps if people learned them earlier on less difficult (i.e. lesser pitches) runs, ya know?

The traditional bump area at Blue, known as Barney's Bumps, is on Mainstreet which is a blue trail. The pitch is fine for learning bumps, but as bumps are not groomed regularly, they are typically very hard snow/ice. For the past 2 years, Blue let bumps grow on Challenge, one of the blacks. I never thought this to be a good idea as it took 50% of the terrain on one of the two black trails making the other half narrow, icy and risky due to high skier density. Bump quality, again, is not good unless snow is soft. Following a refreeze, I would not go there for love or money.

Quote:

Originally Posted by guitar73 

@RootDKJ.... that's good to hear blue's bump clinic is worth while.  it's really unfortunate that around here they only let bumps develop on the "expert" runs. it would sure make it easier to learn to enjoy bumps if people learned them earlier on less difficult (i.e. lesser pitches) runs, ya know?  typically we're on the mountain @ 5pm and then ski til closing.  it would be great to get there for first tracks, but my wife, God bless her,  isn't a morning person.....

Both Roundtop and Camelback allow bumps to form on intermediate trails.  Last year, they were some of the most fun runs at either place. 

I agree with Phil about JF...the SLOWEST lifts ever.  Last year, I spent all day freezing b/c I froze on the way up and the run isn't long enough to get warm going down...I'd arrive at the bottom still cold and just got colder going up...I got colder and colder every run until I finally called it a day. 

Blue, C-Back, and Roundtop might not be the greatest...or even the middle-est...but, I go to all three and never fail to have fun...well, except last year when C-back decided that 2 lifts on on Saturday was enough and the wait was 45min...that pretty much stunk!

-Smarty

I think it was the lower part of Lower Cleopatra. 

The odd part was that there were a lot of beginners/low intermiediates that were crashing (and some getting injured) on over-crowded blacks, but almost no one was using the intermediate bumps...which were very nice.

-Smarty 

No, it was Big Poc.  The intersection of Big Poc with Cleo for many years, until it was divided (if I recall correctly) by a fence was called Hell's Half Acre by ski patrol because of all the collisions.  The lower part of Cleo was pretty darn flat as it separated from Suicide Alley...er...Honeymoon Lane, so I can't remember bumps ever developing there.  Dromedary, off Bog Poc, used to occasionally get bumps.  But since pretty much every trail on the hill was groomed every night, most bumps at CB were the kind of crap you get after 10,000 people have hit a trail, icy as all hell.  I notice they've upgraded Pharoah since I was there from blue to black.  Maybe you are remembering Pharoah?

27 year CB veteran before getting some sense. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by guitar73 

 

actually, main street/barney's bumps is a diamond...at least it always has been since i've been skiing at blue (did it used to be a blue square??).  for an intermediate skier learning bumps, that pitch is quite a bit.  places like windham mt have at least one blue square trial that has some bumps. 

 

long ago i've come to the conclusion that there are no such things as soft bumps in PA  :(

 

Yeah, but it skis more like a Blue/Intermediate trail. Also, the "gladed" area to the skiers right off Tut's into Crazy Mile is some can develop some nice intermediate natural-like bumps.
 

 as the air-apparent chair of the I hate blue committee, I concur with our past president. It's a shame too, the mountain has such potential. The "snow-making" is horrible, its more like a icey granular that is blown and not whaled, so it maintains a high moisture content and clumps up- aka, death cookies.  There is much terrian there that could be opened and designed with mininal thought to traffic patterns an fun factor. It's a shame

Quote:

Originally Posted by Philpug 

I have been mislabeled. I don't hate PA skiing..just Blue. I would sooner travel the extra miles (but the same time difference) to Jack Frost, while they have the other slowest doubles on earth to teh ones that LP referred to from Blue, they have significantly better snow quality. I stand by my statement that "no one turns snow into ice as fast as Blue Mtn." Elk is a great choice or if you can head west, Blue KNOB.

Quote:

Originally Posted by guitar73 

 

until they flatten them at the end of each day ......

They don't groom the gladed areas.  The trees keep clogging the tiller.