mountain creek vs. blue mt. vs. camelback vs. shawnee

[TyWebb]

Another vote for Blue. Bucks county skier who never skied Mt Creek but Blue is much more fun and interesting compared to Camelback and Shawnee. I’d just pass on Sats for all 3 cause all of them can be a zoo if it’s a good ski day.

 

[John9]

I could tell you a lot of positive things about CB, but there is no point if your plan is to go there on your non VT weekends. Saturday is an absolute madhouse, no point in going if you want to actually ski, not stand in line and dodge people.

 

[gladerider]

Think i am going to check out Blue a couple of times to compare. Haven't been there in 15+ years.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

 

[danimals]

Ill chime in as Ive had a pass to each of these places in the past.

They all should be avoided on weekends. the crowds are insane. Ive seen 1hr + lines at blue just to buy tickets (usually right after a storm) but the place gets downright dangerous on weekends. weekdays are empty until schools get out. blue has the best trails out of the three.

Camelback is similar but stays busy midweek due to the hotel. I don't enjoy riding here regardless. The layout is weird and is mostly runout.

Mountain creek is empty midweek until schools are out. Weekends are not as bad as blue as the crowds get spread around the 3 peaks. the problem is the best trails are loaded with park features on the old great gorge side. There are really no steep trails to speak of, I think only one now.

Depending on where you are coming from, hunter or even belleayre if your from north jersey would be ideal.

Now one place nobody ever talks about, but I absolutely love, is Montage mountain in scranton. Its legit right in scranton overlooking the city. Downright empty weekdays, light crowds weekend. 1000 ft of vert, although the top to bottom lift is slow. The lodge is mid mountain-ish, and all the steep stuff you can walk right to from your car as the lift is right at the top of the lot. these are some of the most fun trails in PA, and are sheltered into a valley, so the snow is usually great. the passes are cheap too. awesome bar as well.

 

[Domeskier]

Now one place nobody ever talks about, but I absolutely love, is Montage mountain in scranton. Its legit right in scranton overlooking the city. Downright empty weekdays, light crowds weekend. 1000 ft of vert, although the top to bottom lift is slow. The lodge is mid mountain-ish, and all the steep stuff you can walk right to from your car as the lift is right at the top of the lot. these are some of the most fun trails in PA, and are sheltered into a valley, so the snow is usually great. the passes are cheap too. awesome bar as well.

To be fair to Montage, I think this sign predates the installation of Satan's Staircase:

 

[cdskier]

Now one place nobody ever talks about, but I absolutely love, is Montage mountain in scranton. Its legit right in scranton overlooking the city. Downright empty weekdays, light crowds weekend. 1000 ft of vert, although the top to bottom lift is slow. The lodge is mid mountain-ish, and all the steep stuff you can walk right to from your car as the lift is right at the top of the lot. these are some of the most fun trails in PA, and are sheltered into a valley, so the snow is usually great. the passes are cheap too. awesome bar as well.

I just found out last week that one of the offices where I work is practically right next to Montage. One side of our building up there looks right at Montage. It looked empty anytime I looked out the window last week when I was up there.

 

[Not Sure]

Yeah, they did a poor job advertising it. They seed a course on the final steep pitch of Razor’s Edge. I can’t imagine it is more than thirty turns, but it is legitimately steep. Last year, they built a kicker at the bottom of the course where it flattens out and jumps did factor into scoring. It has always been a single competitor format, and most entrants get one run. There might be a finals round for the top competitors, but I’m not sure. I think this is the third year they have held the comp on Razor’s, so the format could change as they work out any kinks, I guess. I’m not sure if they have separate categories for men, women and kids. Most people are in it to have fun, but there are always a handful of people with comp experience and impressive skills who make it fun to watch.

I’m sure you saw the registration page, but for anyone else who is interested, here is a link:
https://www.skibluemt.com/calendar/bmr-mogul-mania/

One of the best locals at Blue . Would like to make it but working .

 

[Domeskier]

One of the best locals at Blue . Would like to make it but working .

Yep. Quite a few rippers there. Strongly recommend it to any mogul skier who hasn't been. Especially when they bump up Razor's top to bottom (I think it rivals spring bumps on Superstar when they do). I've got my fingers crossed for at least the last two weekends of March.

 

[legalskier]

Think i am going to check out Blue a couple of times to compare. Haven't been there in 15+ years.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

You could try the Sunday twilight ticket- 4 p.m. til closing for $30, a great deal. I've done it & Blue wasn't crowded then.

https://www.skibluemt.com/winter-sports/tickets/purchase-lift-tickets/

 

[Killingtime]

Big skip on Shawnee. You will be bored within seconds. It should not even be considered. Blue is probably the best choice, with MC with a slight nod over CB.

