Podcasts about Blue Mountain

WhoRon Schmalzle, President, Co-Owner, and General Manager of Ski Big Bear operator Recreation Management Corp; and Lori Phillips, General Manager of Ski Big Bear at Masthope Mountain, PennsylvaniaRecorded onApril 22, 2025About Ski Big BearClick here for a mountain stats overviewOwned by: Property owners of Masthope Mountain Community; operated by Recreation Management CorporationLocated in: Lackawaxen, PennsylvaniaYear founded: 1976 as “Masthope Mountain”; changed name to “Ski Big Bear” in 1993Pass affiliations:* Indy Pass – 2 days, select blackouts* Indy+ Pass – 2 days, no blackoutsClosest neighboring ski areas: Villa Roma (:44), Holiday Mountain (:52), Shawnee Mountain (1:04)Base elevation: 550 feetSummit elevation: 1,200 feetVertical drop: 650 feetSkiable acres: 26Average annual snowfall: 50 inchesTrail count: 18 (1 expert, 5 advanced, 6 intermediate, 6 beginner)Lift count: 7 (4 doubles, 3 carpets – view Lift Blog's inventory of Ski Big Bear's lift fleet)Why I interviewed themThis isn't really why I interviewed them, but have you ever noticed how the internet ruined everything? Sure, it made our lives easier, but it made our world worse. Yes I can now pay my credit card bill four seconds before it's due and reconnect with my best friend Bill who moved away after fourth grade. But it also turns out that Bill believes seahorses are a hoax and that Jesus spoke English because the internet socializes bad ideas in a way that the 45 people who Bill knew in 1986 would have shut down by saying “Bill you're an idiot.”Bill, fortunately, is not real. Nor, as far as I'm aware, is a seahorse hoax narrative (though I'd like to start one). But here's something that is real: When Schmalzle renamed Masthope Mountain to “Ski Big Bear” in 1993, in honor of the region's endemic black bears, he had little reason to believe anyone, anywhere, would ever confuse his 550-vertical-foot Pennsylvania ski area with Big Bear Mountain, California, a 39-hour, 2,697-mile drive west.Well, no one used the internet in 1993 except weird proto-gamers and genius movie programmers like the fat evil dude in Jurassic Park. Honestly I didn't even think the “Information Superhighway” was real until I figured email out sometime in 1996. Like time travel or a human changing into a cat, I thought the internet was some Hollywood gimmick, imagined because wouldn't it be cool if we could?Well, we can. The internet is real, and it follows us around like oxygen, the invisible scaffolding of existence. And it tricks us into being dumb by making us feel smart. So much information, so immediately and insistently, that we lack a motive to fact check. Thus, a skier in Lackawaxen, Pennsylvania (let's call him “Bill 2”), can Google “Big Bear season pass” and end up with an Ikon Pass, believing this is his season pass not just to the bump five miles up the road, but a mid-winter vacation passport to Sugarbush, Copper Mountain, and Snowbird.Well Bill 2 I'm sorry but you are as dumb as my imaginary friend Bill 1 from elementary school. Because your Ikon Pass will not work at Ski Big Bear, Pennsylvania. And I'm sorry Bill 3 who lives in Riverside, California, but your Ski Big Bear, Pennsylvania season pass will not work at Big Bear Mountain Resort in California.At this point, you're probably wondering if I have nothing better to do but sit around inventing problems to grumble about. But Phillips tells me that product mix-ups with Big Bear, California happen all the time. I had a similar conversation a few months ago with the owners of Magic Mountain, Idaho, who frequently sell tubing tickets to folks headed to Magic Mountain, Vermont, which has no tubing. Upon discovering this, typically at the hour assigned on their vouchers, these would-be customers call Idaho for a refund, which the owners grant. But since Magic Mountain, Idaho can only sell a limited number of tickets for each tubing timeslot, this internet misfire, impossible in 1993, means the mountain may have forfeited revenue from a different customer who understands how ZIP codes work.Sixty-seven years after the Giants baseball franchise moved from Manhattan to San Francisco, NFL commentators still frequently refer to the “New York football Giants,” a semantic relic of what must have been a confusing three-decade cohabitation of two sports teams using the same name in the same city. Because no one could possibly confuse a West Coast baseball team with an East Coast football team, right?But the internet put everything with a similar name right next to each other. I frequently field media requests for a fellow names Stuart Winchester, who, like me, lives in New York City and, unlike me, is some sort of founder tech genius. When I reached out to Mr. Winchester to ask where I could forward such requests, he informed me that he had recently disappointed someone asking for ski recommendations at a party. So the internet made us all dumb? Is that my point? No. Though it's kind of hilarious that advanced technology has enabled new kinds of human error like mixing up ski areas that are thousands of miles apart, this forced contrast of two entities that have nothing in common other than their name and their reason for existence asks us to consider how such timeline cohabitation is possible. Isn't the existence of Alterra-owned, Ikon Pass staple Big Bear, with its hundreds of thousands of annual skier visits and high-speed lifts, at odds with the notion of hokey, low-speed, independent, Boondocks-situated Ski Big Bear simultaneously offering a simpler version of the same thing on the opposite side of the continent? Isn't this like a brontosaurus and a wooly mammoth appearing on the same timeline? Doesn't technology move ever upward, pinching out the obsolete as it goes? Isn't Ski Big Bear the skiing equivalent of a tube TV or a rotary phone or skin-tight hip-high basketball shorts or, hell, beartrap ski bindings? Things no one uses anymore because we invented better versions of them?Well, it's not so simple. Let's jump out of normal podcast-article sequence here and move the “why now” section up, so we can expand upon the “why” of our Ski Big Bear interview.Why now was a good time for this interviewEvery ski region offers some version of Ski Big Bear, of a Little Engine That Keeps Coulding, unapologetically existent even as it's out-gunned, out-lifted, out-marketed, out-mega-passed, and out-locationed: Plattekill in the Catskills, Black Mountain in New Hampshire's White Mountains, Middlebury Snowbowl in Vermont's Greens, Ski Cooper in Colorado's I-70 paper shredder, Nordic Valley in the Wasatch, Tahoe Donner on the North Shore, Grand Geneva in Milwaukee's skiing asteroid belt.When interviewing small ski area operators who thrive in the midst of such conditions, I'll often ask some version of this question: why, and how, do you still exist? Because frankly, from the point of view of evolutionary biologist studying your ecosystem, you should have been eaten by a tiger sometime around 1985.And that is almost what happened to Ski Big Bear AKA Masthope Mountain, and what happened to most of the dozens of ski areas that once dotted northeast Pennsylvania. You can spend days doomsday touring lost ski area shipwrecks across the Poconos and adjacent ranges. A very partial list: Alpine Mountain, Split Rock, Tanglwood, Kahkout, Mount Tone, Mount Airy, Fernwood - all time-capsuled in various states of decay. Alpine, slopes mowed, side-by-side quad chairs climbing 550 vertical feet, base lodge sealed, shrink-wrapped like a winter-stowed boat, looks like a buy-and-revive would-be ski area savior's dream (the entrance off PA 147 is fence-sealed, but you can enter through the housing development at the summit). Kahkout's paint-flecked double chair, dormant since 2008, still rollercoasters through forest and field on a surprisingly long line. Nothing remains at Tanglwood but concrete tower pads.Why did they all die? Why didn't Ski Big Bear? Seven other public, chairlift-served ski areas survive in the region: Big Boulder, Blue Mountain, Camelback, Elk, Jack Frost, Montage, and Shawnee. Of these eight, Ski Big Bear has the smallest skiable footprint, the lowest-capacity lift fleet, and the third-shortest vertical drop. It is the only northeast Pennsylvania ski area that still relies entirely on double chairs, off kilter in a region spinning six high-speed lifts and 10 fixed quads. Ski Big Bear sits the farthest of these eight from an interstate, lodged at the top of a steep and confusing access road nearly two dozen backwoods miles off I-84. Unlike Jack Frost and Big Boulder, Ski Big Bear has not leaned into terrain parks or been handed an Epic Pass assist to vacuum in the youth and the masses.So that's the somewhat rude premise of this interview: um, why are you still here? Yes, the gigantic attached housing development helps, but Phillips distills Ski Big Bear's resilience into what is probably one of the 10 best operator quotes in the 209 episodes of this podcast. “Treat everyone as if they just paid a million dollars to do what you're going to share with them,” she says.Skiing, like nature, can accommodate considerable complexity. If the tigers kill everything, eventually they'll run out of food and die. Nature also needs large numbers of less interesting and less charismatic animals, lots of buffalo and wapiti and wild boar and porcupines, most of which the tiger will never eat. Vail Mountain and Big Sky also need lots of Ski Big Bears and Mt. Peters and Perfect Norths and Lee Canyons. We all understand this. But saying “we need buffalo so don't die” is harder than being the buffalo that doesn't get eaten. “Just be nice” probably won't work in the jungle, but so far, it seems to be working on the eastern edge of PA.What we talked aboutUtah!; creating a West-ready skier assembly line in northeast PA; how – and why – Ski Big Bear has added “two or three weeks” to its ski season over the decades; missing Christmas; why the snowmaking window is creeping earlier into the calendar; “there has never been a year … where we haven't improved our snowmaking”; why the owners still groom all season long; will the computerized machine era compromise the DIY spirit of independent ski areas buying used equipment; why it's unlikely Ski Big Bear would ever install a high-speed lift; why Ski Big Bear's snowmaking fleet mixes so many makes and models of machines; “treat everyone as if they just paid a million dollars to do what you're going to share with them”; why RFID; why skiers who know and could move to Utah don't; the founding of Ski Big Bear; how the ski area is able to offer free skiing to all homeowners and extended family members; why Ski Big Bear is the only housing development-specific ski area in Pennsylvania that's open to the public; surviving in a tough and crowded ski area neighborhood; the impact of short-term rentals; the future of Ski Big Bear management, what could be changing, and when; changing the name from Masthope Mountain and how the advent of the internet complicated that decision; why Ski Big Bear built maybe the last double-double chairlift in America, rather than a fixed-grip quad; thoughts on the Grizzly and Little Bear lifts; Indy Pass; and an affordable season pass.What I got wrongOn U.S. migration into cities: For decades, America's youth have flowed from rural areas into cities, and I assumed, when I asked Schmalzle why he'd stayed in rural PA, that this was still the case. Turns out that migration has flipped since Covid, with the majority of growth in the 25-to-44 age bracket changing from 90 percent large metros in the 2010s to two-thirds smaller cities and rural areas in this decade, according to a Cooper Center report.Why you should ski Ski Big BearOK, I spent several paragraphs above outlining what Ski Big Bear doesn't have, which makes it sound as though the bump succeeds in spite of itself. But here's what the hill does have: a skis-bigger-than-it-is network of narrow, gentle, wood-canyoned trails; one of the best snowmaking systems anywhere; lots of conveyors right at the top; a cheapo season pass; and an extremely nice and modern lodge (a bit of an accident, after a 2005 fire torched the original).A ski area's FAQ page can tell you a lot about the sort of clientele they're built to attract. The first two questions on Ski Big Bear's are “Do I need to purchase a lift ticket?” and “Do I need rental equipment?” These are not questions you will find on the website for, say, Snowbird.So mostly I'm going to tell you to ski here if you have kids to ski with, or a friend who wants to learn. Ski Big Bear will also be fine if you have an Indy Pass and can ski midweek and don't care about glades or steeps, or you're like me and you just enjoy novelty and exploration. On the weekends, well, this is still PA, and PA skiing is demented. The state is skiing's version of Hanoi, Vietnam, which has declined to add traffic-management devices of any kind even as cheap motorbikes have nearly broken the formerly sleepy pedestrian city's spine:Hanoi, Vietnam, January 2016. Video by Stuart Winchester. There are no stop signs or traffic signals, for vehicles or pedestrians, at this (or most), four-way intersections in old-town Hanoi.Compare that to Camelback:Camelback, Pennsylvania, January 2024. Video by Stuart Winchester.Same thing, right? So it may seem weird for me to say you should consider taking your kids to Ski Big Bear. But just about every ski area within a two-hour drive of New York City resembles some version of this during peak hours. Ski Big Bear, however, is a gentler beast than its competitors. Fewer steeps, fewer weird intersections, fewer places to meet your fellow skiers via high-speed collision. No reason to release the little chipmunks into the Pamplona chutes of Hunter or Blue, steep and peopled and wild. Just take them to this nice little ski area where families can #FamOut. Podcast NotesOn smaller Utah ski areasStep off the Utah mainline, and you'll find most of the pow with fewer of the peak Wasatch crowds:I've featured both Sundance and Beaver Mountain on the podcast:On Plattekill and Berkshire EastBoth Plattekill, New York and Berkshire East, Massachusetts punched their way into the modern era by repurposing other ski areas' junkyard discards. The owners of both have each been on the pod a couple of times to tell their stories:On small Michigan ski areas closingI didn't ski for the first time until I was 14, but I grew up within an hour of three different ski areas, each of which had one chairlift and several surface lifts. Two of these ski areas are now permanently closed. My first day ever was at Mott Mountain in Farwell, Michigan, which closed around 2000:Day two was later that winter at what was then called “Bintz Apple Mountain” in Freeland, which hasn't spun lifts in about a decade:Snow Snake, in Harrison, managed to survive:The Storm Skiing Journal and Podcast is a sustainable small business directly because of my paid subscribers. To upgrade, please click through below. Thank you for your support of independent ski journalism. Get full access to The Storm Skiing Journal and Podcast at www.stormskiing.com/subscribe

