IrishSnow686

Didn't win on my first chance. Took me a few weeks last year to win. I kept trying always around the same times, so I tried early in the morning around 6:30am when I got up for work and won. Not sure if the time had anything to do with it. I used the free ticket last year and hopefully will get another one this year. The only thing I do not like this year is that its a text message they send you instead of the print out last year.

Blue's prices did jump significantly. If they are going to increase the prices I would like to see something in return. Personally, I do not care how the lodge is since I really don't spend much time there. The food quality could be improved, but I would rather see the money invested back into the snow operations. One thing that kept me coming to Blue was actually the below par lodge and food! I like when the lines are shorter and that seemed to be a part of keeping the large crowds away. Build a nice lodge, condo's, good quality food and then the lift lines will grow. For example, Blue's All day/night pass is now $52 compared to CB's which is only $44, but you can buy it for $42 if purchased online. Sure Blue has their "daily specials" but those are limited to certain days for certain people (ie Business Person's Day). People are looking for discounts where ever they can get them, especially these days. A good option for buying discounted tickets to Blue is purchasing your ticket in advance if your local ski shop sells them like the one by me does. Maybe the increase in Blue's price will help keep crowds away though. Bottom line for me, I can deal with an increase in price if I see a difference. If I see no change or worse operations, I would have to go to a cheaper mountain which I would hate to do because Blue is by far my favorite mountain.

In this months issue of Transworld Snowboarding, there is a page in the magazine that you can rip out and bring with you to Mountain Creek for a 1/2 price ticket. I didn't see any restrictions (ie blackout dates) on the page, plus the way I read it is that it can be used for 2 people to each get a 1/2 price ticket.

So I had this day scheduled off from work since the start of the year. Normally, I would have just gone into work since it was bitter cold. But starting a new position in the company on March 3rd, days off will be rare for the remainder of the season. So I layered up and was up at Blue by 8:15am w/ a temp approx 8 degrees as the base. When I was getting my ticket, an announcement over the loud speaker said there was a frostbite warning as temps were 8 degrees in the base and 4 at the summit w/ windchills below zero. I expected to see some guns blasting out snow, but to my suprise there was not one gun blowing anywhere on the mountain until around 10am when the fan gun on homstretch started up. I started w/ a warmup on Lazy which was nice. Moved over the Switchback which was nice snow but difficult to see any bumps or potholes w/ the shadows. I then moved over the Main Street which had a thick coat of blown snow on the top half. It was like trying to ride thru glue, but after you passed the bumps, it was fast cord. Did a run thru Comearound to Chute. Paradise was fairly smooth from top to bottom but down but Homestretch you faced that bonechilling wind in the face. Razors had very nice coverage and was pretty grippy snow. Around 11 or 11:30 Challenge opened up which also had nice snow up top but some blown snow about 1/2 way down which didnt slow you up, just nice snow to throw around. I got in a good 4 hour session and hit nearly every open trail. Conditions are good, coverage was good except for one thin spot on Switchback where I could see the grass coming thru.

On the Blue Mt. forum, I posted in a thread last week that I was in Blue's park and was dropping in to hit one of the jumps, jus then a little kid, maybe 8-10 years old, came from the far right of the trail looking over his right shoulder for, and I am only guessing, his dad to watch go down the landing of the jump. No one was in the line and the must have come from a blind spot. But the kid never saw me, I did my best to avoid him but we hit, threw me off line and off the side of the jump. I proceeded to go off the side of the trail and about 10 feet down hard pack ice blocks and another 10 feet in the woods over rocks and off trees. I hit my head really good on a tree, good thing I had a helmet. Knee's, face and elbows were all cut up. Even though the crash was not fun, I was very lucky I did not get seriously hurt because of some little kid who had no reason to be in the park. They never even stopped to see if I was ok, had I been really hurt I could have been layed up in those woods for quite some time before anyone even noticed I was down there. I'm sure the little kid got so scared that we hit that he just kept quiet and didnt even mention to his dad he cut someone off and they fell off trail. These people do not realize how DANGEROUS it is for everyone to do things like that. I'm all for progession, you have to try to stuff at someone point if you want to progress to it.. we all had to at one point. But learn how to do it on smaller features and then take that knowledge to larger features. I'm find w/ people going in the park and not doing anything but ski or ride down, but STAY CLEAR of the features and respect the ones who are using them. Stay clear and keep it safe for everyone.

Not one patroller in the park the entire day that I saw. In my 5 1/2 hour session, they only 2 ski patrollers I saw were at the bottom of Sidewinder Park where it runs into Lazy Mile and they were fixing the rope they use to close off the trail at the end of the night. I kept thinking during my day how funny it would be for someone to be standing outside the stairs to the park w/ a bull horn preaching SmartStyle. They could use some marketing material such as pamphlets to help spread the word.

