still making snow last weekend , still open mid week
That is amazing that they were blowing snow this late.
Looks like they got a new management team this past season.
Camelback plans to re-open for next weekend, April 24-26! From the pictures I've seen, the base on the one trail is deep so people who like bumps have been having a good time. It will probably be cold enough for snowmaking for a few nights. Weather seems more like the usual late March than late April in PA and NY.
I need a Vail apologist in this thread ASAP to tell me how it can't be done and I'm simply shooting the messenger of bad winters.
Camelback hasn't even closed yet and Vail already cutoff their "best offer" for next year's season passes.
I didn't know about the best offer or the cutoff, but I'll just echo what I said earlier and say "that's pretty impressive."
It is impressive. And honestly, I'm fairly sure not technically profitable. So more about goodwill and keeping customers happy. Which is awesome to see.
needawax wrote:
I didn't know about the best offer or the cutoff, but I'll just echo what I said earlier and say "that's pretty impressive."
What they haven't figured out yet is that you can only accelerate early buy-in to the sport to a certain point. After that the offers & cutoff dates, etc are just humoring people. When you see early dealbreaker dates, that's a clear sign that doesn't bode well for many of the resorts in their portfolio.
B - it wasn't a bad winter, (even in SW PA) - ended a little early, but plenty of sweet temperature pockets to make 2x the amount of snow at least in the laurels.
3 - good on Camelback for pushing it far.
Leo wrote:
It is impressive. And honestly, I'm fairly sure not technically profitable. So more about goodwill and keeping customers happy. Which is awesome to see.
needawax wrote:
I didn't know about the best offer or the cutoff, but I'll just echo what I said earlier and say "that's pretty impressive."
Certainly has marketing value. Just as being "first to open" gets media headlines for a given region. For instance Killington and Ski Ward for New England; Sugar and Cataloochee in NC. Sugar also tends to be "last to close." Perhaps a reason Sugar remains independent and is unlikely to ever join Indy.
Camelback and Blue were added to the Ikon pass a couple years ago. As with Epic, having a regional resort that's open late may entice someone to get a multi-resort pass for a trip out west and late season turns within driving distance of their house.
Seriously though? 10 feet of base on Cliffhanger?
needawax wrote:
Seriously though? 10 feet of base on Cliffhanger?
Why not? When there is only one trail with snowguns on, if it's cold long enough and there is already a decent base, seems as if adding a few feet of snow overnight would be possible. Have seen snow whales during early season that high.
3rd time's a charm, "That's pretty impressive."
Absolutely. That's a great attitude. And a good model for many others to take note.
I think all the 10 foot base of snow is at the top portion because the runout looks thin.
...
This popped up in my feed. Looks pretty good.
Learned a lot about the new VP/GM at Camelback from an interview done last fall. Not a 3-min clip, but a full sit-down interview with a local media person. The mission Jason Bays wants all the staff to work toward is to create a skier "for life." His son was too little to start skiing in 2025-26 but it seems clear the boy will be the third generation to make strong memories skiing at Camelback.
Meet Camelback Resort's new GM Jason Bays - November 2025
This was the special sticker handed out last weekend.
Camelback on Cinco de Mayo - amazing
Sheesh, it looks like there is still 3 feet of base -- at least
Sounds like Camelback is hoping for another weekend, May 9-10. Mother's Day skiing anyone? Usually people go to Arapahoe Basin in CO. :-)
Skiers celebrate Cinco de Mayo on the slopes in the Poconos - May 5, 2026
Mother Nature didn't help keep the season going for Camelback this week. Couldn't stay open for Mother's Day weekend after all.
Found out a little more about Jason Bays on his college's website. He lettered in cross country and baseball in high school growing up in PA near Camelback. In fact, was the MVP and an All-League outfielder in baseball. Did cross country during college at Southern New Hampshire University. As a senior, he was the team captain. Graduated in 2012, stayed to get an MBA, and finished that degree in 2014.
It says a lot about Bays that he was doing Instagram updates himself during the ski season. Helps to be young enough to be part of the generation that grew up with smart phones and easy access to the Internet for social media and other uses.
From the Camelback announcement, October 2025:
"With an extensive hospitality background and a strong operational record overseeing activities at destination properties, Bays was general manager of Great Wolf Resorts - overseeing properties in Naples, Florida; Atlanta, Georgia; Sandusky, Ohio; and the Poconos - leading complex resort functions across hotels, waterparks, golf, retail, food and beverage and more. He was chief operating officer/general manager of Mountain Creek Resort in Vernon, New Jersey, supervising a 177-room resort which included a 170-acre ski area and snow tubing, a 40-acre outdoor park, a 27-hole golf course and four restaurants. A native of the Poconos region, he was previously with Camelback Resort as director of aquatics/risk management and began his career as director of operations for Jay Peak Resort in Vermont. "
In addition to hiring Bays as VP/GM in late 2025, Camelback hired Olivier Glattfelder as Resort Manager.
"With over 30 years of industry experience in the United States and Switzerland, Glattfelder was most recently director of hotel operations for the Marriott Austin South. He was opening general manager of The Equestrian in Ocala, Florida - a five-star luxury property - general manager of the Hotel Granduca Austin, director of housekeeping for Miraval Austin Resort & Spa and opening general manager of The Porches Inn in North Adams, Mass. He spent a decade with Omni Hotels and Resorts serving as director of rooms at Omni Austin Downtown and director of rooms and activities at Omni Barton Creek Resort and Spa. His European experience includes Hotel Savoy Baur en Ville (Zurich), Kulm Hotel (St. Moritz) and Noga Hotel (Geneva). A native of Glattfelden, Zurich, he studied at hotel schools in Lausanne and Geneva, Switzerland, earning a degree in hospitality. He is fluent in English, French, German and Spanish."
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