Thanksgiving Skiing in Pennsylvania?!

[icedtea]

No comment..but it is true..fat women sweat gravy..

i prefer crisco

 

[Moe Ghoul]

CB by tgiving? Not happening. Besides, After a long haul to Carlisle, I doubt he wants to track all the way back up 78 for 2+ hours each way to ski for a coupla hours. Not to mention it'll prolly piss off his new extended family, lol. Better off hiking along the Susquehanna River or somewhere close by. Dickinson College and law school have beautiful campuses to hike/jog and ol sleepy Harrisburg has actually gained a nightlife over the past 10 years, so you might wanna check that out, too. Worst case scenario, drive over to Ski Roundtop and hike the trails there.

 

[4aprice]

CB by tgiving? Not happening..

Don't be so sure about that. They would love to open by then. Not saying it will happen but the accuweather forecast looked like a good window for making snow. This is not the old Camelback management that opened late and closed early. They are much more aggressive and have felt the heat from BB. They have made it clear that they want to be one of the first to open and one of the last to close in PA.

Alex

Lake Hopatcong, NJ

 

[Moe Ghoul]

Don't be so sure about that. They would love to open by then. Not saying it will happen but the accuweather forecast looked like a good window for making snow. This is not the old Camelback management that opened late and closed early. They are much more aggressive and have felt the heat from BB. They have made it clear that they want to be one of the first to open and one of the last to close in PA.

Alex

Lake Hopatcong, NJ

Good point about new management, but BB always opened earlier, they get colder temps by a few degrees and since its an "upside down" hill, kinda like Blue, it's a little better protected.

 

[Greg]

Greg posted a weather forecast from accuweather for Sundown on another thread. While looking at it I changed the location to Tannersville Pa where Camelback is located and it was even better including 2 days of completely below freezing temps and some bouts of snow.

Not saying it will happen but the accuweather forecast looked like a good window for making snow.

Well, in my defense, I never put a lot of credence in a forecast beyond 3-5 days, even less so in the (not so) Accuweather 15 day forecasts. Still it's nice to dream.....

 

[PA Ridge Racer]

And after you marry her, you'll move to PA to be closer to her family and you'll get a pass at Blue Mountain, the true mountain, and spend the rest of your days goose stompin' with GSS. MSY. Mad Steezy Yo!

:razz:

Dude you got him down to a tee. :grin:

 

[4aprice]

Well, in my defense, I never put a lot of credence in a forecast beyond 3-5 days, even less so in the (not so) Accuweather 15 day forecasts. Still it's nice to dream.....

You don't need to defend yourself. You didn't put out the forecast. Accuweather is not the only people I've read who said we're going to get a good cold snap. Let's hope it comes to pass and we're all skiing by Thanksgiving. Dream on.

Alex

Lake Hopatcong, NJ

 

[AndyEich]

If Roundtop isn't open, there isn't anywhere else worth driving to for the quality of skiing you'll see in PA on Thanksgiving.

I also say the plan should instead be beers at the GMan or Market Cross Pub in Carlisle, or Harrisburg does have some good places on 2nd street if you don't mind a little drive.
________
Glass pipe

 

[ski9]

Don't be so sure about that. They would love to open by then. Not saying it will happen but the accuweather forecast looked like a good window for making snow. This is not the old Camelback management that opened late and closed early. They are much more aggressive and have felt the heat from BB. They have made it clear that they want to be one of the first to open and one of the last to close in PA.

Alex

Lake Hopatcong, NJ

Hey, Alex, not to be a buzzkill about the new management, but Charlie's energies are going toward the new hotel and summer features, including zip lines and a Mountaincoaster. As a former CB race parent, we watched them tear down the CAT room as racers practically had to run out of the building when they put in the wave pool. And I just can't see CB competing with BB or Sno without airlifting in a few dozen Polecats. CB and most other Pocono resorts are only concerned with December 19th this year, which begins the make or break holiday period where they count on 1/3 of their entire winter revenues. Their nightmare is to blow snow early then have it skied off right before the holidays like they did in, if I recall correctly, '02 and '03...they had 5000 guests skiing one run off the top, mixing in with ITC, race kids, and patrol drills. It was like a typical day at Blue.








j/k GSS

 

[4aprice]

Hey, Alex, not to be a buzzkill about the new management, but Charlie's energies are going toward the new hotel and summer features, including zip lines and a Mountaincoaster. As a former CB race parent, we watched them tear down the CAT room as racers practically had to run out of the building when they put in the wave pool. And I just can't see CB competing with BB or Sno without airlifting in a few dozen Polecats. CB and most other Pocono resorts are only concerned with December 19th this year, which begins the make or break holiday period where they count on 1/3 of their entire winter revenues. Their nightmare is to blow snow early then have it skied off right before the holidays like they did in, if I recall correctly, '02 and '03...they had 5000 guests skiing one run off the top, mixing in with ITC, race kids, and patrol drills. It was like a typical day at Blue.