Formerly known as Thornbury Craft Co., and before that King Brewery, Blue Mountain Brewing Co. is the newest incarnation of the brewery we've been enjoying since 2002. CFO of owners Colio Estate Wines Derek Cartlidge and Brewmaster James Wilson joined Cee on the pod to chat about the eclectic history of the brand, why the recent name change, why the Blue Mountains is the Apple Capital of Canada and how that lead to their award-winning ciders, the make-up of their core range and how they decide on seasonals, their incredible new kitchen, how Colio Wines came to own Thornbury Craft Co., their first barrel-aged beers, the history of their century-plus year old building in Thornbury, and their thoughts on the tariffs and interprovincial beer business. They got into six Blue Mountain bangers - Light Lager, Belgian Witbier, Slope Side Passion Fruit, Orange & Guava Sour, Blueberry Pomegranate Sour, Peak Shadows Oatmeal Stout, and Baltic Porter. This was super fun - the audio breaks up a little but bare with it, it works out just fine! BAOS Podcast Subscribe to the podcast on YouTube | Website | Theme tune: Cee - BrewHeads

Addie Levy grew up bluegrass — picking mandolin and guitar alongside her musician dad in Radford, Virginia. Now based in Nashville, she's a full-time touring artist, a powerhouse performer with The Brothers Comatose, and a rising voice in the next wave of Appalachian-rooted music. On this episode of the Appalachian Vibes Radio Show, Addie opens up about life on the road, being married to her high school sweetheart (also a musician), and the joy, grit, and determination it takes to chase your dream with a smile. She's fun, funny, and fiercely talented — and her journey is just getting started.Appalachian Vibes Radio Show from WNCW is listener nominated, you can nominate an artist by emailing Amanda at appalachianvibes@gmail.com. Appalachian Vibes Radio Show is created and produced by Amanda Bocchi, a neo soul singer-songwriter, multi instrumentalist and journalist hailing from the Appalachian Mountains of Virginia.

(Jun 26, 2025) One of New York's top Democrats was in Plattsburgh yesterday to deliver funding for a big project in the city. Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie brought an additional $1.5 million dollars for the construction of the Plattsburgh YMCA's new home. Also: With summer finally kicking in, we got for a swim in Tirrell Pond near Blue Mountain Lake.

In this episode of Heard It On The Shark, Melinda talks with Jeff Pipkin, an alderman of the Town of Blue Mountain, MS about the 14th annual Fire On The Mountain festival (June 28, 2025). Welcome to HEARD IT ON THE SHARK with your show host Melinda Marsalis and show sponsor, Mississippi Hills National Heritage Area.  HEARD IT ON THE SHARK is a weekly interview show that airs every Tuesday at 11 am on the shark 102.3 FM radio station based in Ripley, MS and then is released as a podcast on all the major podcast platforms.  You'll hear interviews with the movers and shakers in north Mississippi who are making things happen.  Melinda talks with entrepreneurs, leaders of business, medicine, education, and the people behind all the amazing things happening in north Mississippi.  When people ask you how did you know about that, you'll say, “I HEARD IT ON THE SHARK!”  HEARD IT ON THE SHARK is brought to you by the Mississippi Hills National Heritage area.  We want you to get out and discover the historic, cultural, natural, scenic and recreational treasures of the Mississippi Hills right in your backyard.  And of course we want you to take the shark 102.3 FM along for the ride.     Bounded by I-55 to the west and Highway 14 to the south, the Mississippi Hills National Heritage Area,  created by the United States Congress in 2009 represents a distinctive cultural landscape shaped by the dynamic intersection of Appalachian and Delta cultures, an intersection which has produced a powerful concentration of national cultural icons from the King of Rock'n'Roll Elvis Presley, First Lady of Country Music Tammy Wynette, blues legend Howlin' Wolf, Civil Rights icons Ida B. Wells-Barnett and James Meredith, America's favorite playwright Tennessee Williams, and Nobel-Laureate William Faulkner. The stories of the Mississippi Hills are many and powerful, from music and literature, to Native American and African American heritage, to the Civil War.  The Mississippi Hills National Heritage Area supports the local institutions that preserve and share North Mississippi's rich history. Begin your discovery of the historic, cultural, natural, scenic, and recreational treasures of the Mississippi Hills by visiting the Mississippi Hills National Heritage Area online at mississippihills.org.   Musical Credit to:  Garry Burnside - Guitar; Buddy Grisham - Guitar; Mike King - Drums/Percussion     All content is copyright 2021 Sun Bear Studio Ripley MS LLC all rights reserved.  No portion of this podcast may be rebroadcast or used for any other purpose without express written consent of Sun Bear Studio Ripley MS LLC      

En esta entrega de La Ruleta Rusa, hemos escuchado y comentado los siguientes álbumes:ALBUM DESTACADO. Jack White. No Name (2024).Pearl Jam. Live at The Madison Square Garden, New York, 2024/09/03Dire Straits. Brothers in Arms -40th Anniversary Edition- (2025).Blue Mountain Eagle. Blue Mountain Egale (1970).Markus Reuter. Truce >3 (2025).Tekulvi. In Recognition of Your Significant Accomplishments (2002 -2025 Reissue-).The New Cactus Band. Son of Cactus (1973).

