Ride Delaware ?

I'd think about checking out Shawnee... They seem to have some decent terrain open, and if Sno opens it will split up the crowds... I think Shawnee might be a good alternative for decent terrain and the chance to miss the crowds... I'm sure Blue and CB will have crowds... If CB had the other quad open I would go there hands down, but it is december now and the word is out... Crowds will be picking up everywhere... I know Elk wont have crowds, but they historically have not offered lift ticket discounts for early or late season riding, so its not worth the money for the 4 trails they have open...

Not to be confrontational, but it was the Sullivan lift that was open, and I heard that Tut's wasn't open, and if it was, it surely doesn't lead to Honeymoon Lane... That being said, Camelback is always r tarded when it comes to their operating policies... Thats why I switched to a Blue season pass last year... They often don't run both high speed quads in the middle of winter on weekdays... Many a time I have gone to find them closing the Stevenson around 5-6... It gets a little old... That being said, they should stay open, but it doesn't surprise me... Their early opening was bittersweet... It should have been the weekend before, regardless of less terrain, they should at least stay open midweek 9-4, or 4-9 if they want the after schoolers, and they definitely should have more open than the sunbowl and the park... Im guessing that the only reason they even have the sunbowl open is to allow passage to the park and give those parking at the main lodge a return lift...

I talked to one of the PR guys through some emails a couple years ago when I was doing a little research for an article I was writing for dcski, and I asked if there would be anymore lights added, and he said there wasn't enough night business to justify it... So naturally, I suggested that maybe adding more lights and making it more of a night time destination would increase business... He said that may be the case, but it just wasn't logical... At the time, I was younger and thought that was a good way of saying we don't want or don't have the money to spend... Even if that is the case, I see his point... Midweek most of the night skiiers are locals no matter where you go... And if they aren't, they are vacationers.... Unfortunately, the nearest hotels are nearly 20 minutes away if not farther, and you can get a pretty good workout during the day at Elk... I love Elk, and would therefore love to see an expansion, but I don't know when that is likely to happen... If there were more hotels closer and it was more of a destination area instead of a weekend warrior area, I think you would see more of a desire to do so... But, the last expansion, which I believe was the addition of the quad and a couple of trails off of the quad, occurred in 97' If that is the case, maybe some small expansions are due (ie a trail or two), but I unfortunately dont see them spending any massive amounts of dollars in the next few years...

They have updated their site, and only a terrain park will be open this weekend in the tubing park... However, they will open for skiing/riding on November 28th including a park in Rhodo... Still seems silly not to open this weekend, but they have added a new trail or two to the snowmaking list, so opening day should boast close to 10 trails!!!

I don't care if they did have a park open... Their stupidity is beyond me... I wouldn't go to make a point... They have been running around the clock for over 3 days, which is more than enough to get some trails open... I mean seriosuly, they could move those guns and have another 3-4 trails open by the weekend... Not opening until Dec. 5th is the exact reason I got a pass to Blue last year... They are dedicated to money, not product or rep... I really wish someone would call them and talk some sense into them... I have a feeling they are planning on opening T-Day and arent telling us to build suspense, but if you have been running the guns, running the lifts would only be a marginal increase in cost and you could get this weekend of revenue in and next weeks (which will be way higher). Not to mention, if people see your open this weekend they will assume you will be open next weekend and make their plans accordingly... The business plan doesn't make sense to me... I'm 100% sure its not a manpower issue since most of the hiring is complete... Ok, so maybe you can't get a full staff, but not enough to run the Sullivan and add like 5 ski patrollers? BS!!! Why waste the money and not do anything with it?

F*CK Lafayette!!!

Once again, the buzzkill known as Camelback strikes again... I called this morning and their tentative opening date is still Dec. 5th... The small park will be all that is open... Seems like their wasting two good weekends of revenue to me...

They will have more open than just a park... They are just building the park in the tubing area instead of laurel... My guess is that they will have about 7 trails and there will be early season rates in effect... They are usually pretty good about that kind of thing... Well, at least for late season...

I can't get the webcam to work... Anybody else having that problem? Can anyone make it up there to take some pics? Are the guns still on?

