Still closed

[moe ghoul]

Guns are making snow as we speak, let's channel some positive vibes to keep the cold blast around a little longer

[Timeless]

Guns are making snow as we speak, let's channel some positive vibes to keep the cold blast around a little longer

 

No they're not. I just got back from the hill and they made some snow last night (Marjies & Cleo's) but not much. They opened Marjies without grooming out the new stuff which was interesting, sticky new snow over ice, quite fun.

 

The rest of the hill really needs some new snow, let's hope the temp keep going down.

 

Cliffhanger was by far the best condition of all the runs today, especially early on before the surface got broken up.

[moe ghoul]

No they're not. I just got back from the hill and they made some snow last night (Marjies & Cleo's) but not much. They opened Marjies without grooming out the new stuff which was interesting, sticky new snow over ice, quite fun.

 

The rest of the hill really needs some new snow, let's hope the temp keep going down.

 

Cliffhanger was by far the best condition of all the runs today, especially early on before the surface got broken up.

 

 

I stand corrected, the conditions report showed snowmaking on 6 trails, but the comment said they made it last nite. Not cold enough to blow right now?

[bigdaddyk]

IDK, Timeless, JF/BB doesn't have anything close to a CB black diamond. You might end up bored.

 

East Mt. is just as good and the trails are longer. Floyd's Folly is just as steep as any of the diamonds at CB. Plus all of the gladed areas.

[Ski]

East Mt. is just as good and the trails are longer. Floyd's Folly is just as steep as any of the diamonds at CB. Plus all of the gladed areas.

I've only skied JF 20 times or so over the years, but my impression is that nothing compares to Marjie's, Cliffhanger, or Rocket. JF strikes me with more of an Asp/Big Pocono steepness...plus CB has 200 more vert and is 50% more acreage than JF.

 

Floyd's Folly is to the far skier's right? I just don't remember it being at all steep. Hmmm...we need that guy who stopped by PASR a year or so ago regarding Denton to do the real math.

 

 

And, just to add, when Sib and I were skiing CB every weekend, even though the crowds sucked, working your way from one end of the mountain to the other was always fun and kept things new. Crowds and liftlines aside, CB is a more interesting mountain to ski than Blue. IMO, Blue has the two best diamonds, but CB's variety blows away Blue's. And JF is def a second tier ski area in both categories. Just IMO, of course.

[Timeless]

Yeah, not cold enough. Mid 30's at the "summit" this morning.

 

Looks like sunday night should really allow them to get going with the new snow.

 

edit: this post looks wierd 'cos Moe Ghoul has no text in the body of his post, sorry if it confuses anyone.

Edited February 8, 2008 by Timeless

[Glenn]

working your way from one end of the mountain to the other was always fun and kept things new.

 

For sure. I think thats why trail variety seems so much better at CB. I think blue has the variety, but to lap all the different trails back to back of high speed lifts just doesn't work. Burma is cool, but its a pain to get there. Main St is good, but riding the Main St lift is lame, and so is traversing to the top and traversing back. When I worked my way around the mountain I only hit the main areas, not all the little connectors halfway down. Birches/Park-Tut/Meadows, Front Four, Head to the Stevenson, Raceway, Pharoah, Cliffy, Nile, then work you way back. Do that 2 or 3 times and you've got a bunch of laps, and not a ton of repitition. Plus, the conditions change by the time you get back. Blue you lap lazy, the park, the double diamonds and paridise to stir things up. Sno you lap the NF diamonds, which are super good, but still not half as much variety as CB.

[NJSkiFamily]

Glenn is starting to miss PA..

 

[phillycore]

I like the variety of Camelback, and the lifts... but can't stand the weekend crowds and lift lines

 

The lifts at Blue are the best...Paradise is great when it isn't a meat market, Razors and challenge are great when the race team doesn't have them closed.. The grooming is the absolute worst, and by noon on a weekend I'm surviving the mountain rather than skiing it. The PASR presence is second to none and makes it worth it just to have great people to ski with...