Tobias har sprungit ett halvmaraton i trail, Blue Mountain Trail Run i Örebro. Hur klarade löpbandsbenen av höjdmeter och stenar? Kristoffer drog en fräckis på Blodomloppet i Malmö. Varför??? Vi går igenom vad han lärde sig av sin aggressiva målbild. Och så närmar det sig Broloppet den 15 juni och vi nojar loss kring den evighetslånga stigningen under första halvan. Vad sätter vi för strategi? Vi går igenom olika tankeexperiment för hur man ska lyckas, samt testpassen för att checka formen och utsikterna.

This time for real and true! From ski lodge to angel fish, they've got it all—yes, it's Blue Mountain Pottery, the mid-century modern ceramics sensation.

Want to support the podcast? Join our Patreon or buy us a coffee. As an independent podcast, Shakespeare Anyone? is supported by listeners like you. In this mini-episode, we sit down with author Julie Hammonds to discuss her debut novel, Blue Mountain Rose: A Novel in Five Acts. Set against the backdrop of a fictional Shakespeare festival in the Arizona mountains during the 2009 financial crisis, the story follows theater director Richard Keane, company manager Kate Morales, and enigmatic actor Peter Dunmore as they strive to save their beloved open-air stage. Julie shares insights into how Shakespeare's works inspired the novel's structure and themes, the challenges of portraying the behind-the-scenes world of theater, and the enduring relevance of the Bard's plays in times of personal and collective hardship. Whether you're a Shakespeare aficionado, a theater enthusiast, or a lover of character-driven narratives, this conversation offers a compelling look into the intersections of art, community, and resilience. Blue Mountain Rose is now available at booksellers near you and on our Bookshop.com storefront. About Julie Hammonds Julie Hammonds fell in love with Hamlet during a high school trip to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival and has nurtured her passion for Shakespeare ever since. She learned to run a light board on an Army base in South Korea, studied the plays on her own and in school, stage-managed The Winter's Tale and Much Ado About Nothing, and became the founding board president of the Flagstaff Shakespeare Festival. Along the way, she decided to complete the canon as an audience member by seeing Shakespeare's plays performed on as many different stages as she can reach. The quest has taken her from a community hall in Juneau, Alaska, to the noteworthy festivals in Stratford, Ontario, and Cedar City, Utah, to Shakespeare's Globe in London and the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford-upon-Avon. She has four plays to go. This is her first novel. Shakespeare Anyone? is created and produced by Kourtney Smith and Elyse Sharp. Music is "Neverending Minute" by Sounds Like Sander. For updates: join our email list, follow us on Instagram at @shakespeareanyonepod or visit our website at shakespeareanyone.com You can support the podcast by becoming a patron at patreon.com/shakespeareanyone, buying us coffee, or by shopping our bookshelves at bookshop.org/shop/shakespeareanyonepod (we earn a small commission when you use our link and shop bookshop.org). Find additional links mentioned in the episode in our Linktree. Works referenced: Hammonds, Julie C. Blue Mountain Rose: A Novel in Five Acts. Soulstice Publishing, LLC, 2025.  

The special guests on this episode of the Rapala #WeAreCollegiateBass Podcast are Chandler Howell & Clayton Ellis.  Representing Top 20 ranked Blue Mountain Christian University, Chandler & Clayton won the Association of Collegiate Anglers' first event of 2025 for the Bass Pro Shops Collegiate Bass Fishing Series, the third event of its historic 20th season.  The duo won the Pickwick Slam with a five bass limit weighing 25.54 pounds.  For the 1st place victory, the anglers received a total payout exceeding $3,000 in prizes and contingencies...including the ACA logo contingency and T-H Marine Atlas Awards.  Blue Mountain Christian also earned the most points of any team competing at Pickwick Lake, as the school's two highest-finishing teams earned 3,470 points towards the Bass Pro Shops School of the Year presented by Abu Garcia.  Tune in to hear about their winning pattern, and goals for the team with just one month remaining in this current season!

BITG 4.12.25 • Frost Free Date • Blue Mountain Pinks? • Tomato Time is Coming! • Hotline Strawberry Caller • Easter Flowers & More! 1. The Frost Free Date Shouldn't be ignored. We had 29° this past week!! In our 1st segment we're going to discuss the first free date!  2. How is it possible that there are Blue Mt. Pinks? We're going to discuss Mt. Pinks also known as Creeping Phlox. We're going to discuss these landscape favorites in our 2nd segment!! 3. I warned you about planting too early in our first segment. In our 3rd segment we're going to tempt you with a segment all about Tomatoes! Don't worry worry Tomato Time is Coming! 4. We recieved a call from a listener about Growing Strawberries. Hear all about it in our 4th segmant. 5. It's Palm Sunday Weekend and We'll wrap up todays show talking about Easter Flowers and thier care!  Philadelphia, South Jersey, & Delaware Valley  Saturdays at 8am 860am | WWDB-AM Saturday at 6am & 5pm | 93.5FM & 1540am WNWR "The Word"....   NYC Tri-State Area Sundays at 8am 1250 AM "Classic Oldies" WMTR Bloomers in the Garden helps you and your neighbors have more beautiful yards, gardens and landscapes. Len is your “go-to” source for practical information, solid “local” advice that applies to the Delaware Valley. Learn about products and plants you can pronounce that are available at local Independent Garden Centers. Get inspired and confident to try new things, building on our past successful recommendations. Len Schroeder has a rich family heritage of horticulture dating back over 100 years. His own experience spans over 30 years as Owner of Bloomers Home & Garden Center. Bloomers is a Retail Garden Center that caters to the home gardener and the do-it-yourself landscaper. Bloomers prides itself on its staff training. We translate the often confusing gardening information into easy to understand, executable tasks. Len brings a professional lifetime of sorting out plants and products that work when customers get them home. Have a question for us or a topic you like us to discuss? Have a question for us or a topic you like us to discuss? Call the Bloomer's Garden Hotline” at (609)685-1880 to leave your question, your name and the town you're from! You can also write to len@bloomers.com ....

Julie Hammonds's debut novel Blue Mountain Rose is a love letter to theatre and a valentine to the perfect summer Shakespeare festival we all wish we lived next to or worked at year-round. On this week's episode, Julie discusses how you create in fiction the things you can't in real life; the relief of dramatizing professionalism rather than soap-opera histrionics; investigating the perils of celebrity and the timelessness of Shakespeare; and how reading Blue Mountain Rose might just have you booking a flight to Flagstaff, Arizona. (Length 19:50) The post Blue Mountain Rose appeared first on Reduced Shakespeare Company.

This month we are joined by Julie Hammonds, our founding board president and author of a new Shakespeare adjacent novel, Blue Mountain Rose. This novel means a lot to us as it has its roots in Flagstaff and in the Flagstaff Shakespeare Festival! Give this episode a listen and order the book today!  https://linktr.ee/untamedshrewspodcast Starring… Hannah JohnsonDawn TuckerBecki ZaritskyJulie Hammonds […]

Kristen Brandt talks with Chad Edwards. Chad is a photographer and wax-rubbing artist based in Laurel, MS. He is a tour manager and social media promoter for Cary Hudson of the southern rock band Blue Mountain. Chad has also been a featured artist, has done photography for HGTV's Home Town, shared his skills through workshops at the Lauren Rogers Museum of Art, and has published photographs in Legends Magazine. If you enjoyed listening to this podcast, please consider contributing to MPB. https://donate.mpbfoundation.org/mspb/podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Outside Walla Walla is a website showcasing outdoor recreation throughout the Walla Walla valley and northern Blue Mountain region. Enjoy four-season fun. This podcast, we focus on snow sports. Do you have little kids who like to sled? Let's be honest; adults enjoy the thrill too. The variety of snow adventures span two states, so curl up around the fire with a cup of hot chocolate while you listen. Then, start making a plan to go outside Walla Walla!

This week on Next on the Tee, I'm joined by two fantastic guests who bring both incredible stories and valuable insights to the show. Leading things off is John Cook, a 21-time winner across the PGA and Champions Tours and a former National Champion from his days at Ohio State. This marks John's 10th visit to the show, and every conversation with him ha been fantastic thanks to his upbeat attitude and passion for the game — you can literally hear the smile in his voice. We kick things off by talking about this year's Mexico Open, a tournament that holds special meaning for John since his father, Jim Cook, helped resurrect it back in the 1980s, and John himself went on to win it in 1995. As we continue looking ahead to this year's U.S. Open at Oakmont, John also shares his memories of competing in the 1994 U.S. Open there. We also reminisce about some of the fun team events he's played in alongside Sergio Garcia, Mark O'Meara, and Rex Caldwell. Following John, I'm excited to welcome Jeff Harper to the show for the first time. Jeff is the Director of Operations for Byler Holdings, which owns and manages five fantastic golf courses across Central and Eastern Pennsylvania. Each course presents its own unique challenge, making them the perfect progression for players as they advance their skills. Jeff takes us on a virtual tour of Broad Run Golfer's Club in West Chester, Iron Valley in Lebanon, Berkleigh Golf Club in Kutztown, Lebanon Valley in Myerstown, and Blue Mountain in Fredericksburg. With his passion for golf and knack for storytelling, Jeff brings these courses to life and highlights what makes each one special. It's a can't-miss episode for anyone looking to discover hidden gems and enjoy some great golf stories along the way.

