Wavewheeler
New member
Date: Wed 1/28/14
Resort: Camelback, PA
Conditions: Packed Powder/Granular
Today my daughter and I headed up to Camelback for a day trip skiing It was to be her first time there since she was 7. She is 19 now. We woke up here at the Jersey Shore to 2" of new snow and of course there wasn't a drop up north but at least there was snow on the ground and on the trails at Camelback.
It was about 18 degrees, sunny with 10-15 mph winds. It was only really windy going up on the lifts so it's good that there's only 800' vertical and the ride goes fast. The runs down are short but sweet.
It was practically deserted early on Wed and conditions were excellent. Mostly packed, groomed powder with a bit of granular. Hardly any ice at all. We started off at the Sullivan Express and ran a few blues (Big Pocono, Dromedary and King Tut) to warm up and then headed over to Stevenson Express where it was both windier but sunnier. Unfortunately Pharoah was "temporarily closed for grooming" and we got to watch it being groomed as we went up the lift and hoped it would eventually open. It didn't and we got to ride over it and curse all that untouched corduroy that obviously being saved for the weekenders. They were also blowing snow over Marc Antony.
After checking out a few blues (Nile Mile and Pocono Raceway) we hit Cliffhanger. We ran down that multiple times. I would say about half of our runs were down Cliffhanger. It was best the trail of the day, with nicely packed powder and it was in the sun, out of the wind and pretty softened up. After I coaxed my daughter down it, she questioned why it wasn't a single black. I wonder about that myself but I guess when you go from 3050' vertical to 800' you have to roll with it.
We headed back to the Sullivan Express. Of the blacks there, Rocket was closed and they were blowing snow by the end of the day onto it. All the other blacks were completely groomed. Marjie's Delight was the best of the 3, with conditions similar to Cliffhanger.
My daughter was getting tired and ran down the blues, which were starting to get more granular than powdery by 2pm and I took runs down Asp and Hump. Asp was the better of the two with some nice powder but a bit less than Marjie's. Hump was more in the shade and a tad icier but there weren't any really icy spots. All were in great shape and had a bit of powder which made turning easy, although in 3-4 turns you were practically down the mountain and doing the straight run down to the lifts.
Nice thing about midweek is that you can literally hop on the lift, jump off, ski down and hop back on again. I'd hate to think of going on a weekday and waiting forever to get on that lift and then have a 2 minute run down. I'd only consider doing Camelback on a midweek. Yes, the runs are short but at least you can do a bunch of them and get some really good speed up and have a blast doing it.
It was a very nice day, we practically had the mountain to ourselves and only when we called it a day around 4pm (starting to not feel our fingers and toes anymore) did we see an increase in the crowds when the after school/evening skiers started coming in.
Great place for a day trip! I can see heading back later in the season but tomorrow I'm headed for Hunter where I'm up for some more challenging terrain. I'll be on my own as my daughter had to go back to school and hit the books. I always enjoy skiing with her and am glad she is doing much better on her new skis and boots.
Great quotes from my daughter upon getting to Camelback:
"Wow, I can see the top from the bottom!"
Upon completing our first run down: "That's IT?"
Upon completing our first run down Cliffhanger "That's not seriously a double diamond, is it?"
Resort: Camelback, PA
Conditions: Packed Powder/Granular
Today my daughter and I headed up to Camelback for a day trip skiing It was to be her first time there since she was 7. She is 19 now. We woke up here at the Jersey Shore to 2" of new snow and of course there wasn't a drop up north but at least there was snow on the ground and on the trails at Camelback.
It was about 18 degrees, sunny with 10-15 mph winds. It was only really windy going up on the lifts so it's good that there's only 800' vertical and the ride goes fast. The runs down are short but sweet.
It was practically deserted early on Wed and conditions were excellent. Mostly packed, groomed powder with a bit of granular. Hardly any ice at all. We started off at the Sullivan Express and ran a few blues (Big Pocono, Dromedary and King Tut) to warm up and then headed over to Stevenson Express where it was both windier but sunnier. Unfortunately Pharoah was "temporarily closed for grooming" and we got to watch it being groomed as we went up the lift and hoped it would eventually open. It didn't and we got to ride over it and curse all that untouched corduroy that obviously being saved for the weekenders. They were also blowing snow over Marc Antony.
After checking out a few blues (Nile Mile and Pocono Raceway) we hit Cliffhanger. We ran down that multiple times. I would say about half of our runs were down Cliffhanger. It was best the trail of the day, with nicely packed powder and it was in the sun, out of the wind and pretty softened up. After I coaxed my daughter down it, she questioned why it wasn't a single black. I wonder about that myself but I guess when you go from 3050' vertical to 800' you have to roll with it.
We headed back to the Sullivan Express. Of the blacks there, Rocket was closed and they were blowing snow by the end of the day onto it. All the other blacks were completely groomed. Marjie's Delight was the best of the 3, with conditions similar to Cliffhanger.
My daughter was getting tired and ran down the blues, which were starting to get more granular than powdery by 2pm and I took runs down Asp and Hump. Asp was the better of the two with some nice powder but a bit less than Marjie's. Hump was more in the shade and a tad icier but there weren't any really icy spots. All were in great shape and had a bit of powder which made turning easy, although in 3-4 turns you were practically down the mountain and doing the straight run down to the lifts.
Nice thing about midweek is that you can literally hop on the lift, jump off, ski down and hop back on again. I'd hate to think of going on a weekday and waiting forever to get on that lift and then have a 2 minute run down. I'd only consider doing Camelback on a midweek. Yes, the runs are short but at least you can do a bunch of them and get some really good speed up and have a blast doing it.
It was a very nice day, we practically had the mountain to ourselves and only when we called it a day around 4pm (starting to not feel our fingers and toes anymore) did we see an increase in the crowds when the after school/evening skiers started coming in.
Great place for a day trip! I can see heading back later in the season but tomorrow I'm headed for Hunter where I'm up for some more challenging terrain. I'll be on my own as my daughter had to go back to school and hit the books. I always enjoy skiing with her and am glad she is doing much better on her new skis and boots.
Great quotes from my daughter upon getting to Camelback:
"Wow, I can see the top from the bottom!"
Upon completing our first run down: "That's IT?"
Upon completing our first run down Cliffhanger "That's not seriously a double diamond, is it?"
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It's a fun place for a day trip and we got our money's worth. Beats Mountain Creek, that's for sure!
