abe

Shawnee is a very well run operation and has reasonable prices and above average snow quality

Park city the other day allegedly 90min line

Wilmington actually, where Mr. Joseph R Biden Jr flys in to bless us with the "Joe Jam" ramp freeze, no fly zone, and I95 closure as he rolls into his crib with his secret service Beast whip. Kind of cool though. Not sure if you mean DE air guard base ILG or the dover afb, not really in the loop what's going on down there Re: trains, tried to get the train working under the Christmas tree, I have really crappy track and transformer for that job and is going to be a massive headache figurung out what is shorting out... a problem for later

1st turns of the season here if you can call 'em turns. Full moon and 8" of snow in North Creek NY. The hill behind the Airbnb is big enough to do about 5 turns on the xc skis, I've done about a dozen laps so far. Will be at Gore tomorrow, very hyped, hoping they can get the summit open. Finally feels like winter after 60 degrees last week - driving up the thruway, no snow there, but cars coming southbound with snow on them. We pull off the northway and the car temp reading starts plummeting as you go up in elevation 22, 21, 18, 16, 11, 10, 6... very nice

No, without going into too much detail on the public forums, it's with general aviation down in Delaware That sounds like a cool job though!

I am actually doing some aircraft repair work with my internship, not aerospace in the truest sense, but still cool to be working with the things that go up in the air. The old warbirds that fly into the beautiful town of Reading every year are pretty neato. I like a nice heavy German lager. Yuengling especially the Black & Tan is pretty good. If you want something... interesting... try the Lancaster Brewing Co's Milk Stout. Heaviest thing I've had. MALVERN is a magical place I pass through sometimes when I'm on my way to park my car on the Schuylkill Distressway.

I took the train from Leipzig to Munich to Füssen and back. I got up at like 4:00am to take the first ICE train out, but it was delayed several hours, so impulsively decided to hop on the local "Trans-Thuringian Express" over an alternate route. which turned out to be anything but an express. No regrets though, the scenery was nice. Germany looks a lot like Pennsylvania.

To be honest I don't know whether or not they actually need to be upgraded but they claim that the old trainsets are worn out (they're only 20 years old, so idk, some of Amtrak's equipment is much older than that). The old trainsets were supposed to tilt when they go around corners but in their infinite wisdom they made them too wide to tilt around corners while maintaining clearance. The new ones are actually supposed to be able to tilt and go a little bit faster. The new trainsets are a lot lighter weight, the federal rules regarding crashworthiness were recently changed- they used to basically have to be heavy and remain rigid in a crash and as a result were all unique designs to North America. Now they define crumple zones or something but I guess that's what Europe does, and they can use European designs now. The main reason I think is that the new ones will look a lot flashier on the inside and outside for publicity. I will kind of miss the big stainless steel American designs though if the passenger trains around here all end up getting replaced with European designs.

I was on an ICE train in germany. It was pretty radical going 200mph on the ground Amtrak is retiring the current Acela trainsets next year and getting new French trainsets, they definitely have a much different style

somebody needs to fix the hudson river tubes, that is a big project If one of those breaks the entire northeast corridor including NJ transit is kaputt

I have not seen that one, I'll check it out!

It's crazy, State College is the exact geographic center of the state but there is hardly anyone north or west of it save erie way up one corner and the wyoming valley in the other. "Donut Hole" of the state Center of population is actually pretty close to Harrisburg

Lancaster so we say we are central PA but still are fairly far southeast. I am about equidistant from Roundtop and Bear Creek, but if Snow Peak were still around it would be just as close. 1400' vert, northern aspect, wide ridge, and water available for snowmaking directly out of the Juniata river. Blue Knob also has the potential to be much larger than it currently is. Here is what I could find on the Tunkhannock 1500'+ vert proposed area: https://www.dcski.com/lostareas/viewlostprofile.php?id=62

Yeah I can't believe all the huge mountains you drive through in that area of the state, and the biggest ski areas we get are... Tussey and Sawmill lol

Ah that makes sense then

2 doubles have greater capacity than 1 quad due to faster line speed, closer chair spacing, reduced misloads, easier loading chairs to capacity, and maintenance redundancy. Newer lifts would have less problems but looks like the doubles are Partek from 1999 which isn't that old? Not sure why Vail would want to throw money at replacing those, especially with crowding issues at JFBB, out of all things they could be spending money on but I guess they get a shiny new lift show off.

