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Grabbed the 915 bus with cloudy skis. Up Silver Queen and down Paradise to the Paradise lift. Lower Ruby is a ton of fun with root rollers. Lapped that again, back up paradise and went Peoria and Horseshoe Springs since the sun doesn’t want to peak out. Springs is still crunchy but the bumps are nice. Down to SQ and did and international run. Easy to go 0-60 in a hurry that whole run. On SQ now and can see a snow shower moving in from the west. @AtomicSkiermight join at some point

Nope, but he did offer me granola. I had my left over noodles. Snow showed up with @AtomicSkierand made visibility even worse. Currently having a burger and beer at Paradise.

So a lot of these areas are really small. In the 200-400 vertical feet range. They had a hard time being viable as the sport changed in the 80s and 90s and skiers were seeking longer runs and more challenging terrain. However, there are some areas that are exceptions. The oil crises in the 70s definitely sunk a lot of small ski areas and I think this is overlooked. However, occasionally you get a place that is just mismanaged. So mismanaged, in fact that the true story is almost hard to believe. Enter Ski Snowpeak, in Juniata County. A mountain that could have been PA's biggest if it hadn't suffered from some of the worst owners imaginable. Just imagine, for a minute, a ski area in PA with almost 1400 feet of vertical drop. On a mountain whose upper north facing slopes hold snow in the shade for weeks or even months after its gone in the valley below. With steep lines and old trails cut that rival some of the classics in New England. Yeah, Tuscarora Mountain in the vicinity of Thompsontown, PA has all of that. In the 1960s some enterprising ski enthusiasts bought up the lots on the north side of the mountain to assemble the land necessary to construct a ski area. The project would have been massive for its time, not just in PA but in the NE in general, spanning 1400 vertical feet. By the early 70s trails and liftlines had been cut for Tusquenita Mountain. Some of the old logging tracks, and possibly what would have been the upper mountain trails are still discernible in the woods today, and would have made for some of the best skiing in the state had they seen action. Narrow, twisting and steeply pitched. Even after all the rain and abuse the snowpack has received the upper mountain was still covered in 12-18 inches of dense crusty but totally edgeable snowpack. The mountain top even sports a couple of slide-like fields of about 100 vertical feet. Totally filled in and pitched at around 30-40 degrees. In short, the terrain on this mountain could have been epic had the project ever found the right individuals to see it through. The Tusquenita folks ultimately did not have the money to finish the ski area, and the lift lines and trails filled in. Until 1988 and Ski Snowpeak was born. Now you need to be introduced to John Hall Jr. Son of the trucking magnate from Camp Hill outside Harrisburg. The Halls were known to be somewhat eccentric, but Jr's claim to fame was that he served time for wire fraud and stealing $4million in bonds from his father's company. At some point he decided he wanted to own a ski area and to that end he tried raising money for a planned development in Montana to be called Ski Yellowstone. It was later accused of by the owners of Ski Roundtop on behalf of Ski Yellowstone that Hall had illegally funneled money to himself from the project. He managed to raise $2.3 million from a bank in West Virginia, but to get more he needed either collateral, or a demonstration that he could operate a ski area, or both. This interest brings us back to Tuscarora Mountain and the land assembled for Tusquenita. Now called Ski Snowpeak the area was finally being opened, but Hall only raised funds to build out half the mountain. Snowmaking, a lodge and a fixed grip quad chair were installed in time for the 1988/89 ski season, but issues with snowmaking, warm weather and incorrect components delivered for the lift held off the opening to March. For pretty much its entire short life Ski Snowpeak operated a bit like a dumpster fire. Since the area was never fully invested in, it was only built out halfway up the mountain. This meant the most challenging upper mountain terrain was never opened. The Halls were never interested in the area aside from its usefulness to push through the Ski Yellowstone project. They cut corners where they could, and the experience on the mountain suffered for it. By the early 90s it was apparent the Montana project was going nowhere. Ski Snowpeak, never properly capitalized and losing money now had no reason to exist as the owners were not interested in the PA resort apart from its usefulness in propping up their Western development interests. And so after only four years in operation, Snowpeak closed in 1993. A year later the lodge burned down. There was talk of reopening the area through the 90s but none ever materialized. John Hall Jr, the rest of the Ski Yellowstone group and Ski Roundtop entered a period of litigation. The mountain remained vacant, and eventually the land was split up and sold off. Unfortunately the prospect of ever skiing here again is probably never going to happen, even on an uphill, backcountry basis, although the mountain could certainly support it. While the trails, even the upper mountain stretches are clear enough for experienced skiers, navigating permissions from the numerous landowners is another challenge. When I visited this Saturday you really feel what could have been. You can see why those earlier skiers were attracted to the place even 50 years ago. But for now it remains just an idea. Snowfield at the top of Tuscarora Mtn. This is full of boulders but was still well filled in, although pretty icy in places. There's at least 16-18 inches of snow still at this elevation depending on wind and exposure. The mountain catches and holds snow incredibly well. Aerial view of the mountain in the late 70s. You can still see the trails and summit liftline cut by the Tusquenita Mtn group. Tuscarora Mtn from Thomspontown. One wonders what the economic prospects for this town would have been had the ski area been properly realized. You can still make out the trails and old switchbacks from this vantage. Trails in the woods on the upper stretch of the mountain. This was never opened by Ski Snowpeak. The land is adjacent to the Tuscarora Wild preserve. The trails snake in and out of public/private land here. Just a note: I would not recommend trying to ski here. At least not alone and not without a good excuse ready for why you've appeared in somebody's back yard with all your ski gear. Getting in was incredibly difficult. It requires bushwhacking up 1400 vertical feet and hiking down the ridge several miles from the preserve. A GPS was a must. The Tuscarora wild preserve is public land but there are no marked trails right now. The trails from the Tusquenita Mtn era are mostly open, but they end on private property.