Plus Blue has a really nice bar with lots of good local brews.

 

[NYC_Skier]

Resurrecting an old thread as I was searching the forum...

Gotta factor in cost as well. I was looking for a day trip for myself and my 15 year old and 11 year old this upcoming Sat or Sunday..

Price is for 3 full day lift tickets (one adult and 2 juniors)

Shawnee - $159
Camelback - $209
Mountain Creek - $230
Blue - $327

Blue shocked me with that price. We spent all last week skiing Jay Peak and Whiteface. I never paid $327 for daily lift tickets at those mountains. Blue seems to be quite full of itself.

 

[jimmywilson69]

Charge what the market bears. If not for the forecast liquid precip this weekend I bet Blue would be packed.

 

[NYC_Skier]

Hey..if they are getting it more power to them. I was just suprised how far off it was from the others. Havent skied in PA yet this year, just NY and VT.

 

[Domeskier]

Hey..if they are getting it more power to them. I was just suprised how far off it was from the others. Havent skied in PA yet this year, just NY and VT.

Blue's walk-up rates this year were supposedly designed to minimize crowding during COVID (along with limits on the number of available tickets). You can pay significantly less than the $109 face value (or whatever it is), but need to buy well in advance. Judging from the cams, I don't think it was particularly effective as a crowd mitigation tool. Probably a nice revenue generator for them though, and I wouldn't be surprised to see them keep the absurd walk-up rates with discounts for early purchases post-COVID.

Speaking of absurd rates, I considered booking a room at Camelback this weekend to get in a couple days. They were charging over $1,000 all-in for a night at the resort hotel.

 

[NYC_Skier]

I was looking about a week out...for the weekend of March 6-7 and didnt care which day. $109 and no junior rate at all was pretty surprising to me. I booked Camelback and while I know it will be a bit crazy with lift lines early in the day, we generally close the place and enjoy skiing it later under the lights because it clears out.

 

[Ski2LiveLive2Ski]

Mt Creek - boring and crowded. Cabriolet is about my least fav lift ever. Take skis off to stand up outside. I they had one halfway decent trail (pipeline) and eliminated it.

Shawnee - great if you have kids especially as 42" and under ski free. When it snows they have better (off map) glades than the others you list. But otherwise meh.

Blue - best vertical and terrain of the 4 but insane crowds on weekends unless you are there at opening and finish skiing at about 10am. Grooming not great. Minimal glades. Seeded bump run.

Camelback - main competition to Blue. Crowds more manageable as there are some non-detatchable lifts that never get crowded. No glades.

Also consider

Montage - North face is best terrain in NEPA other than perhaps Elk. Boomer is my fav run. Almost never a crowd on North face either. Has some glades when they get enough snow.

Jack Frost - really not great in itself (slow lifts and short runs) other than best glades in NEPA - and they blow snow in them - and beautiful view of Lehigh River. But on the Epic Pass so it opens up Hunter and some VT and NH options to you as well.

Wouldn't consider Elk from where you are as it is as far.as Catskills and not as good.

 

[NYC_Skier]

Thanks for the tips. Never tried Montage. May take a look for the next NEPA day trip.

I heard really good things about ELk, but never tried it. Its because the drive is long.

 

[Killingtime]

Thanks for the tips. Never tried Montage. May take a look for the next NEPA day trip.

I heard really good things about ELk, but never tried it. Its because the drive is long.

Elk is my favorite PA resort. Never feels crowded and has some really nice runs. Dig Blue too but the crowds on weekends can be a bit much.

 

[PAabe]

Wow I surprised by that price for Blue. Typically it's one of the more reasonably priced places around for weekday and for night skiing. Usually it's Camelback and Roundtop that keep me away with their prices. It must be the demand pricing Blue is using this year - if you purchase in advance night tickets for Blue are as low as $18. Similarly Montage has $40 9am-9pm ticket+rental+(lesson in regular years) on weekdays but is $89 just for the ticket on weekends.

It seems that Blue gets more of the SE Pennsylvania crowd (Philly, Allentown, Reading, Lancaster) and Camelback gets NJ.

I was kind of surprised about the opinion the crowds are more manageable at Camelback - Blue has the double-doubles too which typically don't get long lines, although you can't access the east side from them. My biggest complaint about Blue is the stupid runout at the bottom by the detachables, usually they are dumping everybody on the whole hill into into one skinny little run there - kind of lame that Blue Mountain is able to claim highest vertical in PA over Elk and Blue Knob just because of that skinny little runout at the bottom.

 

[SKI-3PO]

If you’re skiing weekends, More time driving = less time wait in lines = more time skiing.

The crowds at any of the places in the title of this thread on a weekend are unbearable to me.