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Blue Mountain Ski Area
Palmerton, Pennsylvania
(Click here for the official web site for Blue Mountain, or scroll below to read DCSki's complete profile...)
[Resort Overview] [Summer Activities] [Statistics]
[Trail Map] [Map] [Current Conditions] [Webcams]
[Related News] [Upcoming Events] [Reader Comments]
[Recent Tweets]
| Resort Overview - reported by M. Scott Smith, DCSki Editor |
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100% of Blue Mountain’s terrain is lit for night skiing, and three trails are over one mile long. Blue Mountain attracts a lot of day and weekend skiers from Philadelphia - which is just 75 miles away - as well as South Jersey. Skiers and boarders from the D.C. area also make the trek to Blue Mountain to enjoy the vertical and varied terrain. In a typical year, Blue Mountain will host over 300,000 skier visits.
For the snowboarders, Blue Mountain has four Terrain Parks geared to all ability levels. The 1,200-foot long Terrain Run park is geared towards beginners, while the 1,700-foot long Come Around Park targets intermediates. At 3,500 feet in length, the Sidewinder Park is designed for advanced skiers and boarders, including a 40-foot double barrel straight, a 40-foot down flat down, a 35-foot 180-degree C box, down flat down S and street staircase, 8-foot wide butterbox with grindable rails, 70-foot jumps, a rhythm section, and tabletops. The 2009-2010 winter season introduced Central Park, a new “streets” terrain park. Central Park has two brand new one-of-a-kind stair sets from Snow Grind as well as other street-related elements. Central Park replaced Blue Mountain’s older halfpipe.
Snow tubing is offered at Blue Mountain on 21 slides.
Blue Mountain has experienced significant expansion in recent years. For the 2002-2003 season, Blue Mountain cut a new expert trail and added a new teaching hill, serviced by its own triple-chair lift. The new double-diamond trail, Razors Edge, is over 3,000 feet long and is serviced by Blue Mountain’s high-speed quad. During the summer of 2003, Blue Mountain shaped the upper portion of Main Street to allow for Barney’s Bumps, a new expert mogul run. 2006-2007 saw the installation a new high-speed “six pack” chairlift — Eastern Pennsylvania’s first — replacing the older Challenge Chair. During the summer of 2008, Blue Mountain invested over $3.1 million in capital improvements, including the addition of Dreamweaver, a new intermediate trail that is over 100 feet wide along its entire length. Blue Mountain also beefed up its snowmaking infrastructure, and built a new lodge in the valley. And during 2009, Blue Mountain added Nightmare, a new double-black diamond trail with over 900 feet of thrilling steep slopes and turns.
In an earlier time, Blue Mountain was once known as the Little Gap ski area.
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Photo provided by Blue Mountain Ski Area.
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| Summer Activities |
Blue Mountain has expanded its activities beyond the winter season in recent years, pushing into each of the four seasons. Summer and fall activities include disc golf and festivals. Six passenger rangers provide access to the 3 disc golf courses spread across the mountain. Rock the Fall is a music-filled festival which says goodbye to the autumn and hello to the upcoming ski season.