Tussey is pretty small. Similar in layout to Sawmill. Definitely a lot smaller operation than Shawnee. Shawnee is decently large it's just that there are only like 3 trails that are black steepness and they are short. Otherwise similar vert to Camelback and Jack Frost, with q big lodge, powerful snowmaking, a lot of uphill capacity, and a detach. Laurel Mountain is still owned by the state who could theoretically terminate the operating contract with Vail for someone else when it expires. The state also owns currently inactive Denton Hill which is similar in size and steepness to Laurel but is even more in the middle or nowhere. None or the areas close to the PA border in the surrounding states like Mountain Creek, Greek Peak, Wisp etc. are mega Corp owner yet Also if someone with deep pockets really wanted in on the PA skiing game they could try to reopen Snow Peak https://www.dcski.com/lostareas/viewlostprofile.php?id=18

Seems like drug testing ski employees for blazing would be leaving employees on the table

yeah, it's pretty grate if they get dumped by snow (snowiest area of the state). Good trees, Wildcat is super steep, the lodge is very old school and neat, lots of natural snow trails, decent vert

yeah senior year at Delaware 2nd flattest state in the country

Laurel is owned by the state but is operated through contract with Nutting/now Vail. The state is also still trying to find a contractor to operate Denton Hill. I went there last year right after they got absolutely dumped, best day of my season. Really cool place but definitely doesn't fit the Vail mold.

I will unfortunately not be at Blue any time soon. I have school commitments for the next few weeks, a trip to NY planned, and then will be using my Indy Pass and ORDA card until I can get the cheap late season tix at Blue Congrats on 4th pretty impressive!

I for one am not happy to see Vail's main competitor in Southern PA taken over by them, and am concerned about the future of Laurel Mountain especially

I would like to share with you some very exciting news regarding the future of our resorts. This morning we have announced that we have reached an agreement with Vail Resorts to sell the core ski and resort operations of Seven Springs Mountain Resort, Hidden Valley Resort and Laurel Mountain. It was critically important for us that a world class operator like Vail Resorts, led by great people who will care about you and our community, was chosen to be our successor. By joining into a family of 37 destination resorts and ski areas, Vail Resorts is uniquely qualified to enhance our resort experiences. Winter operations at each resort, which began with a successful opening day this past Saturday at Seven Springs, will continue in ordinary course of business throughout the 2021-22 season. Current passholders, hotel guests, as well as group and event leaders will not be affected through the transition of ownership. Vail Resorts intends to add our three resorts to select Epic Pass products for the 2022-23 season. Vail Resorts is acquiring all of the mountain operations of the resorts and related base area lodging, conference center and amenities. This includes all ski and snowboard operations, lodging, as well as food and beverage. We will remain actively committed to the Laurel Highlands community by retaining several neighboring operations, including Sporting Clays at Seven Springs, Seven Springs Golf Course and Hidden Valley Golf Club, Highlands Market, Jumpin Jakes Ski and Snowboard Rental, Highlands Resort Realty, and retain certain real estate for potential future development. We are so incredibly grateful for all of you who have chosen to make memories with us at our resorts over the past 15 years. During this time, we have been committed to offering you legendary experiences and to driving extraordinary growth at our resorts. The upgraded winter operations, renovated hotel and events spaces, new luxury spa and world class sporting clays facility, enhanced dining experiences, and expanded offerings and event programming helped drive more annual guests and employment opportunities to our resort than at any time in its history. It has been an honor to help lead this transformation and leave each resort a much stronger community asset than we found it. I am further grateful and appreciative for our team of professionals. Their commitment to you was unwavering and undoubtedly, they delivered a legendary experience here for you and your family. We thank you so much for your incredible loyalty throughout the years. The fact a world class operator like Vail Resorts is interested in Seven Springs, Hidden Valley and Laurel Mountain is a testament to you, our passionate and proud base of guests. Enjoy your winter this year and many years to come. Sincerely, Bob Nutting President, Seven Springs Mountain Resort, Inc.