Headed up Paradise after lunch and visibility was gone. Was going to call It there but the bottom vis wasn’t too bad and gave it another chance on Silver Queen. Wasn’t as bad at the top and found a couple inches of fresh snow. Lapped Monument to International with some snow hitting above the boot. Caught the 245 back and a remix of Whitney Houston “I want to dance with somebody” is currently playing thanks to DJ @AtomicSkier.

~repetitive post~ Another fantastic bluebird day at JF/BB this morning. Took about 7 runs at JF then shot over to BB for another 10 or so runs. Big Boulders parks are about the same as they were last year with a fresh build on Freedom.

Yeah I can see from my online portal that you are cranking the fireplace right now. You bastard!

Hey All, I’m back from another fun morning at Blue mountain the true mountain. I arrived at the lower lot at 8:20am and it was in the low 20s under sunny sky’s. In the house were ZZSlope, Gary, Drew, C1er and Johnny Law. At the opening bell there was quite the lineup of people ready to shred. I was on first civilian chair with the darth Vader full face silver helmet guy. Challenge was super nice groomed cord..Razors was the same conditions on the top and fresh manmade lower down which was slow. Sidewinder was supee nice and yes a few mini root rollers, switchback was also real good one run on it had to be 20 other people on it..was manic AF. I skied sidewinder and challenge the most and got the most air in a few seasons off the falls..the one spot on the left is like a diving board..I easily cleared half the falls..liftlines were in the 1-3 minute range on the six pack and I skied 11 runs from 9-1040am..was better conditions than expected and so sunny. JADIP

There’s a toilet? Atomic told me I had to melt the driveway.

Today marks by 200th day skiing west of the Mississippi or east of the Atlantic. Thanks for celebrating with me @mute1080.

Looks great! Irwin has some good beer. You and @AtomicSkier should go to High Alpine in Gunnison for some beer and pizza.

dooooo it!

Blue was close to being on the epic pass.

May want to take a walk through the BM ski shop just to see if they have some worthwhile bindings at a decent price (w/ SP discount), then you can get them mounted, checked, etc. all in one fell swoop.

So that "Karen" that you were complaining about.... is it actually you?

So now you are saying I don’t have nice hair? Jesus Doug! What a jerk

Agreed. Cite your sources and add some charts please

I’m not paying for the water, so I flush every 5 minutes because why not 😬

Ok so I had a hot tub at my place in Winter Park and honestly it was a hassle. Extra expenses to keep it maintained and renters always were spilling beer in it and breaking their bottles around it. Crested Butte requires some kind of additional permit to get a hot tub, they limit the number and they are expensive. So tell @mute1080there is a large “soaking tub” in the bathroom that he can put some epsom salts in and kick back. Thanks for using the coasters! Do you guys flush every time or are you a “if it’s yellow let it mellow” sort of bunch?

Looks like maybe a pow day or rider of the storm day Wednesday. Mute that’s a lot of vert.

Visibility on Paradise can get bad real quick. I have found in days like that if you go down to East River lift viz is usually better.

Sorry I if this thread is just for saltys ski purchase but my search has officially begun. Will probably purchase in the off season. No need to demo.

Luckily we now have the option of skiing in a shopping mall all year so you don't have to wait.

