volklyokel Posted February 5, 2006 Report Share Posted February 5, 2006 I don't have a report yet because I just got here. But I hope to be out on the slopes every day this week. From the BK web site, it looks like only the "upper" part of the mountain is open. With this week's cold weather I'm hoping they'll be pouring on the snow. A few inches (or some dumps, hell, I'm not choosy) from Mom Nature would help too! Stay posted. I should be adding daily feeds and links to photos of what things look like over here. Have a good week, everyone - 'bout time we got some below freezing temps! Volklyokel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
volklyokel Posted February 7, 2006 Author Report Share Posted February 7, 2006 Monday's report: Got about 3-4 inches of dry powder, but the winds were blowing like stink, so you had to look in the corners to find the stashes. Groomed packed powder for the most part, but the snow guns were going gang busters and keeping your goggles clear was the biggest fight of the day. Couldn't have been more than 30 people on the whole mountain between 9am and 3pm. Busses brought school kids at 3:15, so I made my escape then. Here is a list of photos to check out: View looking up Deer Run from Lower Mambo Alley. View looking down Deer Run from the top of the steep. View from chair of Lower Expressway. View of ice sheets at the bottom of Upper Expressway. View of Lodge interior. It was 11:30. Where is everyone? Only the "upper mountain" is open. They are blowing snow big time on Run Out. I'll bet that will be open in the next day or two. I have no idea about Stembogen or any black diamonds. Those were closed today. More every day this week. - Volklyokel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shadows Posted February 7, 2006 Report Share Posted February 7, 2006 thats got to be the worst lodge ive seen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
volklyokel Posted February 7, 2006 Author Report Share Posted February 7, 2006 It is in dire need of some upgrading. But the people are nice and the food is good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poconoceancity Posted February 7, 2006 Report Share Posted February 7, 2006 Isn't there alot of illegal tree cutting going on around Blue knob? I saw a webshots album of it. Where do you stay in Blue Knob and what do you do for nightlife? Altoona is the "Big City" near Blue Knob. That's where the night life would be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
volklyokel Posted February 7, 2006 Author Report Share Posted February 7, 2006 Tuesday's Report. Cold with higher humidity. Snow guns still roaring, got soaked by one, doggone it, and lost all visibility until I could stop amid the brush along side the trail. Packed powder was the story, for the most part, with mounds of blown snow to cruise over, which have a tendency to throw you forward if you're not ready. No one was here today. Maybe 20 people, total, from 9 am til 2:30pm. I've posted more photos. Links below: View from Blue Knob State Park View from top of Summit down towards green slopes View of Upper Expressway (Blue) View of Lower Expressway (turned around and took the shot) Further proof of how ugly the lodge is (This answers Doug's question about apres ski activities.) I chose to stay in Bedford, PA. Blue Knob has a nice five-day deal. I have a 5-day, day pass (9-5) for a total of $85. If you want whole day pass (9am to 10pm), they're only $95, total. Bedford offers lots of motels, a few B&B's, all of which are pretty reasonable in cost. The area is more of a haven for summer tourists. It is quiet here. At the Best Western, there can't be more that 20 rooms being occupied and the place has something like 114 rooms. Hoping that tomorrow the guns will be turned down (or off). Looks like Run Out will be open tomorrow and they'll probably run the double lift from the very bottom. But, none of the runs on the lower part of the mountain will likely be open, unless they've been blowing like mad on Stembogen. More tomorrow - thanks for looking. I know some of you are wondering whether the place is worth a trip. Blue Knob has a couple of mottos to bear in mind. One is "The Skier's Mountain." This place is about skiing or snowboarding - not much else. The other motto is, "Ski good or eat wood." The trails are narrow by most standards, especially the black runs (which aren't open at the moment). When this place receives a generous amount of snow from Mother Nature, the tree skiing is among the best in all of PA. A guide book calls Blue Knob, "the Mad River Glen of the mid-Atlantic." That's a pretty good description. See you tomorrow, and be kind to one another and the PASR staff. There's some funky threads goin' on around here. Enjoy the good skiing!! - Volklyokel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
volklyokel Posted February 9, 2006 Author Report Share Posted February 9, 2006 Day three was a TREAT! We've gotten about 4-5 inches of champaign powder up here, over night and during the day. Amazing conditions all day long. The snow guns are turned-off on all the open runs; Run Out is open and the crew is putting some hard work into getting Stembogen open by the weekend. If Mother Nature continues to cooperate. There could be ten inches of new, natural snow to work with. Blue Knob benefits from "lake effect" snow squalls in a way that the eastern and southern PA resorts do not. With the good conditions, it was "crowded" all morning and early afternoon with maybe 50 people on the whole mountain! I made first tracks down Mambo Alley (warm up run) and Deer Run. Upper and Lower Expressway were challenging. especially after the groomer left some bad 10-inch step-offs between the fresh powder and the groom track. I learned the hard way that it is unwise to ski with one ski in the groomer track and the other in the powder! Here are today's sampling of photos. Because of all the snow falling and gray skies, I didn't take too many. A view looking back down Chair 1 (at Lower Rt. 66, closed) A View of Extrovert - one of the most radical steeps in all of PA (also closed) The grounds crew, breaking snow-gun ice off a lift The top of Mambo. The summit view of Blue Knob. More tomorrow - this week, I'm climbing the stats ladder little by little. Did 15,000 feet in 14 runs today. Peace everyone - Volklyokel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
