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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

Think I rode lift with airhead Dreamweaver snow very nice and soft but crowded Razors moguls not too big yet to rip and are soft, middle sections a but icy, bottom is very nice Burma road is just slow Run at the very top of vista Actually quite nice

I have a very nice rock thank you very much Never parked at the bottom before but couldn't get my ticket online and I guess they don't sell up top anymore

Just realized Blue is still open, en route now. Could not get online store to work... Guest services is still in upper lodge?

High speed lifts at Elk would destroy the snow quality, scenery, and lack of crowding on the slopes, which is why I go there anyway... I don't even know if there is enough room for detachable terminals at the summit. Funny how the old Hall doubles keep chugging along as one does but their quad seems to have most of the issues

Finally made it down to Whitegrass WV Sunday. This place is awesome. The realest of deals. 4 1/2 hr drive each way was worth it but I think I will get a hotel next time. Elevation is about 4300ft so just about as high as anything in the East and storms dump snow from the west in this spot first-nothing is taller till the Rockies. Before it was a nordic area it was a downhill area so there are some old school downhill runs you can hit in addition to the nordic trails, the trees, and some meadows. The higher you go the skinnier the trails get and the more alpine it looks. There are three summits on the trail system as well as access to trails in Dolly Sods and neighboring Canaan Valley and Timberline downhill areas. At the top is as its name Bald Knob would suggest, epic views. 25k of trails are groomed out of 50k in the immediate resort, and a number of them are fairly steep across 1200ft vertical. Tracks set on the lower trails and up the three mile run to the mid summit. Well maintained glades are all over the hill with untracked powder everywhere. At the bottom they have a system of fences set up to catch the snow blowing across the valley and keep it skiiable. The best part though is just that the vibes are absolutely unmatched. There were probably several hundred people there and everyone was having a blast - Hooting and hollering through the woods, hanging out by fires at the little huts all along the trails, chowing down on delicious food in the shack of a lodge at the bottom with all the rental boots hanging from the ceiling around the wood stove to dry off. And there were people of all ages including little kids just ripping through the woods. People were sliding on the whole spectrum of equipment: cross country, telemark, AT, splitboard, sleds, snowshoes. Everyone was so happy and friendly. Granola paradise A place that is good in every meaning of it. I havent been anywhere else quite like it.

Bumped this by accident because I am big dumb... since I cant delete this I have been wondering how crowded old ski roundtop has been lately if anyone has been

I was here last night with some friends. Couldnt make it anywhere else after work because everywhere closes so early at 8 or 9 these days. Snow was actually very nice surface all over and the snow cone machine was spitting snow out the tube all evening despite being 40s. The base was thicker than expected even on the west side. Not much of a line anywhere but it was fairly well patronized mostly with kids and the new ice rink seemed popular. For 30 bucks the place is entertaining enough for a few hours with the west side open and it's a lot easier to drag your infrequently skiing friends there than to get them to drop $100+ elsewhere Ya gotta be entertained with how the whole place seems straight out of the 70s too

The place was pretty happening today, parking lot about full. Was a lot of fun. They have a nice warming hut with snack lunch a wood stove and resident dogs. I am appreciating the xc experience more every year although I wish there were closer places like this with maintained and groomed trails Got about 25km in twice around red once around blue orange yellow and black and they were grooming all day to keep the snow fast as it came down

Awesome conditions in the Laurel highlands today after a bummer of a year last year for xc in PA. 3" base with 5" yesterday and steadily snowing all day a couple additional inches. It is amazing how much more snow they get there. They had about 20km groomed plus some nice shin deep snow on the ungroomed trails that descend down the ridge. Great seeing the crowd that was there having fun - they were only open I think for one storm last year and the snow was rapidly gone there by the afternoon which was not ideal to say the least I was happy to see as well that the Crystal Lake center over by Williamsport may be back in action if they can accumulate a little more snow. Had some sort of staffing issue last year.

Waiting for Tussey to announce the Colonel Boal express Peak to peak gondola to bald knob