Blue Mountain Ski Area in Palmerton planned Thursday to power up its snow guns sometime after sunset to be ready for a Dec. 16 opening.
Although Bear Creek Mountain Resort and Conference Center in Alburtis has yet to decide on an opening date, it expects to start making snow in the next few days , spokesman Ryan Werst said.
"We're set for the season," he said. "We're ready to begin."
And that translates to jobs for a lot of Lehigh Valley residents. Bear Creek will have 1,400 employees on its payroll at the peak of the season. Blue Mountain, which is a much bigger ski area than Bear Creek but does not have a hotel, has between 900 and 1,000 employees.
The two resorts will serve roughly a half-million visitors under normal winter weather conditions.
That's a good deal of economic activity, and it hinges on one thing: the temperature. The mercury has to dip below the freezing point at night — something that's in the forecast — for artificial snow-making.
Real snow isn't even necessary any more. A snowstorm only makes it more difficult for customers to reach the mountain, although it does have the benefit of whetting the appetite of skiers and snowboarders.
Blue Mountain, for instance, has 1,000 snow guns capable of laying a two-foot base over 164 skiable acres in a matter of days. (All told, Blue Mountain, with Pennsylvania's highest vertical drop of 1,082 feet, has 39 trails, including two news ones.)
Indeed, advancements in snow-making technology have transformed Pennsylvania skiing in recent decades. Snow guns run on pressurized air, which is made by electric-powered compressors. The newest snow guns at Blue Mountain are 10 times more energy efficient than some of the older models.
Bear Creek, too, has upgraded its equipment this year. It spent $360,000 on a new trail grooming machine for better maintenance of its steepest slopes.
Visitors will also notice new amenities at both of the Lehigh Valley's ski resorts. Blue Mountain renovated its ballroom and added an outdoor pub. Bear Creek built a new patio.
If Blue Mountain and Bear Creek open next week, that will be about a week or so later than normal. Though in past years, the resorts have opened as early as Thanksgiving weekend and as late as January.
At Blue Mountain on Thursday, the slopes were green, except where tire tracks had turned up brown mud in the grass. Yet, in the shadows of adjacent bushes and trees, a dusting of white was the telltale sign of recent snow gun test runs.
"We're ready as soon as Mother Nature complies," said Blue Mountain marketing manager Heidi Lutz.
source: www.mcall.com
