elkskibum

Yea I just saw that, I am pretty surprised, they had March 28 pretty much set in stone unless the weather turned bad, guess this week is warm enough, oh well. So much for my good information, guess being just a race coach doesn't mean you know everything

I know this was mentioned in an other thread, but on this Sat Elk is having their annual Spring Carnival, and because of the theme this year being the start of their 50 celebration, you can buy one ticket and get a second for only 50 cents. To my knowledge this is the first time in a long time Elk is doing something like this, so if anyone wants to take advantage of some good spring skiing on a discount this Saturday would be it. Also word is that they are going to be open until March 28, however if this weekend is a big success (i.e. money wise) they might try and stay open till April 4th, as long as the snow holds up. Here is the Carnival schedule: www.elkskier.com/springcarn09.html

That's great that the snow held up after all the rain and warmth they had over the weekend, the difference between friday and monday was pretty depressing, and I was starting to get a little concerned about the snow staying around. How were the bumps? They were fantastic in the soft snow but with the freeze up they might be a little "firm", haha. As far as making snow, the only thing I can see them doing is pulling out the cannons on the West Slope, just to make sure the base by the lodge and on West stays around for the slope style comp for spring carnival. Also, on said spring carnival (march 21st) they are going to offer buy one pass get a second for 50 cents in celebration of 50 years, which will make the awesomeness of spring carnival even better. (as there will be more people to see me in my costume, haha.)

This past weekend was one of the better ones in a while, bluebird on sat and then some snow and more bluebird on sun. Hopefully this winter never ends.

Thursday was a little hard, to put it nicely, but Friday was pretty nice. And today was nearly perfect, the snow was nice, and the bumps were at their mid-winter form. Glad you had a good time man.

Opening Weekend 08/09: After seeing how much snow Elk had on the trails thanksgiving weekend I was hoping the first weekend would be a good one. Got out on Saturday around 930, and was impressed at how much snow was being made: upper and lower Tunkhannock, the terrain park next to west, the lack spur and hiawatha, and the Wissahickon. However on Sat only Tioga and Susquehanna were opened. (normal for early/ mid december) The snow was pretty good for early december; good base, no real death cookies or weird snow, just good ole fashioned pa hard pack perfect for carving. As the day wore on Susq got kinda icy, which was expected considering it was the trail everyone was skiing. Sunday they opened up the upper tunk and lower to the hiawatha (so they could open up new trails but not open the quad yet). However, they more than likely rushed opening these trails, as they were quite firm and fast. (with some cookies) Upper Tunkannock had a huge amount of snow on it, but when you flatten out the piles right before the trail opens, well im sure everyone knows what happens;) Nevertheless the snow quality was good and it was nice skiing some variety on only the 5th day of operations. Both days the slopes were not that crowded, as im pretty sure that everybody skiing or riding was a season pass holder or employee, and it seemed like everyone knew what they were doing, so little problem as far as crowd control. The amount of terrain they have open so early in the season is great, and even with the warm up tues and wed they are in great shape for a fun December. I gotta give them some credit, with all the cold temps it must be tempting to open trails as fast as possible, but they really try and get a good solid base down before opening the trail. (For instance on sat the wales of snow on tunk were huge, it prob could have opened on friday, yet they were still blowing snow) All in all a good weekend to get the ski legs in shape and they should have a good amount of terrain open at this rate for christmas week.

Thats pretty cool, I remember talking to the terrian park guys at the end of last year and them saying that they were gonna have some new stuff for this year. I think the idea was to have the park next to the west slope be like a beginner/ rail only thing and the park on delaware have more advanced stuff, like bigger and better than ever before. Im not a park skier by any means but although elk's park is small they seem to do a pretty good job with it.

Wow sounds great, was Elk blowing on anything else this morning other than the bunny slope? (Just making snow during the day on a weekday is a win I guess) The area between the east and west slope used to be their terrain park before they moved it, it would be sick if they opened it up again as an early season park. Can't wait for this weekend.

Just wanted to make this the top thread. I know not as many elk skiers/riders on this board as the other mountains but how many people are planning on hitting the slopes this weekend? (or if local tomorrow?) with all the snowmaking last week and some more hopefully to continue they should have a good amount of terrain opening shortly, much more than their normal early season stuff

Yea I believe the shortest you can rent is for a month. The village doesnt want the situations of people coming for the weekend, don't know much about them, etc. There are some very wealthy homeowners who are part of the village, mostly the reason behind the rental situations. Hope you find a place to stay and have a good skiing experience at Elk.

The only thing "slopeside" is the village (the place with the pools and tennis courts) which is a private community that only rents houses for the season. Your best bet for a weekend is in the places mentioned above, or for a longer weekend/week elk medows will sometimes rent. (Down the road) Other than that its the various small motels/ b&b locally and then clarks summit.