This month on ⁠Pocono Mountains Magazine⁠: learn how Blue Mountain is leading the way in snowmaking technology with 500+ snow guns and a dedicated crew of snowmakers then take an exhilarating ride down Camelback's snow tubing lanes with Bri & Dee. Get inspired as you step inside The Artist Studio Loft, a creative vacation rental made for artists, by artists, then meet the couples uncorking love at Three Hammers Winery and Milford Wine & Cheese Co. Find out what's new and exciting in dining at Kalahari Resorts and Conventions and explore Pocono Mountain Maple, PA's largest organic maple farm, which offers a unique tasting experience and seasonal maple tours. Discover the benefits of self care at Alchemy Lounge where holistic treatments will help you find balance and enhance your well-being. It's awards season! Celebrate the numerous Pocono Mountains businesses which have received local and national recognition for everything from hospitality and service to craft beer and marketing. Catch the latest Pocono Perspectives with Trip Ruvane and Stephanie Rath from Barley Creek Brewing Company as they share their experiences in the hospitality industry.

Recorded live on a beach in JAMAICA, Rob has a splif and talks about pelicans, Blue Mountain coffee, the lasting impact of Bob Marley music & his latest stretching routine.     IG ~ @cchpodcast

In this fifth and final interview of the series, Melinda talks with Deana Reno who is the career coach at Blue Mountain School. Blue Mountain is the smallest school in the state but they are doing big things!! Welcome to HEARD IT ON THE SHARK with your show host Melinda Marsalis and show sponsor, Mississippi Hills National Heritage Area.  HEARD IT ON THE SHARK is a weekly interview show that airs every Tuesday at 11 am on the shark 102.3 FM radio station based in Ripley, MS and then is released as a podcast on all the major podcast platforms.  You'll hear interviews with the movers and shakers in north Mississippi who are making things happen.  Melinda talks with entrepreneurs, leaders of business, medicine, education, and the people behind all the amazing things happening in north Mississippi.  When people ask you how did you know about that, you'll say, “I HEARD IT ON THE SHARK!”  HEARD IT ON THE SHARK is brought to you by the Mississippi Hills National Heritage area.  We want you to get out and discover the historic, cultural, natural, scenic and recreational treasures of the Mississippi Hills right in your backyard.  And of course we want you to take the shark 102.3 FM along for the ride.     Bounded by I-55 to the west and Highway 14 to the south, the Mississippi Hills National Heritage Area,  created by the United States Congress in 2009 represents a distinctive cultural landscape shaped by the dynamic intersection of Appalachian and Delta cultures, an intersection which has produced a powerful concentration of national cultural icons from the King of Rock'n'Roll Elvis Presley, First Lady of Country Music Tammy Wynette, blues legend Howlin' Wolf, Civil Rights icons Ida B. Wells-Barnett and James Meredith, America's favorite playwright Tennessee Williams, and Nobel-Laureate William Faulkner. The stories of the Mississippi Hills are many and powerful, from music and literature, to Native American and African American heritage, to the Civil War.  The Mississippi Hills National Heritage Area supports the local institutions that preserve and share North Mississippi's rich history. Begin your discovery of the historic, cultural, natural, scenic, and recreational treasures of the Mississippi Hills by visiting the Mississippi Hills National Heritage Area online at mississippihills.org.   Musical Credit to:  Garry Burnside - Guitar; Buddy Grisham - Guitar; Mike King - Drums/Percussion     All content is copyright 2021 Sun Bear Studio Ripley MS LLC all rights reserved.  No portion of this podcast may be rebroadcast or used for any other purpose without express written consent of Sun Bear Studio Ripley MS LLC      

(Dec 16, 2024) The local diner is a piece of cherished Americana. We talk with a chef about the culinary philosophy at his popular diner in the heart of the Adirondacks. Also: New York counties can now opt in to make it easier for low-income families to get childcare assistance quicker.

RE-VIEW ALERT: Revisiting Episode 126 – Blue Mountain Family Restaurant Review

A fire broke out on Blue Mountain in Northampton County. Unemployment claims went up last week. A closing facility will periodically lay off workers through next year. Lastly, they said it couldn't be done, but the Philly Portal has made it through the week.

(Oct 16, 2024) A team of rescuers from New York, including four Adirondack Forest Rangers, spent two weeks in North Carolina during and after Hurricane Helene; we listen back to an audio postcard from when Radio Bob and David Sommerstein had to lug an aluminum pipe up Blue Mountain to improve reception for our transmitter there; and we preview this Saturday's Piano by Nature concert at the Essex Quarry.

Nardi Simpson is a Yuwaalaraay author, storyteller and performer dedicated to the making and sharing of culture.  This week, we hear Nardi Simpson's keynote address from the 2023 Mick Dark Talk For the Future. This episode takes listeners on an enchanting journey to understand how Yuwaalaraay ideas represent the spirit, natural order, and guiding principles of life and connection to the land. Through Nardi Simpson's poetic prose and vivid imagery, we are guided through spiritual reflections on the inner self, the majestic grandeur of nature, and captivating tales of renewal, sacredness, and the duty to live in harmony with the land—stories of our ancestors who sought to leave a lasting, beautiful legacy for the world we live in. This is an invitation to reflect on our past, our present, and how we might all look to the future. Let the magic sink in.   Thank you to the Blue Mountain's Writers Festival The Mick Dark Talk for the Future is an annual keynote address on the environment that honours the legacy of Mick Dark, who in 1989 gifted Varuna, the National Writers' House to the writers of Australia. The 2024 Talk will take place at the Blue Mountains Writers Festival on November 3rd. You can find tickets for the festival here.    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On this episode we sat down with DJ Carder of Blue Mountain Bikes out of Blue Ridge, GA. So cool to hear the history of MTB, as DJ goes way back in the scene and amazing to learn about how Blue Mountain Bikes came to be so organically. Not to mention this guy and his crew are always giving back to the community! Hope you enjoy! For Western NC Hurricane Relief DJ is taking donations through @Casey-Eaton-11 on Venmo Their work so far: https://youtu.be/Iwo4REgtElo?si=Aj_z1oUTA5lrbb5v https://www.instagram.com/bluemtnbikes/ https://www.instagram.com/carder83/ --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/josh-schaefer/support

Deep in the mountains south of Missoula at the Blue Mountain Observatory, astronomers from the University of Montana are exploring space in our solar system and beyond. For one of these observers, finding their place atop Blue Mountain took a lifetime of experiences.  Episode by Chandler Lieb / Montana Kaimin Full transcripts of this episode and all others are available online at www.montanakaimin.com/the_kaimin_cast/ Questions? Comments? Email us at editor@montanakaimin.com A podcast from the Montana Kaimin, the University of Montana's independent, student-run newspaper. 

Click here to text DCMTBBlue Mountain DH recap time. We rocked it solo, as our warrior in the trenches (Chris Gilbert) was stricken with sickness. This one got a little loose, as we had no chaperone. None the less its the content that we are sure you have been waiting for. Sit back and relax, you're going to feel a pinch...

Christian bands stealing songs; fat bass strings; bouncers burning mummies; three card monte cartel; legendary ER stories; sweaty palm problems; Brownie girl scout cookie assassinations; no locked doors in Vatican.Unlock the BONUS SCENE at improv4humans.com and gain access to every episode of i4h, all ad-free, as well as TONS of exclusive new podcasts delving deeper into improv, the history of comedy, music and sci-fi. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Theresa Ito is the principal owner of Blue Mountain Solutions and is an experienced professional who is passionate about people and serves as a catalyst to them achieving their aims.The company is named Blue Mountain Solutions Inc. after the stunning mountain range in Jamaica. 

Not long ago, the former gold-mining Blue Mountain boomtown was an incorporated city of one; it's grown 2,800 percent since. (Granite, Grant County; 1870s, 1880s, 1890s) (For text and pictures, see https://offbeatoregon.com/0905d_h105.granite-ghost-town.html)

In this month's Song Club podcast Bob talks about how this podcast is the worst one he's ever done, his love of autotune, using AI to write songs, teaching whales to speak English and presents the songs CHANGE MY WORLD, HAVE YOU EVER BEEN DOWN, BLUE DREAM, HEART HOLDS DIAMONDS, GOLD OR GREATNESS, GLACIER, BOMB and BLUE MOUNTAIN

Adrian Bijanada and Matt B. Davis go all the way back to Oregonian Ohio to discuss the first year of The OCR World Championships. They go on to cover many highs and lows of the last decade of events which took place in multiple locations across 3 countries. They laughed, they cried, they remembered. Here is the press release from December of 2013 - https://www.prweb.com/releases/ground_breaking_new_obstacle_course_racing_world_championships_announced_for_october_2014/prweb11391111.htm Here is the article written just days after that first event - https://obstacleracingmedia.com/review/ocr-world-championships-review-the-real-ocr-world-championship/ RIP OCRWC - The Adventurey Years 2014 - 2015 Oregonia, Ohio, USA 2016-2017 Blue Mountain, Toronto, Canada 2018-2019 Essex, England 2020 No Race 2021-2022 Stratton Mountain ,Vermont, USA You can find the entire Book of OCR here. Use code 2024-ORM for all Tough Mudder and Spartan Races for 20 percent off. Support Us On Patreon for LOTS MORE behind the scenes. You can listen to the podcast here or the link below. All other Obstacle Racing Media Links. Intro  Music – Paul B. Outro Music – Brian Revels.