 

JFBB.. the East mountain is just great... thunderbolt is a blast, the only mountain close to Philly with glades and open terrain policy, grooming and snowmaking capability just kills it.... first to open, last to close, and they cater to the consumer...

 

BB - yeah if you don't ski park it's pretty much a waste of time....

[Papasteeze]

JFBB.. the East mountain is just great... thunderbolt is a blast, the only mountain close to Philly with glades and open terrain policy, grooming and snowmaking capability just kills it.... first to open, last to close, and they cater to the consumer...

 

BB - yeah if you don't ski park it's pretty much a waste of time....

 

You forgot to mention that the ticket/pass is good at BB and JF and they are 15 minutes apart.

[bigdaddyk]

I'm surprised the Camelback people aren't switching to Blue for the long runs and fast lifts...it's a no Brainer..

 

JF.....or... Blue

quality > quantity

Edited February 9, 2008 by bigdaddyk

[RidgeRacer]

East Mt. is just as good and the trails are longer. Floyd's Folly is just as steep as any of the diamonds at CB. Plus all of the gladed areas.

 

They both have short / steep pitches. A fully bumped Floyd's is more intimidating than anything at CB IMO but it's definitely JF's glade areas that put it a notch above for me. Risk It is the only "trail" in the area that makes me think twice before skiing...most of the time it's because the snow can be sketchy though. Sno on the other hand has more on the map steep sections than both IMO.

[method9455]

The thing for me that negates Camelback is that while there are the front 4, they are not top to bottom, they just a headwall that ends and then its run out for half a run. Challenge/T-Bolt/River Shot/Floyds are all fun top to bottom, plus are better condition, plus the glades never get old. There are two things I don't like about JF, and that is the lack of night skiing and the slow lifts. Aside from that, the vert never bothered me, I feel the trails are superior to everything at Camelback and all but Paradise/Razors/Challenge at Blue, which seem to have crappy conditions on 2 out of 3 every time I go. That said, if Camelback had a park like JFBB, I would probably rather have my pass there because it is closer and you can ride the trails all night, where as I don't like riding park at night for the shadows and BB has nothing to ride but park.

[moe ghoul]

The thing for me that negates Camelback is that while there are the front 4, they are not top to bottom, they just a headwall that ends and then its run out for half a run. Challenge/T-Bolt/River Shot/Floyds are all fun top to bottom, plus are better condition, plus the glades never get old. There are two things I don't like about JF, and that is the lack of night skiing and the slow lifts. Aside from that, the vert never bothered me, I feel the trails are superior to everything at Camelback and all but Paradise/Razors/Challenge at Blue, which seem to have crappy conditions on 2 out of 3 every time I go. That said, if Camelback had a park like JFBB, I would probably rather have my pass there because it is closer and you can ride the trails all night, where as I don't like riding park at night for the shadows and BB has nothing to ride but park.

 

Time to put away the Ron Paul endorsement. He's focusing on his district seat re-election. Might be a march organized in DC. I retired my bumpersticker a coupla days ago and replaced it with a Sunday River sticker

[method9455]

Time to put away the Ron Paul endorsement. He's focusing on his district seat re-election. Might be a march organized in DC. I retired my bumpersticker a coupla days ago and replaced it with a Sunday River sticker

 

Yea, I never thought he could get elected. But I do think that the exposure he got was good for politics as a whole, a lot more people realized there are more shades between and beyond Republican and Democrat, if it had ended up being Hillary vs Romney I would have voted for Paul as a write in but if it ends up being Obama vs McCain I will probably vote for one of the two. That said, its not coming down until the Democrats pick a candidate and then I'll decide who I am supporting.

[trackbiker]

The thing for me that negates Camelback is that while there are the front 4, they are not top to bottom, they just a headwall that ends and then its run out for half a run. Challenge/T-Bolt/River Shot/Floyds are all fun top to bottom, plus are better condition, plus the glades never get old. There are two things I don't like about JF, and that is the lack of night skiing and the slow lifts. Aside from that, the vert never bothered me, I feel the trails are superior to everything at Camelback and all but Paradise/Razors/Challenge at Blue, which seem to have crappy conditions on 2 out of 3 every time I go. That said, if Camelback had a park like JFBB, I would probably rather have my pass there because it is closer and you can ride the trails all night, where as I don't like riding park at night for the shadows and BB has nothing to ride but park.

