indiggio Posted yesterday at 12:04 PM Report Posted yesterday at 12:04 PM Gah skier George and I hit up Bear last night since it's now on the Indy pass and why not? Haven't been there in years and needed a change of pace from Blue. Arrived in the lot about 5:15pm with 30' temps that felt a lot colder due to Bear's microclimate. The pond is WAY low, but looks like they're saving some for any impending warmup so they can recover. The place was, as expected, overrun with kids but no really long lines. First ride up the B lift, we couldn't help but notice the plethora of tiny little snow guns they have. Blue should abandon the behemoths and sprinkle the mountain with these little guys. Run down Kodiak and the snow was wonderful, fluffy powder on the edges with some firm packed powder in the middle that could still hold an edge, no boiler like up at Blue. How can this mountain, being so much farther South, put down such beautiful snow while Blue puts down ice skating rinks covered in marbles and cookies? Made our way over to the F lift and up. They have seeded bumps on Grizzly so we sampled them, ugh! Kudos to them for trying, but they need a lesson on spacing as they're so tight it's almost impossible to turn in them even with bump skis. Next up was Extreme where they just blew whales and left them. The middle was scraped off but the sides had some nice, fluffly, soft snow to play in. Final run was down Sasquatch that too had nice, firm, packed powder that would hold an edge with soft on the sides. A nice little diversion from the mayhem at Blue, but with all the kids and crossing runs, you still have to keep your head on a swivel. 8 Quote
Icecoast Posted yesterday at 01:29 PM Report Posted yesterday at 01:29 PM I’ve also noticed that when it’s cold and the weather cooperates, the snow quality at bear was always much better than blue. JFBB used to be similar. I’ve heard that not using snow max as an additive can cause the product to be wetter and denser (aside from just air/water ratio). Also, the quicker a pile is pushed out and groomed the crappier the snow. If the piles are allowed to drain for a bit its a drier product when groomed. 2 Quote
AirheadD8 Posted yesterday at 01:58 PM Report Posted yesterday at 01:58 PM (edited) 33 minutes ago, Icecoast said: I’ve also noticed that when it’s cold and the weather cooperates, the snow quality at bear was always much better than blue. JFBB used to be similar. I’ve heard that not using snow max as an additive can cause the product to be wetter and denser (aside from just air/water ratio). Also, the quicker a pile is pushed out and groomed the crappier the snow. If the piles are allowed to drain for a bit its a drier product when groomed. Bear creek doesn’t get the amount traffic that Blue does. Also I think the pitch plays a part , It just doesn’t get scrapped down like Blue. Bear’s always done a pretty good job of coverage even going back to the Doe mountain days. I started there in 74 lots of great memories. They have a couple lower ponds, I wonder what level they’re at? Edited yesterday at 02:04 PM by AirheadD8 1 Quote
trackbiker Posted yesterday at 01:58 PM Report Posted yesterday at 01:58 PM 28 minutes ago, Icecoast said: Also, the quicker a pile is pushed out and groomed the crappier the snow. If the piles are allowed to drain for a bit its a drier product when groomed. This has always been the problem at Blue. They turn the guns off and immediately push the piles out. They're a cookie factory. They have the worst grooming in PA. If they waited a day to push them out the conditions would be much better. Quote
Icecoast Posted yesterday at 02:44 PM Report Posted yesterday at 02:44 PM 44 minutes ago, trackbiker said: This has always been the problem at Blue. They turn the guns off and immediately push the piles out. They're a cookie factory. They have the worst grooming in PA. If they waited a day to push them out the conditions would be much better. I was there one day, I think back in like 07 or 08 in early December. They had the usual Main Street vista and chute areas open and were making snow on lazy all morning. They pushed out the piles, groomed, and had lazy open by the afternoon. Those piles sat for zero minutes after the guns went off. Quote
