rgrwilco

The instagram account epicliftlines posts daily updates from around vails properties as well as employee complaints, etc. Apparently vail forgot to sign off on employees pay slips, so their checks are late, but they are being hounded to pay their employee housing rent. So the person who so demanding money, forgot to pay them money. The sad thing is this isn’t even the worst lift line they have posted. Not even close. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Snowpeak. That place would have been great. I wish someone with deep pockets would open one on tuscarora or wills mountain too. 1400-1700 vert. If i win it big, you guys have my word ill do that.

The story of how they acquired park city is one of the craziest things I’ve ever heard, and somehow I heard it for the first time today.

I switched from xfinity to T-Mobile home internet. I’m getting 7x the download speed, and at least 40x upload speeds compared to Comcast, and I’m paying 50 dollars a month, no data caps. I would recommend getting a fan to put underneath your T-Mobile router, they get hot and they do, they can drop the secondary signal which causes decrease in speed. I put a small computer Fan under it and it now runs cool and speeds stay constant. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

And there was an action park south in south Jersey. Camelback and blue under same management and blue is further south. It’s a fitting comment. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Camelback charges for parking. Hopefully not coming to blue. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I apologize in advance for formatting and grammar issues as I cannot get the website to upload photos, so I’m using the app on my phone instead. By looking at the weather forecast, it was pretty clear that the season is coming to a quick end in our area. My indy pass didn't get much use, and I really wanted to check out another mountain I normally wouldn't go to. The original plan was to go on Thursday to magic mountain in Vermont instead, but they moved to weekends only and I'm glad I didn't wait. Berkshire east looked cool, and there's dispensaries nearby, so why not. I left at 430 and made the 4 hour and 30 min drive with ease. no traffic, nothing. The weather got warm and it ended up being a great day. I had never been to the Berkshires before and the area is really cool. Small mountains, but has a way different vibe than the Poconos. After driving along a crystal clear river, I saw some ski trails. The mountain reminds me of plattekill in the sense that there isn't really any runout. There are 4-5 fall line trails that cut straight down the mountain with good pitch. There are a ton of glades and smaller trails that are obscured by the trees. This place is classic New England. there is really only one trail I would consider wide. the lodge and outdoor area was pretty cool. They had one lift running which was their carpet loading quad. Since the mountain is pretty steep, lift rides were never long. I started with the runs of to the left and right side of the hill. There are two really long trails that meander around the back of the mountain and around. Really fun long cruisers. The conditions were soft spring snow, or pure ice. The ice was easy to just ride around. The fall line trails down the front rode like plattekills as well. Just straight down, and not too wide. After reflecting on my day, I realized my favorite days on snow are at ski areas like this. I definitely have a type. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I’m in south Jersey and leaning toward montage. It’s all highway and I don’t find the drive really any worse than Boulder Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Ski camelsack page is reporting (unconfirmed) that one of the people died. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

While I won’t go to camelback just because I don’t like the place, it’s unfair to judge them based on this. If the investigation shows negligence then of course blast them. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Most of my friends who were on peak passes, got epic’d this year, and will either be going with an Indy pass, blue or montage, or nothing. The amount of people that don’t buy them again probably won’t hurt vail, but there is a ton of online buzz amongst skiers and riders that shows a movement toward ikon or independent areas. I know it’s anecdotal, but in the words of our supreme leader, it is what it is. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Hopefully people stop buying epic passes and the message is received. Wasn’t it a few years ago killington got new owners and stopped doing the late season and there was a huge backlash? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Woah that place looks tiny. I think if those smaller areas made it to the era of terrain parks local kids would have kept them in business. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

That’s rad! I have hiked there many times and never thought about riding the road. Maybe next season when I get my split setup. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

