jaywbigred
Active member
After a few years (five or six?) away, I revisited Camelback. The plan was to get there in time for the 8am - 12:30 morning ticket, ski nonstop, and then get back in time to watch most of the Giants game (its about 1:15 door to door). We conceived the trip as a conditioning one, in prep. for MLK weekend.
The weather was iffy, 20% chance of rain, and there was a passing shower as we got off the highway. But things cleared up and it was a spring like day, with soft snow (machine groomed w loose granular in spots) that was pretty fun.
Didn't quite make it on the slopes by 8 (talk to the gf about that one!). We warmed up on U. Cleopatra, Big Pocono and Dromedary, and the accompanying green runouts a bunch of times each. Headed to skier's right and did Pharoah and Nile Mile a bunch, then started lapping Cliffhanger. After about 3 hrs w no break, the gf's legs where done, so I did what any good bf would do: kept skiing with my buddy. We headed to skier's left, lapping the Hump, the Asp and the Rocket. Light was getting tough and I have to admit, I did not ski as aggresively as I would have liked on these less-than-memorable trails. No matter, we skied until they made us stop riding the lifts, and we had fun and I'm sure improved some leg strength (only 3 on snow days so far this year :sad: )
I took away from the trip that Camelback gets good marks for its lifts, with the 2 high speed quads at such a small mountain. The lift speed really allowed for a good workout; if you went hard the whole run (not that long, mind you), the ride up was fast enough that you didn't have much lag, and the overall pace of the day therefore, in exercise terms, was pretty high.
The crowd was moderate and building throughout the day, I was glad we left when we did. Lower parking lots really filling up. And the Poconos continue to have just as many gapers and bozos as I remember from years ago. There was a lot of camo to be found, much of it of the hunting neon orange variety. I saw at least a half dozen skiers in jeans, and at least 3 starter jackets (including a dude in a racing helmet, Technica Vento10s on Speedmachines in a KC Chiefs beauty). There was some racing teams practicing that could rip pretty good, and I saw a couple of capable park rats.
Overall, a fun day, close to home.
The weather was iffy, 20% chance of rain, and there was a passing shower as we got off the highway. But things cleared up and it was a spring like day, with soft snow (machine groomed w loose granular in spots) that was pretty fun.
Didn't quite make it on the slopes by 8 (talk to the gf about that one!). We warmed up on U. Cleopatra, Big Pocono and Dromedary, and the accompanying green runouts a bunch of times each. Headed to skier's right and did Pharoah and Nile Mile a bunch, then started lapping Cliffhanger. After about 3 hrs w no break, the gf's legs where done, so I did what any good bf would do: kept skiing with my buddy. We headed to skier's left, lapping the Hump, the Asp and the Rocket. Light was getting tough and I have to admit, I did not ski as aggresively as I would have liked on these less-than-memorable trails. No matter, we skied until they made us stop riding the lifts, and we had fun and I'm sure improved some leg strength (only 3 on snow days so far this year :sad: )
I took away from the trip that Camelback gets good marks for its lifts, with the 2 high speed quads at such a small mountain. The lift speed really allowed for a good workout; if you went hard the whole run (not that long, mind you), the ride up was fast enough that you didn't have much lag, and the overall pace of the day therefore, in exercise terms, was pretty high.
The crowd was moderate and building throughout the day, I was glad we left when we did. Lower parking lots really filling up. And the Poconos continue to have just as many gapers and bozos as I remember from years ago. There was a lot of camo to be found, much of it of the hunting neon orange variety. I saw at least a half dozen skiers in jeans, and at least 3 starter jackets (including a dude in a racing helmet, Technica Vento10s on Speedmachines in a KC Chiefs beauty). There was some racing teams practicing that could rip pretty good, and I saw a couple of capable park rats.
Overall, a fun day, close to home.
