Adam Jewell - Search & Affiliate Marketing

A couple years ago was the first time skiing at Jack Frost ski resort in the Poconos in Pennsylvania. The tickets were free thanks to the awesome folks at the Subaru who tend to give out a few such tokens of appreciation each year. That first time as Jack Frost was with an intermediate skier who could adequately handle the terrain available at the resort. It was spring, the snow surface was relatively soft and they had the “experts only” section of the mountain.

This was the perfect way to go ski Jack Frost in the Poconos! Be or ski with a beginner to intermediate skier, get free or discounted lift tickets and make sue the “experts only” section of the mountain is open.

On 12/13/08 I went back to ski Jack Frost for the first time in about 2 years. Lift tickets were full price @ $48.00 for a full day (You can ski Jack Frost in the moring and afternoon and then go ski Big Boulder in the evenig on the same ticket) and the “experts only” section of the mountain was not open.

Jack Frost had done a decent job of snomaking and the surface was better than it was at Blue Mountain Ski Resort when I skied there the weekend of 12/7/09. Thee may have been 10-15 slopes and trails open, none of which provided any challenge or varied terrain. There really just isn’t anything there for an advanced intermediate to expert skier to get excited about.

If you want a nice easy mountain to learn to ski or board in the Poconos then definitely pay a visit to Jack Frost. If you want any challenge at all in the terrain then head over to Blue Mountain, Elk Mountain, Seven Springs Mountain Resort or head out of the state and go west or North. Utah has the best powder and some of the best skiing in the world with Snowbird, Utah heing one of if not the best in the US!

Aside from the skiing, Jack Frost has a complimentary ski check, a cafeteria full of the usual over-priced resort food you will find at most places, a rental and ski shop and a good snowmaking system. For a beginner resort in PA, it is a 4 star place. If you want to ski challenging terrain, it’s a 2 star place at best.

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Blue Mountain Ski Resort in Palmerton, Pennsylvania is open for the ski season with a few slopes and trails and 1/2 price lift tickets. There isn’t much of the mountian open but it’s nice cheap early season skiing! Just might have to head up there on Sunday 12/7/08. Check out the Blue Mountain Ski Resort Website now for more information! Enjoy of the the largest vertical drops in PA at right around 1,000 feet at Blue Mountain.

It’s coming up on 8 years in Philadelphia (the suburb of Conshohocken actually) and some local ski resorts including Blue Mountain and Jack Frost have been explored and skied. 7 Springs Mountain Resort in Champion, PA was where I great up skiing and teaching skiing and snowboarding. This year wil be a new experience up at Elk Mountain ski resort in Union Dale, Pennsylvania.

Elk Mountain is supposed to be one of the best ski resorts in Pennsylvania. It’s been around since 1959 and has around 30 slopes and trails that I’ve never skied before. For quite a while I’ve wanted to find a place to crash up in the Poconos to avoid having to drive home every day after skiing. While Elk is a bit farther than the Poconos, it is where the house was that had an opening so I decided it was time to go for it. To go in on the house for the season was equivalent to one months rent which is a bargain to have a 5br place to go to with a bunch of other people.

Along with the place, I decided to get a season pass at Elk Mountain. Compared to the early bird pricing for season ski passes at 7 Springs (typically under $400), Elk was a bit steep at $690 but that is all the more motivation to jump in and go skiing just about every single weekend.

Elk Mountain is more of a skiers mountain or so I would expect since there doesn’t seem to be much there aside from the ski slopes. The closest hotels are several miles away and there are no onsite condos. Bed and Breakfast places are scattered around but there doens’t seem to be anything right at Elk Mountain.

Since there are no accomodations, the place probably isn’t very crowded. They would make a lot more money and probably lower the season pass prices if they built tons of condos up there but it will be nice to ski at a place that isn’t over crowded where people are there mostly just to ski and not “vacation”. The lifts are old and slow from what I can tell but if there are no lift lines, it should all balance out.

Either the weekend of December 14th or December 21st, 2008 should be the innagural weekend up at Elk. Can’t wait to go pick up my season pass, not hav to drive home and spend the night out in the middle of nowhere at what looks to be a nice 5br place with a great bunch of people.

It’s time to start thinking snow! The dates for the 2009 PSIA National Academy in Snowbird Utah will be April 18 - 24, 2009. The event is limited to 200 people level 1-3 PSIA certification. The cost for Full Academy Registration is $1,095 and includes six nights lodging at the Cliff Lodge (double occupancy), all ski clinics lift tickets and educational seminars, opening and closing receptions, five breakfasts (great buffet breakfasts!), five lunches (it didn’t include lunches last year!), and two buffet dinners and lots of FUN!

The resident academy registration fee is $645.00 and includes all the above except for the lodging. The registration deadline is March 10, 2009 but if people cancel, sometimes you’ll be able to go from the waitlist to actual participation in the event after March 10th.

For the 2008 PSIA National Academy in Snowbird (which was my first), I was waitlisted at first and then made it out there. The plan is to go every year from now till I can no longer ski. It is really a great event.

Since the Academy ends on the Thursday morning, it makes sense to extend your stay for three nights till the Sunday after the Academy is over. You’ll get a good deal on a room at the Cliff lodge and the slopes will be fairly empty, though many of them will be closed. Last year there ws no fresh snow during the Academy but the skies let loose the Thursday the event was over and everyone ws driving back down the mountain.

If you plan to register, the 2009 PSIA National Academy Registration form is now available. It is a .PDF file so you can print it out and fax it back to PSIA. If you are going, I’ll see you there!