Mid-Atlantic 2020/2021 Poconos (and Greater Area) -- Conditions, Resorts, Etc.

[johnnyvw]

I've always avoided holidays...don't want to even know what they're like LOL

 

[Shawn]

The ticket line at Elk today stretched all the way into the upper parking lot

I'm surprised Elk hasn't raised prices more. At Elk weekends a day pass is only $58 compared to $69 for Montage and often triple-digit flex pricing at Blue.

 

[Scrundy]

I'm surprised Elk hasn't raised prices more. At Elk weekends a day pass is only $58 compared to $69 for Montage and often triple-digit flex pricing at Blue.

Zip it... their night pass is very reasonable to at $28.
North of Elk I’m paying $48 for a night pass for my little one. Elk is fair imho and Greek is high, I just wish Elk had mid week nights open again.

 

[Shawn]

Zip it... their night pass is very reasonable to at $28.
North of Elk I’m paying $48 for a night pass for my little one. Elk is fair imho and Greek is high, I just wish Elk had mid week nights open again.

Night pass is $35 now! They must have heard me

 

[kitchener]

North of Elk I’m paying $48 for a night pass for my little one. Elk is fair imho and Greek is high...

What do you think crowds would be like at Greek (or Belleayre) on a Sunday/Monday?

 

[johnnyvw]

Someone posted in the NY thread that Bellayre was pretty empty, certainly as compared to "Huntah"....

 

[johnnyvw]

Another good day today at Jack Frost. Pulled in at 8:30, got a nice parking spot and took a potty stop. Got the boots on at 8:55, rolled out just after the lifts started. Snow conditions were superb, and with a clear blue ski and no wind it was comfortable despite being 6° when I started. Did a few runs on my new Liberty V76s....nope, needs the bases ground. They did not have the quads in the middle of the area running, so you were either stuck on the easier blues, or you had to cut over to the East Mountain chair. The side benefit of dealing with that is that at noon, I was still skiing fresh corduroy on the middle slopes. There were nice bumps on Exhibition (a short stretch, but it was quality over quantity).

I think I'm getting the hang of dealing with the no lodge business....

 

[Scrundy]

What do you think crowds would be like at Greek (or Belleayre) on a Sunday/Monday?

Sunday’s have been busy at Greek. Monday’s not so much but they don’t open chair 5 on most Monday’s . Belleayre - only been there twice midweek and never busy , same goes for Greek. Think Greek gets more of a crowd at night then days midweek.

 

[Willyum215]

Yesterday was another stellar day up here at Elk, my 26th session of the season.
What was forecasted on Monday afternoon to be 1"-3" turned into a call of 3"-5" at night.
I took a last-minute half day of PTO from work and was well rewarded. Steady intense snow dumped 4" of soft, light powder quickly on top of their early morning grooming, while the bumps on the ungroomed trails filled in nicely.
As my friend and I said good morning to one of the ski patrollers while traversing from the quad over to Susquehanna, he says to us, "I just got back from a trip to Colorado- this is better." Whether true or not, we couldn't help but crack a smile and reflect on what an epic season this has been here.

 

[dbostedo]

As my friend and I said good morning to one of the ski patrollers while traversing from the quad over to Susquehanna, he says to us, "I just got back from a trip to Colorado- this is better."

Depending on when and where he was in Colorado, that could very well be true. They are having a very lean snow year at some of the major places, though it's really been picking up the last 4-5 days and looks to be improving over the next couple of weeks. I was at Steamboat through the 4th, and there was a fair amount of brown snow in places (although it's huge, of course, so in total the brown areas/runs were a small part of the resort).

 

[4aprice]

Wow, the last 3 weekends including this past one have had some incredible skiing in the Pocono's. Consistent temps have kept the surfaces nice. Its been busy but ever since that fiasco on the Tuesday after the storm, CBK has responded by running enough lifts at the right time to make the skiing quite enjoyable. Saturday despite being a sell out turned into a terrific bump day for me just before a trip out west this coming week. Taking the Glen Lift with a 5-7 minute line up, banging the line down Lower Cleo to Marc Antony chair (2-3 min line) then riding to the summit and taking Upper Marc to Scarab, and down on to Rodo where there's a great set of moguls made for some great laps and the kind of work out I was looking for. Today the lines on Sullivan were reasonable up through the time we quit at 11. Definitely thankful for the "mighty" Pocono's this season. No pictures this weekend, too much skiing

 

[kitchener]

We went to Montage Sunday to avoid President Day Sunday mobs at CBK, and what a right call that was. No lift lines, and with so much natural snow, the kids were skiing through the woods everywhere.

