Ride Delaware ?

Rose looks way more badass than Justo... He needs more neon colored clothing for next year... I hear that gaper is coming back...

Don't they both have VIP lanes now? Or first tracks? Or first tracks and VIP? CB and Blue are the busiest places in the pokes... There will always be lines no matter what... Blue arguably has the better terrain while Camelback has better snow, a longer season, and a mad steezy water park... Take your pick and throw down... I think most of it has to do with location... CB and Blue aren't getting any closer together lol

Lucky bastard... Hit some of the trees off of Killington Peak for me... With the heavy wet snow, they will be in good condition...

So, where did you end up deciding to go?

I'm putting my money on real storm...

Going up to your hidden shack in the woods?

It is looking like a mixed bag for PA... Rain/Snow transitioning all to snow... Friday night at Boulder or CB may be the money shots... Great call on going north Moe... There is a ton of moisture with this system, so I wouldn't assume that it will be dry snow anywhere, but the farther north you go the lighter it should get (within reason). Looks like anywhere from the Skillz all the way to JP and SB will be winners... Have fun out there...

Belleayre has posted on their front page that they will be open until April 10th... I believe they have $20 Wednesdays, $25 Fridays, $38 midweek, and $43 weekend... 50 trails still open and snow tomorrow!!!

Coverage looks great, even off piste... Looks pretty empty with no liftlines too... Snow looks deep... How's the base holding up? How was it there overall this year with the new hotel and waterpark? Has it been busier? More business? Good improvements? Haven't been up there since 04 at the end of March... They were offering a $99 late season pass from March 1 to end of season, and opening to Dec 21, which I thought was a hell of a deal... I doubt they do that anymore... Is that tailgating going on right at the base of the mountain? Edge of trails? That's pretty sweet if that's the case...

I haven't been able to find any online and I need a replacement pair for my boots... I live in DE and we don't have many shops here, but I'll be up in the PA area the next two weekends... Has anybody seen these at any of the shops around where you live?

Thats kinda funny since thats the same headline that accuweather used. I've been periodically checking reports, and as long as the Low forms inland, it looks like it could be quite a doozy. We won't know the exact track for another couple days. Right now TWC has it as Snow with a high of 34 at Blakeslee and similar temps with snow up and down the interior of New England. If it hits right and is groomed out right, it could definitely extend the season at the lower NE resorts that are still open, another week. Plattekill is already stating they will be open next weekend as are some other resorts who are going from week to week. I will type my TR on Plattekill later tonight, but after seeing what 5" of fresh this past week did to conditions, I can only imagine what another 6-12 or more would do... Their woods are back in play and would be incredibly fun if it hits... I've got a wedding this weekend so I won't be able to make it north, but for those of you with the $$$ and time, start following the weather and looking forward to this weekend... Could be the first PA April 1st powder day in awhile...