Ski 9:

My son is on the CAT team. I was just up at the mountain last Sunday for the preseason meeting. They are aggressively pushing opening by Dec 5th. I don't know if you are aware of this but one of the plans being pushed forth is that when the hotel is finished (not this season) they want to concentrate on opening the east side as early as possible and close it as late as possible. Yes Camelbeach is important (and it should be) to them and concentrating on the east side will allow then to work on Camelbeach projects while skiing is still going on. I don't know where these rumors come from that they are foresaking skiing/boarding for Camelbeach. I've even heard some people say that they are going to close the mountain and just be Camelbeach. Camelbeach is a great money maker for them in the summer. You mention Sno as being better with the snowmaking? Correct me if I'm wrong but didn't they almost not open at all last year. They have foresaken much needed expansion for their new waterpark too. 02', 03' was the old management, the new management has been much better in my opinion. Yes I've heard some complain that they don't blow as much snow but they have allowed bump skiing (which the old management didn't like) and last season they made it to April with skiing.

Alex

Lake Hopatcong, NJ

 

[ski9]

Ski 9:

My son is on the CAT team. I was just up at the mountain last Sunday for the preseason meeting. They are aggressively pushing opening by Dec 5th. I don't know if you are aware of this but one of the plans being pushed forth is that when the hotel is finished (not this season) they want to concentrate on opening the east side as early as possible and close it as late as possible. Yes Camelbeach is important (and it should be) to them and concentrating on the east side will allow then to work on Camelbeach projects while skiing is still going on. I don't know where these rumors come from that they are foresaking skiing/boarding for Camelbeach. I've even heard some people say that they are going to close the mountain and just be Camelbeach. Camelbeach is a great money maker for them in the summer. You mention Sno as being better with the snowmaking? Correct me if I'm wrong but didn't they almost not open at all last year. They have foresaken much needed expansion for their new waterpark too. 02', 03' was the old management, the new management has been much better in my opinion. Yes I've heard some complain that they don't blow as much snow but they have allowed bump skiing (which the old management didn't like) and last season they made it to April with skiing.

Alex

Lake Hopatcong, NJ

Sno has its own problems with trying to keep park rats happy, but snow was never a problem. Yes, they got a late start when they missed an early opportunity to make snow, but once they turned their new arsenal on, Sno had the best conditions of any area in PA. When Elk closed its diamond during the mid-season stretch of 60 degree days, Sno's North Face was edge to edge. It was a little discouraging to watch them build a superpipe next to where we were drilling into dirt to set the NASTAR course, but the diamond runs were never neglected.

I wish CB well...I have a lot of friends who ski and work there.

How old is your racer? We held a pretty gnarly Cup race last season...

 

[4aprice]

Sno has its own problems with trying to keep park rats happy, but snow was never a problem. Yes, they got a late start when they missed an early opportunity to make snow, but once they turned their new arsenal on, Sno had the best conditions of any area in PA. When Elk closed its diamond during the mid-season stretch of 60 degree days, Sno's North Face was edge to edge. It was a little discouraging to watch them build a superpipe next to where we were drilling into dirt to set the NASTAR course, but the diamond runs were never neglected.

I wish CB well...I have a lot of friends who ski and work there.

How old is your racer? We held a pretty gnarly Cup race last season...

Hey I wish Sno all the best too and hope you don't think I am disrespecting it. I think it would be great to have another flourishing area there. We have a house at Arrowhead Lakes (between Lake Naomi and Blakeslee) which might be actually closer to Sno then Camelback. But I'll be honest with you Sno (and before that Montage) have dissappointed me in the past. Example: I went up there on a weekday in early January last season when there was natural snow around only to find the Long Haul Triple closed. I have skied North Face and know its good steep terrain but if I'm going to pay full price I want those long runs open and they weren't. I got very excited when I saw their expansion plans but they haven't seemed to go anywhere yet. I see that mountain as having a ton of potential and will be there with bells on if it comes through. Camelback is our choice because its location to our home in North Jersey (45 min) and the Arrowhead house (20 min). It's not the greatest ski area in the world but it certainly has been good for a home mountain. We like to travel around and hit Elk a couple of times each season so a couple of days at Sno would not be out of the question. 1 good day and I'm sure my opinion would change.

My son is a second year J4 so he has not raced at Sno yet and I don't see them on the schedule this year. We do see the Sno team at races. I'll say hi to Gus for you.

