rummy

no can do, trip's booked for March 1-8. You have to be taking a chance on snow conditions in May. Lot's of downloading I bet.

Re: Lightning and ski lifts--I've had two experiences. The first was at Park City, snowing so hard you couldn't see the chair in front of you but, we could see the snow light up with the flash followed by a tremendous crack of thunder and an immediate halt of the lift. Oh boy, now what do we do? As we're hanging there we're debating whether or not, if lightning strikes the cable, and we're between the strike and the charge going to ground, do we survive? Luckily after several minutes the lift started again and we headed into a lodge at the top to let the storm blow through. About a half hour later it's still snowing like crazy and the ski patrol comes in and says they're closing the mtn and will lead groups of six to the bottom. This was around noon and even though it turned into a bluebird afternoon the mtn never re-opened and no discounts were offered that we knew of. The second time was several years later at Snowbird. Our first trip there, first run of the day, on the first tram of the day. Again snowing and blowing to beat the band, 125 people crammed in the tram nose to nose hooting and hollering about the upcoming day. Suddenly the tram comes to a complete stop about halfway to the top and you could now hear a pin drop inside the tram. Ring, ring, the operator gets a call from down below, says a word or two into the phone, hangs up and says "I guess you're wondering what's going on."(understatement of the day) he went on to explain the sensors picked up static electricity in the air and the tram had to be put on manual overide. At a super slow speed, we proceeded to the top with the tram swinging to and fro from the fierce wind gusts. We, being rookies, thought well OK we'll head into the lodge at the top and wait out the storm. Turns out there is no lodge and we fought our way through the freezing rain, sleet, snow and 50 mph winds for about an hour until we all got to the bottom to dry out. The mtn didn't close, but they did close the tram until later on in the afternoon after the winds died down. Moral of the stories-- it's no fun being on a lift in a thunderstorm, but it's an experience that makes a great story!!

Hey gang, I'm headed to Whistler the first week in March with four guys on our 25th annual Stag Trip. We have the accomodations at $315 for the week and the airfare at $326 from Harrisburg. The lift tickets are around $80 / day, so 6 days of skiing are costing more than the airfare and the accomodations. If we book on line we can save about $8. / day. Anybody know if there are better deals available on lift tickets? Or, can somebody point me to a forum on Whistler/BC? Thanks!

To give you a little background in Greggs' concern for safety, here's what happened to one of his teenage employees two or three seasons ago. HE WAS KILLED after hitting a tree while boarding in the trees to the west of the quad chair (a closed area). How would you like to have to notify his parents? Sure, you'll say it was an accident. But, it doesn't change the fact that someone died while riding in a closed area. So before you criticize a managers' rules, also think of his responsibilities. And to make fun of the way a man spells his name shows an incredible naivete. My 2 cents-- Rummy

Monday will probably be the best day of the wknd. Saturday is usually the most crowded, and Sunday less so. Also by Mon. more trails should be open.

sigmapete1 here's my take on your questions. 1. MLK and presidents' day are the two busiest weekends of the ski season, no matter where you go. I'd choose a different weekend, as the experience will be less stressful without the crowds. 2. Elk, and all other mountains in PA were/are in the recovery mode from last weeks' meltdown. I skied Tues night at Elk and had one of the best nights since last years Valentine's Day storm. The website said 3" but 6" is more like it. Wed skiing was great too with all open slopes groomed. Slalom was freshly groomed but had death cookies on it, I'm sure that will change after a couple more groomings. Susquehanna was closed for blowing, while Tunkhannock was freshly groomed and nice. The terrain park was also being groomed Wed and should be open and ready by this weekend. Unless they get a major dumping, I'd guess only 3-4 more trails could be open, and that's a stretch, and a guess. 3-4 Exactly like elkskibum said.

