C1erArt

Fooling around with the iPhone AutoStitch app. Elevator panorama. The River Shot trail is at the top of the picture running left to right. Elevator glade on left.

Lodge was crowded but not packed at lunchtime (I usually look for tables with backpacks on them but no coats) - deserted at 8 am. The blues were a little crowded, t-bolt and challenge were not at all crowded, challenge glade was empty but skiable. East mountain had some good skiers on it (saw a couple people try elevator glade), the rentals would take one run and head back to the west side - although I left at 11, and the rentals tend to come over in the afternoon. Floyds was getting a little scraped off in the center, but the sides were nice (right side especially), as was right side of river shot. The runout of the chicken route (my route on the left) of elevator was a little cruddy if you built up too much speed - I found that swinging to the right at the bottom (uphill) was nicer to be able to stop, then head out of the little dell over the bumps and ruts. Nice day all around. Did my edges last night until they passed the fingernail test. Demo day tomorrow I think.

Elevator crusty but not glare ice. Picture of hero route from top I took the easier route about a third way down the rivershot head wall. Sorry bout the typos in the first post, didn't have my reading glasses on on the chairlift.

Top of mtn.

Floyds is the slope of the morning. Firm and fast but with some powder on top for control

Frozen cord glades ivey. Blew some snow last night tbolt nice and fast. Other slopes need to warm ip. A little. Sunny and puffy clouds.

I should be there first thing - Challenge lift or east Mtn. Purpleish coat, yellow/black poles.

And I have a plate and 4 screws in my knee from a bumped up Floyds, so I've found my limits too.

We have a star among us - great job!

Another great day, quiet, but a lot of good skiers and sliders out. Started cloudy, but turned bluebird around 11. Floyds was open, soft on top, a little more firm on the botton (could push a ski pole all the way down at top). Challenge, T-Bolt, and Exhibition were beautiful. Challenge glade is a little rutted and - not icy, but thinking about getting that way. Got the iTrails app working on my iPhone (found out you can't put it in sleep mode), uploaded my tracks here - 12/24/09 Tracks Photo of the runout of Challenge glade to the east mountain lift (under the lift was a little thin but runnable). Photo of the bottom of Elevator from Floyds Photo of the bottom of Elevator Glade from Floyds (I'll still skip that run). The tracks lead off to the right of the photo (you don't want to ski over the hoses). Hopefully the forecasted rain won't be too bad, and happy holidays to everyone.

A little more crowded today, holiday crowds starting to arrive - nice bluebird sky and great snow. They blew on Challenge into the glade until about noon, nice and powdery in there. The slope itself got a little ice when the powder was swept off. T-Bolt was great all day, the first headwall glade was nice, but a little scratchy at the bottom. Picked up a little uphill wind later in the day, but in the morning you could just fly down. Is there any other place in PA with a top to bottom glade? Challenge glade is worth the price of a lift ticket alone. The path on the right of the glade is fairly open if you need a break from the wood. Bring your helmet.

Nice day. Blowing sno on Challenge, River Shot and Floyds. Floyds not open yet. Challenge glade had a lot of snow (snow guns were hitting it), and the first headwall of tbolt glade was nice with a couple of stones showing. Tree run between Rivershot and Floyds above elevator looked nice but I passed on it.

Another nice day, right side of exhibition open, east mountain not yet. Challenge glade sweet top to bottom. Quiet today, no snow yet.

Firday was a mis-spelling, it didn't mean I ran into a tree

Another day of great conditions. Moving snow on Exhibition, so it might be open tomorrow. On a downer note, it looks like Jack Frost isn't doing the Monroe County Recreation discounted tickets this year. Challenge glade was in great shape - nice from top to bottom Looking downhill at the glade on the second headwall.

Hit the slopes about 9:30 and was the only one out there for about an hour or so - nice having a private resort. Thunderbolt was open, but was a little bumpy - hard on the knees if I went too fast. Challenge was real smooth, a little soft but not too bad. The glade was a little soft and starting to lose some cover (temp in the mid 40s). A little foggy, but visibility was OK, no rain or mist. Top of Thunderbolt

The tripod sno guns they use to get a trail open lays done a fine powder that packs nicely - they are aiming the guns high and it's covering in the trees real nice.

Top of Challenge

Great conditions. Challenge glade is great.

Again, thanks to the groomers, lifties and everyone else at JF for making it a great place to ski. The great condition of the snow (and the lack of intersecting trails in the slope design) is why I ski JF.

Was out Friday, and it was a little depressing with the cloudy skies and deserted slopes, but decided to go Saturday and it was a great end to the season. Sunny skies, slopes nice and fast. Time to wax the skis and put them away and get the kayaks out. Unfortunately the Tohickon release was also this weekend.

Was out this morning and conditions were great. Exhibition was a little uneven, but Floyds was smooth with a nice soft layer on top. Weren't running the Challenge lift so it was hard to lap Challenge and Thunderbolt as I usually like to do.

I was keeping an eye out for you, and even skied Lehigh once midweek looking for you. I usually stay over on the east side and ride the Exhibition lift only to get back to the lodge to quit for the day. I like to quit when it starts getting crowded, but like you said, the reason is safety. I like to ski fast and would rather quit for the day than slow down, and once the rentals start hitting east mountain you don't know what they are going to do next on the slope. Ever run the section of the Lehigh from Thorpe down to Weissport or Bowmanstown? If you are up for it we can take you down in our raft some non-release weekend.

Great conditions today, perfectly groomed at the start of the morning, nice and firm, no ice or brown spots. The snow started getting pretty soft around 11, but it was very quiet, and didn't develop the ice/soft piles that more traffic would have brought out. Some slushy stuff down near the Exhibition lift when I left at 1pm. Crowds are vanishing before the snow does again.

Some ice behind the headwalls on Thunderbolt, and frozen slush on the entrance to Demattes/Exhibition, but otherwise the snow was pretty nice today. The far right side of Floyds at top was solid ungroomed ice, but otherwise East Mountain was nice. Could use some touch-up snow blowing.