I too am a little angry if they are indeed not even attempting to blow a little snow. Its almost positive that they wont open before december, as most of their staff is not on until then, and I don't see them changing it. But my god, its only 20 some deg there, just blow a bunch of huge piles and let them sit there, its not like they have never done that before. I remember a thanksgiving a few years ago when they had so much snow made, into piles, that you could have skied top to bottom even before they groomed everything out. Over the last few years they really have gotten better with snow making, as far as actually making around the clock and on more than one trail, it would be a shame if they got cheap now. (I have heard they are special rates with ppl for certain times and months, but its not like they havnt blown snow in november before.) I really hope they take advantage of this weather, but really wouldnt be that shocked if they didnt. However, you never know with them, the last few years they havnt even said anything or shown any snow making pictures till like a week before they open, so who knows.

Cant wait for winter, should be a good one! On the regrading of Lenape, when I first saw what they did (made the flat run in and headwall much wider) I was not happy, but to be honest after seeing it again a few weeks ago it actually is a good improvement. On weekends it was a complete bottle-neck at the top of the headwall, and I think now it is a much more enjoyable trail for everyone. Oh and it will be more fun to take it very very fast on the non crowded days

As of two years ago there was the rumor floating around that they were planning to go ahead with the lift reconstruction project, which the details of are really only know by upper management. However, either because of price or change of heart they went back to a very old plan of adding another water pond. The mountain and the village of four seasons (the houses at the bottom) have been fighting over the lake for many many years, as the mountain owns the deep side but the village owns the side with the natural springs. (Thus the weird looking barrier between the two sides, in fact the village once blocked off the mountains side during an argument, needless to say the mountain caved in and I believe that the village can no longer to that.) The land across from the mountain (the tree farm) is where the pond is supposed to be, the mountain has owned that forever and actually has the pipes already built (or so im told) to build the pond. However, I heard this was going to be built two summers ago, so who knows with them. The new lifts and trails have been an idea I think before they expanding the other side in the mid 90s, the original plan was to build the other way, but land usage and ownership was a problem then and most likely will be a problem for a long time. *This is all word of mouth and can be completely right or totally wrong

Its not a full refund, its how many days short they were. So if the pass for a season was say $500 and they were only open 95 days, they would give a pass holder a credit of $25 (5 days at 5 dollars each) for the next year. Its not a true 'guarantee' but it shows a commitment to their product. *this actually happened a few seasons ago: they were short a few days and gave a credit for the next season

Its funny you mention the water park. A while ago the owner of elk actually said that a waterpark would be the best idea to have at a pa ski area, which in itself is almost unbelievable that he would think that, considering that would probably be the last thing they ever put in. Edit: damn you just beat me to it

ski, i didnt mean for my post to sound like an elk love fest, just that I am impressed with elk (as well as every other mountain in pa) that with the mild and wet winter we're having the snow conditions havn't been that bad. oh yea and i was just kidding; elk sucks so nobody should ever come here

Wow, the fighting between people on this thread is kind of amusing, but here is my take: With the temperatures and low snow this winter should have been a complete disaster (and would have been in years past) but really wasn

I understand with everything you said, and do agree with you on the backpack issue. The issue is that Elk in their 40 some year history never condoned or really allowed skiing off trail: people did it, and for the most part if the ski patrol saw you and could see that you knew what you were doing they usually wouldn’t mind. The problem is the average skier in pa. I have been skiing in this state my whole life, have been to almost every hill at least once and can say with complete confidence that there are a dangerous amount of people on the hill that have absolutely NO IDEA how to get down it; this could be a little worse since the advent of shaped skis and the fact that they are easier to ski, but I don’t think so. With the close proximity to 2 major cities and their suburbs: one being the largest in the county in New York and the other being Philadelphia the hills around here can be swarmed with the yahoos that think they are awesome at everything and therefore think are great skiers. Elk, for being further away than many of the other mountains usually don't have as many "gapers" or whatever, but every day I see people skiing stuff they should be nowhere near. Even on the beginner slope, I see all these people who might have taken one lesson some time and think they are the next bode miller, while in real life they are a menace to themselves and others. Now imagine if they would make a line in the woods a real "trail". Many of these people, who shouldn’t be on anything else other than green circles see it and think "Cool, trees! Extreme!" and then go down and seriously injured themselves. The mountain is now responsible for that probable lawsuit, and if they keep coming not only is it good bye woods its good bye Elk. I know the mountains up in New England and obviously out west have dangerous terrain everywhere, but I think because the pa hills are day trip distance to one of the largest population density areas in the country people really have no idea what their doing. Also, think about the size of the mountains: up at Killington or whatever the trees and dangerous stuff is up top, a place most of the people im talking about would never venture to or are hidden enough that people have to look. The hills here have really one main lift to the top (or a portion at the top) so people will get to the main part of the mountain with one ride. Also, its kind of hard to "hide" a trail, many can be seen either from the lifts or the major easier trails, so instead of people having to go find the woods they are staring them right in the face. I know this is really long but I think it sums up a lot of the local mountains and obviously Elk's feelings one the matter of glades. Hope this helps.

