How much would you pay for 2 hours of skiing at small local hill?

[4aprice]

Ok, .

Speaking of lines, Asp was bumped up. From the parking lot it looked delicious. It was not. There were no good lines to be found anywhere. I skied the damn thing ~14 times or so, tried every side of every section. Bumps yes. Lines where you could get into a rhythm? No. Best you could do was skier's right the for the first 3/4, then middle for last 1/4. There was also a very weird big hump/hill at the end into a riveted trough that also happened to be in the dark. Have to cut left to avoid it.

Another thing, the light was sub-optimal. They really need a set of lights on both sides of that trail (or, I would guess, most mogul trails). Some of the deepest troughs on the funkiest moguls were in the dark. I fell twice as a result.

I only skied Lower Cleopatra once. Maybe all the new snow filled in the lines on these small seeded bumps, or maybe they weren't that well formed to begin with...don't know, but there wasn't much to them. They were certainly not as good as they were for the second half of last season. Maybe they will improve, dunno.

I've found some very rippable lines in Asp but how you could do them at night is beyond me. I agree the lighting is not great but I don't think any lighting except the sun is that great. I don't like skiing at night. The wind on the backside of this storm was no friend either. Those are natural forming moguls, meaning they just blew and opened, and they go with the shape of the trail so with the shadows its hazardous. There broken up but there are some nice lines in there. If you skied it in the sunlight I think you would find it more entertaining.

Yesterday what the Lower Cleo bumps needed the most was for the wind to calm down and skier traffic. Snow was being ripped up the mountain and completely filling in any lines being created. Traffic this weekend will determine their fate. There's nothing the mountain can do about the winds which have been bad this season. The lip of the ridge has been sand blasted away. There was some beautiful snow about a 1/3 of the way down Rocket and Marjies that they will drag up the mountain. Thats what the winch cat is for. The quads were down last Sunday and yesterday till 2, .

I think management still intends to "seed" a side of Cliffhanger for the spring. One of the guys I know previously held a position at Hunter and in speaking with him I gathered he had been in on the seeding operations they do up there. Thats a good possability after the holiday weekend is over.

That being said I'm sorry you didn't have a good time. Management has been responsive in many ways this year and seems to have an ear for the customer. I'll tell then your thoughts.


Alex

Lake Hopatcong, NJ

 

[RootDKJ]

Fwiw, Blue has pretty decent night lighting. I find a clear lens really helps. Their lights are yellowish and it's just weird with a yellow tint lens. Most of the trails have really decent lighting, except for the one big dark spot on Main Street. Much better then Mountain Creek, where 40% of the run is in the dark. :blink:

 

[jaywbigred]

I've found some very rippable lines in Asp but how you could do them at night is beyond me. I agree the lighting is not great but I don't think any lighting except the sun is that great. I don't like skiing at night. The wind on the backside of this storm was no friend either. Those are natural forming moguls, meaning they just blew and opened, and they go with the shape of the trail so with the shadows its hazardous. There broken up but there are some nice lines in there. If you skied it in the sunlight I think you would find it more entertaining.

Yesterday what the Lower Cleo bumps needed the most was for the wind to calm down and skier traffic. Snow was being ripped up the mountain and completely filling in any lines being created. Traffic this weekend will determine their fate. There's nothing the mountain can do about the winds which have been bad this season. The lip of the ridge has been sand blasted away. There was some beautiful snow about a 1/3 of the way down Rocket and Marjies that they will drag up the mountain. Thats what the winch cat is for. The quads were down last Sunday and yesterday till 2, .

I think management still intends to "seed" a side of Cliffhanger for the spring. One of the guys I know previously held a position at Hunter and in speaking with him I gathered he had been in on the seeding operations they do up there. Thats a good possability after the holiday weekend is over.

That being said I'm sorry you didn't have a good time. Management has been responsive in many ways this year and seems to have an ear for the customer. I'll tell then your thoughts.


Alex

Lake Hopatcong, NJ

Alex, I did have a good time, just not quite the banner night of ripping that I expected. I agree that things might have been quite different in the sunlight. I also might have had high expectations given that I had so much fun in the Lower Cleo bumps last year. But I believe that was later in the year, so maybe come spring they will be set-up nicely again.

