Camelback: The Mid-Atlantic Beast?

Camelback open for skiing in May? In Pennsylvania? I guess I wasn’t paying close enough attention to their social media. I heard from some fellow skiers they threw down the gauntlet back in March; they would be open in May. That’s some pretty bold attitude given the latitude.

As one ski area after another announced their closing dates across the northeast, Camelback continued operations. Did it signify the emergence of a new east coast juggernaut, the Beast of the Mid Atlantic? I would have to see for myself.

It wasn’t my first visit to Camelback, we have history. It’s one of the hills that I tried with my children when they were just learning to ski. I’ve probably skied Camelback a dozen times.

There’s a lot to like at Camelback. It’s close to New York City. It’s got varied terrain. It’s got a great snowmaking operation, plenty of lift capacity and a couple of steep-ish trails. I didn’t put down roots at Camelback, but I’ve always appreciated it’s good qualities. It’s been over 10 years since I skied there but committing this hard to spring skiing was enough to bring me back.

As I approached Tannersville on the morning of April 18, it didn’t look 100% familiar to me. Things had changed. I realized it’s because I hadn’t been there since they built a new gigantic Aquatopia hotel and indoor waterpark. This threw off my base area orientation.

That was actually fine, because as it turned out, I didn’t want to be at the base area. I could see where the skiing was happening just behind the hotel. The strip of snow amongst the green trees was pretty obvious so I parked nearby, booted up and walked back to the lift. I dropped my skis on a rack by the lift and went exploring.

After stomping around the hotel lobby in my ski boots, feeling very out of place, I found where they were selling tickets. I had seen on social media that people with season passes at other hills could ski for $25 so I made sure I had my Plattekill pass in my pocket. I got my lift ticket squared away, went down a back staircase and out the back door, finding my way back to the lift.

Camelback spring operations reminded me of what Killington does on Superstar on a smaller scale. They had one expert trail Cliffhanger — serviced by a detachable quad. From the lift, I could see that they had piled up an impressive base.

This season, hills across the northeast took advantage of the persistent cold in January and February by cutting back on snowmaking. Everybody has to watch the bottom line and saving a little bit of money on operations is not a sin, but Camelback went the other way. Cliffhanger was deep and thick. From the top, it appeared that they had groomed skiers’ left and allowed the previous day’s bumps to remain on the right.

Unsurprisingly, skiing was fun. I enjoyed hitting the bumps on the head wall of Cliffhanger. There were some flatter, less bumped up sections below the head wall. People were zooming the middle section with more moguls further down. I’m not sure what else to say. If you know the joy of corn snow and soft bumps that you know what I’m talking about.

The hill impressed me, and I came back in May to likely close out my season.

Chapeau Camelback!