EdBacon Posted yesterday at 04:46 PM Report Posted yesterday at 04:46 PM BC invested heavily into snowmaking in the decade after the Doe/BC transition. They basically have one monolithic purpose-built system for the mountain, not the patchwork system most mountains end up with. They've always done a good job with snowmaking especially relative to their location. 1 Quote
JFskiDan Posted yesterday at 06:16 PM Report Posted yesterday at 06:16 PM dont forget the "Mr. Chilly" they bought years ago. 1 Quote
toast21602 Posted yesterday at 07:10 PM Report Posted yesterday at 07:10 PM I have to be in the area for a meeting tomorrow. Maybe I'll bring my skis and check it out for an hour or two. It has been a few years. Quote
mbike-ski Posted yesterday at 08:45 PM Report Posted yesterday at 08:45 PM A few weeks ago in the lot there was talk about a bear creek slalom nastar night? They still runnin'it? (Goes to the googs) Unclear...chat bot and google say yes and come up with a page but I couldn;t link to it from the website... Quote
indiggio Posted yesterday at 08:58 PM Author Report Posted yesterday at 08:58 PM 6 hours ago, AirheadD8 said: Bear creek doesn’t get the amount traffic that Blue does. Also I think the pitch plays a part , It just doesn’t get scrapped down like Blue. Bear’s always done a pretty good job of coverage even going back to the Doe mountain days. I started there in 74 lots of great memories. They have a couple lower ponds, I wonder what level they’re at? I don't believe that the amount of traffic causes the sugar piles that form at Blue, but more of a function of the crap wet snow and one-pass grooming. Bear is even more subject to freeze/thaw cycle and yet there was no signs of cookies, marbles or sugar. My guess is that with the use of fan guns, they make better snow, but nowhere near as much. On the steeper runs at Bear, the middle was scraped off, but the snow on the sides that was scraped off wasn't filled with marbles either. I doubt, but don't know for sure, that Bear has a winch cat and we noticed on Extreme that they just blow whales and leave them, as there were no grooming lines or cat track gouges. We also noticed they don't put down a shit ton of snow either, just enough to cover the trail and a little more. This may be due to the lack of water or desire to limit its use. I didn't see any of the lower ponds, just the big one on the way in. Quote
GrilledSteezeSandwich Posted yesterday at 09:07 PM Report Posted yesterday at 09:07 PM 9 minutes ago, indiggio said: I don't believe that the amount of traffic causes the sugar piles that form at Blue, but more of a function of the crap wet snow and one-pass grooming. Bear is even more subject to freeze/thaw cycle and yet there was no signs of cookies, marbles or sugar. My guess is that with the use of fan guns, they make better snow, but nowhere near as much. On the steeper runs at Bear, the middle was scraped off, but the snow on the sides that was scraped off wasn't filled with marbles either. I doubt, but don't know for sure, that Bear has a winch cat and we noticed on Extreme that they just blow whales and leave them, as there were no grooming lines or cat track gouges. We also noticed they don't put down a shit ton of snow either, just enough to cover the trail and a little more. This may be due to the lack of water or desire to limit its use. I didn't see any of the lower ponds, just the big one on the way in. Would you return or more a been there done that? I imagine the drive is about the same for you as for Blue. Quote
indiggio Posted yesterday at 09:19 PM Author Report Posted yesterday at 09:19 PM 8 minutes ago, GrilledSteezeSandwich said: Would you return or more a been there done that? I imagine the drive is about the same for you as for Blue. Getting there is far more painful than to Blue, as the back roads to get there are far tighter and curvy. It's not a bad diversion for once or twice a season, but the one longer slope was taken over by the race team (where have I experienced that before?) that was disappointing. Quote
GrilledSteezeSandwich Posted yesterday at 09:49 PM Report Posted yesterday at 09:49 PM 29 minutes ago, indiggio said: Getting there is far more painful than to Blue, as the back roads to get there are far tighter and curvy. It's not a bad diversion for once or twice a season, but the one longer slope was taken over by the race team (where have I experienced that before?) that was disappointing. I thought they got rid of their race team. Quote