A rare look at a live-action manga adaptation this week: we watched Hideaki Anno's 2004 film, Cutie Honey. We're joined by Discord admin Aaron as well. We also talk about Survive Style 5+, seaweed nutrients, The Knick, Blue Mountain coffee, Con Air, and how to pronounce "Z". | Follow us on Apple Podcasts | Support us on Patreon | Follow us on Twitter | Subscribe to us on YouTube | Join the fan Discord

Send us a Text Message.¿Qué sucede cuando la desesperación y la pobreza se entrelazan en una pequeña comunidad rural? En este episodio de The Murder Book en Español, nos adentramos en la vida de James Hustle, un joven granjero que hereda una tierra en ruinas, y Lou Hassell, una mujer embarazada y abandonada por su familia. Ambos enfrentan la exclusión social y la miseria en Blue Mountain, luchando por encontrar un rayo de esperanza en medio de la adversidad. Las historias de James y Lou se entrelazan para mostrar la cruda realidad de la vida rural y las complejidades de las relaciones humanas en tiempos de desesperación.A continuación, exploramos la trágica historia de Nani, una niña de siete años que sufre un accidente devastador que cambia su vida para siempre. Bajo el cuidado severo de James, Nani enfrenta dolores físicos y emocionales que la llevan a desarrollar un profundo odio hacia él. Este capítulo expone la brutalidad de su existencia y la falta de compasión en su entorno, creando una imagen vívida de su sufrimiento en la granja Hustle. La miseria y el dolor moldean su carácter y su destino de una manera que nadie podría haber anticipado.Finalmente, descubrimos el ascenso de Nanny en Blue Mountain, donde su valentía y determinación la llevan a escapar de la opresión familiar y encontrar su lugar en la fábrica de hilos de lino. Con el tiempo, Nanny se convierte en una figura clave en su comunidad, pero su deseo de control y liberación la conducen a un oscuro camino. Acompáñanos mientras desentrañamos su plan para liberarse a través del matrimonio con Charlie, y cómo estas experiencias la transforman en una asesina en serie. Este episodio está lleno de tragedia, esperanza y metamorfosis personal, ofreciendo una mirada detallada a las decisiones y circunstancias que moldearon la vida de Nanny. ¡No te pierdas este fascinante relato! Support the Show.

In E283, Andrew catches up with Jack Bernstein after a couple of years. Jack's been busy transitioning from his corporate job in software sales to becoming a full-time multifamily realtor and real estate coach. He's also been expanding his portfolio, focusing on acquiring and stabilizing assets. Jack shares how he got started with a startup that manufactured cell phone charging stations, which he eventually sold to fund his real estate ventures. Despite the market's ups and downs, Jack's strategy revolves around buying properties off-market at great deals and flipping them. He highlights the importance of mentorship, risk-taking, and smart investments, emphasizing the need for a strong foundation and active income streams in real estate. The conversation also touches on the challenges of short-term rentals, particularly in Blue Mountain, and the evolving market conditions with rent softening in some areas. They discuss the benefits of diversifying investments, both geographically and in different asset classes, with Jack eyeing potential opportunities in the U.S. and other markets. Andrew and Jack agree on the value of sales skills, the importance of working with reliable partners, and the significance of long-term appreciation in real estate. Jack concludes by sharing his plans for steady growth and his focus on both active and passive income streams. Order your copy of my new book - Real Estate Titans : Tools, Tactics & Wisdom for Canadian Real Estate Wealth today. Connect with Jack Bernstein: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bernstonecapital/ Website: https://www.bernstonecapital.com Andrew Hines Audio · E283 The Ultimate Expert Tips for Young Real Estate Investors with Jack Bernstein LISTEN TO THE PODCAST Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://itunes.apple.com/ca/podcast/the-andrew-hines-real-estate-investing-podcast/id1453461753 Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2ND7vIkJhmIEEk73aCwKhE FOLLOW ON SOCIALS Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theandrewhines Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theandrewhines Twitter: https://twitter.com/theandrewhines LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/theandrewhines TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@therealandrewhines

In this episode, Dave had the pleasure of sitting down with chef extraordinaire Will Farrington from the new fine dining restaurant, M&P, located on 30A near Justin Gaffrey's gallery in Blue Mountain. We delved into the unique culinary experience Will and his team are bringing to the area, which my wife and I experienced firsthand during our 15-year anniversary dinner. Will's passion for creating an elevated yet approachable dining experience shines through as we discuss his journey from a real estate broker to a renowned chef. Will shared his origin story, including his late start in the culinary world and the pivotal moment when he decided to leave his career in real estate and move across the country to pursue his passion for cooking. We also talked about his time in Napa Valley, his connection with his high school sweetheart and now wife, Liz, and their eventual move to Seaside. We explored the concept behind M&P, short for “Meat and Potatoes,” which reflects a classic Americana approach with a twist, focusing on high-quality ingredients and meticulous preparation. Will described the restaurant's design, inspired by a luxury train car, aiming to transport guests to a time when dining was an elegant and memorable experience. Will's dedication to his craft and his innovative approach to cooking are evident in his “American omakase” style, where guests are treated to a surprise menu based on fresh, locally sourced ingredients. We discussed the challenges and rewards of running a fine dining restaurant, the importance of sauces in his dishes, and the meticulous attention to detail that goes into every plate. Throughout our conversation, Will emphasized the significance of creating an experience that goes beyond just a meal, aiming to surprise and delight guests with every course. His heartfelt stories, including the memorable meal he prepared for Liz during quarantine, highlight the deep personal connections that food can create. Support Will and the team at M&P by visiting their restaurant on 30A. You can learn more about their unique dining experience and make reservations through their website. Thank you for joining us on this culinary journey, and we hope you're as inspired as we are by Will's story and passion for food. Reserve a table at M&P for an unforgettable dining experience, unlike any other on 30A: https://farringtonfoods.com/m&p30a/

This week we journey into the heart of Adirondack history at the Adirondack Experience Museum on Blue Mountain Lake. In this episode, I'm joined by Doreen and Cheryl from the museum to delve into the treasures and stories that this magnificent museum holds. We'll explore the rich tapestry of Adirondack culture, art, and tradition, captured through the museum's extensive exhibits.This year is especially significant as we celebrate the centennial of the Northville-Placid Trail, one of the most iconic hiking trails in the Adirondacks. The museum has unveiled a new exhibit dedicated to this milestone, providing an immersive history lesson on the trail's creation, evolution, and lasting impact on the region.Whether you're a history buff, a trail enthusiast, or just curious about the Adirondacks, this episode offers a unique glimpse into the past and present of this captivating area. Tune in to discover the stories preserved at the Adirondack Experience and celebrate the legacy of the Northville-Placid Trail with us.Become a member, learn about their summer programs, and more at their website herewww.theadkx.org/Visit my website: www.46OUTDOORS.comFollow on Instagram & Facebook@46of46podcast@jamesappleton46Pick up a GREAT RANGE ATHLETE training program here to get you mountain-ready so your Adirondack hiking adventure can be an overwhelming success!Order my new bookAdirondack Campfire Stories: Tales and Folklore From Inside the Blue LineOrder LinksAmazon LinkBarnes & Nobles LinkIndieBound LinkVisit 46outdoors.com to explore our latest offerings and learn how we're supporting the Adirondack outdoor community in new and innovative ways.

