So what is so great about Blue?

[Rob in NJ]

I've been reading a bunch of posts about how great Blue is. I've never been there. When I ski in PA, it's usually Camelback. I've been to JF once. When I went to Blue's site, according to the trail map, it looks like a pretty small mountain. Having never been there, I don't know what the attraction is Can you shed some light on the greatness of Blue? And how do you think it compares to Camelback? Thanks!

[Tyler]

i like it for its vert, fast lifts, long park. We also have some people on this board who are very partial to Blue, so everything they say can be pretty biased.

[k2rider2690]

if your a skier then its got alot of vert but otherwise nope

[Rob in NJ]

How does vert compare to Camelback? More vert overall? Steeper trails?

[rgrwilco]

blue is bigger vertically than cb, with longer more interesting terrain. blue is also alot bigger then frost, however east mountain at frost is more challenging than anything blue has to offer. compared to camelback, blue is a much better mountain due to lifts being actually open, no suprise closings of half the mountain, rangers, ect. the only thing lacking at blue is the snow conditions. they always seem to be the worst out of the pocono mountains, but thats just from my experience. GSS will probobly tell you otherwise.

[stever2003]

JF is a lot smaller than Blue. Plus, Blue has over 400 more vertical feet than JF, much longer runs, and two high speed lifts....that's less time sitting, more time skiing.

[GSSucks]

Blue sucks don

[Timeless]

How does vert compare to Camelback? More vert overall? Steeper trails?

 

It has 200 feet more overall vert, but the trails are no steeper, in fact I would say they are less steep in general because as the (very biased) blue groupies will tell you half of camelback's black are just run-out but therefore the upper part is that much steeper (if admittedly too short).

 

Taking a typical "black" run at Blue (say mainstreet or midway), they are not as steep as big pocono or pharoah if you are familiar with CB as a reference point, and the "double blacks" are probably justifiable as a real black diamond run.

 

Some people will tell you that Blue lacks variety in it's trails, but when it's fully open it does OK in this respect.

 

The snowmaking / grooming is generally better at CB and certainly the conditions are generally better at JF.

 

If you like the park, then when it's open they have a great one in sidewinder and generally speaking they have a decent one in Come Around most of the year and it looks pretty impressive already.

 

If you haven't been, it's certainly worth a visit, overall I would say it's on a par with CB and JF.

 

 

Blue sucks don

[toast21602]

i like blue better than camelback, although i really dont have many complaints about camelback since i've only been there a few times and dont really know how things work up there. i like blue because:

 

1) park run from top to bottom.

2) high speed quad/6pack.

3) 7:30 opening on weekends, 8:30 weekday

4) college discount every weekday.

5) large crowds dont hit weekends until 10ish.

6) wide variety of trails.

7) its 10 minutes from my house.

8) long trails

9) it doesnt close because of bad weather

10) again, park run top to bottom.

Edited December 13, 2007 by toast21602

[sexkitten]

blue is bigger vertically than cb, with longer more interesting terrain. blue is also alot bigger then frost, however east mountain at frost is more challenging than anything blue has to offer. compared to camelback, blue is a much better mountain due to lifts being actually open, no suprise closings of half the mountain, rangers, ect. the only thing lacking at blue is the snow conditions. they always seem to be the worst out of the pocono mountains, but thats just from my experience. GSS will probobly tell you otherwise.

 

Couldn't have said it better myself so I won't.

[Papasteeze]

They have an excellent snowmaking

 

This wrong, very wrong. It is well known that on any given day the snow quality is worse at Blue than most others. GSS doesn't know because he doesn't go to other mountains once Blue is open. Frequently I would have a kid racing or at the park at Blue while the other kid was somewhere else. We are based out of Camelback. I have seen conditions from other mountains on the same day as Blue and Blue was always in a worse "condition". Bear Creek excluded.

 

 

Alot of Camelback passholders become Blue passholders...

 

Maybe for park, or verticle hounds such as yourself, but certainly did not switch for the overall experience.