Bear creek calling it a year on March 21st for all non season passholders. If you’re a current or future season pass holder, you’ll be able to ski until April 3rd.

Have you been to blue this year? VIP line is all but worthless on weekends this year, so it’s a perk in name only at this point. $109 for a day ticket also shouldn’t be the barometer for a fairly priced season pass, but that’s a different story entirely. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Sounds like a grate idea if it weren't 30 miles away.

Cant wait for sum Biden bux. I need some new skis, a Blue season pass, maybe an Epic pass...

They handled icy conditions very well. Where I'd be hesitant on the RTMs, I just ripped down the ice on the Ripsticks. Yes, I encountered many slick spots at each mountain due to freeze/thaw

Sweet. Hope they work out. I don't work in a shop anymore, but still like to help people find the right gear for a fair price. If blue can handle @AtomicSkier and @mute1080's shifts, they can handle the markers or tyrolias that those online shops were packaging with that ski. No finicky AFD or forward pressure setup on either of those like shifts or pivots.

Looks like the standard going rate for the Griffon 13 should be $160-180 which seems fair for that binding. Not sure what blue stocks, but a mount at most might be $75? So you're probably topping out right around your $230 mark, but then you're buying products and services from somewhere local, and you can talk to a real employee in person should you run into any issues. If you've ever had to deal with a botched mount, or warrantying something, having an actual person to deal with is definitely worth something.

I don't really trust anyone to mount my own stuff, but marker bindings are easy to set up correctly. I'd be wary to have an "online" shop mount them because in the event that something does get messed up and they don't catch it, you've then got to either send the skis back for them to fix their screw up, or get them to pay for someone else locally to fix it for you. You get a discount on shop work at Blue with your pass, and others here have had Blue's shop mount their skis this year without issue, for bindings that are much more complicated to set up than those markers. Just my two cents, your mileage may vary. If you liked what you skied, buy what you skied. With a comparable binding (Tyrolia/Fischer Attack2 13 from Level Nine, you can argue whether it's better or worse than the Marker), you save ~$140 for last year's ski, that you haven't skied, and don't know whether you'd still like as much. $140 off a vs the price of the newer, updated in-season ski is not a good deal, in my opinion.

Do it.....Why do people post shit like this on Twitter?....Is it so people will tell them how great they are and can feel good about themselves?

Salty have you ever received a Blumpkin in a public restroom?

I went inside to use the bathroom today and must have been 15-20 boomers crowded together on the benches outside of the bathroom. Shit is hilarious even during a pandemic that generation loves being in close contact with each other.

Great post. Just found the trails on google earth

Snowmaking cannons are blasting tubing. Woooo

Not for anything but she took the easy route. The baller route is skiers left. I'm tempted to go on her Twitter page and tell her this. You can't boast about skiing elevator, conquering fears and whatnot then show a pic of you skiing the non baller route. Thats like me posting that I skied Corbetts but in reality side slipped in, fell on my ass and tumbled the entire way down.

Glad they're finally getting it together. I swore I wouldn't get an epic pass... but I might reconsider if things improve next year. If they pave the parking lots though I'm out.

My bro in law got the Johnson and Johnson vaccine yesterday and was sick today. My parents are coming up to allentown late next month for the first time in 13 months and staying at my aunt and uncles house. We’re all going to the Apollo grill and I think I’m gonna visit them Memorial Day weekend. What a fucking year but finally some hope.

No I didn't say anything. I didn't want to give him the satisfaction of knowing that he was riding the lift with a Pennsylvania ski legend.

Siri got the plane lost

This is promising: https://www.silive.com/coronavirus/2021/03/new-antiviral-covid-19-drug-quickly-reduces-virus-drugmaker-merck-reports.html

Things learned today...climbing in a mask sucks.....I really need some practice, forearms are toast.

IDK... I guess either Jack Frost Dan or a large boulder 🤷‍♂️

WJW, maybe I should delay buying a Blue Mountain pass since I'm leaning towards an Epic Pass anyway. Imagine, skiing Camelback AND JFBB....

I should prolly get my bindings mounted too ...............

Nice start to the report Mute...did Atomic Jeff make you breakfast? Remember the locals call crested butte crusty butt.

No he didn't ask. He saw me let the people in front of me go to. He must've thought I wanted the privilege of riding with him

Nice bluebird day at Blue...Everything rode pretty nice except top of Challenger and Main st ...Spent the morning with TP4 and PSUfly..... Two Switch vids https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5BmsYNDgcM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9K1orQMVgok