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Blue Mountain PA?

Peaheartsmama

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Hi Ladies,
Hope all is well! Has anyone visited Blue Mountian in PA recently? How are things over there? Is it easy to boot up in car and head to lifts? Is there a better parking lot to do this from? How are the food options? Are there any greens and easy blues that you would recommend? Any helpful tips would be appreciated.
Thanks!
 

tinymoose

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
I live in PA, but haven't been there yet this season so I'm not much help there. Historically, most people who boot up at the car I think use the lower (Valley) lot, rather than the Summit lot, since you have go up stairs and through the lodge to get on the snow at the Summit.

Vista and Burma Road are the two main greens. Vista is a nice wide green from top to bottom; Burma Road is a green that runs from the Summit Lodge to mid-mountain, but it's winding with lots of switchbacks, which would be fun, except it's usually littered with the bodies of fallen beginners. lol

Blues: Lazy Mile is a lovely, long blue trail that runs top to bottom that's around or just over a mile long (hence the name). Switchback is shorter, but a fun trail that runs to mid-mountain. The only other blue is Dreamweaver, which is nice, but short and splits off of and then feeds back into Vista so it's easy to miss.

Also, I would avoid going there on the weekend, if you can. It's usually a zoo in normal years, and resorts in PA seem busier than normal this year with the pandemic. I guess people are just looking for an activity to do to get out of the house.

@vanhoskier isn't on here much, but she's been skiing there weekdays this year and might have more info on food and parking specifically related to pandemic measures.
 

Peaheartsmama

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Thank you! Very helpful. Would you say lazy Mile is the “easiest” blue once we get through the greens? My DD7 is a little hesitant when things get steeper so I try not to venture to areas that might be out of her comfort zone. We have tickets for this Sunday - we will try to go early and beat the crowds. Weekends are kind of the only time we can go unfortunately. But we are super excited to explore a new mountain!
 

tinymoose

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Thank you! Very helpful. Would you say lazy Mile is the “easiest” blue once we get through the greens? My DD7 is a little hesitant when things get steeper so I try not to venture to areas that might be out of her comfort zone. We have tickets for this Sunday - we will try to go early and beat the crowds. Weekends are kind of the only time we can go unfortunately. But we are super excited to explore a new mountain!

Lazy Mile is definitely easier and more laid back than Switchback. It's also nice it's so long. Same with Vista. Hope you guys enjoy it, and let me know how you like it!

Where do you guys normally ski? We're usually up at Montage near Scranton. Less crowded and we like the North Face area there, although even this year it's busier there!
 

vanhoskier

Angel Diva
Hi Ladies,
Hope all is well! Has anyone visited Blue Mountian in PA recently? How are things over there? Is it easy to boot up in car and head to lifts? Is there a better parking lot to do this from? How are the food options? Are there any greens and easy blues that you would recommend? Any helpful tips would be appreciated.
Thanks!
Hi! I’ve been skiing Blue 2-3 times a week (weekday mornings) this winter. I boot up at my car at the Valley Lodge, and walk through the lodge to the snow. The lifts start spinning at 9:00, and I usually get there around 8:30-8:45. I’m able to park very close to the front lodge entrance. Many people boot up at their cars.

By 11:30, even on weekdays, it starts to get busy. Friends who go on Saturdays-Sundays say that if they get there and on the lifts by 8:00, they can get a few hours of skiing in before it gets crowded. Anyway, since Blue has a quad and six pack high speed lifts, skiing there is very doable and allows for many runs. Masking is required in the lift line, although some people seem to “forget” but mostly the lift operator issues a reminder.

The best green run is Paradise which runs from the summit to the Valley and is most accessible via the high speed lifts at the Valley. It’s been consistently in really good shape, too. It’s very wide with a nice, even pitch. Lazy Mile has been nice, too, and has been tended by snowmaking frequently. I stay away from Burma Road if I want to ski a green run; I find there’s simply too many skiers on it. Switchback, as @tinymoose said, has some sharper turns as its name indicates, but it’s fun and it comes out at the bottom of Main Street, where there’s a double chair. From there you can ski down to the Valley on an easy run.

If you’re concerned about Covid protocol, Blue has done a pretty good job. I feel comfortable using the restrooms in the Valley Lodge; they are roomy so it’s easy to be spaced apart from others. The food court is open for grab and go, and there are a few food trucks outside - 2 offer typical junky food, the other two have been a wood fired pizza truck and a BBQ truck. At the upper lodge, there is also take out food. There is outdoor seating with fire pits at both lodges. There is a very good restaurant at the upper lodge which also offers takeout and has outdoor seating. The bar at the lower lodge was open today and I was very surprised to see that - that’s NOT somewhere I want to be in a pandemic.

So, I’d park at the Valley Lodge for ease of booting up there and getting onto the snow. Also, then, you‘re right by the high speed lifts and then can ride right up to Paradise. If you park at the upper lodge, you’d have to ski down Vista to the old double chair (slow).

Have fun! It’s been years since I’ve had a season pass at Blue; but I took a chance this year and have been very pleased. Today, the conditions were FANTASTIC.
 

Peaheartsmama

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Thank you this is soooo helpful! We will be there Sunday and really excited to explore a new place! Oh and we ski Camelback normally! I actually rented a cabin up there for the next two weeks since we ended up getting value passes. I originally bought Ikon passes for this season but decided to push them out to next year instead. I wasn’t planning on doing CBK at all this year but being close to home is better for now. So far conditions have been great and like you describe if we can get out there early we are able to get some good runs in before the rest of the crowd arrives.
 

Peaheartsmama

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
For what it’s worth I found the pre arrival email I just got from Blue super informative. Lots of good details on logistics and such.
 

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