weekend report

[rummy]

Herm and I got to TLCITW (the little cabin in the woods) around 9:30 Fri night, started a fire and settled in. Up around 7:00 Sat AM and cooked smoked deer sausage, eggs, and homefries. Got to the mtn around 9:15, pulled into our parking spot behind the lodge and walked the 80 steps into the lodge to boot up. On mtn around 9:30, no lift lines, mostly sunny and no wind. Started on the West side and flew down Whissihicken to the quad, perfect groomed conditions of packed powder. Worked our way East, down Chippewa, then Tioga to the Tioga Spur, Did Tunk next which had fresh soft powder, and was beginnning to bump up. Took the Susquehanna cut-off to Susquehanna and the West slope, then onto the uncrowded double to begin skiing the East side. Slalom was next, then Tuscorora to the Delaware Chute onto Delaware. Next was the full run down the Delaware to the bar. Our regular seats were occupied, but we got comfortable at the other end of the bar and had a couple of stiff ones (Citron and tonic for Herm and Yukon Jack for me). Shot the bull with our bar friends, then went back out for four more runs. Sun was shining brightly, and conditions were still perfect. Returned to TLCITW cranked up the fire again, warmed up some left-over baby-back ribs with some cheese and balogna and home-made dill pickles. Thought we'd go out to The Candlelight Inn for dinner but decided to just kick back in front of the fire and watch TV.

 

Sunday was pretty well a repeat of Sat., except there were even fewer people there. Temp was 15 at 9:45 when we started, and again PP and perfect grooming describe the conditions of the slopes. Tunk was groomed overnight which surprised us as we thought they would start to let the bumps build up. Again we skied the entire mtn then hit the bar, this time we were able to claim our regular seats. The guns were blowing on Lenape, Wyalusing, Mohawk, and Iriquois. All four of them should open in the next day or two. That only leaves Kickapoo, Tecumsah, Lackawanna, and Tuscarora, that need to have the guns turned on. Lehigh and upper Seneca are natural snow trails and will need a good storm or two before they can open. Both terrain parks were open and looked to be in great shape (the rope tow was not working in the big park). We're Old Pharts so sorry, I can't tell you what features are set up other than a few jumps and different shaped rails etc.

 

After the drinks we again headed back to TLCITW and watched the Eagles game until the third qtr, then thinking the game was hopeless we headed home. Listened to the end of the game on the radio and couldn't believe it!

 

Just a typical weekend for us at TLCITW. Which is always another weekend in the paradise we call ELK!

[owenskier]

sounds nice a nice weekend- looking forward to going up a couple of times in january and february

[moe ghoul]

Sounds like a great outing, rummy. Thanks for the update.

[trackbiker]

Thanks for the report. Looking to get up between Christmas and New Years. Elk can be crowded on holidays but not nearly as crowded as Blue or Camelback. They manage the crowds they get well and the mountain has a lot of trails that are spread out. Doesn't get scraped off as fast as Blue or Camelback if the expert trails get skied off at all.

[rummy]

Thanks for the report. Looking to get up between Christmas and New Years. Elk can be crowded on holidays but not nearly as crowded as Blue or Camelback. They manage the crowds they get well and the mountain has a lot of trails that are spread out. Doesn't get scraped off as fast as Blue or Camelback if the expert trails get skied off at all.

I expect the entire mtn to be open by then, with the exception of Lehigh and Upper Seneca. This has definitely been the best snow making weather I've ever experienced at Elk and they are truly blowing around the clock. We can hear the guns at all hours of the night from the cabin, located about a mile away, as the crows fly.

 

We've learned how to minimize the crowds on busy weekends. We'll be sure to start at 8:30 and can get in about 10 runs until the crowds pick up around 10:30. We'll mainly ski the West (quad) side. If the quad gets too busy we'll ski off the double there, it's the fastest lift on the mtn. and doesn't stop as often as the quad. Around 11:00 we'll take a break then go out again around noon as most of the other people take a lunch break. When the crowds come out again around 1:30 we'll call it a day and assume our positions at the bar. We can usually get 15-20 runs in.