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.

Ever thought of taking a trip to Snowbird Utah to take advantage of the best powder skiing in the world? One option for lodging on your trip to Snowbird is the Cliff lodge at Snowbird. They claim renovations in the millions recently. How does it stack up? Keep reading to see some of my thoughts on the Cliff Lodge at Snowrbird Ski Resort in Utah.

I had the opportunity to stay at the Cliff lodge at Snowbird ski resort for the PSIA National Academy. I’ve skied all over the west coast and usually stayed in condos with a bunch of people packed in them. We often stay off the mountain and drive to a bunch of different resorts so this was a nice opportunity to stay on mountain, experience what was essentially ski in – ski out convenience and have a blast for a whole week at Snowbird!

Check in at the Cliff lodge was a breeze. They had my reservation, I picked up a couple keys and went up to a nice clean room. They don’t permit skis up in the room so I just left those at the bellstand and went to the room with all my other gear and feel asleep.

The bed was one of the most comfortable of any hotel bed I’ve ever experienced. It wasn’t quite like home with a pillow top mattress with a fether bed on top, 1200tc sheets and a body pillow but it was very nice!

As I guess is standard now, there was a nice flat screen TV in the room with cable. As with most TVs they make them kinda broken. You can’t often pug in a DVD player or video game console so that maybe you’ll get the pay per view or play per view in the case of games that the cable system offers. I think that is bullshit but it is a small gripe and not unusual. On the other handthey did offer FREE wireless Internet access that was really easy to get configured and working. Lots of places have it but many times it is a pain to get it to work and once you finally do get it to work they stick you for $10 – $15 a day. At the Cliff Lodge it was free and it worked!

In the room there were two beds, 2 desks, a couch, a mini fridge, a coffee maker, an iron and ironing board and the usual assortment of soap and shampoo. It would have been nice to have a microwave but that would have been an extra.

The bathroom was clean and had plenty of room. There was a big window into the shower from the sleeping area which seems more like something for a honeymoon sweet but I guess if you want to be able to watch your partner or roomate shower you have the option without having to get all steamed up (or if you do get steamed up it won’t be from the hot water in the shower).

The location of the Cliff lodge is excellent! When you check in you have a locker downstairs for your ski stuff. You keep your skis down there, set the combo to your locker and then pick up and leave your skis in the locker nd the begining and end of each day. It’s handy, it’s convenient and included with your room rate!

There are a number of restaurants in the Cliff. The Aerie at Snowbird is probably the best and most well known. They’ve got breakfast, lunch and dinner. The breakfat buffet is awesome and the sushi is some of the best I’ve ever had. There is a Mexican restaurant, El Chanate Cantina with happy hour taco specials and a nice selction of tequila for those who might want to forget a bad skiing day. There is also the Steak Pit down in the Tram building which is not that good and overpriced. The Wildflower in the Iron Blosam lodge which has great happy hours wing sometimes, a nice selction of drinks and some pool tables and live music. There are numerous other food and beverage establishments scattered around the various lodges to choose from as well.

After a long day on the slopes, a massage can be a great thing. If that sounds good, then head up the the Cliff Spa at Snowbird for a variety of spa and massage services. You can also get a spa membership for a day or longer. The multi-day passes are a pretty good deal. If you don’t opt for the spa, you can still enjoy outdoor hot tubs and a heated pool.

There are shops in the Cliff lodge and the Tram building. You’ll find a pharmacy, a grocery store, some souvenier shops, ski shops and a demo shop. Lift tickets can be purchased down by the locker room in the Cliff lodge or at the Tram building. Prices aren’t cheap but they are reasonable for a resort like Snowbird.

If you’re anticipating a long stay or are looking to kep the weight down for the airlines so you don’t get killed on bag/weight charges there are laundry facilities in the Cliff. There is a free washer and dryer on each floor; you just have to spend a buck or two on the detergent. If you go during peak season or the lodge is full, one washer/dryer would never be enough to have any hope of actually getting to use one so you could do some laundry in the sink in your room or pay the outrageous fees to have someone at Snowbird do some laundry for you.

The housekeeping service was friendly, efficient and didn’t come pounding on the door in the wee hours of the morning. They provided great service and never disturbed us during ther entire stay.

Overall if you are looking for a great place to stay at Snowbird, definitely check out the Cliff lodge. 4 out of 5 stars.