Industry News
The ski season is officially over in Pennsylvania with Blue Mountain Resort closing last weekend for the 2023/24 season. Blue Mountain’s opening day was on December 7, 2023, and closed on March 30, 2024, making its season 114 days long. “Blue” is located in the Pocono Mountains and is dedicated to having the longest ski season in Pennsylvania and is within two hours of Philadelphia and New York City.
This season has been difficult for all the ski resorts in the state with the milder temperatures, rain, and lack of snow. Most ski resorts in the PA do a great job with the weather conditions that Mother Nature provides and still manage to open most of the terrain at the resorts throughout the season. Keeping the mountain open throughout the winter with the milder temperatures Pennsylvania has had this season is not easy. Blue has installed top-of-the-line snowmaking technology, including 79 TechnoAlpin TL8 stick guns and 26 TechnoAlpin fan guns (all fully automated), and has replaced approximately 20,000 feet of airline and waterline piping used for snowmaking. Blue is home to the largest and most efficient snowmaking systems on the East Coast.
Quick Facts and History:
- Opened in 1977
- Vertical: 1,082 feet
- Trails: 40
- Terrain Parks: 6
- Skiable Terrain: 171 acres
- Lifts: 15
- Beginner Slopes: 15
- Intermediate Slopes: 4
- Largest Snow Tubing Park in the United States: 52 lanes
- Expert: 15
- Lodges: 2
- 100% Night Skiing
Most ski resorts in PA closed on or before the weekend of March 22-24 and it was not known when Blue Mountain Resort would close for the season. Blue Mountain posted on its Instagram Page and made the announcement it would remain open for skiing on the weekend of March 29-30. Blue Mountain kept its promise of being the ski resort that would open first and close last in the state of Pennsylvania.
Blue Mountain’s closing weekend had three runs open from top to bottom and the conditions were great for that time of year. It was spring skiing conditions and the one open beginner slope was sluggish and you needed to do a lot of skating to get through the flat spots. The other two runs open were Razor’s Edge and Nightmare which are double black diamond runs and they were the best options for that day to hit. The snowmaking teams did a great job and there were no bare spots on either one of the runs throughout the day. The sun was shining that day making it a great day to hit both runs that were covered in that soft spring snow.
Although Blue Mountain Resort is closed for winter activities, that does not mean there are not a lot of things to do on the mountain during the summer. Blue Mountain offers mountain biking, high ropes course, zipline, rock climbing, camping, and much more. One activity that is a unique opportunity for guests to check out during the summer is to go glamping on the mountain. Guests who may not want to sleep on the ground will have amenities such as beds, access to indoor bathrooms and showers, and free access to Blue’s fishing pond.
Although the ski season is over in PA, next season, skiers and riders can look forward to hitting two different ski resorts in the Poconos that will be on the same pass. The Peak-to-Peak Poconos Pass allows unlimited skiing and riding access and exclusive pass holder perks to Blue Mountain Resort and Camelback Resort for the 2024/25 Season. Both Blue Mountain and Camelback Resort are owned by KSL Resorts. “The Peak to Peak Poconos Pass is a program designed for snow sports lovers who live for the thrills, challenges, snowscapes, different amenities, and unique activities at both Blue Mountain and Camelback,” Kit Pappas, vice president of asset performance in the East for KSL Resorts said.
For more information visit Blue Mountain Resort’s website.
At 171 acres and 10,000 gpm, blue mountain doesn’t even have the largest snowmaking system out of the two blue mountain resorts on the east coast. I don’t know why they insist on making this claim, when it’s simply not true. Snow brains should not be printing these thinly veiled advertisements for resorts that you were clearly paid for.