This podcast hit paid subscribers' inboxes on June 4. It dropped for free subscribers on June 11. To receive future pods as soon as they're live, and to support independent ski journalism, please consider an upgrade to a paid subscription. You can also subscribe to the free tier below:Who* Scott Bender, operations and business advisor to Blue Knob ownership* Donna Himes, Blue Knob Marketing Manager* Sam Wiley, part owner of Blue Knob* Gary Dietke, Blue Knob Mountain ManagerRecorded onMay 13, 2024About Blue KnobClick here for a mountain stats overviewOwned by: Majority owned by the Wiley familyLocated in: Claysburg, PennsylvaniaYear founded: 1963Pass affiliations: Indy Pass and Indy+ Pass – 2 days, no blackouts (access not yet set for 2024-25 ski season)Closest neighboring ski areas: Laurel (1:02), Tussey (1:13), Hidden Valley (1:14), Seven Springs (1:23)Base elevation: 2,100 feetSummit elevation: 3,172 feetVertical drop: 1,072 feetSkiable Acres: 100Average annual snowfall: 120 inchesTrail count: 33 (5 beginner, 10 intermediate, 4 advanced intermediate, 5 advanced, 9 expert) + 1 terrain parkLift count: 5 (2 triples, 2 doubles, 1 carpet – view Lift Blog's inventory of Blue Knob's lift fleet)Why I interviewed themI've not always written favorably about Blue Knob. In a state where shock-and-awe snowmaking is a baseline operational requirement, the mountain's system is underwhelming and bogged down by antiquated equipment. The lower-mountain terrain – Blue Knob's best – opens sporadically, sometimes remaining mysteriously shuttered after heavy local snows. The website at one time seemed determined to set the world record for the most exclamation points in a single place. They may have succeeded (this has since been cleaned up):I've always tried to couch these critiques in a but-damn-if-only context, because Blue Knob, considered purely as a ski area, is an absolute killer. It needs what any Pennsylvania ski area needs – modern, efficient, variable-weather-capable, overwhelming snowmaking and killer grooming. No one, in this temperamental state of freeze-thaws and frequent winter rains, can hope to survive long term without those things. So what's the holdup?My goal with The Storm is to be incisive but fair. Everyone deserves a chance to respond to critiques, and offering them that opportunity is a tenant of good journalism. But because this is a high-volume, high-frequency operation, and because my beat covers hundreds of ski areas, I'm not always able to gather reactions to every post in the moment. I counterbalance that reality with this: every ski area's story is a long-term, ongoing one. What they mess up today, they may get right tomorrow. And reality, while inarguable, does not always capture intentions. Eventually, I need to gather and share their perspective.And so it was Blue Knob's turn to talk. And I challenge you to find a more good-natured and nicer group of folks anywhere. I went off format with this one, hosting four people instead of the usual one (I've done multiples a few times before, with Plattekill, West Mountain, Bousquet, Boyne Mountain, and Big Sky). The group chat was Blue Knob's idea, and frankly I loved it. It's not easy to run a ski area in 2024 in the State of Pennsylvania, and it's especially not easy to run this ski area, for reasons I outline below. And while Blue Knob has been slower to get to the future than its competitors, I believe they're at least walking in that direction.What we talked about“This was probably one of our worst seasons”; ownership; this doesn't feel like PA; former owner Dick Gauthier's legacy; reminiscing on the “crazy fun” of the bygone community atop the ski hill; Blue Knob's history as an Air Force station and how the mountain became a ski area; Blue Knob's interesting lease arrangement with the state; the remarkable evolution of Seven Springs and how those lessons could fuel Blue Knob's growth; competing against Vail's trio of nearby mountains; should Vail be allowed to own eight ski areas in one state?; Indy Pass sales limits; Indy Pass as customer-acquisition tool; could Blue Knob ever upgrade its top-to-bottom doubles to a high-speed quad?; how one triple chair multiplied into two; why Blue Knob built a mile-long lift and almost immediately shortened it; how Wolf Creek is “like Blue Knob”; beginner lifts; the best ski terrain in Pennsylvania; why Mine Shaft and Boneyard Glades disappeared from Blue Knob's trailmap, and whether they could ever return; unmarked glades; Blue Knob's unique microclimate and how that impacts snowmaking; why the mountain isn't open top-to-bottom more and why it's important to change that; PA snowmaking and how Blue Knob can catch up; that wild access road and what could be done to improve it; and the surprising amount of housing on Blue Knob's slopes.    Why I thought that now was a good time for this interviewSo here's something that's absolutely stupid:That's southeastern Pennsylvania. Vail Resorts operates all of the ski areas in blue font. Ski areas in red are independent. Tussey, a local bump serving State College and its armies of sad co-eds who need a distraction because their football team can't beat Michigan, is not really relevant here. Blue Knob is basically surrounded by ski areas that all draw on the same well of out-of-state corporate resources and are stapled to the gumball-machine-priced Epic Pass. If this were a military map, we'd all say, “Yeah they're fucked.” Blue Knob is Berlin in 1945, with U.S. forces closing in from the west and the Russians driving from the east. There's no way they're winning this war.How did this happen? Which bureaucrat in sub-basement 17 of Justice Department HQ in D.C. looked at Vail's 2021 deal to acquire Seven Springs, Hidden Valley, and Laurel and said, “Cool”? This was just two years after Vail had picked up Whitetail, Liberty, and Roundtop, along with Jack Frost and Big Boulder in eastern Pennsylvania, in the Peak Resorts acquisition. How does allowing one company to acquire eight of the 22 public ski resorts in one state not violate some antitrust statute? Especially when six of them essentially surround one independent competitor.I don't know. When a similar situation materialized in Colorado in 1997, Justice said, “No, Vail Resorts, you can not buy Keystone and Breckenridge and Arapahoe Basin from this dog food company. Sell one.” And so A-Basin went to a real estate conglomerate out of Toronto, which gut-renovated the mountain and then flipped it, earlier this year, to Vail arch-frenemy Alterra. And an independent ski area operator told me that, at some point during this ongoing sales process, the Justice Department reached out to ask them if they were OK with Alterra – which already operates Winter Park, owns Steamboat, and has wrapped Copper, Eldora, and the four Aspen mountains into its Ikon Pass – owning A-Basin (which has been on the Ikon Pass since 2019). Justice made no such phone call, Blue Knob officials tell me on this podcast, when Vail was purchasing the Seven Springs resorts.This is where Colorad-Bro reminds me that Pennsylvania skiing is nothing compared to Colorado. And yes, Colorado is unquestionably the epicenter of American skiing, home to some of our most iconic resorts and responsible for approximately one in four U.S. skier visits each winter. But where do you suppose all those skiers come from? Not solely from Colorado, ranked 21st by U.S. population with just 5.9 million residents. Pennsylvania, with Philly and Pittsburgh and dozens of mid-sized cities in-between, ranks fifth in the nation by population, with nearly 13 million people. And with cold winters, ski areas near every large city, and some of the best snowmaking systems on the planet, PA is a skier printing press, responsible not just for millions of in-state skier visits annually, but for minting skiers that drive the loaded U-Haul west so they can brag about being Summit County locals five minutes after signing their lease. That one company controls more than one-third of the ski areas – which, combined, certainly account for more than half of the state's skier visits – strikes me as unfair in a nation that supposedly maintains robust antitrust laws.But whatever. We're locked in here. Vail Resorts is not Ticketmaster, and no one is coming to dismantle this siege. Blue Knob is surrounded. And it's worse than it looks on this map, which does not illuminate that Blue Knob sits in a vast wilderness, far from most population centers, and that all of Vail's resorts scoop up skiers flowing west-northwest from Philadelphia/Baltimore/D.C. and east from Pittsburgh.  So how is Blue Knob not completely screwed? Answering that question was basically the point of this podcast. The mountain's best argument for continued existence in the maw of this Epic Pass blitzkrieg is that Blue Knob is a better pure ski area than any of the six Vail mountains that surround it (see trailmap above). The terrain is, in fact, the best in the State of Pennsylvania, and arguably in the entire Mid-Atlantic (sorry Elk Mountain partisans, but that ski area, fine as it is, is locked out of the conversation as long as they maintain that stupid tree-skiing ban). But this fact of mountain superiority is no guarantee of long-term resilience, because the truth is that Blue Knob has often, in recent years, been unable to open top to bottom, running only the upper-mountain triple chairs and leaving the best terrain out of reach.They have to fix that. And they know it. But this is a feisty mountain in a devilish microclimate with some antiquated infrastructure and a beast of an access road. Nothing about this renovation has been, or likely will be, fast or easy.But it can be done. Blue Knob can survive. I believe it after hosting the team on this podcast. Maybe you will too once you hear it.What I got wrong* When describing the trail network, I said that the runs were cut “across the fall line” in a really logical way – I meant, of course, to say they were cut down the fall line.* I said that I thought the plants that sprouted between the trees in the mothballed Mine Shaft and Boneyard Glades were positioned “to keep people out.” It's more likely, however, based upon what the crew told us, that those plants are intended to control the erosion that shuttered the glades several years ago.* I mentioned “six-packs going up in the Poconos at the KSL-owned mountains.” To clarify: those would be Camelback and Blue Mountain, which each added six-packs in 2022, one year before joining the Ikon Pass.* I also said that high-speed lifts were “becoming the standard” in Pennsylvania. That isn't quite accurate, as a follow-up inventory clarified. The state is home to just nine high-speed lifts, concentrated at five ski areas. So yeah, not exactly taking over Brah.