Blue Knob 2/8/21

[rgrwilco]

Stop number 2 on my indy pass was blue knob. They got a ton of snow over the past couple weeks, and were pretty much 100 percent open... More on that later. Did a solo trip because most of my riding buddies revuse to day trip further than 3 hours. Waze and Apple Maps show the drive would take 4.5 hours, but google maps said 3hrs 45min, which was the most accurate.

I left at around 445 since their website says they open at 9. more on that later. 

There were for sure some good views along the Turnpike. Its super boring until after Harrisburg, but then younger some really nice big mountains. I got to the rest stop just before the series of tunnels and blue knob updated their snow report. Everything opened except a couple glades, but they open at 10...website still says 9. fun.

Blue knob is remote. It out there for sure. The access road is one of the sketchiest roads I've been on. Surface wise its in great shape, but a small one foot tall pile of snow is what separates you from a 1200 foot drop into the valley.

There was so much snow. more than I've ever seen anywhere outside of Vermont. snowbanks taller than my car. since I was aiming for 9, and they now aren't opening until 10, I sat in my car for an hour and watched YouTube. Surprisingly fast tmobile lte in this area. While there, there was an update to the snow report...All the trails I was most looking forward to would now be closed for snowmaking.

I got my indy ticket from a lady who made it seem like I barged into her families Christmas dinner and started begging for food. The views are amazing, and when you start out you see a tangle of lifts and chairs. Only one lift would run, but never any lines so who cares. more on that later.

the slope side houses and cabins made it feel more built up then expected, and due to the steepness of the mountain, the lifts did not feel slow at all. kind of like Plattekill. There is a severe lack of signage on hill. I was trying to get to a blue run and ended up on a natural cover bumped lift line (which was fun as hell, even on a snowboard since everything was soft). It was about 7 degerees so I didn't take many photos. I rode groomed trails, glades with mandatory drops, powder, and some sketchy spots on the natural cover trails but nothing too bad.

 

This lift had 2 mid stations you can get off. Notice how low it is right here. 

On what was going to be my last run of the day, the route 66 lift seem to do an emergency stop and it bounced like I’ve never seen anything bounce before. The trail underneath of it was already questionable due to its super low clearance with the lift, but I didn't realize how low until now. The guy on the chair in front of me had to lift his legs out to avoid having a skiers gopro hit his legs while we bounced. It seemed like I was mere inches off the ground each bounce. The lift started moving again really fast, stopped abruptly again and began bouncing and my ass was coming off the seat. It felt like I was riding El Toro at six flags and my board is once again almost touching the snow on the trail underneath of it. I stated to get nervous. Ive been on Main Street lifts at blue fully loaded and had something similar happen, but this was a whole new level of sketch. I questioned just stepping off the lift (not jumping, legit stepping) but I wondered if I did that and got injured due to a lift failure if I would not get a settlement for not following the lift rules. this happened for like ten minutes straight. I told myself when I get off this lift that this was a sign for me to leave or something. The lift started again and continue as normal and the locals just shrugged it off. I mentioned it to the lifty and he said "welcome to the knob!" ok......

So, final thoughts. Best terrain in PA. Hands down. Needs some lift improvements and maintaince. the resort area was nice and a good amount of condos and slope side options. There is absolutely nothing outside of the resort though. I don't mean to get into politics, but most of the trump signs in the area had pence's name crossed out which I thought was genuinely funny but also a bit WTF. the restaurant options seem to be sheetz and only sheetz. I wouldn't day trip it again, but I would go back for a long weekend. 

[PSUFrankenstein]

Nice report.  My only time there, a lot of the natural stuff wasn't open but I still really enjoyed it.  If they keep getting snow, I'm gonna make a trip there this year 

[Shadows]

Id like to check it out soon. Looks different. And good.

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

Nice report. That’s a long drive for a day trip.  The surrounding areas have condos for only like $40,000 crazy. 

[toast21602]

That looks awesome. Thanks for sharing these pictures too 👍

[rgrwilco]

Not only the cold, but the layout makes it tough to get photos. You cannot see top to bottom from anywhere.


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[trackbiker]

That's a long day trip. Both times I skied there were on return trips from business in the Pittsburgh area. They have some good terrain but I still think Elk has better and more variety.

[JFskiDan]

2 things i continue to hear about Knob......awesome when theres a decent amount of natural snow, and the access road is sketchy AF.  

[trackbiker]

13 minutes ago, JFskiDan said:

2 things i continue to hear about Knob......awesome when theres a decent amount of natural snow, and the access road is sketchy AF.  

Both are true when there's snow.