 

If I had a choice between Blue or Camelback for a particular day, I still would go to Camelback. If my son had a choice on a given day between the two, he would choose Blue for the park and people that he knows there. My other son could care less, they are both the same to him. Over history, family friends have picked Camelback over Blue, they have done Blue for day trips because it was closer, but they preferred Camelback.

 

BTW - we were CB pass holders for the last 2 years and are now at JFBB. We have a house at CB. Make sense?

Edited December 13, 2007 by Papasteeze

[Timeless]

If my son had a choice on a given day between the two, he would choose Blue for the park and people that he knows there. My other son could care less, they are both the same to him.

 

BTW - we were CB pass holders for the last 2 years and are now at JFBB. We have a house at CB. Make sense?

 

makes perfect sense, you are at JFBB for the park scene and wish you could sell your place at CB but the market sucks.

 

If you are not into the park, I would choose between JF and CB based on ease of access or if you can only ski'ride at peak times (in which case go to JF). personally I would (and do) pick CB over both because I live very close. If I lived near JF I would be a pass holder there, no question. If I lived near Blue I would probably be a passholder there.

 

 

 

 

 

The snow Blue makes especially early season isn't as good quality as others like Big Boulder but it is dense and holds up well during rainstorms and thaws..later in the season they blow really light snow..

 

There's a big difference between

 

"excellent snowmaking"

 

and

 

"they make a lot of snow"

[AtomicSkier]

There's a big difference between

 

"excellent snowmaking"

 

and

 

"they make a lot of snow"

 

Right. Blue mountain has insane snowmaking power, and frankly, that's all I care about.

 

The funny thing is opening day at blue mountain had less death cookies then the opening of boulder park.

[Papasteeze]

The funny thing is opening day at blue mountain had less death cookies then the opening of boulder park.

 

funny thing about that is that Boulder opened 1 month before Blue.

[toast21602]

funny thing about that is that Boulder opened 1 month before Blue.

 

thats not actually funny. but, its true because of the temperature difference.

[Justin]

BB opened one month before Blue, big whoop. They have a 2-4 degree difference. They decided to blow snow on a few small trails and get them open. Blue fired up their guns in early November as well, they just need more top-bottom coverage because they are a much bigger mountain.

 

Reasons why I like Blue:

 

Lots of vert.

Long runs.

Top-Bottom Park.

Fast lifts, 2 high speed lifts.

Excellent pass value.

 

When I'm at home I drive an hour and 15 minutes to ski blue. I could of easily got my pass at BC and shaved 30 minutes off my travel time, but it's much more worth it to ski blue.

[AtomicSkier]

funny thing about that is that Boulder opened 1 month before Blue.

 

 

So? It is what it is, and BB has color temperatures. The day Boulder park opened had more death cookies then the day Main street opened.

[AtomicSkier]

no amount of excuses will change that fact

 

T.E.M.P.E.R.A.T.U.R.E.

[Glenn]

Blue is good because:

 

-1082 vert

-Long sustained pitch slopes

-Long (insert type of trail you like) run.

 

Blue sucks because:

 

-They haven't matched their downhill capacity with their lift capacity, so when it's crowded, the slopes are a mad house.

-Their conditions aren't as good as JF or CB. I think grooming and wind exposure are to blame.

-Atomic Jeff skis there almost everyday.

 

 

It's a pretty good mountain for what the Poconos have to offer. You should probably give it a try and let your own experiences guide you. It's certainly not a "small" mountain by Pocono standards.

[RidgeRacer]

What I like about Blue is trails like Lazy Mile, switchback, sidewinder, even Burma Road. I like winding trails that have some pitch to them. I can't think of any other trails in the area like that except for Kickapoo at Elk. Like Steeze said, CB flattens out way too quickly.

[Justin]

Just because BB opened earlier doesn't make it a better mountain. Yes, I skied there in November. Yes, I enjoyed it. But I prefer Blue much more. The runs at BB are way too short and the lifts are way too slow to consider making that my home mountain. Not to mention it's another 40 or so miles from Blue. Plus Freedom Park isn't as great as people hype it up to be, IMO. Yeah, the hits are nice, yeah, the trail is wide. I don't like how it's so secluded from the rest of the mountain though, it's way too short of a run, and the lift for the park is too slow.

