am476

for some reason, march is an interesting time in the poconos to observe birds. i always see huge swarms of them when i go skiing at blue mountain in march. just last week, i saw a swarm made up over 20 large triangle formations of birds spinning around each other. i wish i had a camera. it's too bad about the squirrel.

it's not too bad. if you want to go out and drink, then you have to pay a fee to be a member of a drinking club. it's basically like paying a cover charge to get into a bar. the easiest place to get alcohol was at the ski resort's cafeteria, but from what I remember, all the beer that they serve in the state has to be domestically (locally) brewed and it contains less alcohol than normal - sort of like a bizarro-world version of skiing in the alps.

i'm kind of stranded due to the icy roads and a bit bored. i found this website that shows pretty clear satellite images and decided to look for ski places. here are camelback, alpine, and shawnee to see where each one is in relation to each other. it looks like alpine is northeast of camelback and shawnee is due east (i had to drag the map to the below coordinates to find them). Camelback Latitude: 41 degrees, 2' 53'' N Longitude: 75 degress, 21' 9'' W Alpine Latitude: 41 degrees, 6' 41'' N Longitude: 75 degrees, 13' 43'' W Shawnee Latitude: 41 degrees, 2' 11'' N Longitude: 75 degrees, 4' 39'' W

i went to utah with my digital camera at the end of january for a 3 day trip. unfortunately/fortunately, we had a foot of snow dump on us each day we were there, so i didn't get to take too many clear pictures. i had a strange feeling while almost thinking that there was too much snow. i don't think 1 mp disposable digital cameras are worth it - it would be like taking pictures with a camera phone. i would get a 2 or 3 megapixel digital camera from canon if you go for a digital camera (some of them go for less than $200 and take great pictures) or go the disposable route and get the film developed out there. be prepared for high sales taxes and strange rules about alcohol. but park city should be a cool place to stay.

both shawnee and alpine are due east of camelback, but alpine is closer (~6 or 7 miles away compared with about 11 miles away). so it makes sense that the picture is actually of alpine.

so no more moguls at camelback besides oak grove (which is a weird place for them)?

i have regular ski bags that have some extra protection around the bindings (this is the most important part to protect while transporting skis). i also put my helmet around the tips, put my ski clothes around the end, and put foam mattress padding around everything. my skis came back to me fine.

this is what they do every other year, but i can't imagine their base is that good this year. last time i was up there, they had thin-cover signs in several places. it's frustrating that now that they finally have the weather that would allow snowmaking, they will decide not to do it. this time of year is so aggravating.

that happens to me too now. that song truly is a beautiful tribute to breast cancer.

unfortunately, you can't go to camelback on windy days. they seem to close the upper mountain as soon as the winds get to around 30 mph. the single blacks are more challenging than the double black anyway. when conditions are good, camelback is more fun because of the variety in trails - blue only has a handful of trails. but in adverse weather conditions, blue is definitely way better.

i'm surprised things deteriorated that quickly. i went to blue saturday morning and conditions were great. razor's edge and main street/barney's bumps were particularly excellent. i guess the warm afternoon and high winds later in the day screwed things up for sunday. there were also a lot of people even early in the morning.

was camelback really open until 3/26 last year? according to camelback's message board, they are going to have a pond-skimming thing on 3/18 (they have their spring fling that weekend also), which makes it seem like this is the date that they will close this year my brother learned how to ski at camelback in 2000 or 2001. he claims to have gone for the first time in the beginning of april to get lessons and was able to go skiing again a week later at camelback (i'm not sure if this is accurate). so according to him, they were open into april one of those years, but since then they have been closing in mid-march (or early march in 2002).

i have noticed a difference in conditions compared with previous warm years. things have been better this year. however, i've been wondering about their snowmaking. according to the conditions page on their website, it looks like they have been grooming but they haven't been making any snow despite the cold nights. i wonder if they have given up on snowmaking for the rest of the year since we've passed president's day. i was previously concerned that blue mountain would do this, but they have been making snow according to their website. has anyone seen them make snow this week? EDIT: never mind. glenn posted an answer to my question while i was typing it.

thanks. and yes, i'm coming from NJ, so I would be taking 22 west for a long time until i get to 145. the only time i had to deal with traffic while going to blue mtn was when i was taking this route. i think i remember that 145 also has the shopping area, which caused traffic problems.

i usually take rt 33 -> rt 22 -> rt 512 -> rt 248 -> rt 946. it's much better than taking the MacArthur Rd exit, but i'm not sure how it compares with rt 33 -> rt 248 -> rt 946. the way that i go involves taking 22 for a short time, so i don't get stuck on it, but i'm wondering what 248 is like on the part that is east of rt 512. i'm afraid of being stuck on a slow local road with tons of traffic lights and speed restrictions. has anyone compared the two?

if you are actually making plans for a ski trip in late march, i would not do it in the poconos. there's no guarantee that anything will be open that late - especially this year. new england would be much safer if you're making plans with your family. it's not as convenient, but it's less risky.

i like belleayre (more vertical and better terrain), but the last time i was there at the end of january, the conditions were a mess. however, i don't know what it's like right now and the free lift ticket on your birthday thing is nice.

i was at camelback during the afternoon and it wasn't crowded at all. i think most people from nj and new york were just snowed in so it was mostly locals that were out there. luckily, my car works great in the snow.

I remember checking out the Blue Mountain website a day or two ago. They had some text there that said that mentioned the return of cold temperatures and also that they will be making snow for the next two weeks. At first this seemed like great news, but now that I think about it, I'm wondering if this means that they will stop making snow after President's day weekend regardless of what late February or March weather may bring.