AirheadD8 Posted yesterday at 10:11 PM Report Posted yesterday at 10:11 PM 1 hour ago, indiggio said: I don't believe that the amount of traffic causes the sugar piles that form at Blue, but more of a function of the crap wet snow and one-pass grooming. Bear is even more subject to freeze/thaw cycle and yet there was no signs of cookies, marbles or sugar. My guess is that with the use of fan guns, they make better snow, but nowhere near as much. On the steeper runs at Bear, the middle was scraped off, but the snow on the sides that was scraped off wasn't filled with marbles either. I doubt, but don't know for sure, that Bear has a winch cat and we noticed on Extreme that they just blow whales and leave them, as there were no grooming lines or cat track gouges. We also noticed they don't put down a shit ton of snow either, just enough to cover the trail and a little more. This may be due to the lack of water or desire to limit its use. I didn't see any of the lower ponds, just the big one on the way in. My friend Paul bitches that Blue grooms too much. I have to wonder if that’s the source of the cookies? The groomer has low surface weight with the width of the tracks but still I think it does compact the snow to a degree. I can’t honestly say I have seen cookies at Bear. Some sugar piles on occasion. I do like the lodge vibe, kinda Steam punk meets Daniel Boone . I go over on occasion to eat at the trails end cafe. Wife likes to walk through the lodge and up the stairs to the hotel top floor and come down and get dinner. 1 Quote
EdBacon Posted 23 hours ago Report Posted 23 hours ago (edited) BC has the second lowest average natural snowfall total in the state (21 inches) ahead of only Spring Mountain (11 inches). That's averaged over the last ten seasons. Fun fact. Edited 23 hours ago by EdBacon 1 1 1 Quote
GrilledSteezeSandwich Posted 22 hours ago Report Posted 22 hours ago 1 hour ago, EdBacon said: BC has the second lowest average natural snowfall total in the state (21 inches) ahead of only Spring Mountain (11 inches). That's averaged over the last ten seasons. Fun fact. Thanks aside from the rare boner doner pow days…cold like this current season as good as it gets for ski areas in MASH mid Atlantic ski hell. I actually appreciate blue more now than I was younger. While I’m not that fussy about ski conditions, I’ll gladly trade longer runs and consistent pitch almost almost everything I’ve skied the Hobacks at Jackson hole on garbage conditions many times and rather have that than bear creek at its best 2 Quote
momskeeztoo Posted 20 hours ago Report Posted 20 hours ago BC is a fun mountain, I learned to ski there when I was in my mid 40’s 😳. So has a special place in my heart. They’ve always made good snow. The runs leave a little to be desired. I’ve always wanted to stay in the hotel and swim in the outdoor heated pool in the winter. 2 Quote
RidgeRacer Posted 13 hours ago Report Posted 13 hours ago I skied there once in the pouring rain. Reminded me of big boulder but with a nice hotel and lodge. It’s good if you’re close I guess. 2 Quote
indiggio Posted 12 hours ago Author Report Posted 12 hours ago 12 hours ago, AirheadD8 said: My friend Paul bitches that Blue grooms too much. I have to wonder if that’s the source of the cookies? The groomer has low surface weight with the width of the tracks but still I think it does compact the snow to a degree. I agree with Paulie, Blue does groom too much. They should groom early to level off the snow and push the scraped stuff back towards the middle, then just blow a little on top and leave it. 10 hours ago, GrilledSteezeSandwich said: Thanks aside from the rare boner doner pow days…cold like this current season as good as it gets for ski areas in MASH mid Atlantic ski hell. I actually appreciate blue more now than I was younger. While I’m not that fussy about ski conditions, I’ll gladly trade longer runs and consistent pitch almost almost everything I’ve skied the Hobacks at Jackson hole on garbage conditions many times and rather have that than bear creek at its best Yes, the runs are VERY short at BC. By the time you get going, you're already at the flat and lift, but it is a great little family/beginner mountain to get you prepared for the mayhem that's Blue. Also having so many intersecting trails is a PITA too. 1 1 Quote
