trackbiker

They definetely don't want to push it out for this warm spell. It looks like they may have pushed some out on Vista from the cam but can't really tell.

I was surprised to see that they even blew snow in the valley. I would have thought that they would have put as much production as possible into getting a good base on Vista and Main Street. I hope it all doesn't melt this weekend.

Guns are off now at 11:40am. I guess it got too warm or too warm to make snow efficiently. It's an automatic system IIRC.

Great to hear. When are they going to get the winter website up? Trail maps, rates, hours, etc....?

Glad to hear about the new lights. Those tall parking lot lights were terrible. Too many dark spots and shadows.

I think all the new things will be up on the website soon. KC will likely chime in when it's time to release any news. From what I heard so far things are looking good.

Heard from a little bird that the morning ticket may be going to $29.00. Still a great deal.

True, but most eastern areas are a collection of pods and you need to take multiple lifts to get the full vert. The Adirondack Express is 1500' and Burnt Ridge Express about 1450'. The K1 Gondi is only 1647' at Killington. You need to take stage 1 & 2 of the Skyeship Gondi to get any more and the bottom is all flat.

The hotel and condos are across the street from the ski area. I think they run a shuttle bus if you stay there. The mountain is only 900' vertical but it is spread out. About the only improvement in 30 years up to now has been the glades. Zeus, Hercules, and Olympian are pretty steep. The East side is pretty flat but has some nice glades. Like mbike-ski said, when they get the lake effect the snow is great. If you have the WNEP card it's worth the drive to check it out. Gore is a much longer drive but a very big mountain. The 2D trailmap doesn't do it justice. It's a 3D mountain. Worth the trip with the "free" ticket on the WNEP card. I was there last weekend at the Harvest Festival.

Nothing has really changed there in 30+ years up to now. They are getting a new fixed grip quad with a conveyor loader. Great place when they get some natural snow. The snowmaking system still needs an upgrade. I hope the new owners continue with skiing improvements. The old owner sunk all of the money into condos and the water park.

Thanks for the info RD. Just found this. Not much info on the owner or any plans for the place. http://www.firsttracksonline.com/2013/09/29/future-looks-bright-for-alpine-mountain-following-auction/

What Ride Delaware said.

Any news on the auction? Did anyone bid? Did it sell? Any industry insiders hear anything?

$25.00 morning tickets will definitely get me and several of my friends up there a few times this season. The 10 o'clock crowd will always pay the full price anyway so the morning deal is definitely a winner for the mountain and the early birds who otherwise wouldn't come. Real extra revenue.

I've skied there a few times. Used my WNEP card there last year and did a morning session. Nothing too hard but a few very short steeps at the bottom. Everytime I've been there the conditions were good and crowds nonexistent. A great place for beginners and kids as an alternative to a very crowded Camelback beginners area and trails. I hope someone keeps it open.

You can get to Snowbasin and Powder Mountain on a bus from Ogden now. Just started this past season. http://www.standard.net/stories/2012/12/14/uta-ski-bus-begins-serving-ogden-valley-ski-resorts You can take the train direct from the airport to Ogden. I'm sure you could find reasonable ski and stay deal at a hotel in Ogden,

Can someone please remind me why Elk closed the gate? The people in Village have always been good customers of Elk. Heck, they're about the only people who can hang out at the bar and spend money because they don't have to drive anywhere. Friends had a house in the Village when I was a kid and I went there often. Never knew the property line was the berm in the lake.

Looks good. The website gives the impression of a more professional management already. And no more goofy moose!

Thanks for keeping us updated, K.C. I hope the new management makes a go of it. Their plan may be to make the place profitable then sell to another operator to recoop some of their previous investment. But that's OK. I hope they keep some of the discount pricing like the $25.00 morning tickets and a discount weekday. They need to give people a reason to drive past the competition from the NYC and Philly metro areas to see what great snowmaking and terrain they have. I also like the name change back to Montage. No one I talked to knew what Sno was but they knew Montage. Hopefully, they will change the names of the "Snake" and whatever trails names were added under the old management back to railroad theme names to give some continuity to the trail names. With Steamtown right in Scranton maybe they can partner with some others trying to market the area under a common theme.

Nice report and pics. Love those "off the map" places.

LUK Oil stations have B1G1 coupons good for Sundays at JFBB

Thanks. I was just wondering why it would calculate a different vert for all of the north face trails when you're skiing from the top of the lift to the bottom of the lift on every trail. Did you ski to the Long Haul? I think that is a little higher than the Phoebe.

Phew! They paid $5.1 million in 2006; spent an additional $19+ million; and now it's worth between $4.4 and $6 million. What a bunch of shrewd inventors! (Why aren't the emoticons working? I could use a few here.) They'll have to change that saying, "How do you make a million dollars in the ski industry?....Start with $24 million! )