The website shows 7 trails with snowmaking and a tentative opening for the 28th... Not that we care...

I love Elk, thats why I called them... Its a great day destination, but its in the middle of nowhere... However, they have the highest elevation in PA and are the farthest north... If anyone should be making snow for an opening, it should be them... Most of their trails are pretty wide and take alot of snow... Granted they dont have the most powerful snowmaking system, but they could make it happen by next week if they wanted too...

Yeah, they will probably be able to make the opening with just blowing at night, but its probably only going to hit 30 and they coulda kept them going... The coverage at CBack looks better than that of Boulder Park from the webcam though...

Looks like Boulder shut the guns down... Still going strong at CB...

If it stays cold and there doesn't appear to be a massive warmup for next week I would bet they stay open... There would be no reason to close down if they can keep up the snow quality... Its great PR for T-Day which I am sure will be a big weekend for them if they make it... Another holiday weekend on the books would be a huge success...

I just called to see when their tentative opening date is, and the lady told me depending on the weather (don't know if shes been outside or not lately) early to mid-december... I didn't think to ask if they were making snow, but I should have... Can anybody shed some light on that?

Yeah, the webcam is showing an impressive amount of snow being made... It would appear to be from a fan gun on Sullivans or Laurel Glade...

They have the snowmaking plans on their condition page, and although it will be November skiing and riding in PA, their strategy is different... The past two years they started with Marc Anthony, Cleo, Honeymoon Lane, Coolmor, and Home Again... However, they used to open Marjie's opening day and would appear to be poised to do so again this year. The layout may be different, but it will allow for beginner terrain and "expert" terrain on opening day. It would appear that the ski school would be open too... I wonder if they can open everything before Christmas like they did four years ago... If they get the mountain open this weekend and expand that trail count to 10 by t-day, I think they will see a decently profitable business unless there is some unexpected NCP...

Yeah, Duh, Snowmaking...

Im starting to get the itch...

Im just going through some weather forecasts and such for the extended forecast, and it looks like some decent early season snowmaking temps will arrive almost a week before T-Day... Do you think there is anyone other than Big Boulder that will give it a shot, or are we are looking at 350' vert again for T-day? Most resorts will start to make snow around that time (the 20th), but who will make the push to have everything in place if the temps cooperate?

I know its been talked about in the past, but would anyone be interested in forming a paskiandride team? If we threw 4 or 5 of us together we could definitely make a run at the top vertical for a team... Especially if we could somehow con Steeze into it... That man could cover some serious ground...

From what I have heard from various posts on this board, Sno seems to be having some small financial problems... I think that coupled with the economy at the present time, they will be unlikely to attempt an early opening date unless it is guaranteed... (None of this week to week blow and melt Killington and Sunday River are having) However, if the temps pan out early next week, I would love to see them blow some snow... I think that the results after T-Day would definitely benefit them if they have decent conditions... Plus, Sno can blow from the lodge up to the peak and save a couple hundred feet of vert... As long as it doesn't resemble that WROD at Shawnee the day after T-Day four years ago, I think they can make some dolla dolla bills yo...

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but if this is an accuweather forecast it is probably way too optimistic... I have been looking at weather forecasts for the Killington and Sunday River areas because I plan on making a pre t-day trip after the Lehigh Lafayette game, and while temps look good for the next 3 nights, there will be a 3 day warmup... They say the jet stream should drop by the end of the week, so we should have some legit temps by next Monday...

I have been helping a friend of mine who is finally ready to invest in his own equipment. I have not ridden many types of boards (Rad Air and Burton), and I would appreciate some help on buying a board package for him. We would like to keep it under $450 for board, boots, and bindings, which I know is pretty low, but he is a beginner and would likely upgrade in a year or two. I was looking online and found some pretty good deals for a Forum Recon package and a Sims Oath package. Does anyone have any input on either of these boards? The Recon seems like a pretty legit all mountain beginner board, so I am kinda leaning toward that. Can anyone offer a review or some advice?

If they do it again this year I would be totally down for that kind of thing... Not to mention, I haven't ridden the Peak since Junior year of high school... Somebody keep us posted?