Kyle Posted 9 hours ago Report Posted 9 hours ago 11 hours ago, momskeeztoo said: BC is a fun mountain, I learned to ski there when I was in my mid 40’s 😳. So has a special place in my heart. They’ve always made good snow. The runs leave a little to be desired. I’ve always wanted to stay in the hotel and swim in the outdoor heated pool in the winter. Not sure if things have changed but they pretty much never had anyone checking the pool/verifying it’s only hotel guests in it. I’ve been in it before. Tossed a suit in a backpack, walked into the bathroom/locker room near the bar and changed, went out and hopped in the pool no issues at all. It’s a nice spot to relax after a day/night of riding. 16 hours ago, indiggio said: Getting there is far more painful than to Blue, as the back roads to get there are far tighter and curvy. It's not a bad diversion for once or twice a season, but the one longer slope was taken over by the race team (where have I experienced that before?) that was disappointing. It’s a fun drive in a well handling vehicle though (in good weather). It is NOT a fun drive in the snow. Back in college in 2013ish my buddy and I made close to $150 pulling people out of the ditches with his jeep on our way to ride bear during one of those large snowstorms that year. I believe it was 2013, could have been 2012. 2 Quote
trackbiker Posted 9 hours ago Report Posted 9 hours ago Skied Bear Creek last night 4:30-7:15 on the Indy Pass. Conditions were pretty much as described. Nice snow on hardpack. Everything carve-able. Snowed the whole time I was there so the surface got a good inch or so to keep things nice. Lines weren't bad. They opened Lift A in addition to B around 6:30. No race team on Timberline which was pretty empty due to the flat traverse to get to it. Nothing too hard there but not bad for a midweek after work session to stay in shape for bigger mountains. 6 Quote
indiggio Posted 9 hours ago Author Report Posted 9 hours ago 2 minutes ago, Kyle said: It’s a fun drive in a well handling vehicle though (in good weather). It is NOT a fun drive in the snow. Back in college in 2013ish my buddy and I made close to $150 pulling people out of the ditches with his jeep on our way to ride bear during one of those large snowstorms that year. I believe it was 2013, could have been 2012. It's a fun drive on the motorcycle too! Quote
Icecoast Posted 8 hours ago Report Posted 8 hours ago 4 hours ago, indiggio said: I agree with Paulie, Blue does groom too much. They should groom early to level off the snow and push the scraped stuff back towards the middle, then just blow a little on top and leave it. Yes, the runs are VERY short at BC. By the time you get going, you're already at the flat and lift, but it is a great little family/beginner mountain to get you prepared for the mayhem that's Blue. Also having so many intersecting trails is a PITA too. The timberline trail used to be a bit longer with a bunch of twists and turns in it, but then they just made it a boring flat trail. 2 Quote
mbike-ski Posted 6 hours ago Report Posted 6 hours ago the mtb trails along timberline are pretty rad, otb'd a few times there 1 Quote
PSUFrankenstein Posted 6 hours ago Report Posted 6 hours ago 3 hours ago, Kyle said: Not sure if things have changed but they pretty much never had anyone checking the pool/verifying it’s only hotel guests in it. I’ve been in it before. Tossed a suit in a backpack, walked into the bathroom/locker room near the bar and changed, went out and hopped in the pool no issues at all. It’s a nice spot to relax after a day/night of riding. It’s a fun drive in a well handling vehicle though (in good weather). It is NOT a fun drive in the snow. Back in college in 2013ish my buddy and I made close to $150 pulling people out of the ditches with his jeep on our way to ride bear during one of those large snowstorms that year. I believe it was 2013, could have been 2012. can confirm they don't check to see if you're a guest for the pool. I didn't go in it, but easily could have as I walked through the pool area to get to the bar Quote
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