volklyokel Posted February 9, 2006 Author Report Share Posted February 9, 2006 I think this will be my last of the daily feeds from Blue Knob. I feel like I've pretty much skied the place out with nearly 60 runs in four days. Although, I have to admit that every day has been unique and it has been great to be here as the ground crews have worked to rebuild the place after the January from hell. Tomorrow, on the way back home, I'll make a few runs at Whitetail to end my PA ski week. Today still featured great powder skiing, with about 5 inches total to play in. The groomers were kind in only grooming in select places, so powder hounds could enjoy the fresh snow. Expressway and Deer Run saw no grooming overnight. Weather was superb with blue skies for the most part. The temp was cold though. I doubt the mercury crept past 20 degree today. Winds started to pick-up a little after the noon hour. Doug, you asked whether anyone had tracked across closed runs, but it would not be advisable, unless you don't give a hoot about scoring your ski/board bases. There is no "base snow" under the 5 inches of powder on the black runs (may not be true for Stembogen, tomorrow - they're blowing crazily on that run). In the photos listed below is a little sequence of some folks working off the edges of Jackrabbit (blue) which was open and, in one case, paying the price for it. Here are the photos. Five total: These first three are like a little sequence of "action" on a blue run called Jackrabbit. 1) Successful trailblazing 2) Uncertain trailblazing 3) Painful restart View at the top of Rt. 66 View of a well-tracked Deer Run at mid-day So to summarize, some of you PASR folks ought to make an overnight trip out. The lift ticket prices come from the mid-1980's. The food isn't too bad, but at 2006 prices. The Apres-Ski is minimal, but M Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
volklyokel Posted February 10, 2006 Author Report Share Posted February 10, 2006 Yeah. I was on my own out here. But folks are friendly and I hooked up with different people every day. Worst moments: (1) Getting soaked by a snow gun, losing vision and running into the brush. I didn't "eat wood" but I tried some twigs. (2) Spinning wheels on steep hills, Monday morning, forcing a 15 mile detour (wrong tires for this weather!) (3) Discovering that it is not smart to try to turn with one ski in powder and another in a groomer track. Best moments: (1) First tracks on Deer Run, Wednesday, with 3-4 inches of powder. (2) Finding a guy's wallet and helping to reunite him with it, with nothing missing (funny thing is, that is the second time I've done that at Blue Knob, Must be the altitude ). (3) Taking photos and short videos of people skiing and sending them to them as mementos of a good week at Blue Knob. Utah reports & photos will start in early March. Planned: Brighton, Snowbird, Solitude, Deer Valley & Snowbasin. - VY Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ullr Posted February 15, 2006 Report Share Posted February 15, 2006 I too found this gem last year, and must say that the Knob is a great place. Bare bones on the extras, but the terrain can't be beat. Too bad Stemboggen Bowl wasn?t open. It?s like skiing down a rock quarry. Here is a picture looking down it as my wife goes first. http://www.biglines.com/photos_large.php?photo_id=37244 You really need some good dumps to appreciate how good this place really is! Here's another pic looking up extrovert from last March. http://www.biglines.com/photos_large.php?photo_id=37245 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
volklyokel Posted February 16, 2006 Author Report Share Posted February 16, 2006 Great shot of Stembogen Bowl, Ullr. Its a shot of the top which is really fun because you can jump in wherever you want to (easier at the far end). The rest of the run is like skiing in a forest lane, very narrow, but not too steep, until you make the last turn and drop at the end of the run. Interesting view looking up Extrovert. The lift, in the distance is from where I took my shot looking down. Thanks for sharing. Maybe a few of the PASR gang will venture over that way to check it out. Volklyokel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
volklyokel Posted March 20, 2006 Author Report Share Posted March 20, 2006 Blue Knob looks pretty fun with some cool trails. On their trail map it looks like half the trails are glades? I don't know if it's quite "half," but a there are a fair number of places to run through the trees. And they're only open in seasons with ample natural snow. This year was a tough one in the glades. The lifts are slow, the lodge is totally lackluster, but the runs are challenging. Still worth a trip over to check out. Work it in next year, especially if we gets some good snow dumps. Volkl Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
volklyokel Posted March 21, 2006 Author Report Share Posted March 21, 2006 It def. looks pretty interesting. How far away is it? The only thing I'm thinkin is that with the distance, wouldnt it just be worth it to go to Vermont? I'd be hard pressed to place Blue Knob in any category with the resorts of Vermont. Nonetheless, it is located about half way across the state of PA. Between Bedford and Altoona. Since I don't know where you're starting from, I can't be sure how far away it is for you. Maybe 4-5 hours' drive. Starting from Philly or the east side of PA, it would be hard to visit Blue Knob for just a day. You'd probably need to spend a night or two, which is how I do it: drive up, spend the night, ski all day and then drive back. Makes for a nice overnight trip. Volkl Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
train36 Posted October 21, 2006 Report Share Posted October 21, 2006 I was at this place last year, very weird resort by PA standards but definitley fun. Anyone plan on heading to the knob this year, I might do a weekend out there, no liftlines and some quality terrain. I would love to hit this place after a dump. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ullr Posted December 11, 2006 Report Share Posted December 11, 2006 I was at this place last year, very weird resort by PA standards but definitley fun. Anyone plan on heading to the knob this year, I might do a weekend out there, no liftlines and some quality terrain. I would love to hit this place after a dump. Oh, after a dump is the only time to go! It is not that fun with sketchy snow, but after a one foot PA powder day, it is great! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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