Mid-Atlantic 2019/2020 Poconos (greater area) -- Conditions, Resorts, Meet-ups

[4aprice]

Is this Rhody or Lower Cleo? I didn't get out last year, but previous years they seeded bumps on Lower Cleo. These look nice

Those bumps are on Asp. These bumps are on Rodo.



They did not let Lower Cleo bump up last season, but these were much better and I hope a staple in the future.

 

[Philpug]

Man, they look like fun.

 

[4aprice]

Man, they look like fun.

It's the natural place for them. Oscillating fan guns to refresh as well. Incredible training low angle bumps for those learning and nice and fun and "ripable" for seasoned skiers.

So as we are on the eve of another Camelback season (the collective we as in me and Camelback itself) lots of changes starting with the management on down so I'm not really sure what to expect.

Starting with the snow making. They open with 9 trails Friday including Tut and Hump from the top. Hump has always been the last trail on the mountain to open every year. They seemed to concentrate on the base area (in front of the web cams BTW) instead of any upper mountain trails in the middle and on the east side. Almost like they were going to sweep across the mountain rather then tie different routes and sides together. Marjies has not been touched as far as I can tell. They started blowing in November but it seems to me that they have not been too aggressive at all. You would think that they would want to get the east side open with the Hotel but I don't think they've touched it outside of Glen. Whatever plan they have its much different then it has ever been in the past. Still it is only early December and any skiing in the Pocono's in early December is to be welcomed.

We didn't go on Ikon so I need the 2 passes again this year. We lost our little favorite bar in the East Side Bistro. Will probably see more of the Trails End if we want to escape the Thirsty Camel noise factor. Everything just seemed a little more corporate then in the past when we went up for Ullr Fest back in November. Just the little changes that make each new season different from the season before.

As far as things that I hope stay the same,, those moguls on Rodo would be one of my choices

Can't wait to get back on the boards again

 

[Willyum215]

New season, new webcam placement - happy opening day!

 

[BC.]

New season, new webcam placement - happy opening day!
View attachment 86344

should be a great opening day......a little snow again last night.....and some snow showers throughout the day....

 

[Scrundy]

 

[Willyum215]

View attachment 86388

Nice one, @Scrundy ! I'll be there on Saturday.

 

[Scrundy]

Probably can see your new digs from there.

 

[asnowmobiler]

Blue opened Lazy mile and upper Main St yesterday. There was a lot of Sugar Cookies on both of them but it’s still nice to be on some different trails.
Day #6

 

[4aprice]

First turns at CBK today



Turkey Trot off of Glen Lift. The Oak Grove/Turkey Trot combo was pretty decent but a healthy course of Pocono Pavement lurked in the shadows just beyond the curve in the picture catching some by surprise.



Hump headwall was just about the best snow on the mountain. I now understand that the reason they opened it up so early was to play with and show off the new snowmaking on it. Makes some sense.

And now because we have several "former" and some present Camelback skiers on this site, a game.

What is missing from this picture?

 

[BC.]

First turns at CBK today

View attachment 86794

Turkey Trot off of Glen Lift. The Oak Grove/Turkey Trot combo was pretty decent but a healthy course of Pocono Pavement lurked in the shadows just beyond the curve in the picture catching some by surprise.

View attachment 86795

Hump headwall was just about the best snow on the mountain. I now understand that the reason they opened it up so early was to play with and show off the new snowmaking on it. Makes some sense.

And now because we have several "former" and some present Camelback skiers on this site, a game.

What is missing from this picture?

View attachment 86796

In jest, as a lifetime local....

-Tens of thousands of people....all from NY/NJ
-45 minute lift lines (swearing/loudtalkers/smoking)
-Lift stoppages/people falling off lifts/not loading
-Lots of Fuhgeddaboutits
-etc.

I think u get my point.

*Looks great..hope u had a great day

 

[4aprice]

In jest, as a lifetime local....

-Tens of thousands of people....all from NY/NJ
-45 minute lift lines (swearing/loudtalkers/smoking)
-Lift stoppages/people falling off lifts/not loading
-Lots of Fuhgeddaboutits
-etc.

I think u get my point.

*Looks great..hope u had a great day

Some of what you listed was there today 2 and 3 in particular but not what I am looking for. (not the lines)

 

[asnowmobiler]

Waffle cabin?

 

[4aprice]

Waffle cabin?

Nope. BTW, good catch, I do think there was a Waffle Cabin there and it is gone but that's not what I'm talking about.

 

[Willyum215]

wasn't there a ski-check in that area for a while?

 

[Willyum215]

Skied Elk on Saturday, really nice conditions. Very soft, perfect temperature, plenty of bite. 8 trails open, but only 3 intermediates/advanced. We really enjoyed our half-day to get the legs back.

My buddy wanted to stop at Montage for a couple of hours yesterday on our way back into Philly. $30 ticket, which was nice, but lots of dust and crust and only Cannonball, Smoke, and one of the upper blues were open (besides a handful of greens of course).

The skiing was meh, but it was nice to check it out again after a few years. Their bar/restaurant is very nice, great selection of beers. Very friendly staff all around the facility and the landscape/views are really beautiful on the North Face. I don't mind that slow lift ride at all.

 

[asnowmobiler]

I enjoy Elk a lot, they some interesting runs. Definitely agree with everything said about Montage’s bar, they had some awesome beers the last time I was there.

 

[Large Squirrel]

@tinymoose and @Olesya C and i skiied montage yesterday and had a blast. pretty good coverage for early season, and the 5 inches of natural snow from last week's storm helped things out a bit. @Wendy skiied there on saturday and gave us the heads up on some icy spots, so we all had our slalom skis ready to go.

we did a few warm-up laps on high ball and switch. snow on highball was very nice...so it was prime-time tip-it and rip-it. visibility on switch was a problem, and with the surface undulations (prepping for the terrain park features i presume), care had to be taken with each turn. we spent the rest of the day on the north face, alternating between cannonball and boomer. run of the day was definitely boomer. best snow on the mtn and they left it ungroomed, so a nice mogul field was starting to develop. nothing too crazy, but at least it was nice to get some solid bump practice in on day 2 of the 2019-2020 season. cannonball was OK, but had a lot of traffic on it which was causing some areas to become scraped off. the flats near the lift had a bunch of death cookies early on, but they got mowed down as more ppl hit up that area. we found that the death cookies were not really a problem, even though we were on SL skis, as long as we we skied assertively and kept the skis on edge.

après was at the slocum hollow bar. hot tea and chili was in order after a good day on the slopes. we'll most likely be back up again next weekend.

 

[4aprice]

wasn't there a ski-check in that area for a while?

Was a ski check there and a set of stairs that went to the base lodge and they are both gone, however, not what I'm after and I'm a little surprised no has gotten it yet, but I will let the game play for a while.

 

[asnowmobiler]

I can’t see, is the outside bar s there?