Elk Mountain Ski Resort, Pennsylvania Resort Reviews - Local Reviews and Travel Information


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Elk Mountain Ski Resort

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cheery - 12/18/2007, 05:56 AM

I went to Elk Mountain towards the beginning of the ski season this year with a big group and spent my day with a friend who has gone quite a bit this year. I am a more advanced skier and found Elk to satisfy my needs for some challenging terrain (unlike Camelback). Luckally, since I went with my friend he took me on some areas that lead off of the trail which really added to the enjoyment. Elk is open from 8:30AM to 10:00PM with a night pass of course and it has 27 trails. Only 6 of which are green. So this may make Elk a place for more intermediate to advanced skiers, but the beginner area looked nice (I didn't actually ski it though). Only 7 of the 27 trails are lighted, so night skiing may not be a great idea as I think it would be a waste of money. They have 6 lifts, all of which except for one are doubles, the other one being a quad. A lot of time is spent going up the mountain because they are all slower lifts. The skiing at Elk was very good. The terrain was wonderful, and the snow was nicely groomed. It was not real fresh snow like out West and at Killington but it was much better than other places locally. The only downfall about Elk Mountain is that it was almost a 3 hour bus ride from where I am in Jersey to get there, although I slept most of the way. (We made it a day trip). The total cost for me which included the bus trip and the lift ticket was $50. I saw one flaw with their parking which was that it was located a good distance from the mountain. They do offer a shuttle service that will bring you from the mountain to the parking lot and vice-versa. As far as rentals go, I have no clue as to the quality or the cost of them. I always use my own equipment. I doubt that the quality of the skis would be bad though because Elk seems like a place that would live up to quality. The food at Elk Mountain is good, and is not expensive at all compared to other places in this area. I would recommend getting a hamburger there. They have both a cafeteria area and a restaurant if you go and just want to sit. From both those areas in the lodge you can see out onto the mountain and watch the people come down. It was extremely cold the day I went up, so I spent about 1/4 of the day in the lodge. I found it to be very clean, but also very crowded in there.

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manuka - 03/19/2007, 06:58 AM

I travel frequently and have always visited the Poconos. One day I drove another hour north to Elk and found it to be surprisingly fun. Although if your coming from the South I would stick with Blue because it's 2hrs closer and comparable to Elk. Elk has some good vertical trails combined with trails that offered embankments and inclines for some classic snowboard turns. Boarders can let loose here with some fun lines and longer than average Pa runs. On the other hand the lifts are brutal, just as slow and old as their Pocono counterparts, making for longer lines than need be. Will PA please step into the next century with some high speed lifts! The bar area seems like a nice place to grab the afternoon Guinness. It's Sunny, faces the slopes and has lots of nice round tables to sit at. But don't try to take a hamburger in there for god sakes! Food is completely off limits in the bar area. They would rather you stand in their long lines to be seated in their restaurant (adjacent to the bar) or eat in the small lodge area. This is why the service gets a big fat numero uno, because I want to eat my Burger with my Beer in the bloody bar area like you can at any other ski resort on the eastern seaboard. Of course I am the poor overlooked minority.

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cranky - 02/06/2007, 05:53 AM

I live in the most southeastern corner of PA but I definately believe Elk is worth the drive. The crowds aren't too bad, and on some slopes there's nobody at all. There are a lot of black diamonds (much better than the so called double black diamonds of blue mountain) but still plenty of easy slopes for beginners. It's by far the best skiing in PA that i've seen so far.