Here is my trip report for the same day as all of our above PASRs... Its a shame we couldn't have met up to have some brews at the picnic lodge or something. I'll remember to throw a 12 in the back of the car next year. I had a blast today so I only shot 3 pictures. Sorry... After an excellent weekend of Winter/Spring riding, Afroman7 and I decided to repeat it this weekend. However, due to Elk's closing on a Saturday, we flipped our schedule around and went to Elk on Saturday. After a mostly uncrowded weekend with great coverage last weekend, we were pretty sure that it would be as good as it gets in PA this week with 8" of additional snow. We were not to be disappointed. We called up Outcold, made plans to meet him Saturday, and planned to leave around the same time as we did last weekend. Afroman7 arrived at my house around 6:30 and we were on the road at 6:45. We arrived in Dunmore at the Days Inn at 10:30, unpacked, watched the end of the VCU game, and went to bed. The next morning we awoke at 6:55, packed our bags, and were in the car by 7:40. I knew I needed gas, but I was pretty sure I could make it to the Sunoco at exit 206 in I-81. Unfortunately, my vehicle dropped 2 bars on the meter and the light came on earlier than I expected. I pulled off I-81 at exit 198 and filled up at the mobil station there. I pulled into the upper lot at 8:11 with the thermometer registering a balmy 14 degrees. I was already parked about 3-4 cars farther down than last weekend and the lot was filling up pretty quick. We booted up and made it down to the ticket booth just before 8:30 and the lifts had not yet begun to accept passengers. There was already a line of 10 or so people waiting at the 2 open ticket booths, so by the time I had gotten my ticket, it was just past 8:35. As I stated in the CB thread, there were a great deal of people buying discounted passes with tickets from other mountains, and other people like me who were buying full priced tickets on the last day of the season. I don't know if it was the fresh snow, the discounted tix with a season pass, or the fact that there were only 3 shows in town still operating (CB and Boulder too), but it was busier than last weekend right from the start. Afroman7 and I hopped on the lift and decided to follow our same path as last week until we met up with Outcold. I shot the same picture as last week at the top of Susquehanna. It looks very different with all the natural snow coating the countryside: Unlike last week, we weren't the first tracks down, but more like the 10th. The snow was some of the best I have had on groomers all year. True to its reputation, I did not see a single death cookie all day. The snow was softer than last week and was a mix of granular and powder. Since the temperature stayed under freezing all day under beautiful bluebird skies, the snow did not bump up and was quite easy on the legs all day. After Susquahanna we hit Slalom, Tuscarora, Mohawk, and Delaware. We skipped Iroquois because of the ungroomed terrain, but I am sure it was much better than last week because of the fresh snow. Here is a shot of the Delaware right after the terrain park: Through the first 5 runs, there were no backups at the lift at all. In fact, they never put up barriers to create lines. However, after going down the Delaware, there were about 10 people waiting for the lift by the base lodge and I noticed the other double getting warmed up. It was about 9:40, and as I looked to my left, I saw Outcold and his wife waiting for us. We got to the top and decided to let her warm up on Tioga. We headed down to the quad where there was once again no liftline and excellent snow. When we got to the top we decided to take Mahican to Lenape. I cut through a little track of woods at the top of the lift. I was one of the first people through there and got stuck once or twice in the crust, but as the day wore on I was glad I had taken one for the team and blazed a trail. I saw a bunch of people using it throughout the day. We continued to lap the quad until about 12:45 when we all got hungry. We headed back to the lodge and ate some of the reasonably priced lodge food. We took a little longer of a break and finally got back out on the slopes at about 1:45 to 2. We decided to go up and hit the Delaware and the terrain park several times as it is one of Outcold's favorite trails at Elk. The extra snow this past week made the area below the terrain park leading to the Lehigh very rideable and we decided to drop off the back side and traverse the Lehigh. It was a tough going at the beginning due to the crust, but as more people poached it throughout the day it became much more rideable. I even witnessed a guy do a 4 foot cliff huck in the woods between the Mohawk runout and the Delaware. Here is a picture of Outcold where we came off the Delaware onto the Lehigh: After cruising down the Delaware several times, we decided to head back over to the quad. There was one slight lift line of maybe 45 seconds and then it cleared up the rest of the afternoon. We decided to head back down the Mahican to the Lenape, Wissahickon, and Kickapoo. When I was here with Outcold several years ago, I remembered a tree run that cuts off the Mahican, slopes up into the woods, and then drops down a huge drop off back onto the Mahican right before the Lenape, Wissahickon, and Kickapoo intersection. After one or two exploratory runs, i finally found it and was well rewarded with a fun but slow little meander through the woods. Outcold and Afroman7 followed me in and we all had a good deal of fun making our own path in there. The coverage was excellent with only some small briars popping out out interspersed intervals. There was a point where we lost Afroman7 and found him walking out on a different trail, but other than that, it was a successful adventure. As we neared the end of the day, OutCold expressed some interest in trying out Tunkhannock. Since it snowed the past week, I decided that if I was going to do a bump trail with him, it might as well be now. Well damn, I forgot how much of a workout it was. I was incredibly toasty and out of breath by the time I finished that run. I found a good line and really had my rhythm going for awhile. I only slid out onto my ass twice and I considered it a pretty good run. We continue to check our watches and decided to head back to the double around 4 PM. We went up and did another run or two down the Delaware when the liftie announced it was time for last run. When we got to the top we decided to go down the Tioga. Afroman7 and I were to head down Hiawatha to the upper lot while Outcold and his wife were to head down to the quad since they were parked in the lower lot. Since he is a super noob, Afroman7 followed Outcold and I had to drive down in my boots to the lower lot. We packed the car and headed out on the backroads to Plattekill. We stopped at Arlo's Country Store and picked up a Rebull and some Twizzlers for the ride. Overall, another great day at Elk. While they had to run the 2nd double lift this weekend, there were no real lift lines to speak of and the snow was in much better shape than last weekend. It is a shame they posted this as their last day. If they saw the turnout, which incredibly surprised me, they probably could have decided to stay open an extra weekend. Based on last weekend, the business definitely justified it. Unfortunately, Elk is now closed, and with it, a bunch of great snow. Looks like CB and Boulder will have to duke it out for the last ski area in PA. Elk probably could have claimed that, but it is what it is. I'll be back to Elk in December, Conditions Permitting of course.

