Conditions Report
Conditions report from Wednesday, March 18, 2026
Camelback Mountain, Pennsylvania, was in full snowmaking mode the morning I arrived at the ski resort located in the Poconos. It looked like Mountain Ops was blasting the entire eastern side of the mountain with snowguns. Temperatures were in the low 20s overnight and held below freezing for most of the day. This allowed Camelback Mountain a window to increase its snowpack on that side of the resort. The snowmaking team has been working on Cliffhanger, Nile Mile, Trail’s End, Julius Caesar, Little Caesar, Upper Marc Anthony, Sphinx, Sullivan Trail, and the Snow Tubing Park. Camelback Mountain’s ultimate goal is to keep the two to three trails open until May: Nile Mile, Cliffhanger, and Bactrain.
So far this season, Camelback Mountain has been open every day except on Monday, when conditions were too warm, windy, and rainy. Once that system passed, the cold front moved in, and the mountain was open for skiing and riding. It was mid-week, and there were more people there than expected. The conditions were hard-packed groomers with a light cover of granulated snow on top. Surprisingly, the slopes were not too icy and held up well considering the warmer temps and rain earlier in the week. Some of the trails and slopes were closed due to snowmaking or thin cover, but the mountain still had 18 trails open, with two lifts spinning.
I was skiing with a friend in his 70s, so we stuck mostly to beginner and intermediate trails that day. The more advanced terrain had a solid base to it, with no thin or bare spots on any of the runs. However, I was there to ski and check the mountain conditions. My overall goal for the day was to check out the Eastern side of the mountain, where spring skiing will take place. The runs accessing that terrain were closed off to skiers and riders because of the snowmaking that was going on. However, I got lucky and ran into the Vice President and General Manager of Camelback Mountain Resort, Jason Bays, who provided me with transportation to check out the slopes that will be open for Spring skiing.
The plan was to take me up to the section of the mountain to grab some photos and video, and to see exactly how much snow was up there. I was even permitted to ski down Cliffhanger, a double-black-diamond run. I was super stoked about it. How many people get to ski down a run covered with mounds of snow that are over 20 feet high with snowguns blasting all the way down the run? However, after taking a snowmobile ride up to assess the terrain, two members of ski patrol decided that conditions wouldn’t be safe and nixed the plan. The snowguns were producing whalebacks about every 20 to 30 yards apart, and what was underneath those huge mounds of snow was unknown. So, for safety reasons, I was not able to ski down the run.
The snowmobiles couldn’t even access the upper terrain due to uncertain conditions, and I needed a snowcat to reach the top of the mountain. That’s how much snow Camelback Mountain has made on that side of the ski resort. The snow up there was dry and not packed out. While riding in the snowcat, you could see so many mounds of snow throughout the trails on that side of the mountain that were going to be groomed out later.
I’m not a snowmaker, groomer, or member of the mountain ops team at Camelback Mountain. However, I could tell just by looking at the terrain that the mountain would be skiing and riding late into the season. The Mountain Operations Manager at Camelback Mountain, who was driving the snowcat, confirmed my thought and said the resort will definitely be skiing in May. This plan was developed entirely under Bays and the new mountain leadership.
The spring plan was announced in late February to push skiing and riding at the mountain until May. The main lift serving the terrain that will be open then is the Stevenson Express Lift, located right next to the Camelback hotel. The Stevens Express gives access to Cliffhanger, Nile Mile, and Bactrain. It is a great setup that will give people access to terrain suitable for beginners to experts. All three of the trails lead to the Trails End Pub & Grille at the bottom of the mountain. The pub is attached to the 453-room hotel at Camelback Mountain, which also features Aquatopia Indoor Waterpark.
Camelback Mountain plans to have music, food, and fun for everyone at the Trails End Pub & Grille for Spring skiing. The pub has an outdoor patio that Bays plans to turn into a spot to sit back, enjoy the warmer weather, listen to music, and grab some food and drinks. There are questions about whether Camelback Mountain will open its Camelbeach Outdoor Waterpark alongside its skiing and riding operations. By May, the weather might be warm enough to do both. That would be a very unique experience on the mountain, where you could ski and ride, and hit the outdoor water park on the same day.
Whether that will happen remains unknown, but it is a fact that Camelback Mountain will be open for skiing into May. Which is very rare for a mid-Atlantic ski resort. The mountain plans to stay open every day until April 12, then switch to weekend-only. The mountain is open on Sunday through Thursday from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., and on Friday and Saturday from 9:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.
While some ski resorts in Pennsylvania have already closed for the season, Camelback Mountain, Blue Mountain, Montage Mountain, and Elk Mountain are still open and are all located in the Poconos. Look for both Montage and Elk to try to push skiing and riding until the end of March, and for Blue Mountain to stay open for the first or second weekend in April.
Camelback Mountain was the first ski resort in PA to open this season, and it looks like it will be the last one to close as well. Several ski resorts out West have announced closing dates or have already closed. What Camelback Mountain is doing in the East is special. Skiing and riding in May in PA is unheard of, and it’s something people living in the region should take advantage of.
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