* I intimated that Blue Knob shortened the Beginners CTEC triple, built in 1983, and stood up the Expressway triple in 1985 with some of the commandeered parts. This does not appear to be the case, as the longer Beginners lift and Expressway co-exist on several vintage trailmaps, including the one below from circa 1989. The longer lift continues to appear on Blue Knob trailmaps through the mid-1990s, but at some point, the resort shortened the lift by thousands of linear feet. We discuss why in the pod.Why you should ski Blue KnobIf we took every mountain, fully open, with bomber conditions, I would rank Blue Knob as one of the best small- to mid-sized ski areas in the Northeast. From a rough-and-tumble terrain perspective, it's right there with Berkshire East, Plattekill, Hickory, Black Mountain of Maine, Ragged, Black Mountain (New Hampshire), Bolton Valley, and Magic Mountain. But with its Pennsylvania address, it never makes that list.It should. This is a serious mountain, with serious terrain that will thrill and challenge any skier. Each trail is distinct and memorable, with quirk and character. Even the groomers are interesting, winding nearly 1,100 vertical feet through the trees, dipping and banking, crisscrossing one another and the lifts above. Lower Shortway, a steep and narrow bumper cut along a powerline, may be my favorite trail in Pennsylvania. Or maybe it's Ditch Glades, a natural halfpipe rolling below Stembogan Bowl. Or maybe it's the unmarked trees of East Wall Traverse down to the marked East Wall Glades. Or maybe it's Lower Extrovert, a wide but ungroomed and mostly unskied trail where I found wind-blown pow at 3 p.m. Every trail is playful and punchy, and they are numerous enough that it's difficult to ski them all in a single day.Which of course takes us to the reality of skiing Blue Knob, which is that the ski area's workhorse top-to-bottom lift is the 61-year-old Route 66 double chair. The lift is gorgeous and charming, trenched through the forest on a narrow and picturesque wilderness line (until the mid-station, when the view suddenly shifts to that of oddly gigantic houses strung along the hillside). While it runs fast for a fixed-grip lift, the ride is quite long (I didn't time it; I'll guess 10 to 12 minutes). It stops a lot because, well, Pennsylvania. There are a lot of novice skiers here. There is a mid-station that will drop expert skiers back at the top of the best terrain, but this portal, where beginners load to avoid the suicidal runs below, contributes to those frequent stops.And that's the reality when that lift is running, which it often is not. And that, again, is because the lower-mountain terrain is frequently closed. This is a point of frustration for locals and, I'll point out, for the mountain operators themselves. A half-open Blue Knob is not the same as, say, a half-open Sugarbush, where you'll still have access to lots of great terrain. A half-open Blue Knob is just the Expressway (Lift 4) triple chair (plus the beginner zone), mostly groomers, mostly greens and blues. It's OK, but it's not what we were promised on the trailmap.That operational inconsistency is why Blue Knob remains mostly unheralded by the sort of skiers who are most drawn to this newsletter – adventurous, curious, ready for a challenge – even though it is the perfect Storm mountain: raw and wild and secretive and full of guard dog energy. But if you're anywhere in the region, watch their Instagram account, which usually flashes the emergency lights when Route 66 spins. And go there when that happens. You're welcome.Podcast NotesOn crisscrossing chairliftsChairlifts are cool. Crisscrossing chairlifts are even cooler. Riding them always gives me the sense of being part of a giant Goldbergian machine. Check out the triple crossing over the doubles at Blue Knob (all videos by Stuart Winchester):Wiley mentions a similar setup at Attitash, where the Yankee Flyer high-speed quad crosses beneath the summit lift. Here's a pic I took of the old Summit Triple at the crossover junction in 2021:Vail Resorts replaced the triple with the Mountaineer high-speed quad this past winter. I intended to go visit the resort in early February, but then I got busy trying not to drop dead, so I cancelled that trip and don't have any pics of the new lift. Lift Blog made it there, because of course he did, and his pics show the crossover modified but intact. I did, however, discuss the new lift extensively with Attitash GM Brandon Swartz last November.I also snagged this rad footage of Whistler's new Fitzsimmons eight-pack flying beneath the Whistler Village Gondola in February:And the Porcupine triple passing beneath the Needles Gondola at Snowbasin in March:Oh, and Lift 2 passing beneath the lower Panorama Gondola at Mammoth:Brah I could do this all day. Here's Far East six-pack passing beneath the Red Dog sixer at Palisades Tahoe:Palisades' Base-to-Base Gondola actually passes over two chairlifts on its way over to Alpine Meadows: the Exhibition quad (foreground), and the KT-22 Express, visible in the distance:And what the hell, let's make it a party:On Blue Knob as Air Force baseIt's wild and wildly interesting that Blue Knob – one of the highest points in Pennsylvania – originally hosted an Air Force radar station. All the old buildings are visible in this undated photo. You can see the lifts carrying skiers on the left. Most of these buildings have since been demolished.On Ski Denton and LaurelThe State of Pennsylvania owns two ski areas: Laurel Mountain and Ski Denton (Blue Knob is located in a state park, and we discuss how that arrangement works in the podcast). Vail Resorts, of course, operates Laurel, which came packaged with Seven Springs. Denton hasn't spun the lifts in a decade. Late last year, a group called Denton Go won a bid to re-open and operate the ski area, with a mix of state and private investment.And it will need a lot of investment. Since this is a state park, it's open to anyone, and I hiked Denton in October 2022. The lifts – a double, a triple, and a Poma – are intact, but the triple is getting swallowed by fast-growing trees in one spot (top two photos):I'm no engineer, but these things are going to need a lot of work. The trail network hasn't grown over too much, and the base lodge looks pristine, the grasses around it mowed. Here's the old trailmap if you're curious:And here's the proposed upgrade blueprint:I connected briefly with the folks running Denton GO last fall, but never wrote a story on it. I'll check in with them soon for an update.On Herman Dupre and the evolution of Seven SpringsBender spent much of his career at Seven Springs, and we reminisce a bit about the Dupre family and the ski area's evolution into one of the finest mountains in the East. You can learn more about Seven Springs' history in my podcast conversation with the resort's current GM, Brett Cook, from last year.On Ski magazine's top 20 in the EastSki magazine – which is no longer a physical magazine but a collection of digital bits entrusted to the robots' care – has been publishing its reader resort rankings for decades. The list in the West is fairly static and predictable, filled largely with the Epkonic monsters you would expect (though Pow Mow won the top place this year). But the East list is always a bit more surprising. This year, for example, Mad River Glen and Smugglers' Notch claimed the top two spots. They're both excellent ski areas and personal favorites, with some of the most unique terrain in the country, but neither is on a megapass, and neither owns a high-speed lift, which is perhaps proof that the Colorado Machine hasn't swallowed our collective souls just yet.But the context in which we discuss the list is this: each year, three small ski areas punch their way into an Eastern lineup that's otherwise filled with monsters like Stowe and Sugarbush. Those are: Seven Springs; Holiday Valley, New York; and Wachusett, Massachusetts. These improbable ski centers all make the list because their owners (or former owners, in Seven Springs' case), worked for decades to transform small, backwater ski areas into major regional destinations.On Vail's Northeast Value Epic PassesThe most frightening factor in the abovementioned difficulties that Blue Knob faces in its cagefight with Vail is the introduction, in 2020, of Northeast-specific Epic Passes. There are two versions. The Northeast Value Pass grants passholders unlimited access to all eight Vail Resorts in Pennsylvania and all four in neighboring Ohio, which is a crucial feeder for the Seven Springs resorts. It also includes unlimited access to Vail's four New Hampshire resorts; unlimited access with holiday blackouts at Hunter, Okemo, and Mount Snow; and 10 non-holiday days at Stowe. And it's only $613 (early-bird price was $600):The second version is a midweek pass that includes all the same resorts, with five Stowe days, for just $459 ($450 early-bird):And you can also, of course, pick up an Epic ($1,004) or Epic Local ($746) pass, which still includes unlimited Pennsylvania access and adds everything in the West and in Europe.Blue Knob's season pass costs $465 ($429 early-bird), and is only good at Blue Knob. That's a very fair price, and skiers who acted early could have added an Indy Pass on at a pretty big discount. But Indy is off sale, and PA skiers weighing their pass options are going to find that Epic Pass awfully tempting.On comparisons to the liftline at MRGErf, I may have activated the Brobots at Mad Brother Glen when I compared the Route 66 liftline with the one beneath their precious single chair. But I mean it's not the worst comparison you could think of:Here's another Blue Knob shot that shows how low the chairs fly over the trail:And here's a video that gives a bit more perspective on Blue Knob's liftline:I don't know if I fully buy the comparison myself, but Blue Knob is the closest thing you'll find to MRG this far south.On Wolf Creek's old summit PomaHimes reminisced on her time working at Wolf Creek, Colorado, and the rattletrap Poma that would carry skiers up a 45-degree face to the summit. I was shocked to discover that the old lift is actually still there, running alongside the Treasure Stoke high-speed quad (the two lifts running parallel up the gut of the mountain). I have no idea how often it actually spins:Lift Blog has pics, and notes that the lift “very rarely operates for historic purposes.”On defunct gladesThe Mine Shaft and Bone Yard glades disappeared from Blue Knob's trailmap more than a decade ago, but this sign at the top of Lower Shortway still points toward them:Then there's this sign, a little ways down, where the Bone Yard Glade entrance used to be:And here are the glades, marked on a circa 2007 trailmap, between Deer Run and Lower Shortway:It would be rad if Blue Knob could resurrect these. We discuss the possibility on the podcast.On Blue Knob's base being higher than Killington'sSomewhat unbelievably, Blue Knob's 2,100-foot base elevation is higher than that of every ski area in New England save Saddleback, which launches from a 2,460-foot base. The five next highest are Bolton Valley (2,035 feet), Stowe (2,035), Cannon (2,034), Pico (2,000), and Waterville Valley (1,984). Blue Knob's Vail-owned neighbors would fit right into this group: Hidden Valley sits at 2,405 feet, Seven Springs at 2,240, and Laurel at 2,000. Head south and the bases get even higher: in West Virginia, Canaan Valley sits at 3,430 feet; Snowshoe at 3,348-foot base (skiers have to drive to 4,848, as this is an upside-down ski area); and Timberline at 3,268. But the real whoppers are in North Carolina: Beech Mountain sits at 4,675, Cataloochee at 4,660, Sugar Mountain at 4,100, and Hatley Pointe at 4,000. I probably should have made a chart, but damn it, I have to get this podcast out before I turn 90.On Blue Knob's antique snowmaking equipmentLook, I'm no snowmaking expert, but some of the stuff dotting Blue Knob's slopes looks like straight-up World War II surplus:The Storm explores the world of lift-served skiing year-round. Join us.The Storm publishes year-round, and guarantees 100 articles per year. This is article 41/100 in 2024, and number 541 since launching on Oct. 13, 2019. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.stormskiing.com/subscribe

