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So I went up to grab my pass from Montage last night and poke around at some of the new improvements. I must say I was pretty impressed overall, these guys sank some serious cash into the place, and it wasn't just a coat of paint here and there. We'll see how the trails are tonight or tomorrow, but here is what I found last night First of all when you pull into the lot, the first thing you hit is a brand new traffic circle/dropoff area, which is actually pretty nice. The Soccer Moms dropping off their little park rats after school are going to love this, rather than the dirt and stone parking lot of old. There is a pretty cool wire sculpture in the middle which I'll assume is from the same local artist who did the ones of the guys rappelling down the side of a building in downtown Wilkes-Barre, and the ones stacked up on each other/ hanging from a building in Pittston, with banners strung between the two pieces. As you head down the brand new steps you encounter a totally redone area, with the new rental/retail building on the left, and the lodge on the right, and a big fire pit in the center. The smell of drywall and spackle filled the air as the doors of the rental side opened up, but the ski shop looked well stocked and ready to sell people from new jersey the gloves they forgot to pack. I turned around and looked at the lodge, the biggest difference I noticed was a severe lack of MS paint images of a particular moose, almost sad to see that little guy and his triangular blue mountains go. In his stead was a new awning sporting a nice logo, and a gigantic window that was never there before, showing off chandeliers. So I cruised into the lodge and stepped into a whole new world. Gone was the smell of teenagers, french fries and wet socks, instead it was a freshly carpeted floor, new paint, and nice wood accents that made the place seem like a pretty cool place to hang out, rather than a big box store with ski clubs running around. The customer service area is beautiful, but since I didn't want to get labeled as a creep on the first day I was there, I refrained from taking pictures of it due to the nice girls behind the counter. Instead of that little office, customer service is a big counter set into a big nook, very much like a hotel front desk. So I snagged my pass and snapped some pictures of the most visible thing in the entire lodge and/or county. These Chandeliers/art pieces/lights/scrap/American Pickers' dreams come true are actually pretty awesome. Clearly cell phone pictures don't do it justice, and I wasn't going to work on getting a good shot while contractors/staff were running around finishing stuff, but they are pretty cool. Here is a side view of them, there are actually 4 individual pieces up there. They are made of old chairlift chairs, the old lights from around the mountain, sleds, scooters, neons, big bulbs, bumper boats, toboggans, and whatever else the guy could get his hands on. Swanky. I poked my head into the new bar area, and it looks nice, beautiful new bar, cool lights hanging, and new carpets/tables. I didn't get any pictures in here, because it seemed like they were having a meeting. The food selection seems to have been stepped up this year too, above the big cafeteria area there are signs for a pizza place, Starbucks Johnny Rockets, and Ben and Jerry's ice cream. A TR about the fries will have to come from someone else, because I usually just cruise down to the Shoppes at Montage for a burrito from Panchero's instead of hitting up the lodge, but maybe I'll sample some of the food this year. So I decided to continue the tour and head out onto the patio by the snow, and what to my wondering eyes should appear, a lazy effing river surrounded by snow. I don't know what's up with that, but here is another angle to show you that I'm not making it up. Overall, the place looks great, I know they tuned up all the lifts, and long haul is 100% ready to run this year. New Groomer, and a diamond and a double diamond for opening day makes me a happy camper. For the first week or so I'm sure there will be some bugs to work out, but overall it seems pretty awesome, and as long as no lawyers get a look at that snowy death trap that is the lazy river, I think we are in for a quality first week.