{"id":31764,"date":"2025-02-10T19:03:42","date_gmt":"2025-02-11T00:03:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.yurasko.net\/wfy\/?p=31764"},"modified":"2025-02-10T19:03:42","modified_gmt":"2025-02-11T00:03:42","slug":"skiing-february-9-2025-elk-mountain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/yurasko.net\/wfy\/2025\/02\/skiing-february-9-2025-elk-mountain\/","title":{"rendered":"Skiing: February 9, 2025 Elk Mountain"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

UNION DALE, Pa. \u2014<\/strong> Most winters, a friend of mine and fellow Penn Stater, “The Videographer” and I take a snow day. Since 2020, we’ve been skiing at Elk Mountain<\/strong> (official site<\/strong><\/a>). Our 2025 trip was February 9. It was my second day on skis this year and his first. I typically only get out 1 to 3 times a season, while he only gets a day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Driving up and lift tickets<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

We left from the Videographer’s home near outside of Harrisburg at about 6:30 a.m. We arrived at Elk about 9:30 a.m. We’ve been there earlier before, but decided we didn’t need<\/em> to get there for the early hardpack. Included in our travels was a stop at a Sheetz in Clarks Summit for breakfast and our brown bag lunch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was able to buy my lift ticket ($102 – up $30 from 2020<\/em>) on my phone heading in. My friend wasn’t able to complete the transaction on his phone and headed to the lodge.1<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Morning Skiing<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"View
Nothing feels quite like the top of the hill<\/em>! Don’t you try to catch me, you never will!2<\/a><\/sup><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I started off going up the North Chair quad lift<\/strong> while my friend sorted out his lift ticket. I opened up with \u25cf<\/mark><\/strong>Tioga<\/strong>, a curvy cruiser the was a bit icy. Not hardpack, but kind of skied-off already. I branched off to \u25a0<\/mark><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong>Lower Tunkhannock<\/strong> back to the North Chair quad. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the way, the Videographer called me to say that he was at the top and we met up.3<\/a><\/sup> From there, it was onto the blues with thinking the snow would be in better shape. For the most part, it was – \u25a0<\/mark><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong>Mahican<\/strong> to \u25a0<\/mark><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong>Lenape<\/strong>. That’s probably the longest ride on the mountain. A fun thing about Mahican is that while’s a blue, there are a couple ridges on that side that have about 9 foot drops onto the main trail.4<\/a><\/sup> You could really injure yourself<\/em> taking that sidequests. We declined and stuck the occasionally crowded main trail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In no particular order, we moved on the trails off of \u25a0<\/mark><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong>Schuykill<\/strong> like \u25a0<\/mark><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong>Wissahickon<\/strong>, \u2666Tecumseh<\/strong>, \u2666Chippewa<\/strong> and \u25a0<\/mark><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong>Kickapoo<\/strong>. The latter, which wasn’t open during our 2023 visit, was probably our favorite. It has several hair pin turns, fewer skiers and good snow. I think the Schuykill-Kickapoo combination was our most skied on overall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We also took a few runs down ungroomed \u2666Wyalusing<\/strong> . That was a good challenge for us, lots of fun and generally not-congested.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We pondered skiing \u2666Tunkhannock<\/strong>, which is the bump run at Elk. It didn’t look too bad from the lift – the moguls were as big as previous years and skier right wasn’t really bumpy at all. Ultimately, we skipped it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Afternoon Skiing<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Lackawanna
Sorry, no pithy remarks for a trail sign<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Under partly sunny skies, we started moving over to the other side of the mountain. We selected \u2666Lackawanna<\/strong> a period of deliberation<\/em>. We were pleasantly surprised by the snow quality. It was ungroomed and probably the steepest of the day. We met the challenge ably. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Two
Finally a photo that actually shows the steepness pretty well<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Two parallel 2-seater lifts head to the top of the mountain from there, West<\/strong> and East<\/strong>. We found that West had a shorter line and seemed to have fewer interruptions. East, on the other hand, has foot rests. Both jolt you pretty hard to get on though and West has minimal cushion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Giving our legs a break, move over to the only blue of the side and to paraphrase Wayne Campbell “hi, we’re on \u25a0<\/mark><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong>Delaware<\/strong>.”5<\/a><\/sup> Following an enjoyable cruise, we skied \u2666Tuscarora<\/strong> and either \u2666Mohawk<\/strong> or \u2666Iroquois<\/strong>. It was probably the latter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By then, we were getting hungry, so it was time find our way back to other side and the car with sandwiches waiting. It was up the West chair and down Lackawanna again, cutting over the \u25a0<\/mark><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong>Lackawanna Spur<\/strong> back to Lower Tunkhanock. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lunch<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

One of the things that keeps us coming back to Elk is being able to park near the quad lift and get our brown bag lunch. We hoofed up to the car, grabbed our lunch6<\/a><\/sup> and sat at picnic table. This is a quick and cheaper way to have lunch. There are also portapotties, so getting by without the crowded lodge works out really well.7<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Late afternoon<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The rest of the afternoon was primarily spent on the trails off of the North Quad. We made one other excursion to Lackawanna, but with the sun getting real low and the clouds rolling in, it was getting crunchy, so once was enough for the rest of the day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Back off the North Quad runs, we kept our eye on the clock and alternated between the blacks and blues. A few more runs down Kickapoo were highlights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Skiers
We got to go around this one, further down the hill, we needed to duck under the rope.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

We knew we were running out of daylight figuratively and literally. The North Quad lift closes at 4:30 and we managed to get on with a few minutes to spare. Once at the top, we saw ski patrol rope off Mahican. Thankfully, they let us through there and on Lenape. The alternative is Tioga all the way to the middle of the mountain, far from the car.8<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rentals and incidentals<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

We rented skis (and boots for the Videographer – I have my own Nordica pair) from Idlewild Ski Shop<\/strong><\/a>. It’s the first of two ski shops on the way in, near a t-intersection where PA 374 turns. We’ve been happy with the service there since we started going to Elk. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I had a pair of Fischer 170s (I don’t remember the specific model) and my friend has some Atomic 155s which had 2.2 in their name.9<\/a><\/sup> They were cromulent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For outerwear10<\/a><\/sup>, I had my black Columbia parka and blue Columbia snow pants. Apparently, I reversed the “ski dad uniform<\/strong><\/a>.” The t-shirt, thermal shirt, long-sleeve t-shirt, sweatshirt and hockey jersey underneath kept me warm for the most part. Some Hot Hands in the gloves and boots would have been a good idea after lunch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Along with some Giro googles, I had on my custom Penn State ski helmet. Speaking of…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\n

A deep dive on custom Penn State ski and broomball helmets<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Do you want to read 1,200 words about putting blue tape on white helmets?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
Obviously! Who wouldn’t?<\/strong><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
\"Two<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

There were a lot people wearing Philadelphia Eagles jerseys as outer wear.11<\/a><\/sup>12<\/a><\/sup> As an aside, I lobbied to go Sunday, after several inches of forecasted freshies, but my friend said something about “I need a day to recover and I want to watch the Super Bowl…13<\/a><\/sup>“<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Elk, as been noted every time, is a skiers mountain. If you were hoping to see people “shot with the physics gun”14<\/a><\/sup> turning into “yard sales” this isn’t your mountain. It’s Jerry free…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Getting there<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

As mentioned previously, at 257 miles from the Capital Beltway, Elk Mountain is probably too far away for a daytrip for most Washingtonians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n