Alex

Lake Hopatcong, NJ

 

[Moe Ghoul]

Hey I wish Sno all the best too and hope you don't think I am disrespecting it. I think it would be great to have another flourishing area there. We have a house at Arrowhead Lakes (between Lake Naomi and Blakeslee) which might be actually closer to Sno then Camelback. But I'll be honest with you Sno (and before that Montage) have dissappointed me in the past. Example: I went up there on a weekday in early January last season when there was natural snow around only to find the Long Haul Triple closed. I have skied North Face and know its good steep terrain but if I'm going to pay full price I want those long runs open and they weren't. I got very excited when I saw their expansion plans but they haven't seemed to go anywhere yet. I see that mountain as having a ton of potential and will be there with bells on if it comes through. Camelback is our choice because its location to our home in North Jersey (45 min) and the Arrowhead house (20 min). It's not the greatest ski area in the world but it certainly has been good for a home mountain. We like to travel around and hit Elk a couple of times each season so a couple of days at Sno would not be out of the question. 1 good day and I'm sure my opinion would change.

My son is a second year J4 so he has not raced at Sno yet and I don't see them on the schedule this year. We do see the Sno team at races. I'll say hi to Gus for you.

Alex

Lake Hopatcong, NJ

You go to Christians' on Rt. 940? We got banned there 6 years ago, lol.

 

[ski9]

Ha, you have to ask Gus why he isn't in Montana yet...

We actually picked CB as our home mountain because of Gus' coaching staff...the energy and commitment Jack gave to the kids was terrific. It gave my oldest the confidence and just enough skill to give it a go at a full-time academy in Maine. We had a first rate experience at CB.

But when my youngest was born in 2000, we moved to our vacation home in the northern Poconos and decided to make Montage our home hill. And a great weight lifted from my shoulders. I used to drop my oldest off at CB, then sometimes sleep in my Jeep instead of battling lift lines and over crowded slopes. I came to dread weekends. And this comes from someone who used to teach weekends at Hunter. Yeah, there were ways around the worst of it---parking and making the Glen Lodge your base, but it always ended up the same...

Montage/Sno has issues, but they are also its charms. For one thing, before Sno took over, I'd never trust the Long Haul. We'd always take Iron Horse up, then skate up and around the Long Haul drop off. Even on the busiest weekends, this kept those slopes empty. The 10 min. ride up Long Haul keeps those slopes empty even now.

The two new runs so far are little more than connectors. The big difference in ownership (also a former CAT Team race parent, of course) is the snowmaking. Sno's North Face had more snow on them last winter than any slopes in the Poconos or Endless Mountains ever. Just like they went over the top by making a superpipe, they added 10 vert feet at the top of White Lightning just by piling snow. Crazy.

Sharp contrast to the way the county had left Montage. The two mile long runs to skier's right didn't open because the pipes were damaged. Long Haul had turned one weekend in those last two seasons. And there was constant worry that the mountain would cease operations every December.

Currently, the lift that serves the North Face has ten empty chairs between skiers on the busiest weekends. And it may be a slow lift, but the Phoebe takes you right up the headwall and we get to enjoy a completely empty skiing experience which includes the steepest run in the Poconos. And much more in the spirit of what Blue does for their race kids, Sno gives the race coaches a nice diamond to train on. At CB, we were eventually given 45 minutes on Rocket each Saturday morning, before relegating them to Raceway.

Sno is a bad place for people like GSS who just want to rack up vert. It's much more of the old Belleayre experience, with slow lifts and a chopped up hill. But I love getting off work early and parking 25 feet from the top of an empty steep headwall.

Disrespect? Of course not. Everyone's taste in a ski experience is different. Heck, I'd rather ski after a freezing rain than a six inch snowfall...

Good luck to your son, btw. I'm guessing one of the Snyders was his main coach? My oldest raced with them and they would have been eben more amazing if they weren't football stars.

 

[4aprice]

You go to Christians' on Rt. 940? We got banned there 6 years ago, lol.

How do you get banned from there? Actually if I hit any place on 940 it would be Pub in the Pines. I mostly enjoy the Camelback bar on Sat PM with the bands then shoot up Sullivan Trail to the house for my own party.


Alex

Lake Hopatcong, NJ

 

[Moe Ghoul]

How do you get banned from there? Actually if I hit any place on 940 it would be Pub in the Pines. I mostly enjoy the Camelback bar on Sat PM with the bands then shoot up Sullivan Trail to the house for my own party.


Alex

Lake Hopatcong, NJ

Actually, one of our ski mates got banned, and we rarely went there anyway. Stupid drunk stuff and married women.

 

[ski9]

Actually, one of our ski mates got banned, and we rarely went there anyway. Stupid drunk stuff and married women.

So, angry husbands beat your drunk asses for MILF hunting, Moe?

 

[Moe Ghoul]

So, angry husbands beat your drunk asses for MILF hunting, Moe?

He was at the bar, me and another ski bud were still at the table eating and talking, a little pushing and shoving and we yanked him outta there. I'm happily married, this dog may sniff and point, but I don't hunt.