I ignored my main rule of going to Blue Knob (wait for a certain indicator trail to be open) and went just to ski something other than the soft browning mush that my local duo would serve this afternoon. I knew north-facing BK would be colder, and it stayed cold all day even with the sun. After the week's storm, they opened up most of the good stuff (other than Extrovert). But they lost a few of those runs every day since Friday. A few of those actually re-opened today, though i'm not sure why. Big brown noisy spots had to be run right through on all the lower steeps.

Found plenty of new love for the other higher trails. And the carveability of the snow was off the hook for Blue Knob.

Can someone explain why they struggle to open extrovert? I've never been to BK and would love to give it a try, but the lack of open trails always push me away. The steeps really intreague me. If Laurel can open Wildcat, what keeps BK from opening Extrovert.

msprings wrote:

Can someone explain why they struggle to open extrovert? I've never been to BK and would love to give it a try, but the lack of open trails always push me away. The steeps really intreague me. If Laurel can open Wildcat, what keeps BK from opening Extrovert.

Extrovert is north facing and is always the last thing to open on warm spring days.  I’ve found boilerplate there when the rest of the mountain was mush.  

(More from my 40 year old self below.)

if you think it’s ready by say 2 PM, duck the rope and do it.  If patrol knows you well, as they did me then, one of them will show up shortly and drop the rope.  (This message will self destruct in 60 seconds.)

Denis wrote:

msprings wrote:

Can someone explain why they struggle to open extrovert? I've never been to BK and would love to give it a try, but the lack of open trails always push me away. The steeps really intreague me. If Laurel can open Wildcat, what keeps BK from opening Extrovert.

Extrovert is north facing and is always the last thing to open on warm spring days.  I’ve found boilerplate there when the rest of the mountain was mush.  

(More from my 40 year old self below.)

if you think it’s ready by say 2 PM, duck the rope and do it.  If patrol knows you well, as they did me then, one of them will show up shortly and drop the rope.  (This message will self destruct in 60 seconds.)

As far as I know, they never made snow on Extrovert the last 2 years so it wasn't closed due to boilerplate but lack of base to even freeze. My guess is that the repeated freeze/thaw and limited air and water pumping capacity kept them hustling to keep the rest of the trails open. Let's face it, Ex needs lots of snow and cannot be groomed therefore a limited number of people actually ski it though many try. When faced with limited snow making opportunities Ex doesn't get snowmaking.

This is a great mini-trip report.  In order to get a good day in at Blue Knob you have to thread the needle, and you did, nice!  As to the how and why Blue Knob struggles with coverage and operations: we are all just guessing.  Would be fascinating to hear from the new owners.  My guess is that after 34 years of of family ownership the new owners inherited a fairly extensive list of deferred maintenance items.  I am really rooting for them.  I think it sets up as the best skiing in the mid-atlantic.

http://www.dcski.com/forum/90562

RodneyBD wrote:

This is a great mini-trip report.  In order you get a good day in at Blue Knob you have to thread the needle and you did, nice!  As to the how and why Blue Knob strugglese with coverage and operations: we are all just guessing.  Would be fascinating to hear from the new owners.  My guess is that after 34 years of of family ownership the new owners inherited a fairly extensive list of deferred maintenance items.  I am really rooting for them.  I think it sets up as the best skiing in the mid-atlantic.

http://www.dcski.com/forum/90562

Yes thanks Camp for sharing, especially the pictures.

I am confused though because i thought people quit skiing in March. This is just so confusing to me that there seems to be skiing in PA in March.  I wish the new owners well, as well. This place has so musch potential.

msprings wrote:

Can someone explain why they struggle to open extrovert? I've never been to BK and would love to give it a try, but the lack of open trails always push me away. The steeps really intreague me. If Laurel can open Wildcat, what keeps BK from opening Extrovert.

Laurel Mountain is owned by Seven Springs, which is one of the kings of snowmaking.  They have the tech, know-how, and most importantly, the money to do it right.

BK has had a lot of neglect and didn't have the snowmaking capacity to keep up and get things really good and covered.  So in most years, their base has been a lot lower than Seven Springs despite having similar altitude and orientation.  I know their snowmaking system was in bad shape as they commented on their FB page that some air and water lines broke on Expressway this year (usually one of the first to open), so it opened much later this year.  Their snowmaking needs a serious upgrade.

Having grown up in the area, BK was one of my favorites when it had a good snow year as they had terrain that no one else in the area could compete with.  Plus, I like the "off the beaten path" feel it has.  I really hope the new owners put the money into it that it needs to transform the place as it has so much potential.