GolfingOwl

Skied Elk Saturday and it was great. Loved the bumps on Tioga Spur (always love bumps on blue trails). Tucks was decent as well though were smaller and more spread out than the bumps on Tioga Spur. Even Lehigh was open. Got first tracks on Slalom after the groomers came through when the race was finished and it was unbelievable though its amazing how quickly fresh groomed manmade snow deteriorates after some traffic. Conditions were almost as good as you could ask for in early January though another foot or so of natural and the place would be perfect. Hope the warm-up doesn't do too much damage.

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Echoing some of the earlier posts - glades and bumps! Bumps and glades make a limited terrain mountain much more interesting. You have plenty of terrain for beginners and people who want to ski blue groomers. The upper half of the mountain is practically useless to anyone above a strong intermediate. For minimal cost, you can add a ton of variety to the mountain. Adding to this thought: Bumps - Boomer was fantastic last year but you should have bumps on the upper mountain. You can easily let one of the upper trails bump up as you have several trails that ski the same right next to each other. You can always do a half bumped/half groomed thing if you want to provide an easy way down. Glades - This is a bigger deal than you think. Jack Frost makes its little mountain fun with glades. It would appear you have many options on both the upper and lower mountain to have gladed areas. Even Blue has added gladed areas. Finally, a different suggestion. You should push to have a demo day at Sno. This is a great way to attract new faces to the mountain during mid-week. Again, something that it is minimal cost but can pay big dividends (both in the short and long term).

Spent the last two days at Elk with my friend and each of our sons (10 and 13). Conditions were very good and much, much better than expected considering the winter we have been having and the weather this past week. Compared to Jack Frost, which I skied in soft corn on Friday, Elk didn't look like we were having a bad winter - what a difference 45 minutes north makes. Elk got 5 inches Friday so that obviously helped. We skied nearly the entire mountain each day. Sunday was crowded though the max we ever waited in a lift line was 10 minutes. Conditions were very good in the morning. Nice crunchy cord and the groomers skied great. Big bumps at the top of Lackawana were pretty soft though very uneven. Bumps on Tucks were skiable though the troughs were a little icy and deteriorated throughout the day. Groomers were outstanding early. Most of the blacks were great the whole day. The heavily traveled blue runs such as Kickapoo iced up a bit towards the end of the day. Today was even better. Weather, conditions and crowds were all improved over Sunday. Crowds were very light and we only had to wait 3 minutes max at the quad late in the morning - though most of the day we only had a few groups ahead of us in line. Run of the day was easily Tucks in the morning. They blew snow on Tucks last night so the skier's left side of the run (closest to the guns) was super soft bumps with soft snow in the troughs - skied great until about noon when the new snow started to get scraped off. A bluebird day made the groomers ski great, and with less traffic on the mountain, they stayed solid all day long. They had also blown snow on Chippawah the night before and that stayed soft the whole day. Elk really does have great grooming and snowmaking. Always have great skiing at Elk and this trip was no different. Elk is really in a league of its own compared to the rest of the E.PA mountains.

It was crowded (if you call waiting 30 seconds for a lift crowded) because I was there along with 150 kids for an annual middle school ski trip. Early morning was slick due to the wet night before and barely above freezing temps. Conditions improved as the day went on and temps rose turning to spring corn by the afternoon. Challenge glade improved as the day went on and was surprisingly good. Elevator was decent as were the the trees right before Elevator. Overall fun day but I have been spoiled as the last two times I was at JF (same trip the past two years) when there was tons of natural snow and the whole moutain was covered.

Yes they are and when there is snow on them as there was on Monday they need to be brushed off by the lifties (which they weren't). We actually had someone fall off loading because they slid off a snowy seat (no injuries).