[Johnny Law]

Holy shit I didn't see this, I loooove the knob and was actually talking about it with NM and Atomic tonight. Super cool tr from a serious underrated place.  

How about stemboggen ? That shit cracks me up but the glades and extrovert and east wall glades are legit. 

I used to go there alot when my cousin went to Penn St toon town and the logging roads up there are legit too. 

Did they get a sign yet ? It's been awhile but last time I was there the access road had a piece of cardboard that just said ski with an arrow. 

That road is sketchy af with weather and my cousin said he saw a car go off when he was in college.  Driving up it in snow makes blue Mt drive feel like pch. The last right I think it is and you can breath again.  

[rgrwilco]

Holy shit I didn't see this, I loooove the knob and was actually talking about it with NM and Atomic tonight. Super cool tr from a serious underrated place.  
How about stemboggen ? That shit cracks me up but the glades and extrovert and east wall glades are legit. 
I used to go there alot when my cousin went to Penn St toon town and the logging roads up there are legit too. 
Did they get a sign yet ? It's been awhile but last time I was there the access road had a piece of cardboard that just said ski with an arrow. 
That road is sketchy af with weather and my cousin said he saw a car go off when he was in college.  Driving up it in snow makes blue Mt drive feel like pch. The last right I think it is and you can breath again.  

They got a sign! Nothing fancy. Stembogen was closed for snowmaking (go figure) but everything else was open.


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[Johnny Law]

8 minutes ago, rgrwilco said:

They got a sign! Nothing fancy. Stembogen was closed for snowmaking (go figure) but everything else was open.


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Good to hear ! With a little bit of money it could be even more amazing but is in a bad spot. 

East wall glades would challenge any skier, at least back in the day they were boney as fuck.  

This and your Catamount TR are super cool and I love small unique areas.

Suicide six is on the indy pass and if your coming back from Jay or something its cool af. The front pitch is short but steep and the trees skiers left and far right are pretty good for 600 ft. Its small so only if your in the area but worth a stop for the history alone plus maybe the coolest name in skiing. 

Pats peak too in NH is a wild little hill,  for awhile the only eastern skier in the fwt was from pats peak. 

Edited February 13, 2021 by Johnny Law

[Johnny Law]

On 2/9/2021 at 10:33 AM, trackbiker said:

That's a long day trip. Both times I skied there were on return trips from business in the Pittsburgh area. They have some good terrain but I still think Elk has better and more variety.

Elk you can close your eyes and fall down like any pa Hill.  Knob your crashing into a rock, tree or the mid mountain Jimmy buffet themed bar or the school bus in the terrain park the kids smoked weed in.  It's the polar opposite of Elk. 

If elk is skiing in Vermont like stowe, the knob is magic. It's the crack head brother of PA skiing and if you like that kind of thing, maybe platekill is the next closest but that's almost too clean. Magic I think is the closest other place that is so rowdy.

[indiggio]

3 hours ago, Johnny Law said:

Elk you can close your eyes and fall down like any pa Hill.  Knob your crashing into a rock, tree or the mid mountain Jimmy buffet themed bar or the school bus in the terrain park the kids smoked weed in.  It's the polar opposite of Elk. 

If elk is skiing in Vermont like stowe, the knob is magic. It's the crack head brother of PA skiing and if you like that kind of thing, maybe platekill is the next closest but that's almost too clean. Magic I think is the closest other place that is so rowdy.

I can hear your voice in my head telling this story like we're standing in the parking lot of Blue.   Crackin' me up!

[PSUFrankenstein]

Kinda related to Blue Knob...Gravity Hill in Bedford was kinda cool. I remember making my buddy (who wasn't drinking) drive us there while the rest of us were intoxicated.  

https://www.gravityhill.com/index.html

[EdBacon]

17 hours ago, Johnny Law said:

Elk you can close your eyes and fall down like any pa Hill.  Knob your crashing into a rock, tree or the mid mountain Jimmy buffet themed bar or the school bus in the terrain park the kids smoked weed in.  It's the polar opposite of Elk. 

If elk is skiing in Vermont like stowe, the knob is magic. It's the crack head brother of PA skiing and if you like that kind of thing, maybe platekill is the next closest but that's almost too clean. Magic I think is the closest other place that is so rowdy.

Platty is like the old hippie of the group. Blue Knob is your friend from high school who randomly shows up at your place halfway through a bottle of Jack telling you he got tickets to see Metallica... the next state over so you gotta drive him *now* dude but its gonna be epic, just trust him. 

 

That said, the Knob is a great place. I hope it holds on. Fun fact: it used to be a USAF radar station for missile defense. 

Edited February 13, 2021 by EdBacon