Blue Mtn has two very nice beginner learning areas, but the transition from those to regular skiing is not good. STAY AWAY FROM BURMA ROAD! I've a lot of "up close and personal" experience with it as a supposedly easy green run, and it was got to be the worst trail I've ever skied on due to traffic, blind switchbacks, and the littered bodies strewn across the trail. I started skiing at age 50 and Blue Mtn was the closest decent ski area. However, once your son gains some experience and confidence, I would venture to say that the other major green trail, Paradise, is the nicest I've seen at any PA resort and even NE resort. It's a bit steeper in parts than Burma Road, but accessible. It can be busy, but is wider and very long for practice and cruising. Great view from the top of the mountain to get the feel of real skiing.
Yep, but Paradise makes up for the sins of Burma Road. Just avoid the summit lodge and use the base lodge. Once I got over to Paradise as a beginning 50 year old, I realized what skiing could be like at a bigger mountain with the great views and really started to enjoy myself! From there, you can move to Lazy Mile in your progression. I like JF and don't find it as crowded as other Pocono spots like Bear Creek, but JF was where I skied until moving to Blue Mountain. Montage, Camelback, and Elk are just a bit too far for a day trip for me, unless its a bus trip. It's funny to think you can probably fit JF in the Upper Canyon portion of Killington!Burma Rd. is a disaster. People fall down and then just give up and lay there; it's like human slalom. It's really a terrible trail for beginners but it's the only green (or blue even... everything else are black diamonds) way down from the summit lodge to the base.
As far as recs, I'd suggest Montage . Nice, wide open trails on top, very beginner friendly, and not crowded compared to areas like Jack Frost, Blue, Bear Creek if crowds bother him Jack Frost isn't bad on the blue and black trails, but the green trails over by the beginner learning area can get pretty congested on weekends.
I've done a little skiing in the poconos and I have to say I loved Paradise at Blue. We did drills and just cruised on it and had a blast. Midweek night skiing was quite nice. I'll also second Montage. I snowboarded there years ago but we boarded/skied into the night and just had so much fun. If I recall that's the upside down resort where the blacks are at the bottom but they were avoidable I recall if you didn't want to go down them. I'd also say midweek anywhere would be ideal.
Well, I checked out the reviews. I've skied every trail at Elk and Blue, and would swear that Challenge and Razor's Edge at Blue are steeper than anything at Elk. But I'd still choose Elk over Blue for a variety of reasons.You might want to read the following review of Pocono resorts http://www.gondyline.com/ski_pa.php
montage for the win for all the reasons previously mentioned. the catskills are fun, but they are just horribly crowded on the weekends just like most of the hills in NE PA/NJ. the last time @tinymoose and I went up there we did a Sunday/Monday split btwn windham and hunter...that seemed to work out OK to avoid peak crowds. Blue mtn on the weekend is OK until 10 AM....after that forget about it.
Even though I have a pass and support Montage through my shop......I don't think I have ever heard anyone say "Montage for the win"......lol.
Well, I checked out the reviews. I've skied every trail at Elk and Blue, and would swear that Challenge and Razor's Edge at Blue are steeper than anything at Elk. But I'd still choose Elk over Blue for a variety of reasons.
Even though I have a pass and support Montage through my shop......I don't think I have ever heard anyone say "Montage for the win"......lol.
i literally LOL'd when i saw elk at #1 on that list! so many reasons why it isn't.....(no steeps, no trees, limited nite skiing, grade-school lunch tables in the cafeteria....and not enough room to walk in between them, etc.) for me, if it has enough snow blue knob is the right blend of all the things to be "#1 overall" in PA. but since it doesn't, i give my overall picks to #1 to montage, #2 to Jack Frost, and #3 to Blue Mtn.
well for the OP's concerns it definitely is a winning mountain.
I just never heard the actual words Montage (or anywhere in Scranton for that matter) “for the win”.