The other thing I think I forgot to mention was that, for better or worse (worse), I am sure the lines were effected by a high number of wahoos venturing onto Asp who didn't do the lines any favors. I won't single out the big groups of snowboarders because I saw plenty of skiers who shouldn't have been on there too. I know I'm being greedy though...how else are people supposed to learn?

My favorite part of the night was probably futzing around in the little terrain park. The kicker at the end is just the right size for a "Big kid" like me who gets scared of going big but who still needs a reasonably-sized ramp to get any legitimate air.

 

[4aprice]

Alex, I did have a good time, just not quite the banner night of ripping that I expected. I agree that things might have been quite different in the sunlight. I also might have had high expectations given that I had so much fun in the Lower Cleo bumps last year. But I believe that was later in the year, so maybe come spring they will be set-up nicely again.

The other thing I think I forgot to mention was that, for better or worse (worse), I am sure the lines were effected by a high number of wahoos venturing onto Asp who didn't do the lines any favors. I won't single out the big groups of snowboarders because I saw plenty of skiers who shouldn't have been on there too. I know I'm being greedy though...how else are people supposed to learn?

My favorite part of the night was probably futzing around in the little terrain park. The kicker at the end is just the right size for a "Big kid" like me who gets scared of going big but who still needs a reasonably-sized ramp to get any legitimate air.

Jay

I appreciate your candor and I'm going to pass on what you say to management. My dealings with them have convinvced me that they really want to improve the place and any input from guys like you is welcome. Hey I want to see more skiers like you on the mountain too because the bumps would be better and I agree that there are plenty of people on them with no business being there. Unfortunately thats the Pocono's. When they go to Cliffhanger, which I'm really pushing them to do, they will need to seed them like they do at Blue on Challange. Then we should see some unbroken rippable lines down a good portion of the vertical. I'll let you know. Maybe one of these days the wind will calm down too because it has really played havoc on them this season. PM me sometime if you want to hit up a day in March. (Spring can be really fun there)

Alex

Lake Hopatcong, NJ

 

[jaywbigred]

Ok, these are late in coming, but I think they capture the essence of the night. These are all of Asp. 2 from the trail and 2 from the lift.

It was dark!

 

[RootDKJ]

Ok, these are late in coming, but I think they capture the essence of the night. These are all of Asp. 2 from the trail and 2 from the lift.

It was dark!

Dude, you really should try skiing Blue at night...It's much brighter. :lol:

 

[jaywbigred]

Dude, you really should try skiing Blue at night...It's much brighter. :lol:

I'm seriously considering coming out for a couple hours tomorrow night.

 

[RootDKJ]

I'm seriously considering coming out for a couple hours tomorrow night.

I can't do tomorrow, I have my night class, but I'm going Thursday night for sure. I'm planning on heading into PA around lunch time and working out of the Wegman's on 512 until around 4pm, sooner if possible.

Also, if you have a business card you can ski Tuesday nights for $22. http://www.skibluemt.com/SkiBlue/tickets-and-passes/daily-specials.aspx

 

[billski]

We used to measure value on the number of runs we could get in. If it was a dollar a run, we thought we were doing well. Then it became 2. Then.....

 

[keyser soze]

Well I paid $50 for 2 hours last night at Mountain Creek. Some friends I hadn't seen in a while were going and it was las minute and..... Normally $39, but since it was a Holiday (week) the shafted me an extra $10. The only time they checked was my first run On the good side, there was a good amount of fluff on the hill. Kinda falt though after being in Utah a couple of weeks back.

 

[tarponhead]

I'm planning on heading into PA around lunch time and working out of the Wegman's on 512 until around 4pm, sooner if possible.

Brillient!

 

[Riverskier]

Spent $21 for 2 hours and 240 feet of vert last Sunday and it was worth every penny! It was between sitting on the couch and watching tv or heading 25 mintes up the road to Lost Valley for some fresh air and some turns. 25 super short run and some fresh air. Beats tv any day! Well worth it and would certainly do it again if I have a couple hours to kill.