Camelback

(click to enlarge photos)

Recently I made my way up to Camelback to see what this mountain had to offer, and I was not disappointed. Even though I went there after an unusual January warm snap there was plenty of snow to be had and the ice was kept to a minimum. Chalk that up to good grooming. I'm not saying there was a bunch of powder. It was more like skiing on layers of very tiny marbles. (But there were lots and lots of them)

Camelback is on the larger side of the PA ski areas. It's not the tallest or the steepest but its definitely near the top of the list in square footage.

They've got plenty of beginner and intermediate trails and even the double black diamond seen below.

That's the view from the top. You don't see a lot of double black's in the Poconos, but let's be real here, this one's not that difficult.

Here's some skiiers taking the double black diamond for a spin.

Easy as pie




Okay, maybe some people think it's difficult

Here's a video of my favorite alpine run there. It's not the steepest but it's got some fast sections and its a nice long switchback with a mellow run-out at the bottom. I think it's called Nile Mile.

Their lifts are generally pretty quick from bottom to top and I didn't wait in a single line all day. I'm sure the scene is a little different on the weekends but I appreciated this a lot.

My biggest complaint about the mountain is the cost. A full day lift ticket during the week is 45 dollars. This doesn't sound that bad, but on the weekends its a steep 55 dollars. Consider this alongside the sad fact that you have to buy a 10 dollar park pass to use the terrain park and a dollar every time you want to check your equipment, and you're looking at a 70 dollar day plus expenses! Another 30 dollars and you could have skied Steamboat Springs for a day.

That being said--

The terrain park is quite nice.

It takes up most of the central area of the mountain. It's got four different routes through it which criss-cross so you can make your own way through if you'd like.

It's got a few boxes and plenty of rails. It's also got some extremely large jumps if you're feeling up for the challenge, not to mention the 14-foot super pipe.

This is also one of those places that pumps music throughout the park all day. And surprisingly the music selection was pretty good. I'm pretty sure it was set to a satellite radio classic rock station all day, but if Santana and Huey Lewis and the News really gets you going, this just might be your thing.

Ski patroller Barry says, "All the improvements we have made in the past three or four seasons have all been to the terrain park. It's really coming together."

I've put together a video that shows the main routes you can take through the park.

I talked to one snowboarder who said, "I pretty much come here for the terrain park. It sucks you have to get the park pass but it's 10 bucks for the whole season so it's not bad if you come here a lot."

The lodge is nice and big but it doesn't really have that warm cozy feel you get at some of the other lodges around. The food isn't that good. It's pretty much a prime example of heat lamp cuisine so you might want to pack a lunch if it isn't too much trouble.

You can't expect good food from a ski lodge though. If you've been reading a lot, you may have noticed that I've been giving scathing reviews of all the food in the lodges I've visited, and I will probably continue to do so.

It's a fun mountain to visit if you haven't gone in a while, but it's a little pricey if you're going to go there all the time. Where's my student discount???

See you next time.