Camelback, PA: 1-8-12

Ski Day 5

So I've come to the conclusion that night skiing is probably the worst idea anyone's ever had. Not only does the snow start to firm up after the crowds have driven it into piles on the sides, but kids get hurt. Not to mention Camelback doesn't have the best lighting for the situation. But either way, I really can't beat the $19.50 for a 3pm-10pm lift ticket with my camelcard, so I'll just suck it up for now...

The mountain was in pretty rough shape today and the weather was overcast and by 3pm it was just above the freezing mark. It wasn't very crowded either so I was surprised to find most of the intermediate trails scrapped down to hardpack. King Tut and Upper Cleo were the worst. Bumpy, uneven hardpack that was barely carve-able. It's hard to tell from the pictures, but at least the sides of the trails were still a bit soft and fun to play in.





Upper part of Nile Mile. Nile mile is usually one of my favorite cruisers, but it was scrapped bare in too many sections to provide that today. The second stretch of it had some good pockets of LG that were bumped up and kinda fun.




Lower Cleo, which just opened this weekend was my pick of the day. And from the looks of it, other serious skiiers thought the same. Saw a pair of free-healers lap it around the same time i was as the sun was setting. It was carveable down the middle and the side had been left ungroomed and was fun to bounce around on. Last year they left this entire trail ungroomed all season and was where i first tried my hands at moguls.

About an hour before I left they started blowing snow on Big Pocono, adding to the whales that were already there. Can't wait for it to open...you can get some pretty good speed goin on that trail.


By that time I had put my earplugs in to get myself goin for another hour or so. Overall what I can say is that any day on skis is better than a day NOT on skis. Got a good workout, had fun, and helped a little kid that fell and got the wind knocked out of him...all in a good day of skiing.