Camelback - 1/19/14

[Rowsdower]

Left later than preferable and arrived in the parking lot at Camelback around 12:00. Weather was nice: intervals of sun and clouds with some light snow at times. Wind wasn't too bad, but picked up later in the afternoon. Today was crowded crowded CROWDED! Now I know why nobody was Bear Creek: they realized it sucked and came up here. Lines weren't too terrible, but the greens were packed with moving slalom gates. Hopped the Sullivan and took Upper Marc to get to Cleo. Cleo was riding pretty well. There was still some ice evident but they've done a good job making snow the past couple days. That, along with about 3 inches of natural snow they picked up yesterday made for decent conditions, sans the ice patches. The sides of Lower Cleo were holding some fresh machine made snow which was a real treat. Next run was off the Glen double. I didn't know Camelback played music in its terrain park! I got my groove on to some euro pop style techno then moved on to Rhododendron Glen which had guns blowing on it. Snow was soft and fun to carve up. The lines on Glen were short so I dorked around there for a bit before heading over to Stevenson Express. For the lines there weren't many people on the advanced terrain on the east side of the mountain. People were mostly keeping to Nile Mile, which was fine with me. I got Pharaoh almost all to myself and it was the highlight of the day. I didn't try Hanger as I was told it was still pretty icy. Ended out the day by grooving in the terrain park a bit more. They actually have some fun boxes and wide flat bar rails I'm still comfortable hitting, so I grooved those rails then called it a day around 4:30. Despite the crowds I still had a good time. Conditions were welcome after the terrible weather we've been having, and it was good just to get back out again. Definitely felt like winter today!

Crappy cell phone pics:
Looking towards Rhododendron Glen

Not a soul in sight on Pharaoh

The circus at the Sullivan

 

[4aprice]

12:00? Where did they park you East Jabib? Early bird gets the worm at CBK but glad you had a good time. Conditions look to be good for a while.

Alex

Lake Hopatcong, NJ

 

[Rowsdower]

12:00? Where did they park you East Jabib? Early bird gets the worm at CBK but glad you had a good time. Conditions look to be good for a while.

Alex

Lake Hopatcong, NJ

I was unable to get an early start, but it was still worth it. They tried to stick me in the parking lot for the Chateau. I noped right out of that and found a spot in one of the lower lots. Not a big deal. Probably only had to walk five minutes.

 

[danimals]

Camelback has some nice trails but after what they did to me a few weeks back, I'll never go there again.


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[4aprice]

Camelback has some nice trails but after what they did to me a few weeks back, I'll never go there again.


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Seeing as that was your 1st post you need to explain.

Alex

Lake Hopatcong, NJ

 

[danimals]

I get my forums mixed up. I posted to PASR. Basically they decided to close for "inclement weather" five minutes after they were supposed to open. Their website even had current weather and stated how good of a day it was to be there. Got there for first chair, not an employee in sight. Lots of other pissed off customers in the lot as well. Hell, the sun was even out and every other ski area in PA was open. I was only told they were closed when I tried to get into the lodge to use the restroom. And yep, the website was still inviting people to come up at this time. I drove five hours round-trip for nothing. I posted on their Facebook page and was invited to email them to discuss. I still haven't heard back.


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[Rowsdower]

I get my forums mixed up. I posted to PASR. Basically they decided to close for "inclement weather" five minutes after they were supposed to open. Their website even had current weather and stated how good of a day it was to be there. Got there for first chair, not an employee in sight. Lots of other pissed off customers in the lot as well. Hell, the sun was even out and every other ski area in PA was open. I was only told they were closed when I tried to get into the lodge to use the restroom. And yep, the website was still inviting people to come up at this time. I drove five hours round-trip for nothing. I posted on their Facebook page and was invited to email them to discuss. I still haven't heard back.


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Hope you hit up Shawnee or Blue on the way back so it wasn't a total wash.

 

[danimals]

Hit up Shawnee and had a blast. /threadjack.


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[Tin]

Just Googled it. Skiing under a water slide? Place has a crazy layout.

 

[Rowsdower]

Hit up Shawnee and had a blast. /threadjack.


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I went to Shawnee once... in April... after they got 8 inches of snow... and I was the only one there. Well almost the only one. There were maybe a dozen other people on the mountain. Needless to say we had a great day.

 

[4aprice]

I get my forums mixed up. I posted to PASR. Basically they decided to close for "inclement weather" five minutes after they were supposed to open. Their website even had current weather and stated how good of a day it was to be there. Got there for first chair, not an employee in sight. Lots of other pissed off customers in the lot as well. Hell, the sun was even out and every other ski area in PA was open. I was only told they were closed when I tried to get into the lodge to use the restroom. And yep, the website was still inviting people to come up at this time. I drove five hours round-trip for nothing. I posted on their Facebook page and was invited to email them to discuss. I still haven't heard back.


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Well sounds like you went the right route. IMO They should get back to you. The weather thing can be tricky. Ice shuts down both quads quickly due to the grips. Lightning if its around, is an issue as well. I know they shut down Sat the 11th (I think) at noonish because of lightning. They have detectors and a radius they use for that. Can't speak for the web site. Did you have any idea of the forecast before driving 5 hours?

Alex

Lake Hopatcong, NJ

 

[danimals]

Yeah the forecast was snow flurries and cloudy skies early then clearing up. It was hovering around freezing. Blue, Shawnee, and creek were all open with their high speed lifts. The snow was perfect for PA and 100 percent coverage. Camelback has fixed grips they can run if they have too. I highly doubt it there was icing issues camelback would be the only hill in the state to be affected.

 

[Nick]

Nice report! Welcome to AlpineZone!

 

[4aprice]

Just Googled it. Skiing under a water slide? Place has a crazy layout.

Not exactly sure what you googled. If it is the Camelback trail map it does indeed show Bactrain going underneath the Mountain Coaster. In reality it does not and I'm not sure why its depicted that way on the map. They did take a last short section of the trail out and shoot you out to the Cliffhanger, Nile Mile side of Stevenson. None of the summer attractions interfere with the slopes and only go up just above the base of the mountain (exception for the zip line and mountain coaster).

Alex

Lake Hopatcong, NJ