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In the back of my mind I sort of would like to hit all the ski areas in the state. Have yet to ski Whitetail, Seven Springs, Hidden Valley, Denton Hill, Big Bear, Sawmill, Jack Frost, Big Boulder, Boyce Park, and Mt Pleasant. Nemacolin and Skytop are probably doable as well.

Appreciate the Blue buddy pass offer and I should try to ski there sometime when you guys are there

Twice! Once this year and once a few years back. Both times when they got dumped on with snow (which the Laurel ridge more frequently does than anywhere else in the state). That place is awesome when the woods and natural trails are in play and skis way bigger than the trail map might imply if not limited to the snowmaking half. The lodge and bar are very classy as well and its rarely crowded. Its just about 3 hours even drive for me. More frequently when I go out that way it's to the Laurel ridge xc center. Laurel Mountain actually has groomed xc trails as well. If you watch the snow maps and forecasts the PA Laurels (7S/HV/LM/LR and to a lesser extent Blue Knob) and Canaan Valley WV (Whitegrass/Timberline/Canaan Valley) always have higher snow totals and get snow when everywhere else south of NY get rain. Whitegrass being bigly epic and totally worth the 4+ hr drive.

It is snowing now at the top which is quite the radical development Snow surface is great despite the raw weather

I have not but will bring it up given the chance

If I were buying Elk the only lift I would completely replace would be the north face double or quad with a carpet loader quad at a higher line speed. The dual towers are already spaced for two quads and the trails on that side could eat a little more skier traffic. That quad seems to be just about the slowest of the lifts and the most problematic as well and a carpet loader I think would get the line up to a satisfying speed without being obnoxious with regards to maintenance/footprint/traffic etc. The way the twin main face doubles are set up it would be difficult to replace them without totally ruining the trails, base areas and overall layout. That side does not need additional lift capacity and those twin lifts are too iconic or dare I say cute in my personal opinion to rip out. The mid mountain lift I dont think gets enough traffic to warrant replacement. Halls are good lifts and Borvig is still supported by Partek. If anything get them in to overhaul the drives etc. Those two have a steep enough profile compared to the north face quad line that I dont think its painful to get to the top. The other thing that needs some minor attention I think is the basement of lodge and bathrooms. At least fresh paint and new ceiling tiles or something. And add a glade lol.

There are like 5 people here, untouched soft corduroy everywhere. Parked in the upper lot. Chill foggy rainy vibes on the tele skis. Kind of digging it though I was questioning my sanity the first ride up.

I do like Roundtop a lot for how close it is, much better terrain than BC - the both of them as well as Spring Mountain are about equidistant. I don't like that the evil empire now owns Roundtop instead of sno time. Used to have an advantage card there. I was there one evening this season with my cousin dad and sister. Already did a day a Blue Mountain though pretty easy to get there too. Probably go to Blue still more than anywhere else. Need to go to Whitetail sometime. Liberty is kind of small. I would be at Blue Knob every time if they would ever get their lower mountain snowmaking in action again

I could see elk not wanting the extra business from indy or indy not even wanting them on the pass since montage Shawnee and Greek peak surround it closely

If they did a combined Bear Creek/Elk season pass that would be a no brainer for me down in Lancaster. Especially with Indy Pass add-on since BC is now Indy. A good local place and one of the best ski areas in the mid Atlantic both under the same owners. I dont mind the lifts at Elk, they keep the snow nice and vibes classic. A detach would in my mind overwhelm Elk in skier volume as well as aesthetically, not to mention increased maintenance and as a result ticket prices. Although I will caveat that Shawnee puts out a very competitive quality snow surface as well and they have a high speed quad (one that actually runs design speed even) plus another quad and two doubles all going up the same face and still somehow make the grooming consistently nice. Have a comp day from work tomorrow due to an upcoming trip and planning on Elking it up.

Not only is Blue Knob a time machine to 1960 and higher elevation than Blue (the true) but if you jump at the top of it before skiing down the vertical drop is also higher and there is no runout - I dislike the runout at Blue (true). The lift is also more exciting in a sense and not because it is faster. But I digress. 11/10 Blue day and a nice sunset to boot

Night session at Blue. Better price tonight than an epic ticket at Ski Roundtop or even old Shawnee. Scored a very close spot at the top at 4. Stellar packed powder conditions surely top tier for Pennsy. Certainly appreciated the ability to ski the trees especially off of coming soon, and I even had the antique skis out so the rocks were no dramas. Wish they were still open to 10/11/midnight rather than 9 it was still packed at closing bell. My first ride on the main street sixer (last few times I was here in the spring and it was not running); still ambivalent, I miss my old pal the Hall double doubles which always had a short line and got you to the top in style without skiing the silly runout at the valley lodge. They need to put some disco lights on the runout like they have on the tubing area, those looked sweet. People here were not doing a great job fitting themselves in quads and sixes on the lifts to capacity. Barneys bumps were bulletproof but the snow right next to them was loose and made for some nice turns. Sidewinder was quite nice and turnable maybe nicest snow of tonight. Razor's edge was fast and is always a treat. Good to see that all the ski clubs are here and having fun. Agree with 11/10 rate of the day. Other stats include 4 for 5 (Don't worry, the mini meisers are 1/2 size) aiming the beverage containers into the rubbish buns, 2 swooshes unaided by the chute - Surely room for improvement. Vail took away the shooter chutes from under the lifts at Ski Roundtop™ just like they took away the Ski(™) from Ski Roundtop™ because Vail is lame - Now they have a pile of garbage under the lifts - metaphoric in a sense. Blue wins this time. Blue Knob also wins because the lower mountain is open tomorrow which you should definitely ski while you can.

Fun to be able to get up to Blue, haven't been there in a couple years. Snow was actually quite nice what was open and not too crowded, 3 runs pretty varied for what they were. I'm glad they were able to make it happen and did not expect to be skiing in PA this week. Talked to a lot of people on the lift and great vibes today all around. I do miss when they were open to 10:30 at night or whatever it once was. Makes it hard to get up there with friends for a night session when they close at 8. Also they need to fix their online store, it kept saying "unable to verify participant, please try again later" no matter what I did to try to check out or add a name of the guest to the ticket. I think I had the same problem last time I was there a few years ago too. Regarding the "fly paper" maneuver, had a pretty good one at Blue Knob on a wet whale at the bottom of Extrovert onto runout this year on the tele skis - hinged head over toes for a straight up face plant lol. If they are able to plow some of the snow from up top down over the thin spots at the bottom, I can see there being a chance the three routes could make it to Monday. Tuts lane connector worst patch of the lot probably.

Yep I had gray helmet and jacket, green pants, boots, and rossi tele skis