I didn't see the topsheet, but I want to say that the bottom of the board was blue and the Venture logo was in neon greenish... Was that it? My report to follow soon in the same thread...

The Alien Pass concept started at the beginning of March. It has only been the past week that Camelback suspended operations. They had a couple weeks in which you could use the Camelcard, and you still can if they open back up next weekend. Not to mention, if it is your first weekend there using the season pass from another mountain, you got a free ticket, so there isn't much to complain about there either. I liked it better the first two years they started the "Alien Invasion" where you could use your SP as many times as you wanted for a free pass. Now it is only once and then a Camelcard, but if you really want to get out on the snow without a significant drive, the discounted price is probably worth it. It is pretty obvious that the free pass/camelcard idea works fairly well. I was at Elk on Saturday and several people came to the window while I attached my lift ticket using Blue Mountain SPs to get their $20 lift ticket. It would be awesome if they can afford to stay open next weekend, and from what I have read here, they definitely could. After President's Day it gets slower every week and they have probably hit most of their financial projections by that time. They get a little boost (evident this last weekend) when other resorts shut down and they become one of the few options around, but overall their goal goes from turning a profit to breaking even and getting their employees some more hours on the clock. It also allows them to boost their PR at the same time. They've been building that reputation the past couple years and it seems to be paying off. As for the expense of running the mountain, I am sure it is pretty significant. However, it may not be as significant as we all believe. I saw the poster in Plattekill and found a link on their website. You can rent the mountain in season when they are not normally open (mon-thurs) for $2,500 with all facilities operating. How bout that? Rent Plattekill for a Day

First off, conditions will be better at Killington. There is a reason they average 100" more natural snow a year. They are almost up in the central VT area, have a higher elevation, and almost always are 2-3 degrees colder. Second, Killington has a pretty good variety of beginner terrain. They have a beginner mountain, Ramshead, which mostly has Blues or Greens, but it closes this weekend. I have also heard they are closing Skyeship Gondola (could only be stage 1 though). However, Snowshed will still be open and the Great Northern and Great Eastern (both great long cruising greens) will be open to the cutoffs to other lifts. The terrain off Skye Peak, Killington Peak, and the North Ridge Triple (lift) has a good variety of intermediate terrain, especially on the backside. The front side is mostly blacks and double blacks. I went there my second year boarding and found much of the terrain to be very boardable even for a beginner. In fact, I mostly stayed on the blues off the Skye Peak Gondola Stage 2. The only thing I would make sure is that they are going to be running the Skyeship Express Quad out of the Bear Peak area so that you can access that terrain if they close all of the Skye Peak Gondola.

After Elk last Sunday, and being an Elk groupie, my answer is obvious...

Looks like Root and I have the same picture for his 2nd one down lol

I basically went on their website under the lodging section and picked a 3 or 4 days ski package which usually gives you the 3rd or 4th day free depending on how many nights your staying. You pick your lodging option separately from your lift ticket. Additionally, the website allows you to choose from all surrounding lodging, not just those managed by Killington. That basically gives you some pretty good options on rates for lodging. Lift is fixed by the mountain, but by packaging it with lodging, I think it came out just under $50 a day...

Its nice having pictures in the report and not having every report end with a bro date at the BDMI

I havent been to Mount Snow too often, and definitely haven't been this late in the season. That being said, they are known for blowing a good amount of snow and with these cold temperatures there should still be plenty of snow around... When I was there last year I found their terrain, advanced and intermediate included, not to be that challenging. Some of their trails have a good pitch and runout and they have some good cruisers. Be careful of mogul trails. They are notorious for not putting up mogul signage and on several occasions last year I found myself flying down a groomer, coming along a fork in the trail, choosing one direction, and quickly finding myself flying over bumps. It would definitely be a fun SoVt trip, but 4 days might be a little much. I was there 2 days and that was more than enough to satisfy my appetite. I would have probably gotten quite bored by the 4th day. Remember that from there you are only about an hour away from Killington. While I go to Killington much more than I like to, for a first timer (to K-Mart) it will definitely have all the terrain your looking for. They also have pretty affordable rates for ski and stay packages which is usually the reason I go there. Sugarbush also has similarly good deals this time of the season, but it is 2 hours north of Mt. Snow and is definitely geared more to the advanced skier.

