A few of us are looking to ski Laurel Sunday February 18. We may ski another day at Laurel or hit another resort on Monday, depending on conditions. JimK is onboard as am I and at least some of my Crazie family. My long time ski compadre, Marcus, will bring his near 60 years of smooth experience. Perhaps a few other former gathering attendees and 1st time ever Laurel visitors from the 'Burgh may show, some with family in tow

Although not an official gathering as in days past (there is no slopeside lodging to host midday lunch social and apre-ski gathering spot) we all could meet for the day at Laurel. The lodge allows brown bagging and we can huddle over a few tables or if the weather is nice, the outdoor courtyard. We can even lunch alfresco at Midway if you are willing to ski with pack down to the old lodge. The building is locked, the structure has been stabilized but it is not safe for public use....perhaps one day.

JimK and I have lodging on the Ligonier side of the mountain. There are many restaurants and convivial watering holes to meet apres in town. Something much more rustic and private for Sunday apre-ski night can be arranged too. If condition are marginal,  Seven Springs will be a good option for Monday, there still should be good amount terrain there.

If your weekend is not set, meet us at Laurel Sunday Feb. 18.

I'm out for this year due to two other trips already booked back to back just before that  But, I'd be down for making this an annual event, new Mid Atlantic Gathering protocol if it works out as well as expected this time.  Monday won't likely be in play for me, but driving up Friday, skiing all Saturday and Sunday morning for a couple hours is probably doable next year.

I plan to ski Blue Knob on Saturday (Feb 17) and Laurel on Sunday (Feb 18).  Hope to meet some of you there, it will be my first time visit to both places.  

bump

Just learned from the advanced beginner women in our group that they want to go to Laurel for a day. At HV the other day. I'll see if I can nudge the Laurel to Sunday. They don't like the agression of 7S, and like the long greens at HV. Laurel might suit them too.

Meet up at 10 AM beside the lodge on the Ski Top trail Sunday morning. There is a double glass door on that side of the lodge that opens to the retail shop and ticket counter. I'll find some yellow ribbon to put on my poles. I'm wearing a light blue jacket with dark blue asymmetric yoke, black pants and a silver/gray helmet with a Laurel stick on the front.

Innsbruck is closed. It has the mountain's worst exposure. I assume that snowmaking is on going there.The other 3 trails are the 2 Innsbruck extentions (portions of the original trail) and Woodland, the old halfpipe between Upper Broadway and Upper Wildcat. Innsbruck is pretty important being the main novice trail but Broadway is very similar in degree off difficulty. Upper Broadway begins with a short intermediate straight shot to a novice pitch down to Deer Path, another novice pitch, down to the lift.

Snowmaking on skitop,upperwildcat,tamecat, at bottom of deer path. will be off soon.

Broadway is 4 cats wide, good coverage there, Lower wildcat is groomed with some icy spots. less than 8 inches will not increase trail count. 

fosphenytoin wrote:

I plan to ski Blue Knob on Saturday (Feb 17) and Laurel on Sunday (Feb 18).  Hope to meet some of you there, it will be my first time visit to both places.  

Hi, Sorry I'll have to bow out.  Cancelled the trip last mintue due to weather forecast (rain), work and school.  I will try again next season.  Have fun y'all.  

fosphenytoin wrote:

fosphenytoin wrote:

I plan to ski Blue Knob on Saturday (Feb 17) and Laurel on Sunday (Feb 18).  Hope to meet some of you there, it will be my first time visit to both places.  

Hi, Sorry I'll have to bow out.  Cancelled the trip last mintue due to weather forecast (rain), work and school.  I will try again next season.  Have fun y'all.  

 

Sorry you couldn't make it. It turned out that Sunday was a really nice day. We went to Seven Springs on Monday which did start out wet but the rain stopped by mid-morning and the snow was soft. Look for a trip report with photos soon from DCSki journalist Jim Kenney.

The new snow on Sunday made for a great day. Skiing was great all along the Allegheny Ridge. Not so great for car engines though....

Laurel will not be able to reopen. 61 days is it.

imp wrote:

Laurel will not be able to reopen. 61 days is it.