This is really the complete reason why Elk will not allow glade skiing: the fact that a young employee went out of bounds and hit a tree and died. I remember (and im sure many can agree) that before this happened Elk was one of the most lax about letting people do really whatever the hell they wanted, the second that happened they pulled a complete 180. The last thing a resort that is privately owned and that has a smaller budget wants is a huge amount of law suites hanging over its head. If they were to open up the woods it would be disastrous, the mountain is just too steep and wooded: I see enough people skiing on stuff they shouldn

Ill try to give you the best answers I can think of: 1) The crowds for mlk weekend can usually be pretty bad, and with the good weather this week I would expect people to be out. Even when Elk is completly packed (ie on pres weekend, etc) the lift lines really wont get longer than 15-20 min at the max, except maybe on the beginner lift. Because of the slower lifts the trails never are really crowded. 2) I know they spent the early part of the week resurfaceing all their open terrian (they even closed slalom and Susquehanna tues and wed for snowmaking) and from what ive heard should have a good number more open for the weekend. There were a few that were closed last sun that only really needed a night of snowmaking to open and with the 3-6 inches they have gotten this week as well as today the snow will be really good this weekend. 3-4) If you sign your gf up for a private you really cant go wrong (this coming from a guy who teaches during my winter break in the childrens ski school) as all of elks upper level instructors teach the privates. Also there sadly really isnt that much beginner terrain: tioga is your best bet from the top, as Lehigh is all natural snow (the only trail without snowmaking actually), however if she is confidant you might be able to try some of the long crusiers like Wissahickon and Lenape. Hope this helps with your desision to go to elk. You both should have a good time even if some of the mountain isnt fully open, the conditions should be excellant and if your gf gets a private lesson it will really help her out.

Yea, today was one of the best days ive had at elk in a while. Got up for 830 lift, went right over to Susquehanna, which was unbelievable. The best part was that ski patrol dropped the rope on Seneca right as we got there, and let us get first tracks. There were powder shots above the knee to be had, because of the 6 inches that fell sun night it was a little over a foot of freshies, what an awesome run. There were powder stashes and fresh tracks to be had all morning, and a little birdie told me that the Tuscarora was awesome as well . With the cold weather this week and the solid base elk now has I would expect a lot more openings this weekend, the whole mountain really could have been open today as it is.

I havent personally been up since saturday morning but according to people who have been up there since the storm: It was a pretty good mess on saturday night into sunday; with a few inches of icy sluchy mess, but they got around 4-5 inches on sunday and the snow on the mountain is supposed to be pretty nice with no real bad ice. Also with the cold temps they should be making lots of snow and by thursday they should have the Schuylkill/ Wissahickon open as well as Slalom. If anyones been up there on sunday afternoon/monday they can chime in. Hope this helps.

I was up at Elk Friday afternoon to get all my paperwork done for teaching over winter break and had enough time to get a good chunk of runs in. Started up around 130 and hit up Tioga as a warm up. Snow was really fun but very difficult, powder staches was everywhere yet the snow was very lumpy and non-uniform, mainly because the new snow was very dry and did not mix well with the man-made starter base. I ended up just making huge turns down to the west slope and blowing through the snow lumps. Tunkhannock and Susquehanna both had the same thing, not a real fun surface when your trying to get your ski legs back, but fun none the less, I really dont remember the last time I was getiing powder to spay in every turn in mid-december. Overall it was a good 2 hours of skiing, im really impressed with the base they have, even without the 8 inches of new snow they still would have a very good base. Lower Tunkhannock and Delaware looked ready to open (and they did open lower tunk today) and Seneca would have been open and awesome if they wernt in the middle of putting the pads on the lift towers, I would have poached it if not for the fact im in a intructors jacket at the moment and that would have been a bad idea. At this rate and if the weather doesnt get too warm they should be really rockin by Christmas, which after last year would be completly awesome. A good first day...

I was up there this morning (friday) and took a few pics... I was actually impressed with the size of the piles they had on east/west/susquehanna and i assume on tioga. They didnt really lose that much snow from all the rain, and should be good for around in clock snowmaking for the next few days, and will hopefully be opening next friday or saturday.