Ski Blue Mountain, Pennsylvania

Blue Mountain, the one in Pennsylvania not Canada, is about an hour north of Philadelphia, and boasts the highest vertical drop in Pennsylvania. The ski area has a vertical drop of 1,082 feet, with 34 runs serviced by nine lifts (one of which is the region's ONLY high-speed detachable 6-passenger lift), five terrain parks, and some tubing runs.

This ski area sits on the fringes of the Pocono Mountains on a ridge line just north of Allentown. It's an excellent "regional" destination for day and night skiing, drawing ski, snowboard, and tubing enthusiasts from the surrounding metropolitan cities of Philadelphia, Baltimore, Wilmington, and New York City to name a few.

Since I live just outside of Philadelphia, I frequent Blue Mountain often in the winter. There are some really nice runs here, but if your skiing on a weekend, my advice is to get here right when they open, as it gets very very busy on weekends. During the first few hours, you'll have the place to yourself and find groomed runs in excellent condition. After that, the runs degrade rapidly and it becomes more of an exercise in dodging other skiers and snowboarders. To the credit of the operators of this ski area, they have invested significant capital into lift capacity, which limits your wait times to just a few minutes, even on the busiest of days!

The inside tip here is to ski the morning ticket and on the runs around the Comet Quad and Challenge Express lifts first thing, then hang out around the Main Street Chair in the late morning. That's because the crowds gravitate to the Comet Quad and Challenge Express high speed chairs, leaving the area around the Main Street chair much less crowded.

Razor's Edge, Challenge, Main Street, and Switchback are my personal favorites. A new addition is Dream Weaver. It's a nice winding intermediate trail, with enough drops and turns to keep you on your edges! If you're into aerials, head over to the tubing area and train on the "BigAirBag". It is a variation on the fall cushions used by professional stunt men, has huge air-filled pad cushions, and designed as a training tool for skiers and riders practicing aerial maneuvers. Blue Mountain's five terrain parks are packed to the hilt with jibs and jumps.

Accommodations can be found in Allentown, about 15 minutes from Blue Mountain.

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