 

Good analysis. I was at Camelback Fri. from 1:00 to 7:15. Planned to stay 'till 8:00 or 9:00, but the conditions did not hold up. Most trails turned to boiler plate in the center with up to a foot of frozen granular piles on the sides after sunset.

The steeps at CB have been a sheet of ice everytime I have ever been there going back to the '70's. Granted, I've never been there for first turns, and I'm sure the r@!n earlier this week did not help. They were not too bad early on because NO ONE was on them and you could pick your turns. Some were better than others. Best trail was Dromedary because most people either miss the turn off of Big Pocono Run, or slide on by it on the ice!

Early on, Nile Mile had more traffic on it than I80 on my way up. 80% of the people getting off the Stevenson Quad take Nile Mile. When I went back to it later, it was scaped in the center with piles of frozen granular

up to a foot deep on the sides. In other words, yardsale city for the noobes.

The top of Cliff Hanger was OK early on if you stayed to the right. The bottom 2/3 was great all day. But you had to traverse the ice on the top 1/3 to get to the bottom 2/3.

Pharoah; they should just close that trail. Or rename it Ice Chute/Yardsale. The noobe's, after skiing Nile Mile, see the Blue Squares and take the trail. After the first U-turn, they are on an Ice Chute for about 150 yds. then do a Yardsale at the next turn! A nice trail from the second turn on down. Most people should take it from the Raceway Triple on down.

All in all, a good day. But CB needs to improve their grooming and grind up all of that boiler plate on the steeps.

[Ski]

I'll bet CB is just loving that this thread title keeps getting bumped.

[bigdaddyk]

Add 2-26 to a 5pm closing

[rgrwilco]

my god. bear had maybe 10 riders tonight and stayed open until 10.

[skierdaddy]

Camelback is tough on the weekends. It's flat out is just too crowded. Most of their trails are quite narrow, especially the older trails. Add 2 high speed lifts and big crowds at a pa ski area and forget it. Too many people on the hill at the same time, making for poor conditions and alot of obstacles. Camelback is about quantity not quality. I'm not saying they don't make enough snow or groom well, There is just too many people on weekends.

[Ski]

Camelback is tough on the weekends. It's flat out is just too crowded. Most of their trails are quite narrow, especially the older trails. Add 2 high speed lifts and big crowds at a pa ski area and forget it. Too many people on the hill at the same time, making for poor conditions and alot of obstacles. Camelback is about quantity not quality. I'm not saying they don't make enough snow or groom well, There is just too many people on weekends.

Exactly how Elk seems to us on weekends...I suppose it's all relative.

[skierdaddy]

It is the exact opposite. Elk has slow lifts and about half the uphill capacity pr hr than camelback, so even if when elk is extremely crowded like presidents weekend etc, the conditions and crowds on the trails is not a big issue. As everyone who skiis alot knows, elk and camelback are complete opposites. Camelback is about quantity, Elk is about quality!

[Ski]

It is the exact opposite. Elk has slow lifts and about half the uphill capacity pr hr than camelback, so even if when elk is extremely crowded like presidents weekend etc, the conditions and crowds on the trails is not a big issue. As everyone who skiis alot knows, elk and camelback are complete opposites. Camelback is about quantity, Elk is about quality!

I was saying that going to Elk on a weekend for us is exactly what you described as your feeling about CB on a weekend. As to Elk and CB being complete opposites...hmmm...I probably wouldn't go that far when talking about skiing in PA, but I get what you're saying.

[Ski]

CB (or Blue) arent nearly as bad as people make them seem to be on crowded weekends (or maybe I just dont mind crowds that much)

That's not the crystal meth talking is it, TP4?

[zaldon]

tp4 if you don't mind a 1-2 hour wait for roughly 1000 vert your crazy or very patient