-Definitely a cold day. When I arrived at 10 AM, my car temperature display said 13 degrees. Plus it was pretty windy at the lodge (top of the mountain).
-Crowds were minimal, probably due in part to the cold temps. Lines alternated between only 2-3 people ahead in line to at most a few minutes of waiting.
-Snow conditions were fantastic - even got a few freshies. They had some snow the previous day/night, and had a very solid base compared to other recent years. The base was probably helped by recent ice storms which formed a nice protective layer over the often rocky base.
-Had a definite mid-Atlantic treat by being able to ski several natural snow trails (Lower Route 66, Lower Shortway, East Wall Glades, the intermediate glades,etc).
-They were blowing snow all day long on Extrovert. I didn't ski it too much due to the snow guns creating a goggle hazard, but it should be real nice over the next few weeks given the amount of snow on the trail.
Have you skied at Blue Nob often? With the winter we are having do you think the conditions will continue to be good? I went there a couple years back and didn't think much of it, but I definitely saw some potential. Maybe I'll try again.
Mike
John, i noticed the you snow making activities on extrovert. There were like 6 foot tall piles of snow from the makers all up and down the trial They had been windblown and melted-frozen to a crispy crust which made it like huge bumps and moguls, very fun, and challenging... like skiing in wonderland. Do they ever groom that or is that the standard lay out? Its sick i swear you could kill your self catching air off those things.
Unfortuantely expressway had snow making and the ride up on the expressway triple wasnt much fun with the firing squad on you all the way to the top. I was amazed (given the history) by the amount of snow making going on just about all blue trails and the bottoms of lower high hopes and run out were making. The ungroomed conditions on deer run and and expressway were prisitine even into the late afternoon. The nearby double blue glades were also untouched and benefited form the blowing snow. Apparently no one but me wanted to ski the ungroomed stuff. Steamboat bowl or whatever its called was covered enough and I was able to find an number of fun ways into the bowl. I tried the ditch glades once. I guess I know why its called the ditch. The powder was 2 feet deep in there. My skis are supposedly all-mountan but i guess thats jsut a clever name. They didnt have the juice today and I had a hell of a time. Eventually I decided to walk out, climb is more like it.
My highlight was carving short turns on lower 66. I hit bottom in a few places and my bases paid the price, but it was sweet to see my lone tracks under the lift all day long. This was my first trip to Blue knob and I am deffinately coming back again soon.
I've skied Blue Knob (BK) about 10 times over the years. I definitely think that this winter will continue to be a good one for the area. BK holds snow very well due to the height of the mountain and northern exposure. Compared to other southern PA areas, BK is not as subject to the typical thaw-refreeze cycle; if anything, the snow can get windblown.
They've had some snow making problems in recent years (water supply?), but that seems to have been fixed this year. All the snowmaking trails with the exception of Stembogan Bowl/Trail had very good cover. (It looked like they were gearing up to make snow that night on Stembogan.)
As you probably know from your visit, Blue Knob is not for everyone. I wouldn't drive the extra distance (compared to Whitetail) for just the groomers. Though Expressway is one of the nicest groomers in southern PA - it has some rolls which make the trail interesting. I normally go after recent snowfalls to be able to take advantage of the natural snow trails. However, it's worth it for me to go to BK and only ski Expressway, Extrovert and Stembogan.
The double blue glades off of Jack Rabbit are very good for someone new to tree skiing or who wants a relatively mellow tree skiing run. They normally have good cover, are not steep, and the trees are widely spaced apart.
Again as you probably remember, the lodge facilities and food are very poor and have not been upgraded in years. I hope it stays that way. This hopefully keeps lift prices lower and the crowds down. Unlike the discussions on Snowshoe, Blue Knob is not a destination resort for the masses and I hope the owners do not try to change that.
I can't wait to get back home!
(I'm in San Jose CA and it's 70 degrees. Way to warm!)
First of all, I assume that's for NC State. Nice to know there's another fan on the boards.
I agree with myrto and Tbone. Those directions are pretty straight forward. And if you go midweek, there are absolutely no crowds, unless you catch a demo day.
Thanks for the Blue Knob directions guys. Will hopefully make it up there sometime this week.
Sorry, but you wuffies can never get away from us 
See you on the 26th John. Don't forget your comb for Doherty.
???????? I'm missing something on that one.
Beat Duke this week!
Doherty was a pretty boy and opposing teams would razz him by bringing oversized combs to the game.
BTW, we did beat Duke. (How'd that happen?)
Dook doesn't have the second scorer or the inside threat that you need in the ACC. Reddick is primary, Jones is teritiary at best, who is the second scorer? Ewing? Maybe if he started. And there is still no post defense / offense. The fact that they were 14-0 against their cupcakes over awed every one in the media IMO, oh and the fact they are dook.
They will probbaly snap out of it and contend for the ACC tournament (as usual), but for now they seem to be pretty disorganized.
[This message has been edited by TBONE (edited 01-24-2003).]
How old am I? Well let's say I act like a 20-year old but have the body of a 60-year old. So it averages out.
Even though I rooted for UNC in '82 against Georgetown, until '84 the farthest south I had ever been was New Jersey. I hadn't yet realized how big ACC basketball was in North Carolina. So, I never heard the comb story. Another bit of ACC lore I missed. (Though I was thoroughly amazed at David T. as a kid.)
Congrats on Sunday's game.
I was 11 then so I missed the David T era. I still like seeing the highlights. I hope one day that ESPN classic will actually show one of his games.
BTW, there's nothing wrong with acting 20 years old. I've been doing it for 13 years now.
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