TR 2/16/13 - Elk

[tnt]

Made a quick run to Elk - first time for me. I was curious about the travel time, it being a little farther than our regular day trip spots of JF, CB or Blue. It took about 2:30 from Princeton NJ. It was 3 hours from the front door to standing in the lift line, owing to the the truck ride from the parking lot, and the ensuing crush at the ticket window. So a little long for regular weekend spot unfortunately.

 

But the snow was fantastic and the mountain was really nice. The runs were nice and long, and there isn't much run out, so it has a nice feel to it I think.

 

Really enjoyed the fact that 5 or six trails were left ungroomed. For PA, that was a nice treat, to have such variety of bumped up trails. Especially true given he nice snow. Really enjoyed the Seneca run, and Tunk-a something > a little cut through the woods > a blue trail that was all bumped up as well.

 

Only negative as far as the mountain goes was their adversity to tree skiing. Especially a disappointment given the ample opportunities to carve out some nice gladed areas. I found one area between Mohawk and Delaware that had some tracks, but it was too low angle to really get anything going. There were some nice hardwood areas on either side of the quad that would make great intermediate and advanced glades if they thinned them up and cleared them out, but as it is, they seem strongly adverse, and I saw no tracks, so I stayed out.

 

Lines were long, but riding single kept the wait down to probably 5 minutes. Often less. Lifts of course were a little slow. Especially the quad. Seems like that stopped or slowed down every fourth chair. The double right next to it was a faster trip as a single. While the lines were long, I didn't think they were too bad given he holiday and recent snow. But boy, every regular I rode the lift with was just astonished at the crowds! Given that, seems to me the place must be pretty empty most weekends.

 

Some one on the lift also told me they had to drive around for 20 minutes looking for a parking spot. They seemed to have filled their lot to capacity….Seems impossible. When CB or Blue approach those levels of cars, the mountain is pretty much un-skiable. At Elk, lots full, the mountain still had plenty of space. Reading the forum about the crowds at blue - and seeing the traffic at Tannersville for the after 3pm crowd at CB - it seems relative to the other choices, this was not very crowded at all.

 

But speaking of parking, I really am shocked that they haven't figured out how to solve that hill. The amount of trucks and people they used to ferry folks up the hill is pretty incredible. I was going to walk, but I saw how fast the line for the shuttle moves, so I just hopped a ride. But boy, the money they spend doing that, I would think, would pay for a new road for a drop off spot in a few seasons.

 

And how about a ticket window down near the quad? That would also really help cut down on the ticket lines at the lodge, which swell up really fast every time a shuttle unloads.

 

As I was without the whole family, these things weren't a big deal. But I could see them detracting from the visit with the kids and friends. On the other hand, the mountain does offer a lot. LOng runs, ungroomed terrain and nice variety. So i do want to get the kids up there this spring if we can swing it.

 

All in all, a great day, and I was glad to get a piece of the storm snow!

Edited February 17, 2014 by tnt

[guitar73]

yup, that's the elk story: great mtn...sucky lodge and parking arrangments.

[rgrwilco]

Man i wish they would open up the trees. Their slogan should be "Its like skiing in vermont, just not as much as blue, JFBB, and montage."

[RidgeRacer]

Nice report TNT. Going to Elk after all of this snow is like taking Fat Bastard to an old country buffet and not letting him eat. There are tree lines there that look sick but they are within view of the all watchful eye of patrol. They're like Sauron from Lord of the Rings. I do like the hill though.

[RidgeRacer]

Do they pull passes for skiing in the woods? Elk is smart they always run their radio ads around 7:15am on weekend mornings when I assume Philly people are driving to the poconos.

They have a "ski PAs best" billboard placed strategically right next to the exit for montage mountain road... Now if only they put that much thought into their website.

[Ride Delaware ?]

I've never been bashful about my love for Elk, but even if they want the old school vibe with the lodge and lifts, that mountain could be so improved and gain serious street cred just by opening up some glades and getting a part time social media person. It's ridiculous how terribly set in their ways they are. There hasn't been progression there since I started riding there 13 years ago. It's almost exactly the same.

 

Either way, way to get out there and get after it. Glad to hear they are doing well.

[tnt]

it would definetly benefit elk to open up the trees, the main reason I always tell people to drive to greek peak over elk is because greek peak has nice glades. I believe elk has a higher vertical drop than greek too so glades at elk might put them above greek in my book (greek peak is another mountain that still thinks its the 1970's)

elk and greek peak could have a contest for shittiest terrain park. most of the boxes at greek peak have a wooden sliding surface smh

 

I didn't even see a single feature yesterday. Which is fine by me, but yeah, they don't seem to be interested in park riders either.

