If it’s soft, it skis! Photo: Camelback Resort//Instagram
There was a lot of “this was the worst winter ever” chatter the past few months throughout a handful of states. That wasn’t the case on the East Coast though, where resorts were pounded with storms early and often. Vermont’s Jay Peak, for example, had more than 150 inches of snow by Christmas, setting up a historic season. Meanwhile, a few hundred miles southwest, Pennsylvania’s Camelback is about to celebrate a historic mark itself as we move deep into spring.
When May 1 rolls around in just a few days, the small resort (sometimes better known for having the nation’s largest snow tubing park) will have guests skiing and riding in May for the first time ever.
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Camelback has been in new territory for almost three weeks already. April 9 was previously the latest the 166-acre resort had stayed open since it started operations in 1963. On April 20, when they were approaching two weeks past their previous record, the resort’s general manager announced the hill would be firing up the snowmaking machines in part to extend the season even further, but also to manage overfilled snowmaking ponds. The abundance of snow and water had actually created a need to draw down those resources.
“You won’t find us posting about flowers blooming and the last snowflakes melting out on the mountain,” he wrote. “Yes, it might sound a little crazy. And yes…we probably are,” he added, referring to turning snow guns back on so late in the season.
It feels like a big, fun win for one of America’s smaller ski areas – in a part of the nation that doesn’t get opportunities to celebrate long seasons or even good conditions very often. Camelback has just 39 trails and less than 1,000 feet of vert, but you’d be hard-pressed to find anybody who would complain about hot laps with friends and a place to make turns of any kind right now.
