Is it REALLY that bad?

[BCBSNOBBSkier]

I am thinking of taking a trip to Mountain Creek. Is it really as bad as everyone says it is? Is it really a snowboarder controlled, rude person filled mountain with ice all over? Are the black diamonds challenging and is there enough to do without doing terrain parks? Is the whole third mountain always totally terrain parks or was that just for last year? Please fill me in.

[SkiUtah]

Just some notes:

The cabriolet lift, the main lift, sucks. You have to take your skis/board off every ride and stand. That might be ok if you were at a mountain that takes ten or fifteen minutes to ski down, but not every ninty seconds.

The snow making/management is far inferior to anything in the Pocono's.

The parking is dangerous.

The facilities are nothing great.

And yes, the people seem to consistently have that rude city mentality.

 

Other than that, great place to go...

[Glenn]

save yourself the trip. whoever decided to have green circles cross the middle of the black diamonds should be shot

 

Are you sure you've been to Colorado?

[method9455]

never in colorado, or anywhere else for that matter, have i had to slow down significantly each run down the diamond due to the amount of noobs crossing

 

Its not just that it is a green, Horizon is literally the Jersey Turnpike crossing the mountain.

 

Yes, Mountain Creek is as bad as everyone says, probably worse. I was a pass holder there for YEARS, compared to the PA mountains it is nice and local for me, but it isn't even worth it anymore.

 

The terrain is FLAT. Go look at maps.google.com. Search for Mountain Creek, put it on satellite you can see the trail layout, then click on terrain and you will see the topographic map. Now do the same with Camelback, Sno, Blue - hell even Boulder, and you will see how flat it is. That wouldn't bother me that much if the snow was decent, but it never is. Its not that they have a weak snowmaking system per say, its that they have such a sprawling layout that the base is thin everywhere and they don't groom it all that well. And yes, the crowds are terrible. And while I don't really care how rude they are, the fact of hte matter is there is just not that much worth skiing there these days.

 

If you are going to go, only go midweek (and their midweek is monday-thursday, they charge weekend prices on friday), and go when they are 100% open and the snow conditions are favorable. You will find some interesting trails (Granite and Bear peak are the best, specifically Devil's Bit on Granite, if thats not open, don't go because it is probably the most fun trail there). Bear has a nice quick steep part, but then it is all run out. It is actually shorter than Jack Frost if you can believe that.

 

And as TP4 said, on Vernon the blacks are cut up by the green you have to stop for.

[DHarrisburg]

It's in Jersey.

[sibhusky]

The crowds alone are enough to make the horrendous lift ticket price not worth it. You'll say to yourself, "I PAID for this crap?"

[mollyskeez]

ive heard complete opposits about the place. ive heard its great and that it sucks and to never go there. i wont be going there anytime soon.

[rgrwilco]

i must get lucky. every time i go, the place is next to deserted, the snow is soft, and the features are well shaped. i usually go on weekdays so thats probobly why.

 

the south lodge is awesome, the lifts are fast, the cabriolet is a bit awkward but i dont mind it one bit. the trails are long as well, and some are pretty interesting. theres one part of the mountain that gets flat on south peak, and they have a pretty cool park area in there.

 

i would say go midweek once and check it out. the soujourn lift is the perfect one to light up on or get some (didnt open last season though)

[RootDKJ]

The crowds alone are enough to make the horrendous lift ticket price not worth it. You'll say to yourself, "I PAID for this crap?"

I have no plans to ski MC anytime in the near future unless it was free, but if you buy the triple play cards, the price isn't exactly horrendous. 3 tickets for $69

http://www.mountaincreek.com/ticketsandpasses/tp/index.htm

 

When I lived in Parsippany & could make it there in 30 minutes, I'd buy a bunch of the cards.

 

If you're going to ski MC, do yourself a favor, ski it mid-week

[millerm277]

Midweek-Okay.

Weekend-Crap.

 

Vernon:

 

-Horizon kind of kills everything, but if you can avoid the people, Zero G to Opossum (if they let it open this year), is a nice run.

-The intermediate trails are okay.

-Even though it stops every 5 seconds and is slow, I'd still suggest the triple. The Cabriolet is horrible, you have to take your gear off, get crammed into the "car" with a bunch of other people and freeze...and not get to sit. Then you get to walk about 100ft to the snow at the top.

 

Granite:

 

-The best part of the mountain.

-Pipeline, if opened, has a very short, but steep section, that is kind of ruined by the sharp turn right after it. On a weekend, parking yourself to the left at the bottom of the steep section can be fun, as you watch people slam into the orange fence at the turn.

-Devil's Bit is a pretty good trail, as is the intermediate one.

 

Sojourn:

 

-The double is slow, and gives you a sense that it may collapse soon.

-Southern Sojourn is painfully flat. Snowboarders, be prepared to hop/walk for a LONG distance.

 

South:

 

-The HSQ is nice.

-The flat part in the middle is annoying.

-The trails are all low intermediate, but not boring.

 

Bear:

 

-HSQ

-Short, moderately steep.

-Nice trails though, wish it was longer.

[method9455]

Midweek-Okay.

Weekend-Crap.

 

Vernon:

 

-Horizon kind of kills everything, but if you can avoid the people, Zero G to Opossum (if they let it open this year), is a nice run.

-The intermediate trails are okay.

-Even though it stops every 5 seconds and is slow, I'd still suggest the triple. The Cabriolet is horrible, you have to take your gear off, get crammed into the "car" with a bunch of other people and freeze...and not get to sit. Then you get to walk about 100ft to the snow at the top.

 

Granite:

 

-The best part of the mountain.

-Pipeline, if opened, has a very short, but steep section, that is kind of ruined by the sharp turn right after it. On a weekend, parking yourself to the left at the bottom of the steep section can be fun, as you watch people slam into the orange fence at the turn.

-Devil's Bit is a pretty good trail, as is the intermediate one.

 

Sojourn:

 

-The double is slow, and gives you a sense that it may collapse soon.

-Southern Sojourn is painfully flat. Snowboarders, be prepared to hop/walk for a LONG distance.

 

South:

 

-The HSQ is nice.

-The flat part in the middle is annoying.

-The trails are all low intermediate, but not boring.

 

Bear:

 

-HSQ

-Short, moderately steep.

-Nice trails though, wish it was longer.

 

True, a lot has changed recently though.

 

On Vernon, you now have all of the former park trails off the top of the Cab, and I would say walking off the cap 25 feet and going down there will be more interesting in a lot of cases than off the triple. Going down Great Northern to Indian, then across the bridge and down Sayonara is fun.

 

Off the triple, take the trail that leads to Granite and cut back for Vernon, usually uncrowded. Actually the trail that leads from Vernon to Granite is great with those switchbacks.

 

Sojourn is completely do-able for a snowboarder without pushing at all. I get it 99.99% of the time unless one of my friends is a dick because we always try to push each other over on the way. Wax, tuck, stay flat based.

 

South and Bear are now pretty much all park. I never found much to love on South but Bear has some good runs and small crowds.

 

Midweek can be a blast if you wait for good weather and a lot of trails open, but they will generally have the worst snow of any mountain in the area, so keep that in mind.