trackbiker

Alpine is a great alternative for beginners and novices as opposed to dealing with the crowds at Camelback. There is only one very short steep run near the bottom. Did they ever replace the bridge on the way in?

Elk is the best mountain in PA for skiers but it does not have the best park.

I think that is weekdays. Last year it was 8:30 on weekends.

Thanks for the info. Not so easy to navigate to the daily ticket page on the website but I bought one of the weekend 9:00 to 1:00 tickets. Not a bad deal for $23.20 good on a holiday when all the other deals are blacked out and other places are mobbed.

I prefer quality over quantity when it comes to skiing, beer, and women. Not necessarily in that order. Plus I hate crowds which helps for delaying gratification.

Funny how most places are mobbed on opening day on a WROD and then empty on closing day with nice weather and usually most of the terrain open.

When the WNEP Ski Card comes out buy one. It includes one time each at about 8 ski areas. Usual areas are Sawmill, Denton, Big Boulder, Jack Frost, Montage, Shawnee, Gore, and Mountain Creek. I always use it twice at JF since JF & BB are interchangeable. You likely won't use it at Mountain Creek but Swain should be within day trip range for you. Price last year was $129.00. I'm sure someone will post here when it is available.

It was sold to Mt. Peter, NY. It had the double-double towers but only one double on one side was ever installed.

Here's a link to great film about community ski areas in case you haven't seen it. United We Ski http://www.t-barfilms.com/projects Can't beat it for only $10.00

Spring Mountain was it for me. Parents could drop me off and pick me up at the end of the day or night before I could drive. In college I could ski there for $5.00 on Friday nights on my Drexel I.D. Sometimes went to Doe Mountain.

The tickets can only be used once at any resort. There are three or five stubs on the bottom. Some resorts make you sign the stub and check off their area on the top part of the pass. Others don't bother and just take the stub. Okemo is one of the resorts that usually checks off the area so you couldn't use it there again. They are also blacked out holidays and Presidents week. I've been using this for at least 6 years. It went up $5 this year but it's still a great deal. I will also get the Fox44 and WNEP cards again this year. I'm thinking that the WNEP card will likely include Montage this year. It wasn't included last year I guess due to the ownership transition.

That is an eastern garter snake. Snakes, bats, and spiders are all good. Don't kill them. None of them want to bite you and they eat pests that we like even less like flies, mice, and mosquitoes.

Plattekill announced they may open this Sunday if they sell 100 tickets online for $20 each. http://plattekill.com/home-trio/spring-rates

Didn't intend to start a controversy. The ADKs are beautiful in their own right and offer as much vertical as most places out west. Personally I think the ADKs and the Whites of NH are much more scenic than the mountains in VT. Not comparing skiing here, just scenery. I know the Greens get more snow and you can't compare the skiing in the east to the skiing in the west. I can say that I prefer Gore to Whiteface (it lived up to it's pseudonym every time I've been there; Iceface). Gore is comparable to almost any place in NE when comparing terrain and glade skiing with less crowds. I hope the WNEP card keeps Gore on it next year.

Thanks for the report. Gore is a great mountain and doesn't get as crowded as places in VT. Heading up there this weekend. Twister is a great cruiser but it's not in New England.

Thanks for the report. Too bad they're closing so early. I still have one WNEP ticket I never got to use. Looking forward to seeing what improvements the new owners make for next year.

They're all green trails in front of the lodge. but Highball winds down the side. I think they all have enough slope to get you moving on one of those things. I can see some yahoos crashing into things and people at the bottom already.

Once you are familiar with it, conveyors are the easiest thing to load. It's pretty much lean against the gate and when it opens slide onto the conveyor. I think they could have done a better job posting instructions in the lodge or on a big board in the lift line until people are familiar with it. People either don't lean on the gate and miss the chair or they try to pole onto the conveyor and fall down. You can run the lift faster because the speed is regulated by the loading speed not the line speed. The conveyor effectively lowers the loading speed relative to the line speed.

From the website: Montage Mountain is the only resort in PA (and 1 of 7 in the country) to offer the air boarding experience! An Airboard is an inflatable sled that is lightweight and easy to maneuver, allowing for a fast, fun ride down the mountain! Airboarding is offered on Sundays and Tuesdays from 4pm-9pm, on 3 designated trails (Easy Street, Mainline, and Highball.) First time air boarders must complete the skills seminar during their first session. Your airboarding package includes a lift ticket and airboard equipment rental (airboard, knee pads, and helmet). We recommend riders to wear goggles and waterproof gear to make your experience comfortable and fun!

The new lift is not a HSQ. It is a fixed grip quad with a loading conveyor which theoretically allows it to run a little faster. I was there two weekends ago and it kept stopping so much that it was quicker to take the old double next to it. Nice to see the new owners putting some money into the ski area for the first time in 30 years. Upstairs lodge redo is nice too. They do have some nice glades and skiing was good even two weeks ago.

This is what Blue should do for their lower park. It would keep the people who just want to ride the park from having to take the 6-pack all the way to the top then Lazy Mile all the way to the park.

I was at Elk last week and conditions were the best I've skied all year including 7 days in VT. With the steady cold weather I would still expect the conditions to be excellent.

If you look at skilifts.org lift installations it says nothing about either the quad or 6-pack being used. I have a master copy of the list in an Excel file. The list includes if any of the lifts were used. Used lifts are always listed where they came from and the "manufacturer" is listed as a broker, installer, or refitter in addition to the original manufacturer unless it is a "Frankelift". I don't think any refitters are doing detachable lifts. As mentioned by others, they are complicated machines. I can't post a copy of the North American Ski Lift Survey as I promised that I wouldn't share it. For the doubters I may post the lines for the quad and 6-pack and some examples of used lifts that were re-installed. I'm heading to N. VT tomorrow so it wouldn't be until next week. But in any case, both lifts were new. I'm sure you could google some news articles from when they were installed that confirm that. "Someone" saying that the lifts were used just shows how rumors get started.

? I'm pretty sure both high speeds at Blue were purchased new. The quad from Poma and the 6-pack from Leitner-Poma. Mad River was maybe the broker or did the install? If they were used lifts where did they come from? There is not a lot of 6-packs that have been removed.

Like any other area. Get there early so you're on the slopes by opening and you'll have fresh cord for the first hour and uncrowded conditions until the masses show up around 10:00. It will never get as crowded as Blue. Montage is usually my go-to mountain on a holiday weekend. It will likely be more crowded than previous years but still less crowded than Blue, CB, or JF. I think the $29.00 morning deal is still available on holidays. That's what I'll be doing this weekend if I ski. Get the fresh cord and uncrowded conditions and get out when the masses arrive.