[Barb]

everybody stop crying and be happy there are 2 snowstorms coming.

[rgrwilco]

Blue sucks don

[snorovr]

Pennsylvania hills are as good as the people who ski them. I started going to Blue because I had a place to stay nearby, and made a bunch of friends that are the coolest cats around. Now whenever I go anywhere else I don't have nearly as much fun because we know all the little ins and outs at Blue. I'd probably feel the same way about any of the other local mountains had I made one of them my home mountain and found a crew to ride with. Also, I had a ton of fun early season at Boulder this year, and will be back there from time to time, but I love being able to do more than ten turns in a run like I have to at Big Boulder or Jack Frost.

 

Ya Blue has made some mistakes in the past, but so has every other mountain. Most people don't know that a couple years back Blue's park scene was arguably one of the most progressive in the region (Big Air on Falls, a ridiculous straight rail from the deck of the halfpipe down into terrain run, etc...). Then Bear stepped it up bigtime and took over for a spell, and now Boulder seems to be the place to go. So far this year at Blue the park has been maintained pretty damn well, and I can't wait to open up Sidewinder. Park crew is doing a great job with Come Around and I'm hoping we can continue that.

[method9455]

I don't think Blue can claim its strong snowmaking system anymore. Making a lot of snow doesn't count if the surface sucks and their season isn't any longer.

They're opening a month later, and I Laurentian they won't be the last to close. If you want to say they have an excellent snowmaking system that puts out quantity over quality, they better be open later than everyone else. At this point, temperature is not an excuse they have had temperatures, and they will have it. So why don't they lay down enough snow to last as long as others? Why aren't they rolling out terrain at the pace others are? How long till the good trails under the 6 pack get open? What upgrades are they going to do for the new trails, or will it take even longer to open that stuff?

 

And sure JFBB has 2-4 degrees on you guys, but they opened a trail with a 24-48 hour window of snowmaking, Blue wasn't able to do that when they got 48-72 hours a few weeks ago. And yea they have to go for a longer trail, but Blue has such a good snowmaking system you would think they could ONE trail. They don't even open on the taller side anyway, what is the difference between the side that is open at blue now and the side that opened at Boulder on the first weekend? 300 feet? So we're talking probably 10 - 12 guns? Is that a huge difference? Not really. And they still have the older style guns which lay down inferior snow, no question. Sure it is an investment to install them, but you can't tell me the top of razors/challenge wouldn't benefit from them, or sidewinder, or paradise, giant wide open trails that just beg for fan guns. They probably could have used that instead of the 6 pack and it would pay off with better snow quality. When you read the reports from even the fan boys, Blue has death cookies and ice more than anyone else in PA.

 

As for trails themselves, the ones at Blue beat JFBB without question. The 3 or 4 trails on east mountain are more fun than any single trail at Blue because they have some character to them, you have some turns and some dips, and they are a little steeper than the ones at Blue. But in the end, they are only 600 feet and at the end you have a slow double to get back up. You can definately get a lot more turns per day at Blue off the high speed quads. Challenge, Razors, and Paradise are just great trails. They are kind of straight and wide open, but they are endlessly fun. I don't really know the shorter side of the mountain that well.

 

The park is fine at Blue, I wouldn't go just for the park when there are 2 other mountains (Boulder and Mountain Creek) about the same distance for me that are way better, but it isn't a detractor either.

 

Camelback is kind of halfway in between the two. Narrower trails, more curves and dips, some spots that are steeper than blue and some that are less. They still have high speed lifts. You can't get as much vert per hour but I feel there is more variety to it than Blue. They also have better grooming and snow than blue. But their park blows horribly, it makes me not want to go there because I know I won't do any park.

 

This time of year, I like JFBB best. Come mid january, I would take blue overall as my favorite, with Camelback to mix it up with non-park riders, and do my park at Boulder, and end of the year i'll be back at Boulder since everywhere else will be closed.