Looking at the storm that might hit this weekend and wondering if 12"+ of snow will get all of Blue Knob open?  Including the woods etc.

Laurel Mountain is my "home" resort, but they are closed on Mondays.  So trying to figure out if the drive to BK will be worth it.  Will probably try to hit LM on Sunday during the storm.

Had one of my best eastern powder days at Blue Knob in 2010 after the 2ft storm.  Everything was skiable, hoping that might be true again.

Thoughts?

oddballstocks wrote:

Looking at the storm that might hit this weekend and wondering if 12"+ of snow will get all of Blue Knob open?  Including the woods etc.

Laurel Mountain is my "home" resort, but they are closed on Mondays.  So trying to figure out if the drive to BK will be worth it.  Will probably try to hit LM on Sunday during the storm.

Had one of my best eastern powder days at Blue Knob in 2010 after the 2ft storm.  Everything was skiable, hoping that might be true again.

Thoughts?

We had a 2 footer at Blue Knob somewhere around 2003 Sunday to Monday AM and the place was EMPTY.  I was in the vestibule with my boots on and a guy walked in.  I said, 'They just closed the place, too much snow!' and he started to leave. I had to call him back, 2 feet was crazy at Blue Knob, nothing was unskiable!!  My best day anywhere at the time.  Almost got Tboned by a semi in Breezewood.  I have since had better days, but that was one for the books.

One account worth following this on IG (unaffiliated with Blue Knob): blueknobsnow

They seem fairly optimistic that if the snowstorm hits in the 24in range - it could be 100% open by as late as Sunday afternoon.

"Confidence continues to grow in a major winter storm developing. The latest European model is showing 16” to fall on the mountain at a 10:1 ratio. With the arctic airmass in place we should easily see that ratio bump up to 15:1 or higher. That bumps us up to around TWO FEET of snow. We’re still a long ways out so this is likely to change a bit, but things are looking promising.

The 4” of fresh last night will provide a good base for this new snow to fall on. If we do see upwards of 24” of snow it will be likely we see 100% of the mountain open. Possibly as early as Sunday afternoon."

instagram.com


I think I'll be taking a snow day Monday and at least checking it out, perhaps Sunday as well once weather forecast is clearer....

I have pre-existing plans to ski Sunday with a friend and am also trying to peer into the Blue Knob enigma in my crystal ball snow globe.  If the NWS forecast is accurate, I would think they should have enough based on past cases, combined with what they got earlier this week, to drop the ropes on Stembogan if not the steeper stuff.  And their commitment to opening Jackrabbit for this weekend anyway is encouraging.  However Runout still persisting in being closed is a concern as they might not load the Route 66 lift from the bottom if Runout is not situated and groomed.  I also have not seen whether that lift has even run at all this year (from the midstation - have they used it at all?) - is it ready to rip?  Did they get the lower mountain mowed pretty well this fall?

We were planning on going to Elk but I'm not sure myself I'll be able to get there now Sunday. Blue Knob is much easier for me to get to and ultimately better skiing, if open.  I'll be staying away from the anticipated Pocono crowd lol.

If they open Runout for Saturday I'll probably roll the dice on Blue Knob for Sunday, otherwise maybe I'll try to hit it on my way back from the LM Kind-a-hard next weekend.

Very interesting.  I really want them to get 100%, but not running either lift yet is cause for concern.

Good news is LM is doing a special storm day opening on Monday, so I'll just hit that up instead and keep an eye on BK to hit up later in the week.

I can't get LM website to load for two days now.

oddballstocks wrote:

Very interesting.  I really want them to get 100%, but not running either lift yet is cause for concern.

Good news is LM is doing a special storm day opening on Monday, so I'll just hit that up instead and keep an eye on BK to hit up later in the week.

I've penciled in skiing with a friend who lives in Hershey in two weeks. I would love if Blue Knob was viable. We normally go to Elk. 

I'm hoping they can get it together, because looking at the Claysburg forecast, if the can overcome their limitations at all, this would be the time.

 They just don't have the capitol. Its that simple. This mountain needs an investment similar to what the Perfect's did at TImberline. 

MRPLOW wrote:

All that snow and cold weather. Yet currently no lower mountain trails open, and only a few we're open for a few days. SMH. Just endless lines of excuses, year-after-year-after-year. 

Blue Knob is one of the places I always check their Facebook in addition to the snow report.  There is usually additional hints into their quagmire of an operation on there.  Projected trail openings, anticipated wind holds etc.  It is the 2nd highest point in the state and they do get very extreme weather.

They have committed to opening the entire mountain tomorrow.  Not sure about Sunday.  They had it closed Thursday and Friday to save snow for the weekend and shore up the runout and lift loading area where it was too thin.  To their credit this was all communicated in advance on Facebook.  It probably would help if they posted such updates to their website as well but that is where they are.  I am generally not a huge fan of facebook and ski conditions is one of the few reasons I use it.

I think they did truly not have enough snow if they would have left it open all week.  Seems like it was fluffy and not very dense in that part of the state.  My cousin and I were trying to hit Blue Knob but ended up just going to Tussey due to the wind, cold, and lack of lower mountain snow.  At Tussey too, they had had the natural snow trails open earlier in the week but the snow was scraped away on the steep parts yesterday (Lions way and Shamokin).  They still would have been skiiable in a Mad River Glen or Castle Rock kind of sense but I definitely understand why they did not drop the ropes.  It may have also just been too windy to even run that Route 66 double chair which is very exposed at spots and kind of cranky to begin with.

Also they did note that their snowmaking pond was running low even at the start of the season which I do not doubt because it is not very big.

The place does not have enough money.  Go tomorrow and enjoy the whole mountain operating like it is meant to and buy a few beers at the bar to keep it afloat another year.  Best ski area south of New York when it's all running and its not yet molested by the big corporate mega passes.

 Let us know what you think of the place.

wgo wrote:

Decided on Laurel for Saturday. This will be my first time there!

Skied Laurel for the first time on Saturday and I really liked it. Definitely has the whole "skis bigger than the trail map" thing going. Lower Wildcat was a treat with excellent conditions in the AM. I liked how there were several ways (narrow paths thru trees, bumps under the liftline, etc) to approach lower wildcat, not just via upper wildcat. 

Will definitely be back.

wgo wrote:

Skied Laurel for the first time on Saturday and I really liked it. Definitely has the whole "skis bigger than the trail map" thing going. Lower Wildcat was a treat with excellent conditions in the AM. I liked how there were several ways (narrow paths thru trees, bumps under the liftline, etc) to approach lower wildcat, not just via upper wildcat. 

Will definitely be back.

 LM is pretty sweet when there is enough snow.

That said, I personally think Lower is a very over hyped trail. Cue outrage from a specific local… The stuff around it can be pretty nice. But, diss aside on Lower, I have had some great times skiing there and love the vibe.

@JohnL,

I actually found the thread from 2019 where some of the opinions on lower wildcat given so I had a pretty good idea of what to expect. I was very happy to ski a steep groomed run with good snow, I am still feeling a bit beat up from the Castlerock pod at Sugarbush.

JohnL wrote:

 LM is pretty sweet when there is enough snow.

That said, I personally think Lower is a very over hyped trail. Cue outrage from a specific local… 

I think you mean me, lol. No outrage from me. I've said many times that Lower Wildcat was tamed by the winch cat.