Got up to Blue at 8:15am. Got my ticket and was ready to go.. got 3rd or 4th chair. Made my 1st run down Lazy for a warmup run. Snow was very crunchy as the morning was pretty cold. Rode the lift up with an older guy, he said he took his 1st run down Razor's because Paradise was closed. He said the snow on Razor's was great, so I had to take a turn at it. Snow was very nice and soft. After those 2 runs, I kept in the park the rest of the day. I think that is the 1st time I have been to Blue where I didnt do more that 1 run down the other trails. The park was in nice shape and seemed to get better as the day warmed up. There were alot of little kids out w/ their parents. One guy on the lift with his kid said he was from Monmouth, NJ and they had a 1/2 day so he just took his kid out for the whole day to go skiing. I guess alot of kids had 1/2 days as well. The park ettiquete was non-existant today. Twice I was the only one strapping in and was as far from the stairs entrance as I could be.. but still 2 people managed to run into me and knock me over! I saw many cases of people going in for their run only to have a little kid or a parent ski right next to the person who had to bail out. Depsite this, if you could time it right you could basically have the park to yourself. It seemed as these groups moved together at the same pace. So if you could get ahead, your next run was smooth. Unfortunately, I timed it wrong and as I was going for the 2nd jump set in the park, a little kid came out of now where from my right, looking over his shoulder for his dad while pizza wedging. As I was about to hit the ramp, the kid bumps into me and throws me off course. I go off the side of the jump, down and into the woods. Luckily, I had a helmet as I hit a small tree w/ my head. My knees got pretty banged up from the boulders I slid over and got a few cuts and scrapes on my elbows and chin. I consider myself very lucky to not get seriously hurt, but it was enough to end my session. I was feeling great and could have easily gone until 3:30 or 4 but had to end at 2pm. Going into that jump, I looked to see if my line was clear, which it was. The kid and his dad were way off to the right. From what I can guess, the kid saw the jumps and wanted to see what they were all about... but looking over his right shoulder when he needed to be looking uphill. The best part is, neither him or the dad even stopped to see if I was ok. Blue really needs to impliment the Park Pass. The stairs just do not cut it and its only a matter of time until someone gets seriously hurt, whether its an experienced person from someone who does not belong in the park or vice versa.

I'm just talking in general.. over the years. See ya up there tomorrow.

My girlfriend just heard this on the radio this morning. Hopefully it won't draw to large of a crowd. I hate taking days off during the week and having crowds at Blue. I've had this day planned off for over a month and would change it, but the weather looks like crap. I'll be there for 1st chair at 8:30am tomorrow! Hopefully the park isn't closed for reshaping... seems like everytime I go up there the park is closed.

I was thinking of heading up to Blue tomorrow or Monday morning at open. Normally I would not go on a weekend let alone a holiday weekend, but I have 2 free passes for a weekend/holiday to blue. Was the crowd today an average weekend crown in the morning or was it worse? I'm hoping w/ the really cold temps tomorrow morning that might help hold off the crowd for a few more minutes then normal. I have to look at the weather again and see which of the 2 days is going to have the colder morning and try to go up on that morning. But if the crowds in the morning are worse than the average weekend, then I'll just hold off my free passes until another time.

Got to the lower lot at 8:20 and it was empty. Made my 1st run down Lazy Mile and it was straight cord. I was going to use it as a warm up run but decided to just go straight down and not make any turns. 2nd run was down Challenge, figured I would hit it up before it started to deteriorate throughout the day. Continued to do Lazy and Challenge to Lower Sidewinder to Terrain Run for a good number of runs. The jump at the end of Lower Sidewinder was pretty sweet. Around 10am, about 1/2 way down Lazy, they had a slalom course set up the was closed to the public. Around that time as well, the snowmaking stopped on nearly the entire mountain except for the fan gun at the top of Homestretch. I only did a few runs down Main Street, Come Around Park, and The Chute/Midway. For nearly the entire morning, the left side of the mountain was closed. Razors was being blown on then groomed out and Paradise was being groomed. Once Paradise opened around 10:30 or so, the crowd that began to grow on Lazy spread over the Paradise. There were alot to Gapers again out today.. lots of people skiing w/ jeans.. even saw a snowboarder w/ jeans. Blue is def becoming more and more popular for the midweek crowd. I remember just 2-3 years ago I would ride the entire day and maybe ride the lift once or twice with someone. Today, I only was able to ride the lift for about an hour by myself and then it was easily 3-4 people to a chair. A line even began to grow eventhough it was only about a 1-2 minute wait. Closer to noon, the lift began to stop every so often for someone. I saw one gaper lady wearing a bear head hat take a nice spill off the chair just as it left the loading area. That stopped the lift for a good 3 minutes while she picked her self back up, grabbed her one ski that fell off and tried to walk back to the loading area w/ one ski still on. I thought back to the TR from the other day from Grilledsteeze and wanted to shout "BACK OF THE LINE!" Overall, it was a great morning for fast runs early. A mid day grooming would be much appreciated for the night crowd I am sure.