We were up yesterday for our 3rd annual MLK day pilgrimage to Sno. As usual, crowds were extremely light and we never waited once for a lift. They had pounded the mountain with snow and the results showed up bigtime with some of the best man-made conditions I have encountered. Boomer was outstanding! Certainly, the softest bumps I have ever skied in PA. Shape and size were fairly consistent too. Clearly the run of the day. Skied White Lightening 3X - had about 20ft of ice at the very start of the headwall but once you got into the bumps, they were very soft (though not quite as sweet as Boomer). Last 1/3 didn't have moguls but was still soft packed powder (no ice). My kids (10 and 13) skied it for the first time and even the mostly Blue Circle wife was able to make it down without too much struggle. Whole lower mountain was nice packed powder (zero ice) including Smoke and Lower Runway. Only Lower Runway, which was closed in the morning, was mediocre (firm with little death cookies). Didn't hit Rattler as a patroler I rode the lift with said it wasn't in great shape. Only did a couple runs on the upper mountain and the conditions were nice up there. But unless you like terrain parks, upper mountain isn't worth the ride up until the trails to the far left (Upper Runway, Upper Fast Track, Snake and Glades) open up. Long Haul wasn't running but there is no need until that side of the mountain is open (Lower Fast Track was also closed). Overall, fantastic day at Sno!

Not sure about the rest of the year but the crowds were light today. Though that is why we ski Sno on holidays. Conditions were really good, nice fast crunchy pack powder. Sno does a great job with their snow making and grooming. Boomer was the best trail today. Didn't ski White Lightening as I was skiing with 6 young kids most of the day. Only gripe is the Long Haul was closed and looks to be closed for the season. Real problem isn't having to take two lifts to the top but making it very difficult to get to trails on the far left of the mountain (if looking up).

Anyone been to Sno lately? Heading up tomorrow and assume the conditions are good as they seem to be everywhere else. How is White Lightening (groomed or bumps)?

I actually enjoy low angle bumps. Wish more places did this. Great way to improve technique. Blue would be preferable due to shorter ride but I like JF with fresh snow due to the liberal ski anywhere policy and the only tree skiing in the Pocs. I'll let the 9-year old son make the call but he likes bumps, which is why I asked.

Any bumps at Jack Frost yet? Thinking about possibly hitting JF or Blue on Wednesday if we get the predicted snow.

I was there today as well. Snowed the whole day but as you said, lots of soft with icy patches in between (especially on the ungroomed trails). Bumps on Tuckhannock were very big. Lackawanna and Iroquois were my faves. Demoed 6 skis. My top 3 were Fischer Motive 80 (168), K2 Rictor 80 (167) and the Salomon Enduro (170). Didn't like the Dynastar Sultan 94 or the Line Prophet 90. Volkl AC 50 was OK but the 163 length was too short.

Most people's experience with New England mountains are big resorts. Elk is more like a local NE mountain that most travelers don't frequent. Most of these local hills have 1000' or less of vertical, similar acreage and a similar feel to Elk. You won't find high speed lifts at those mountains either. Add the increased natural snow Elk gets over the rest of the Poconos, it's more remote location (no shopping malls, outlets, golf courses or conference centers nearby), it's smaller crowds and better conditions (including several ungroomed trails) and it has that small NE mountain feel. Also, add in the high number of Telemarkers that frequent the mountain.

I am planning on hitting Elk Friday as well. Buckman's sold out of vouchers but I am going anyway for demos.

If you like bumps, Tuckhannock is their signature bump run. Bumps were starting to form nicely as of Wednesday afternoon when I was there. Run is right under the quad so you can't miss it.

Nice day yesterday. Snow was very good for most of the day. Bumps started small on Tuckhannock but grew as day went on. They are also going to let Iroquois bump up. Crowds were pretty manageable. Couple minute wait for the lifts at the lodge but zero wait for the double next to the quad and the quad only a slight wait. As always, a great day at Elk.

According to their website, Sno began blowing snow last night. Looks like nearly all the mountains are now blowing. Hopefully, we will see Sno and others open in the next couple weeks.

Bumps in Challenge glade were pretty nice a couple weeks ago when I was there (as were Exhibition as you noted). Good skiers make good bumps and with all this natural snow, they should set up nice for a little while. When they get icy, groom them out.