Bummer, but thanks for all you do to make that place so special!

imp wrote:

Laurel will not be able to reopen. 61 days is it.

I'm still coming to terms with it. I thought last season was bad when Laurel was defeated by mother nature in early March. Ullr has abandon us. I was very fortunate to hit Laurel on most of its good days. It was great skiing terrain I haven't skied in over a decade, Laurel Run, Dream, Doc's Glade, and the tow path but there was never enough base to get to those secret steep glades. I may have total disregard for my skis but I do value my health. Lower Wildcat always kept me focused and when I wanted to let them run, Broadway and Innsbruck were in great shape right up to this Tuesday. Kudos to Laurel's team. They did an outstanding job on the mountain and with customer relations. Other local resorts should be so blessed.

JohnL wrote:

The new snow on Sunday made for a great day. Skiing was great all along the Allegheny Ridge. Not so great for car engines though....

I heard of your hardships, John. I hope the new snow made you forget about the car problems for the balance of the weekend. 

Does anyone know how many season passes were sold this past year? Last year Hidden Valley made a lot of snow in March supposedly to extend the season for the pass holders.

it seems like they did not make enough snow on the main runs at LM, judging by the web cam image.

snowsmith wrote:

Does anyone know how many season passes were sold this past year? Last year Hidden Valley made a lot of snow in March supposedly to extend the season for the pass holders.

it seems like they did not make enough snow on the main runs at LM, judging by the web cam image.

Laurel made snow at every opportunity. They were prepared to make snow into March. Huge piles were stockpiled around the top of the chairlift all season long. They intended to stay open into March but this meltdown was too much. Seven Springs is down to the front side trails, what, 300 vertical, same as Hidden Valley, about 300 vertical.

Could they have made more? Perhaps. Could they reopen when cold returns, no doubt. Will the usual amount of business justify the amount of money needed to recover the slopes? I don't think so. At this time of year my guess is over 90% of customers are season pass holders. Most Laurel pass holders accept this early closure. We are not happy but we understand that Laurel must at least break even. Do not open this thread up to management bashing or Nutting bashing. The weather killed the season, not management indifference or incompetence. 

Smallest place in NC still has 10 out of 12 trails open.. but the base went from 100" plus to 20"-30" over the past 10 days.  Others are about 50% open.  Rain in the forecast this weekend.  Hoping for one more ski day in early March but that depends on the toll the rains take this weekend.  I guess I should be grateful that as fish puts it.. "Alpps south" seems to have beaten CV for open ski days this season..

Laurel Hill Crazie wrote:

Laurel made snow at every opportunity. They were prepared to make snow into March. Huge piles were stockpiled around the top of the chairlift all season long. They intended to stay open into March but this meltdown was too much. Seven Springs is down to the front side trails, what, 300 vertical, same as Hidden Valley, about 300 vertical.

Could they have made more? Perhaps. Could they reopen when cold returns, no doubt. Will the usual amount of business justify the amount of money needed to recover the slopes? I don't think so. At this time of year my guess is over 90% of customers are season pass holders. Most Laurel pass holders accept this early closure. We are not happy but we understand that Laurel must at least break even. Do not open this thread up to management bashing or Nutting bashing. The weather killed the season, not management indifference or incompetence. 

Accurate.  Weather doesn’t understand the bottom line.

I think the bottom line is that you need to have an available product if you want continued pass sales.

Think of Timberline, people see that they close when they want and it creates a sales death spiral.  

I have passes to Hidden Valley and was considering a Highlands pass next year.  But if these places aren't interested in catering to pass holders in March then I'll pay as I go.  And with a family skiing that's a lot of money.  I know others are the same as well, that begins to hurt these places.

If a place can get past this weekend it looks like there is the opportunity to make snow most nights next week.  Mother Nature has refilled the water ponds, so there is plenty of supply, just need a desire to make some snow on the mountain.

crgildart wrote:

Smallest place in NC still has 10 out of 12 trails open.. but the base went from 100" plus to 20"-30" over the past 10 days.  Others are about 50% open.  Rain in the forecast this weekend.  Hoping for one more ski day in early March but that depends on the toll the rains take this weekend.  I guess I should be grateful that as fish puts it.. "Alpps south" seems to have beaten CV for open ski days this season..