I'm never one to book trips during the first 2 weeks of January. That seems to be the most likely time of the January thaw.

I would like to see Blue add a "snowmaking" indicator on the trails they are blowing on.

Blue does have a beginner park, it is called Terrain Run. It is a very small park w/ generally a 1-2 kickers and about 4-5 small boxes. They just opened the trail the other day and since I haven't been up since, I do not believe there are any features as of yet. Mountain Creek has one whole peak devoted to terrain park with all levels of ability. I haven't been up there yet so cannot speak of how well maintained it is.. but Creek is good when it comes to the upkeep of their parks. I say go out and try all the places to see what you like. I would like to hear about what places are offering what and post about them.

When does CB do their morning report? I have off of work today thru Wed and will be snowboarding all three days. I wanted to try to hit up 2-3 different mountains. I checked CB's website and called the snowphone at 7:40am and still no update. For a mountain that is opening at 8 or 8:30, you think they would want to have the conditions updated. So I went back to Blue because I knew at 6:50am what lifts and trails would be open when I got there. I want to go to another mountain tomorrow and hopefully CB will have an updated conditions report by 7am. Mountain Creek was even updated and they don't open until 12pm.

They were blowing on Paradise, Challange, Sidewinder Park, & the Chute (also snowtubing & valley learning school). They were blowing alot at the top of the mountain above Razor's/Challange & Paradise.

and you can only ski/ride those 18 trails from 8-5pm vs Blue where you can ski/ride their 10 trails from 8:30 to 10pm. Camelback will eventually be open until 10pm w/ 100% terrain and Blue will eventually have their full terrain open as well. Decisions, decisions.. go where you want. If you want more trails, go to CB, if you want longer time or can't get to the mt. until after work/school, go to Blue. My point, who cares who is open w/ what... Both are open and offer different things. Enjoy it.

Its worth it. I know a few people that have bought ski's and snowboards for a really good price at the Giants stadium sale. Def worth checking out. Also have good deals on gloves, goggles.. everything you need.

I just bought a pair of Ride RX's Monday and can't wait to get out on them. It was between them, Ride SPI's and Rome Targa's but went with the RX's for the cost. My last set of bindings were Ride's and I loved them to death. The only thing is they were pretty damn heavy, but Ride fixed that as their whole line has become lighter even with a metal frame/plate. Do the research, its good to get on here and get brands/models, but do the research. Its tough to find reviews for '08 models, but try to read up.

December 4th @ 10:45pm **edit: Can we change our dates and times up UNTIL Nov 21 at Noon? Or once we state date/time we are locked in?

Blue posted pictures of the new trail under the Comet Quad, not sure when though, just saw it today. No pictures of any pipes or guns though on the trail. Grading of the trail looks to be completed at least. The trail progressed nicely after seeing it barely changed over the past 2 season. In the picture with the pick up truck: Looks like there could be a shortcut route if one were to cut thru the trees on the skiers left and drop into that open area on the side of the trail. http://www.skibluemt.com/PhotoGallery

I got the RED HI-FI last season and absolutely love it. I didn't get the headphones in the earpads since I read some bad reviews about them however. But the regular earpads that came with my helmet kept my ears warm. In my opinion, the helmet overall is great.. its comfortable, warm and light weight. No closeable vents, but even on the coldest days my head did not get cold (and thats with a short haircut).

Im thinking about actually going up to Blue this weekend for the day. I rarely go on a weekend, and if I do its at 7:30am. But now its March so I am hoping it will be alot less crowded... but w/ this weekends snow I'm not sure if the crowd will be quite large for this time of year. How was last weekends crowd (taking into account the storm)?

A good way to go (though a bit longer) when you dont have AWD for 4WD is to just go around the mtn. I had a mustang up until the Sept and whenever bad weather hit, I could never make it over a speed bump in the road. So I used to take MacArthur Road-145 up to Blue Mtn Drive. Here there are 2 ways you can go.... 1 you can either go straight thru the light and stay on 145 to Palmerton or take Blue Mtn drive and when you get to the 1st stop light, make a left at the gas station and follow that to Palmerton. Get off at Palmerton and then follow that straight down till you get to Blue. I think there is construction on a bridge about 1/2 mile from Blue's base parking lot so there may be a detour. But its a great way to go when you dont have a car that can handle bad conditons going up/down a big hill or mountain. Sure it takes a bit longer, but the stress level and worrying about getting stuck are far less.

I'm actually having one of my better years w/ the amount of times I have been out. Its all about making due with what you got. Sure, conditions were terrible early on, but Feb had some of the best conditions in a very long time. And aside from this little snow storm we got coming, mashed potatoes are pretty much here. JF will probaly close shortly, but BB is pushing to close last. They have (had) over 100 inches of base at their deepest.