I have been a big advocate of more bumps at Jack Frost (and other Pocono Mountains for that matter). They make the smaller mountains more interesting. Even posted recently on Alpine Zone that Jack Frost needs more bumps. Then this just gets posted on Jack Frost's website: "We are planning on letting the bumps migrate out of the glades on skiers right of Challenge slope, bump Floyds, bump side of Thunderbolt and some other areas off of Lightning for this weekend."

As far as I know they do. In fact, my son followed one of the paths kids take on the side of trails through the trees and a patroller told him skiing in the trees wasn't allowed (mys son said the patroller was nice about it but I was down hill a bit so didn't witness the encounter). I like marked tree runs (unmarked are great too, but there is a benefit to having both). Certainly they are more tracked out than unmarked but the snow tends to be softer than what you find on the groomers and they add a lot of fun and variety to just staying on the groomers all day. They are also safer as they are typically patrolled, which is an issue for me when skiing with my son. Would be great if Elk did what the New England mountains do, have both marked tree runs and a policy of ski where you want to but I doubt that will happen so I would take marked runs over the current policy.

By glades, I mean marked tree runs. Elk's policy is you can't ski the trees and there are markers everywhere. I'm not a poacher, especially with an 8 year-old in tow. My son was disappointed we couldn't ski the tress as he loves when we ski tree runs in Vermont. Even he was pointing out great lines in the trees. I understand the potential liability issues (though other PA mountains such as JF alow tree skiing), but with Elk's vibe, expert heavy clientelle (they have 3 ungroomed blacks), and more natural snow they seem to get you would think that they would seriously consider some marked gladed areas. A more liberal policy, such as not enforcing tree skiing, would be an alternative but maybe that is just too risky in PA from a legal standpoint.

I was there Monday. I refuse to ski anywhere in Eastern PA othere than Sno on holidays because I know the crowds will be light to managable. Wasn't disappointed as there was never a wait at the lifts and the slopes were virtually empty. There were more people it seemed on the beginner side but I rarely venture over there. By the time I left, around 4 PM, lodge was crowded. It always seems to me that Sno must do a lot of night skiing business as it is empty in the morning and the crowds never come until late afternoon. Conditions were pretty nice and didn't start icing up until late in the afternoon. Boomer skied nice and it was fun running the gates on Smoke that the racers set up for practice. Skied White Lightening once - not as nice as when I skied it on MLK day where the bumps were softer and a little more uniform. Groomed runs were nice hardpack. Ungroomed areas and glades were generally icy though they softened up by day-end and some stuff on sides of trails skied nice.

Another great day at Elk. Maybe it is me, but everytime I have hit Elk in the past 5 years it has either snowed the night before or was snowing on ski day. The snow the night before left a dusting but during the day, it was pretty constant adding a couple of inches of fresh on top of the crunchy groomed snow. Trail edges had fresh untracked and also helped soften the bump runs a little. Crowds were minimal and only a minute or two wait at the lift in front of the lodge (they only had one of the doubles open). I was there the same day (Tuesday after President's day) last year and last year was more crowded - probably the snow kept people away (go figure). My 8 year old son and I skied mostly blacks and hit all three bump runs. Chippewa was our favorite but Mohawk skied nice too. There were only a few spots on each trail where the ice was real hard between the bumps, mostly is was of the soft, edgable variety. Tunkhannock was the iciest of the three and also the busiest traffic-wise. Also, the bumps seemed to vary in size from one side to the other so it wasn't too difficult finding a comfort zone depending on ability. This was my son's first real experience skiing true mogul runs and he kept wanting to go back to the bump runs. Groomed runs skied fast with crunchy hardpack. Only ice was on trails that weren't groomed from the night before. Overall, conditions were really good. Elk is truly the jem of Eastern PA skiing. Now, if they only had glade skiing.......

How are conditions up there? I imagine pretty good after the storm this week. Heading up Tuesday with my son. Looking forward to a great day of skiing at Elk (as usual).

I'll be up tomorrow (Monday) with the family. How is White Lightening and the Glades up top?