jamesdeluxe
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jul 17, 2020
Tough to do an encore after skiing the Catskills during the “Storm Of The Century,” but I felt like making some twilight turns and headed toward the Delaware Water Gap late this afternoon for my annual visit to a Keystone State hill:
Camelback only picked up 18 inches from the storm, but it was enough to open up the woods, which is a rare occurrence in the Poconos… so I did something slightly original: rhododendron glade skiing. Hey, you have to make your own fun around here.Conditions were good — lots of loose sugar for high-speed turns and a few trails with really soft baby moguls. It’s a short vert, only 850 feet, but with the two HSQs, I racked up lots of laps in three hours.
Here’s the one double-black trail: Cliffhanger. About as steep as Snowbird’s Big Emma:
For those who don’t know Snowbird’s Big Emma, it’s a green trail, but let’s be honest; between the pitch (definitely not green, east or west) and more importantly the funnel effect (tons of skiers of all levels converging at the bottom of the mountain), giving it a beginner’s rating is macho grandstanding. Snowbird has legitimate (and comparatively deserted) green trails off the Baby Thunder lift. IMHO, Big Emma’s trail rating should take into account the killing-field aspect, especially on high-traffic days.
Camelback only picked up 18 inches from the storm, but it was enough to open up the woods, which is a rare occurrence in the Poconos… so I did something slightly original: rhododendron glade skiing. Hey, you have to make your own fun around here.Conditions were good — lots of loose sugar for high-speed turns and a few trails with really soft baby moguls. It’s a short vert, only 850 feet, but with the two HSQs, I racked up lots of laps in three hours.
Here’s the one double-black trail: Cliffhanger. About as steep as Snowbird’s Big Emma:
For those who don’t know Snowbird’s Big Emma, it’s a green trail, but let’s be honest; between the pitch (definitely not green, east or west) and more importantly the funnel effect (tons of skiers of all levels converging at the bottom of the mountain), giving it a beginner’s rating is macho grandstanding. Snowbird has legitimate (and comparatively deserted) green trails off the Baby Thunder lift. IMHO, Big Emma’s trail rating should take into account the killing-field aspect, especially on high-traffic days.