They got a sign! Nothing fancy. Stembogen was closed for snowmaking (go figure) but everything else was open. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Not only the cold, but the layout makes it tough to get photos. You cannot see top to bottom from anywhere. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Stop number 2 on my indy pass was blue knob. They got a ton of snow over the past couple weeks, and were pretty much 100 percent open... More on that later. Did a solo trip because most of my riding buddies revuse to day trip further than 3 hours. Waze and Apple Maps show the drive would take 4.5 hours, but google maps said 3hrs 45min, which was the most accurate. I left at around 445 since their website says they open at 9. more on that later. There were for sure some good views along the Turnpike. Its super boring until after Harrisburg, but then younger some really nice big mountains. I got to the rest stop just before the series of tunnels and blue knob updated their snow report. Everything opened except a couple glades, but they open at 10...website still says 9. fun. Blue knob is remote. It out there for sure. The access road is one of the sketchiest roads I've been on. Surface wise its in great shape, but a small one foot tall pile of snow is what separates you from a 1200 foot drop into the valley. There was so much snow. more than I've ever seen anywhere outside of Vermont. snowbanks taller than my car. since I was aiming for 9, and they now aren't opening until 10, I sat in my car for an hour and watched YouTube. Surprisingly fast tmobile lte in this area. While there, there was an update to the snow report...All the trails I was most looking forward to would now be closed for snowmaking. I got my indy ticket from a lady who made it seem like I barged into her families Christmas dinner and started begging for food. The views are amazing, and when you start out you see a tangle of lifts and chairs. Only one lift would run, but never any lines so who cares. more on that later. the slope side houses and cabins made it feel more built up then expected, and due to the steepness of the mountain, the lifts did not feel slow at all. kind of like Plattekill. There is a severe lack of signage on hill. I was trying to get to a blue run and ended up on a natural cover bumped lift line (which was fun as hell, even on a snowboard since everything was soft). It was about 7 degerees so I didn't take many photos. I rode groomed trails, glades with mandatory drops, powder, and some sketchy spots on the natural cover trails but nothing too bad. This lift had 2 mid stations you can get off. Notice how low it is right here. On what was going to be my last run of the day, the route 66 lift seem to do an emergency stop and it bounced like I’ve never seen anything bounce before. The trail underneath of it was already questionable due to its super low clearance with the lift, but I didn't realize how low until now. The guy on the chair in front of me had to lift his legs out to avoid having a skiers gopro hit his legs while we bounced. It seemed like I was mere inches off the ground each bounce. The lift started moving again really fast, stopped abruptly again and began bouncing and my ass was coming off the seat. It felt like I was riding El Toro at six flags and my board is once again almost touching the snow on the trail underneath of it. I stated to get nervous. Ive been on Main Street lifts at blue fully loaded and had something similar happen, but this was a whole new level of sketch. I questioned just stepping off the lift (not jumping, legit stepping) but I wondered if I did that and got injured due to a lift failure if I would not get a settlement for not following the lift rules. this happened for like ten minutes straight. I told myself when I get off this lift that this was a sign for me to leave or something. The lift started again and continue as normal and the locals just shrugged it off. I mentioned it to the lifty and he said "welcome to the knob!" ok...... So, final thoughts. Best terrain in PA. Hands down. Needs some lift improvements and maintaince. the resort area was nice and a good amount of condos and slope side options. There is absolutely nothing outside of the resort though. I don't mean to get into politics, but most of the trump signs in the area had pence's name crossed out which I thought was genuinely funny but also a bit WTF. the restaurant options seem to be sheetz and only sheetz. I wouldn't day trip it again, but I would go back for a long weekend.

Hungry trout reminds me of being in a twin peaks episode. Also the river view from the restaurant is awesome. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

The drive time to Berkshire east is much further so at that point gore or Vermont is a better option. It looks like a fun place but hard to justify. Catamount was similar to the Catskills so the drive was easier. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I’m jealous. I’ve never had a bad day at whiteface. Either powder or spring conditions. Tied for favorite in the east right now with smugglers notch. Whiteface might win due to lake placid area being awesome. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

After my peaks pass got epic’d last year, I went with the Indy pass this year. It’s cheap and a good way to experienced new mountains. The snow by this time locally was still iffy and I figured I would head north. Catamount always interested me, it’s on my my pass, why not. They had some cool looking trails on the NY side as well. 
 Being that the mountain is split in half by the NY/MA state line, I took the exit after hunters exit, and headed east. The mountain sits up on the taconic ridge, and is owned by the same people that own Berkshire east. It’s clear they have invested as there’s a very nice new lodge. They also had private sheds for the ‘rona safety. 
 I never waited in any lines, right on the lift each time. The trails I wanted to ride never opened, go figure, despite the website saying they were open. 
 The mountain also felt like camelback but without the circus, as there top few hundred feet of vert was steep (some unopened trails were very steep, then a ton of runout. 
 Due to the steep stuff and the longer blues not being open, I lapped the ridge trail that went from NY to MA, then down some easier trails to play around on the side hits. They started to setup a park, but it wasn’t open. I’m glad I went, but probably won’t go back. If I lived nearby I would...probably go to belleayre or drive a bit further north to magic or bromley. Next stop, blue knob. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I got curious so started searching for YouTube videos shot at eagle rock this year and found this one. Looks like the chairs are off the beginner lift and they have a on snow shuttle instead. At least that’s what I got out of this. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Hospital parking vibes. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I agree. I guess it’s because all the mountains I went to growing up had dirt lots and it felt like being in the mountains to me. I was shocked during my southern pa tour last year to find that Liberty has paved lot with grass islands and light poles. Immediate buzzkill. Felt like going to the mall. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Vail. I did liberty and roundtop in the same day last year and posted a TR. those hills are pretty lame IMO. I did a day at whitetail, which was much better. One of my favorite places in PA currently unless Blue knob takes the best in southern PA when I go on Friday.