 

[johnnyvw]

Another great day at Jack Frost. A little more people there first thing compared to my typical mid-week jaunts, but still pretty much no liftlines until the "nooners" arrived. Had about 3 or 4 inches of fresh overnight, and it snowed all morning. Very nice bumps on Exhibition. Tried out my retuned V76s...better, but still not feelin' the love. Of course, the conditions were much better for the Motive 95s, so after 4 runs went back to them for the remainder. Got the routine down pat now...

 

[Willyum215]

I took another half day of PTO to catch the powder at Elk this AM and again was not disappointed. Session #29 for me. We got 4"-5" as well, which really made for excellent conditions. Solid Friday AM crowd, but no waiting. Looks like I'll be pulling a triple play this weekend, with friends and family coming up both Saturday and Sunday.

@johnnyvw I have to say I am not quite as stoked on the Evolv90's as I thought I was going to be as well. I think I'm just hopelessly in love with the feel of my old, trusty Latigos

 

[johnnyvw]

I'm going to give them a shot on a nice hard pack day, today I felt they just weren't in their element. But I think I am going to find these want to crank a lot of shorter turn at high edge angles. I demoed a pair of Atomics about 15 years ago that felt similar...they really didn't shine until you treated them like a pogo stick. Too much work for me...LOL I'm beginning to think I prefer skis with a longer turn radius...

 

[Willyum215]

I'm going to give them a shot on a nice hard pack day, today I felt they just weren't in their element. But I think I am going to find these want to crank a lot of shorter turn at high edge angles. I demoed a pair of Atomics about 15 years ago that felt similar...they really didn't shine until you treated them like a pogo stick. Too much work for me...LOL I'm beginning to think I prefer skis with a longer turn radius...

I think you are right on there - on a regular Pocono hardpack day I bet the V76's will shine. Fingers crossed for you!

 

[kitchener]

Looks like I'll be pulling a triple play this weekend, with friends and family coming up both Saturday and Sunday.

Looking at a run up to Elk tomorrow -- how are Saturday crowds by the time the 4:30 to close ticket rolls around? We could be there earlier, but with it being a Saturday, I'm assuming discretion is the better part of valor?

 

[Willyum215]

Looking at a run up to Elk tomorrow -- how are Saturday crowds by the time the 4:30 to close ticket rolls around? We could be there earlier, but with it being a Saturday, I'm assuming discretion is the better part of valor?

That's a good question, @kitchener - I'm always an early bird, there at 8:30-8:45 am and leave by about 12-1 pm latest. I will say that now that the only daytime half-day ticket they offer is the afternoon 12:30 pm - 4:30 pm session, the crowds have been coming in late. I'd imagine that most of them hang around to get the full value out of the ticket.

 

[neonorchid]

I took another half day of PTO to catch the powder at Elk this AM and again was not disappointed. Session #29 for me. We got 4"-5" as well, which really made for excellent conditions. Solid Friday AM crowd, but no waiting. Looks like I'll be pulling a triple play this weekend, with friends and family coming up both Saturday and Sunday.

@johnnyvw I have to say I am not quite as stoked on the Evolv90's as I thought I was going to be as well. I think I'm just hopelessly in love with the feel of my old, trusty Latigos

I keep forgetting how nice 3" - 4" new snow can be at ELK.
Best season in 12 years (of snow drought)! Knew this would happen ... at least back here in 215, Chestnut Hill got 9", was door to door XC-skiing yesterday. Temps stayed at 32º today and snowing again, coming down nice too ... this almost never happens anymore!
D@ng it all of you amygdala challenged and immortal young'uns ... "discretion the better part of valor", F' I miss Alpine skiing!

 

[Willyum215]

I keep forgetting how nice 3" - 4" new snow can be at ELK.
Best season in 12 years (of snow drought)! Knew this would happen ... at least back here in 215, Chestnut Hill got 9", was door to door XC-skiing yesterday., temps stayed at 32º today and snowing again, coming down nice too ... this almost never happens anymore!
D@ng it all of you amygdala challenged and immortal young'uns ... "discretion the better part of valor", F' I miss Alpine skiing!

I was talking to my father today- my family lives in Fort Washington. He said they got a foot of snow there. I think he was likely overestimating a bit. Still, you guys got more at home than we did up here this time.

It's going to be a shock moving back to Fishtown once this ski season is over after a year of mainly being up here, that's for sure! It'll be good to get a little of the Philly city energy back though.