 

I wonder what the anti-tree logic is? I guess insurance.

 

Has anyone ever cleared anything on their own in the summer? I guess there is no point if they are gonna yell in the winter...

[RidgeRacer]

it would definetly benefit elk to open up the trees, the main reason I always tell people to drive to greek peak over elk is because greek peak has nice glades. I believe elk has a higher vertical drop than greek too so glades at elk might put them above greek in my book (greek peak is another mountain that still thinks its the 1970's)

 

elk and greek peak could have a contest for shittiest terrain park. most of the boxes at greek peak have a wooden sliding surface smh

Greek Peaks glades are supposedly prime right now. They cut a new one this past off season. They also put in a new HSQ for this season.

 

Barring something crazy, I'll be there on Wednesday.

[Ride Delaware ?]

 

Has anyone ever cleared anything on their own in the summer? I guess there is no point if they are gonna yell in the winter...

I would even be ok with an unofficial woods policy. Even if the official stance and posted signs said "no tree skiing" but they told the patrollers not to enforce it, that would be acceptable and still appease the insurance companies.

[trackbiker]

the towrope in elks park was actually a good idea, too bad the park is like 100 yards long. but lapping the tow rope was a lot better than going all the way down the mountain and riding the slow lift if you just wanted to ride park

This is what Blue should do for their lower park. It would keep the people who just want to ride the park from having to take the 6-pack all the way to the top then Lazy Mile all the way to the park.

[trackbiker]

Greek Peaks glades are supposedly prime right now. They cut a new one this past off season. They also put in a new HSQ for this season.

 

Barring something crazy, I'll be there on Wednesday.

 

The new lift is not a HSQ. It is a fixed grip quad with a loading conveyor which theoretically allows it to run a little faster. I was there two weekends ago and it kept stopping so much that it was quicker to take the old double next to it.

Nice to see the new owners putting some money into the ski area for the first time in 30 years. Upstairs lodge redo is nice too.

They do have some nice glades and skiing was good even two weeks ago.

[RidgeRacer]

 

The new lift is not a HSQ. It is a fixed grip quad with a loading conveyor which theoretically allows it to run a little faster. I was there two weekends ago and it kept stopping so much that it was quicker to take the old double next to it.

Nice to see the new owners putting some money into the ski area for the first time in 30 years. Upstairs lodge redo is nice too.

They do have some nice glades and skiing was good even two weeks ago.

Doh! I assumed it was a HSQ since they call it the Visions Express lift. Not cool to call it "express" when it's not really.

[Ride Delaware ?]

 

The new lift is not a HSQ. It is a fixed grip quad with a loading conveyor which theoretically allows it to run a little faster. I was there two weekends ago and it kept stopping so much that it was quicker to take the old double next to it.

 

Theoretically it runs at the same speed as a normal fixed grip, depending on what speed the mountain runs it at, but it is supposed to cut down on miss-loads, which is where the value lies. Those things are tricky to load since your so used to pushing or poling. I fell the first time I used one at Mt. Snow/Okemo. If it was stopping that much, then people were either really fucking up loading or the off ramp is fucked.

[trackbiker]

Theoretically it runs at the same speed as a normal fixed grip, depending on what speed the mountain runs it at, but it is supposed to cut down on miss-loads, which is where the value lies. Those things are tricky to load since your so used to pushing or poling. I fell the first time I used one at Mt. Snow/Okemo. If it was stopping that much, then people were either really fucking up loading or the off ramp is fucked.

Once you are familiar with it, conveyors are the easiest thing to load. It's pretty much lean against the gate and when it opens slide onto the conveyor. I think they could have done a better job posting instructions in the lodge or on a big board in the lift line until people are familiar with it. People either don't lean on the gate and miss the chair or they try to pole onto the conveyor and fall down.

You can run the lift faster because the speed is regulated by the loading speed not the line speed. The conveyor effectively lowers the loading speed relative to the line speed.

[Ride Delaware ?]

You can run the lift faster because the speed is regulated by the loading speed not the line speed. The conveyor effectively lowers the loading speed relative to the line speed.

Correct. My point was that the lift itself isn't running faster, they are running the haul line faster. A fixed grip without a conveyor maxes at the same speed as one with a conveyor, they just don't run it as fast or they have to have a good crew bumping.

[Ride Delaware ?]

So stupid they should have just put in a six pack

The expense is prohibitive for some mountains, especially when this one just got out of bankruptcy from overextension with an indoor water parks. However, it sounds like the new owners got it at a steal and are really making things happen.

[Johnny Law]

ohhh Elk like skiing in VT, except no trees, lifts suck ball sack and any idiot can fall straight down the hill due to their simplistic trail design.