 

I'm not at all familiar with the NC resorts or their business model. Remember that Laurel has basically 5 revenue streams, ticket sales, rentals, lessons, food and beverage sale, and limited retail sales for clothing basics. I wouldn't be at all surprised if food and beverage is their only real profit center these past two seasons.There are no rooms to rent, no condos to buy, no spas and hot tubs, no childcare. Laurel only has snowsports. Last season Seven Springs management protected the value of the season pass by honoring Laurel only passes at HV and 7S. It was a courtesy they did not have to offer. I haven't heard if they will do the same again. It is a nice goodwill gesture but to establish that practice would only diminish the overall bottom line by discouraging Laurel only pass holder from buying the 3 resort Highland pass.

The great state of PA only gave us half a mountain despite their own studies that said 100% snowmaking was an integral part of the business plan. I've heard so many people say that they are waiting for Laurel to be 100% open before dropping a dime. It would make a difference, not sure how much difference. There are 4 ski resorts on PA state park land. Denton is down and looking for 12 million to reopen. Blue Knob's new owners are trying to turn it around, most of its slopes are on private land but the lodge and top of the mountain are in the state park.  Laurel is competing with those 2 for public money and with budget wars in the statehouse it looks doubtful that more capital funding will come from tax dollars. Camelback is the big dog of the Poconos and probably doesn't need much help from the state but that won't stop them from asking.

Honestly with 7 springs owning 3 resorts that close to each other, at this point 7 springs has the capacity to easily handle the laurel pass holders. This late in the season it does seem hard to justify putting money into 3 resorts, to completely rebuild a base. Hopefully if it gets cold again there will be some option for the laurel only ticket holders at 7 springs.

in regards to the NC resorts I do think the business plan changes a bit when there are multiple resorts under the same ownership. I suspect SnowTime Will be making a similar call on whitetail after this weekend. I just hope they try and keep both liberty and roundtop open into March this year as roundtop is quite a drive...

Also with regards to state funding...does SnowTime get anything from PA? They seem to be investing quite a bit into the resorts recently.

I don't think there is any question that weather played a huge role.  It was an impossible winter.  So I'm not going to blame ownership.

I can't speak to Laurel, but my only gripe at HV is that there were some cold stretches in late Jan/early Feb where they did not make much snow at all and they could have been.

Unfortunately, their decision not to make much snow a few weeks ago is essentially being reinforced.  Nobody would be skiing this weekend even if there was snow.

At least last Feb it was 75 and dry and I could get out the bike.  This sucks.

Laurel Hill Crazie wrote:

snowsmith wrote:

Does anyone know how many season passes were sold this past year? Last year Hidden Valley made a lot of snow in March supposedly to extend the season for the pass holders.

it seems like they did not make enough snow on the main runs at LM, judging by the web cam image.

Laurel made snow at every opportunity. They were prepared to make snow into March. Huge piles were stockpiled around the top of the chairlift all season long. They intended to stay open into March but this meltdown was too much. Seven Springs is down to the front side trails, what, 300 vertical, same as Hidden Valley, about 300 vertical.

Could they have made more? Perhaps. Could they reopen when cold returns, no doubt. Will the usual amount of business justify the amount of money needed to recover the slopes? I don't think so. At this time of year my guess is over 90% of customers are season pass holders. Most Laurel pass holders accept this early closure. We are not happy but we understand that Laurel must at least break even. Do not open this thread up to management bashing or Nutting bashing. The weather killed the season, not management indifference or incompetence.

No management bashing intended. I love Laurel Mountain.  But the image from the webcam should not show bare spots. There was plenty of snow down the hill.

This year started out promissing. Much snow was made. You cannot make enough snow to counteract 5 inches of rain. Last year I started thinking about selling my place due to year after year of dissapointing weather. December and early January changed my mind. Now I am have second thoughts again.