I'm not trying to cause any controversy here, but I checked out there website, and I don't see anything that confirms that Sunday is their last day. They are offering discounted lift tickets, and most other mountains have already shut down or are shutting down on Sunday, but I don't see anything that confirms that. In the last 3 years they have really put alot of time into building their rep as one of the last places to run a lift for alpine (not just terrain park) terrain. Since I do not see anything that states Sunday is their last day, I wouldn't be surprised if they close Mon-Thurs and then open again next Fri-Sun. The temps should justify it, and knowing their affinity for blowing a deep base, they will probably have the snow to make it if they so choose. Once again, as stated above, there is a steep decline in skiers and riders the later into the season we go, even if the conditions are still stellar. So, they may just be waiting to make the call after they see the turnout this weekend. That being said, I wouldn't make any plans that assume they will be open next weekend, but I wouldn't at all be surprised if they did...

Yeah, the leash thing was total bullshit. Luckily I keep my spare washers and screws from my bindings in my boot bag and all bindings come with a leash, so I had them easily accessible. I made sure to be blatantly pissed about it in front of the liftie, but he was a big burly man wearing Carhartt, an orange hunting beanie, and an open mechanics shirt showing off his rather rotund abdomen, and I knew I wasn't going to be able to sway him on the topic. I went to GP my senior year of high school on a college trip and wasn't bothered about wearing a leash... I personally agree with you as I have never lost my board, ever... It takes some absolute newbishness to lose your board on a mountain... I wore a leash my first 2 years when I rented a board, but after I got to Killington and started riding Gondolas, it became too much of a hassle to put them on every time... I haven't regretted scrapping the leash once... Its bullshit, but since they weren't going to let me on without it, and I had spares in the car, I lived with it...