I've been an ELK skier for 27 years and have seen a ton of changes. Best things: Terrain, grooming, lake effect snow, the snow making crew(they work hard to make good conditions), half-way house, friends, uncrowded weekdays, a pro group of ski pattrolers, skiers and boarders who know how to ski and respect each other (for the most part), no whistles, the bartenders and staff in the winter garden restaurant. Oh almost forgot==Chet's Place-"home of the ultimate buzz" Worst things: the Elk wagon, slow lifts (although their philosophy is, "rather have crowded lift lines than crowded,dangerous slopes" ), MLK weekend, Presidents weekend (ski real early and at the end of the session, go to half-way house,or bar in between), no ticket booth in parking lot on weekends. Rummy

They will blow all the trails (except Lehigh--no air or water lines), given the right conditions and enough time. This year was very unusual as Elk had enough natural snow to open all the trails early. Next, they'll probably blow hard on their established bases, groom like crazy, then move the guns to the recently closed trails in stages. Give them another 10 days with good snowmaking or a big storm or two and they'll have everything open again. Rummy

Haven't been there, but, the trails they closed were the ones with all natural snow. I'm sure they lost a lot of base. Rummy

Here's a quick report on Elks' conditions this weekend. The entire mtn is open, even Lehigh, which has no snow making. Most trails had excellent coverage with no ice anywhere, except in the troughs on the Tunkhannock bumps. Hardly a lift line at any of the lifts--6-8 chair wait maximum. Slopes were uncrowded because of all the open trails. HERO SNOW EVERYWHERE!!! ALL DAY-BOTH DAYS The lodge had bands both days and freebies were given out by Coors Light Beauties. The beer was flowing. SHH--don't tell anybody--Elk was just about perfect this wknd. RUMMY

checked the website just now and saw Elk opened the terrain park today, also slalom, snow bowl, schuylkill, and wissahicken. Rummy

nope--full price as far as I know. They have to pay the electric bill. check out their web site under "rates" www.elkskier.com Rummy

starting Jan. 2, and every Wed. throughout the season there's a $15 all day ticket available to students with ID. The promo is called Wild Wednesdays and used to be $10. Most Weds. there is a band playing in the bar in the late afternoon, and Coors or Miller light girls show up with handouts. They've been known to give away boards too during different promos, usually on the weekends though. Rummy

Just got back from two days at Elk. When I left around 4:00 today there was 2" of fresh and it was still snowing. Conditions are excellent, the only ice is on the top headwall of Tunk. Some of the bumps are thin on Seneca, but overall, this has been the best early season skiing in years at Elk. They were grooming the mounds of snow in the terrain park and should have it open by the wknd. I think they are going to blow some more on Slalom before opening, and they were blowing in the Snow bowl but not on Schuylkill that I saw Tues/Wed. They did have a gang of guns lined up for placement on the West side of the mtn and will be starting to blow there soon. It was too warm today to blow and there weren't any guns howling, it sure was peaceful! The ice storm that hit the A and places down south did not affect Elk at all, there's about 12" of natural snow surrounding the mtn. A rain storm is predicted for the weekend with a changeover to snow after the storm passes. Binghampton NY weather is a closer match to Elks' weather than the WB/Scranton forecasts, Elks' altitude creates its own weather micro-climate. I've seen it snowing at the mtn while 1 mile away at my cabin the sun's shining. That's it for today. I'll keep the list updated as the season goes on. Rummy

My bud Herm went up to Elk (through the *stuff*) late Sat night hoping to ski on Sun. The Power shut off around 8:10 AM and the ski-patrol got stuck on the lift heading up in preparation for opening Sunday. Herm talked to Greg, the mtn manager. who decided not to open because of the sketchy power supply. He didn't want anyone else to get trapped on the lift. Herm did say Elk received another 5" of snow Sun and it is a "winter-wonderland" there now. He skied Mon AM and said conditions are excellent. Powder and packed powder with no ice, but cold and windy. Just thought I'd update the list. Rummy

I was there on Wed. It rained hard overnight Tues into Wed and was still showering Wed AM. Skied two runs and hit the bar. Temps were dropping, it was skiable with icy corduroy snow that had my teeth rattling. As of Wed PM they had not covered the lower section of the Delaware trail so there was no access from the park to the lifts. They've been blowing Delaware, the terrain park, and lower Tunk, and these should be the next trails to open. This AM's snow report says they received 8"-10" yesterday but no new trails were opened including the terrain park. RUMMY

I drink there. Look for me and my bald buddy Herm, every Wed. and weekend sitting on the corner stools in the bar. AHH can't wait--home away from home. RUMMY PS. my 27th year at Elk, and even though Herm and I aren't employees, we do attend the end of year employee party as guests of the bar tenders.