| Statistics |
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Resort Name:
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Blue Mountain Ski Area | |
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Vertical Drop:
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1,082 feet | |
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Trails:
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39 (15 beginner, 4 intermediate, 15 advanced, 5 freestyle trails) | |
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Skiable Acres:
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164 | |
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Longest Run:
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6,400 feet | |
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Lift Capacity:
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13,500 per hour | |
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Lifts:
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10 (Including 1 high-speed “six pack,” 1 high-speed quad, 1 triple, 3 doubles, 2 surface lifts, and 2 conveyor lifts) | |
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Night Skiing:
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Yes, on 100% of terrain | |
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Terrain Park:
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Five terrain parks are available. | |
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Halfpipe:
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(No halfpipe) | |
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Tubing Park:
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Tubing park has 21 slides, each over 1,200-feet in length, and serviced by three lifts. | |
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Address:
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1660 Blue Mountain Drive Danielsville, PA 18038 |
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Phone Number:
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(610) 826-7700 | |
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Latitude:
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40.814654 | |
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Longitude:
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-75.514784 | |
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Twitter:
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http://twitter.com/skibluemountain | |
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Facebook:
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http://www.facebook.com/pages/Ski-Blue-Mountain/43809706831 | |
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Web Site:
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http://www.skibluemt.com/ |
Estimated Distances from Major Cities
| Baltimore, MD | 3 hours | 171 miles |
| Washington, DC | 3 hours, 45 minutes | 206 miles |
| Arlington, VA | 3 hours, 50 minutes | 210 miles |
| Richmond, VA | 5 hours, 30 minutes | 320 miles |
| Pittsburgh, PA | 5 hours | 301 miles |
| Harrisburg, PA | 1 hour, 50 minutes | 100 miles |
| Philadelphia, PA | 1 hour, 25 minutes | 80 miles |
| Charleston, WV | 7 hours, 20 minutes | 462 miles |
| Raleigh, NC | 8 hours, 15 minutes | 496 miles |
| Charlotte, NC | 9 hours, 15 minutes | 574 miles |
| Trail Map |
To view a full-size trail map for Blue Mountain, click on the following thumbnail image. The trail map will open in a new window. Please note that DCSki's trail maps can be out of date; always pick up a copy of the latest trail map at each resort.
| Map |
| Current Conditions |
A snow condition report for Blue Mountain is shown below. Because condition reports may not be updated regularly, be sure to check the date and timestamp on the report. Before making a trip, we recommend contacting resorts directly for the latest conditions.
| Blue Mountain, PA |
As of 17:42:00 on 2011-03-20
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| Report data is over 2 days old -- please check back later. | |
To view additional ski condition reports for areas throughout the Mid-Atlantic region and across the world, visit the DCSki Conditions page.
| Webcams |
Blue Mountain has an official webcam page here.
| Related News |
The past five articles related to Blue Mountain are shown below.
Mid-Atlantic Ski Season Gains Momentum (December 27, 2012)
A shot of cold air and some natural snow has helped launch the 2012-2013 winter season in a big way. Find out the status of Mid-Atlantic ski areas.
What’s New for 2010: Blue Mountain Ski Area (December 19, 2010)
The 2010-2011 winter season is underway at Pennsylvania’s Blue Mountain Ski Area, and guests this winter will find three new trails, upgraded snowmaking, RFID-based lift tickets and passes, and improvements in the Summit Lodge.
DCSki Introduces New Features to Track Resort “Tweets” (November 15, 2009)
The Twitter microblogging service allows individuals and companies to create and share short text-based updates called “Tweets.” Over a dozen ski areas in the mid-Atlantic region have created a presence on Twitter, using Twitter to post announcements and information. DCSki now captures these updates and makes them readily available to skiers and boarders, whether or not they have their own Twitter account.
What’s New for 2009: Blue Mountain (November 11, 2009)
Visitors to Pennsylvania’s Blue Mountain Ski Area this winter will be greeted by a new double-black diamond slope and new “streets” terrain park. Two new outdoor dining areas will be available, and Blue Mountain will become one of the few U.S. resorts to have a “BigAirBag,” a fall cushion placed behind ski jumps.
Firsthand Report: Blue Mountain, February 1, 2009 (February 7, 2009)
DCSki Columnist Lou Botta recently traveled to the Poconos to try out Blue Mountain Ski Area, which offers the highest vertical in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. He discovered a lot to like and a lot of potential in the resort.
(5 reader comments)
To view more articles related to Blue Mountain, click here.
| Upcoming Events |
The DCSki Event Schedule currently doesn't have any events listed for Blue Mountain. To view events at other resorts, please visit the DCSki Event Schedule.
| Related Bargains |
The following bargains are related to Blue Mountain.
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To view more bargains, click here. Remember, bargains may include exclusions or expirations not noted here. Contact the company offering the bargain to verify details.
| Recent Tweets |
Recent Tweets from Blue Mountain Ski Area
| Reader Comments |
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The views and opinions expressed in DCSki Article Comments are strictly those of the comment authors and have not been reviewed or approved by DCSki. If you believe a comment is inaccurate or inappropriate, please contact DCSki's Editor. Comments on Blue Mountain - posted by Joe McDermott
August 15, 2004 at 11:49 pm Let's face it, nothing in Pennsylvania is going to equal the scope of Vermont or skiing the west, but Blue Mountain may be the best the state has to offer. It has a good variety when the entire mountain is open. Best of all may be its convenience to the nearby Lehigh Valley. The downside is the mountain, which opened as Little Gap years ago, has become one of the most popular ski areas in eastern Penna. It is very crowded on weekends and holidays, but if you get up there midweek, you often have the mountain to yourself.
