Industry News
Many ski resorts across the country have opened up for the start of the season from New England, the Rockies, and the West. Skiers and riders have been getting their early season skiing in and it is a great time of the year to be a fan of snow sports. While the big ski resorts in the U.S. have been open for about two weeks already, the resorts in Pennslyvania have been on standby. This past week Mother Nature finally dropped the temperatures low enough to allow Pennslyvania resorts to fire up the snow guns and get ready for the 2023/24 season.
Many resorts across the state announced on their websites or social media opening dates for the season. Today the first two ski resorts to open in PA were Jack Frost Ski and Blue Mountain Ski Resorts. Jack Frost Ski Resort opened with 6 trails and 3 lifts and Blue Mountain Ski Resort opened with 12 trails, 1 terrain park, 5 lifts, and 18-14 inches of base. Both Jack Frost and Blue Mountain are located in the Poconos. Big Boulder is the sister resort to Jack Frost and is located about 15 minutes away and both are owned by Vail Resorts. Look to see Big Boulder announce its opening date very soon.
Blue Knob All Season Resort and Shawnee Mountain announced its opening day for this Saturday, December, 2. Shawnee will open with 7 trails and 3 lifts open and Both Blue Knob will open with their Snow Drop Beginner Area and also part of Upper Mambo Alley, which is a crossover that merges with Snow Drop. Blue Knob will also open with the Snow Drop Triple Chair and has a current base depth of 4 to 9 inches. Both Blue Knob and Shawnee are on the Indy Pass.Â
Surprisingly, big-name ski resorts in PA like Seven Springs, Camelback Resort, and Montage Mountain have still not officially announced opening dates. Camelback Resort did announce that it is planning on opening on December, 15 this season. Blue Mountain and Camelback are both owned by KSL and are both on the IKON Pass.
Seven Springs is located on the western side of PA and there has been no official announcement on opening day. Hidden Valley and Laurel Mountain are located very close to Seven Springs and all three have fired up the snow guns this past week and should open soon. Whitetail, Roundtop, and Liberty resorts are located in Central PA and have also begun snowmaking on the mountains and should be opening shortly as well. All six of these resorts are owned by Vail Resorts and are on the Epic Pass. Stay tuned to see all these Vail Resorts announcing their opening dates very soon.
Elk Mountain and Ski Big Bear Pennsylvania are two resorts that are located in the Northeast part of PA and tend to rely on natural snow to operate. Both are known for having some of the best conditions for skiing in the state and typically open around the second to third week of December.
The ski season in Pennslyvania has officially begun and it should not take long before all the other resorts in the state start to open up for the 2023/24 season! It would not be out of the question to have 14 resorts opened in the state by the weekend of December 8. If you live in PA or close to any of the resorts, it is that time of the year again! Here’s to a great season for all the skiers, riders, and resorts in PA.