After finishing up at Plattekill around 4 on the 19th, we drove the quick 2 hour jaunt to Dunmore, PA where we scored a room at the days Inn for $57 with tax. The Days Inn is conveniently located about a mile away from I-81 which is the direct route to the Elk Mountain exit. We got in about 7, showered, watched some NCAA basketball, and then went to Friendly's for dinner and ice cream. I don't eat ice cream often, so the 5 scoop Reese's pieces sundae was glorious. We got back to the hotel around 10 pm and hit the sack around 11:30. The alarm went off at 7 and we quickly packed, ate breakfast, and were on the road around 7:35. Mapquest states the driving time as 44 minutes, but I had a bit of a heavy foot and got there in 27 minutes flat. We arrived at 8:05 to find only one other car in the upper lot. I parked about 25 feet away from the picnic lodge and booted up. The temperature was 20 degrees by the time we had booted up, and we went to the picnic lodge and boarded down to the ticket window. The only downside to Elk is the lack of discounts, so I paid for my $58 lift ticket and was getting on the lift by 8:30 sharp. We were about the 5th chair up. There was only one or two other people behind us at the ticket window, so we were sure to get a couple untracked runs in early. Most of the locals have season passes and park in the lower lots beside the quad, so we didn't have to compete with them for awhile. We skated off to the right and prepared to go down an untouched Susquehanna. The first run down Susquehanna was simply amazing. It was groomed granular and was completely untouched. I basically bombed it all the way down. Groomed snow at Elk (unlike Blue with its death cookies), is so smooth and almost impossible to catch an edge. Here is a shot from the top of Susquehanna before the first run: We then proceeded to hit Slalom, Mohawk, Tuscarora, and the Delaware. Slalom and Tuscarora were first tracks while Mohawk and Delaware had a handful of tracks. The park on Delaware was worse than usual as all of the rails except for the c rail had been removed and moved to the West Slope for the Spring Carnival rail jam. However, the jumps were still in great shape and were being hit by a couple park rats throughout the day. After those 5 runs we decided to head over to the west side of the mountain to lap my favorite terrain off of the quad. We started on the Mahican to the Lenape and were rewarded with groomed cord and some fun rollers on the lower half. When we got down to the bottom of the quad I turned around and shot this picture looking up the mountain: We decided to hit the Wissahickon next and I shot this picture of Afroman7 shredding the gnar: We continued to lap the quad and continued to get great uncrowded runs in. The upper lot began to get filled and cars were soon parking in the lower lot. There was never a lift line, but almost all of the chairs were filled before 11. They only had 4 lifts open, but that was plenty. The sun was really shining on the West Side and by 11:30 the snow was beginning to get quite granularly. It was deep granular and it began to bump up on some of the flatter spots. However, most of the headwalls on all the trails, and the trails shielded by the patented "Elk Evergreens" were still hardpack and easy to edge with very little granular or bumps. After 15 runs, we decided to head back over to the lodge to have lunch. It was about noon. The lodge had some people in it, but overall it was pretty empty. I grabbed a powerade and chicken sandwich for $8.50 and we were back on the slopes by 12:45. We decided to hit the same runs on the west side as we did in the morning. As I stated earlier, the headwalls were still fast and hardpacked, but the flats were getting to be pretty deep granular. After lunch the snow also became much more sugary. I was having trouble not having my edges dig in as I sunk into the granular at the bottom of the headwalls. It was warming up and was around 40 at about this time, and the boarding was pleasant under blue bird skies. Luckily for me I put on sunblock in the morning and only my lips got sunburnt. After hitting Susquehanna again, we hit Slalom. I shot this picture at the top before the headwall to show the wall to wall coverage: After going down the Delaware and throwing a 360 off the tabletop in the park, we headed back over to the quad to finish our day. We hit most of the trails again and were rewarded with a mix of hardpack, groomed cord, granular, and spring sugar. On our last lift ride up the mountain, I shot this picture of the liftline to show the one area where the base was deteriorating. However, it is in one of the widest spots of the liftline, so they will easily be able to rope this off and still use the trail next weekend: Farther up the liftline, I observed a great many people going down the bump run of Tunkhannock. It was the easiest bump run for people to hit as it got the most sun exposure and traffic. The right side got significant traffic and had plenty of soft snow by the end of the day. However, I saw several people try the left side of the trail, where very few had gone before, and it was completely unskiable. Iroquois and Wyalusing, the other bump runs were basically solid ice and had very little if any traffic. By 3:30 we had gotten in 24 runs and decided to call it a day. We still had a 4 hour 15 minute drive ahead of us and wanted to get on the road. We took our last run down Tioga to Hiawatha to the picnic lodge where we took off our boards and walked down the path to the car. The gentlemen beside us had left his lights on in the morning and needed a jump. Unfortunately, we did not have jumpers and were not able to help him, Luckily, he was a local and knew many people and he was able to get some of his friends at the picnic lodge to jump him. We headed out and stopped at the Sunoco by the I-81 on ramp to pick up some NOS (my energy drink of choice) and some lifesavers. We made great time and got back to my house in DE at around 8:30. The ride was uneventful other than the fact that every other pineapple lifesaver was accidentally flavored peppermint. However, it was not entirely peppermint as it still had a slight taste of pineapple. It was terrible to say the least. Overall, it was a great weekend on the snow. The storm that is hitting the pokes, skillz, and Endless mountains means that Afroman7 and I will be up again this weekend for some more runs. If any of you are also up at Elk on Saturday, I will be wearing yellow pants, a blue jacket, and red rimmed spy goggles. As it has so many times before, Elk thoroughly impressed me. Its snow conditions and consistency still have it number one on my list. Don't miss out this weekend. Take advantage of the $20 ticket for season passholders from other mountains and get up here!!!

Terrain is fairly similar to Elk. Definitely has a short run out like Elk, but pretty good headwalls on some of the expert terrain... Elk definitely has better cruisers... All of the good cruisers at Plattekill are beginner trails around the outside... Some fun intermediate stuff in between the lifts, but overall definitely similar to Elk. Otherwise, the only difference is the lack of giving a shit... The woods weren't in play due to the warm weather and the freeze thaw, but I could tell that they have some fun wood runs... Definitely worth trying out if your in the area...

Its dumping in PA, no ice... Ice in PA? Please...