To be fair, I also like Camelback and Elk, the other two biggest (highest) mountains in the region, but Elk is a real hike and Camelback is usually much more crowded than Blue. Ditto for Jack Frost/Big Boulder, which have to take the title for most diverse ski areas in the state. If other winter sports are your thing, they are the places to go. Comments on Blue Mountain - posted by Drew Pearson
February 12, 2005 at 5:07 pm I love Blue when conditions are great. Expect people to clear out after 5:30pm on weekends and the night traffic is low and clear. The snow is best in January when it's still actual powder, not ice. But I hate Blue it when it's icy. A warm day followed by a cold evening makes the ice downright scary. The maintenance crews should groom the main runs at around 6pm. to break up the ice. CHallenge and Racer's edge are'nt good until March when the warm air thaws the ice on those runs either. Again, they should be groomed more often.
Comments on Blue Mountain - posted by cameron everett
August 6, 2005 at 10:25 pm are yall building an new trail for the 05 an the 06 season
Comments to Blue Mountain - posted by Stefan Barbee
December 11, 2006 at 5:07 pm ha ha im goin to blue this season so all u boarders out there look out for the guy wit the burton bullet 07 ill wreck all ya'll
Comments on Blue Mountain - posted by John K
January 1, 2009 at 7:57 am Blue Mountain has some good points including the uphill capacity, but the additional 84' of vertical that they fabricated takes 1000 feet of run off to get. This makes for a slow and almost pointless finish to an otherwise fun run from the top down one of the two diamonds. It makes me laugh everytime I see a place like this list those runs as double black. Even by Eastern standards the only thing that makes them double black is the bullet proof ice that you have to try to carve on most times.
Opening Date? - posted by Tyler
November 28, 2010 at 1:21 pm Any speculations on a opening date for the 10-11 Season?
Comments on Blue Mountain - posted by Pat C.
January 31, 2011 at 9:43 pm The mountain itself has some great runs but the vertical drop is not an accurate description for how the place really is. There are ridiculous lines that on weekends, can force a wait of 45 minutes or more.
Daycare at Blue Mountain is horrible - posted by Sean
February 22, 2011 at 10:18 am We had terrible experience at BM daycare. My 16-months baby girl was terrified by their services... Their people were rude, un-respectful and don't know what they supposed to do. My baby cried for 45 mins and banged her head against the door before they even gave me call. Definitely avoid that...
Love Blue Mountain. - posted by Bruce W.
December 5, 2011 at 12:19 am My ski buddy and I have a flexible work schedule and Blue Mountain is perfect for weekday skiing. Even many non-holiday weekends aren't too bad as far as lines and waiting goes. Best vertical within a 4 hour drive of DC and a very wide selection of trails.
Sidewinder and the Big Air Bag are also enough for even the most extreme skiers and snowboarders. I just wish they carved a half pipe! I do recommend staying away from Burma and Mainstreet chair though. It's almost an 8 minute ride when you can do more vertical from Comet or Challanger with access to all but one or two runs. @Pat C. Are you thinking of Blue Knob maybe? Blue mountain even ranks as 1082 feet on TrueVertical because nearly every run spans the entire top-to-bottom span of the mountain and I have never had close to a 45 minute wait for a chair. Comments on Blue Mountain - posted by Scared at Blue
February 6, 2012 at 9:49 pm A great mountain the lift, security and lodge staff are friendly and helpful. Just watch out for any one affiliated with the mountain on the snow especially in the park. From the team to the staff the attitude has gone downhill in the past few years. Park etiquette does not exist. Even ski patrol will cut of those waiting to drop in. Forget about common sense.
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Want to share your own comments on Blue Mountain with other DCSki readers? Enter your comments below. Feel free to describe the things you like most about Blue Mountain, along with any areas you feel could be improved.
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