In this episode, we welcome Jennifer Chang, a QA Intelligence Specialist at Blue Mountain. Yan Kugel and Jennifer discuss the impact of digital transformation on manufacturing processes, the challenges and benefits of compliance in the pharmaceutical industry, and companies' struggles in keeping up with regulators and taking a risk-based approach. They also explore why companies switch to digitized solutions and the importance of continuous learning in the pharmaceutical industry.

The next event for the Association of Collegiate Anglers is the Collegiate Bass Fishing Championship presented by Bass Pro Shops.  College fishing's longest running National Championship event is set to take place on Pickwick Lake in Florence, AL on May 23-24.  On this episode of the Rapala #WeAreCollegiateBass Podcast, we are joined by members of the Top 25 ranked Blue Mountain Christian University Bass Fishing Team.  Tune in to hear John Mark, TJ, and Lake talk about the fishing conditions out on Pickwick and Wilson Lakes!

Kathryn Hunter is a daughter, a sibling, a wife, and the proprietor of both Voodoo Hippie Girl's Free Spirited Threads and Wasted Land Apparel. She's a dye artist/designer, a brilliant mind, a lover of books and music, and she's my guest for Episode No. 118.Meeting Kathryn was a treat and sitting down with her to talk family, upbringing, and her passions was both enlightening and entertaining. And it wouldn't be an installment of Badass Records if we didn't examine a few of her favorite records.Those were these:Woods 5: Grey Skies & Electric Light (2012), Woods of YpresMr. Blotto's Thread (2013)Blue Mountain (2016), Bob WeirStarset's Divisions (2019)Please consider giving Kathryn a follow on Instagram for one or both of her outfits, and definitely consider giving that Bob Weir record a spin if you aren't already familiar with it. Thank you to Kathryn and thank you to all who support the show.copyright disclaimer: I do not own the rights to the audio samples contained within this episode. They are clips from a tune called, "Reba," which I lifted from the 1990 Phish album, Lawn Boy (c/o of Phish Inc.). It's historically been something of a polarizing track, but one detail remains undebatable, and that is this: Phish is the greatest rock band in American music history, and this release -- their sophomore effort -- is, without question, a badass record.

멜버른 '윌슨스 프로몬토리 국립공원의 빅드리프트(Big Drift), 시드니 블루마운틴(Blue Mountain), 캔버라의 벙겐도어(Bungendore)를 살펴봅니다.

Drew, a resident of Ontario, shares his two encounters with Bigfoot. In the first encounter in Blue Mountain, he encountered a 12-foot-tall male Sasquatch while mountain biking alone. The encounter left him traumatized. In his second encounter near Algonquin National Park, he encountered another 12-foot-tall male Sasquatch outside a hotel. The creature followed him back to just outside his hotel room, causing fear and panic. Overall, these encounters had a profound impact on Drew's life.Resources:Drew on IG: https://www.instagram.com/skidoo153Enjoy.Share your Bigfoot encounter here: bigfootsociety@gmail.com

This week we do a new song called A Billion Stars, and chat about my gig at The East Room and spending the week in the mountains of North Carolina. Hope you have a great week!!

This podcast hit paid subscribers' inboxes on Feb. 12. It dropped for free subscribers on Feb. 19. To receive future pods as soon as they're live, and to support independent ski journalism, please consider an upgrade to a paid subscription. You can also subscribe to the free tier below:WhoDavid Makarsky, General Manager of Camelback Resort, PennsylvaniaRecorded onFebruary 8, 2024About CamelbackClick here for a mountain stats overviewOwned by: KSL Capital, managed by KSL ResortsLocated in: Tannersville, PennsylvaniaYear founded: 1963Pass affiliations:* Ikon Pass: 7 days, no blackouts* Ikon Base Pass: 5 days, holiday blackoutsReciprocal partners: NoneClosest neighboring ski areas: Shawnee Mountain (:24), Jack Frost (:26), Big Boulder (:27), Skytop Lodge (:29), Saw Creek (:37), Blue Mountain (:41), Pocono Ranchlands (:43), Montage (:44), Hideout (:51), Elk Mountain (1:05), Bear Creek (1:09), Ski Big Bear (1:16)Base elevation: 1,252 feetSummit elevation: 2,079 feetVertical drop: 827 feetSkiable Acres: 166Average annual snowfall: 50 inchesTrail count: 38 (3 Expert Only, 6 Most Difficult, 13 More Difficult, 16 Easiest) + 1 terrain parkLift count: 13 (1 high-speed six-pack, 1 high-speed quad, 1 fixed-grip quad, 3 triples, 3 doubles, 4 carpets – view Lift Blog's inventory of Camelback's lift fleet)View historic Camelback trailmaps on skimap.org.Why I interviewed himAt night it heaves from the frozen darkness in funhouse fashion, 800 feet high and a mile wide, a billboard for human life and activity that is not a gas station or a Perkins or a Joe's Vape N' Puff. The Poconos are a peculiar and complicated place, a strange borderland between the Midwest, the Mid-Atlantic, and the Northeast. Equidistant from New York City and Philadelphia, approaching the northern tip of Appalachia, framed by the Delaware Water Gap to the east and hundreds of miles of rolling empty wilderness to the west, the Poconos are gorgeous and decadent, busyness amid abandonment, cigarette-smoking cement truck drivers and New Jersey-plated Mercedes riding 85 along the pinched lanes of Interstate 80 through Stroudsburg. “Safety Corridor, Speed Limit 50,” read the signs that everyone ignores.But no one can ignore Camelback, at least not at night, at least not in winter, as the mountain asserts itself over I-80. Though they're easy to access, the Poconos keeps most of its many ski areas tucked away. Shawnee hides down a medieval access road, so narrow and tree-cloaked that you expect to be ambushed by poetry-spewing bandits. Jack Frost sits at the end of a long access road, invisible even upon arrival, the parking lot seated, as it is, at the top of the lifts. Blue Mountain boasts prominence, rising, as it does, to the Appalachian Trail, but it sits down a matrix of twisting farm roads, off the major highway grid.Camelback, then, is one of those ski areas that acts not just as a billboard for itself, but for all of skiing. This, combined with its impossibly fortuitous location along one of the principal approach roads to New York City, makes it one of the most important ski areas in America. A place that everyone can see, in the midst of drizzling 50-degree brown-hilled Poconos February, is filled with snow and life and fun. “Oh look, an organized sporting complex that grants me an alternative to hating winter. Let's go try that.”The Poconos are my best argument that skiing not only will survive climate change, but has already perfected the toolkit to do so. Skiing should not exist as a sustained enterprise in these wild, wet hills. It doesn't snow enough and it rains all the time. But Poconos ski area operators invested tens of millions of dollars to install seven brand-new chairlifts in 2022. They didn't do this in desperate attempts to salvage dying businesses, but as modernization efforts for businesses that are kicking off cash.In six of the past eight seasons, (excluding 2020), Camelback spun lifts into April. That's with season snowfall totals of (counting backwards from the 2022-23 season), 23 inches, 58 inches, 47 inches, 29 inches, 35 inches, 104 inches (in the outlier 2017-18 season), 94 inches, 24 inches, and 28 inches. Mammoth gets more than that from one atmospheric river. But Camelback and its Poconos brothers have built snowmaking systems so big and effective, even in marginal temperatures, that skiing is a fixture in a place where nature would have it be a curiosity.What we talked aboutCamelback turns 60; shooting to ski into April; hiding a waterpark beneath the snow; why Camelback finally joined the Ikon Pass; why Camelback decided not to implement Ikon reservations; whether Camelback season passholders will have access to a discounted Ikon Base Pass; potential for a Camelback-Blue Mountain season pass; fixing the $75 season pass reprint fee (they did); when your job is to make sure other people have fun; rethinking the ski school and season-long programs; yes I'm obsessed with figuring out why KSL Capital owns Camelback and Blue Mountain rather than Alterra (of which KSL Capital is part-owner); much more than just a ski area; rethinking the base lodge deck; the transformative impact of Black Bear 6; what it would take to upgrade Stevenson Express; why and how Camelback aims to improve sky-high historic turnover rates (and why that should matter to skiers); internal promotions within KSL Resorts; working with sister resort Blue Mountain; rethinking Camelback's antique lift fleet; why terrain expansion is unlikely; Camelback's baller snowmaking system; everybody hates the paid parking; and long-term plans for the Summit House.Why I thought that now was a good time for this interviewA survey of abandoned ski areas across the Poconos underscores Camelback's resilience and adaptation. Like sharks or alligators, hanging on through mass extinctions over hundreds of millions of years, Camelback has found a way to thrive even as lesser ski centers have surrendered to the elements. The 1980 edition of The White Book of Ski Areas names at least 11 mountains – Mt. Tone, Hickory Ridge, Tanglwood, Pocono Manor, Buck Hill, Timber Hill (later Alpine Mountain), Tamiment Resort Hotel, Mt. Airy, Split Rock, Mt. Heidelberg, and Hahn Mountain – within an hour of Camelback that no longer exist as organized ski areas.Camelback was larger than all of those, but it was also smarter, aggressively expanding and modernizing snowmaking, and installing a pair of detachable chairlifts in the 1990s. It offered the first window into skiing modernity in a region where the standard chairlift configuration was the slightly ridiculous double-double.Still, as recently as 10 years ago, Camelback needed a refresh. It was crowded and chaotic, sure, but it also felt dumpy and drab, with aged buildings, overtaxed parking lots, wonky access roads, long lines, and bad food. The vibe was very second-rate oceanfront boardwalk, very take-it-or-leave-it, a dour self-aware insouciance that seemed to murmur, “hey, we know this ain't the Catskills, but if they're so great why don'chya go there?”Then, in 2015, a spaceship landed. A 453-room hotel with a water park the size of Lake George, it is a ridiculous building, a monstrosity on a hill, completely out of proportion with its surroundings. It looks like something that fell off the truck on its way to Atlantic City. And yet, that hotel ignited Camelback's renaissance. In a region littered with the wrecks of 1960s heart-shaped-hottub resorts, here was something vital and modern and clean. In a redoubt of day-ski facilities, here was a ski-in-ski-out option with decent restaurants and off-the-hill entertainment for the kids. In a drive-through region that felt forgotten and tired, here was something new that people would stop for.The owners who built that monstrosity/business turbo-booster sold Camelback to KSL Capital in 2019. KSL Capital also happens to be, along with Aspen owner Henry Crown, part owner of Alterra Mountain Company. I've never really understood why KSL outsourced the operation of Camelback and, subsequently, nearby Blue Mountain, to its hotel-management outfit KSL Resorts, rather than just bungee-cording both to Alterra's attack squadron of ski resorts, which includes Palisades Tahoe, Winter Park, Mammoth, Steamboat, Sugarbush, and 14 others, including, most recently, Arapahoe Basin and Schweitzer. It was as if the Ilitch family, which owns both the Detroit Tigers and Red Wings, had drafted hockey legend Steve Yzerman and then asked him to bat clean-up at Comerica Park.While I'm still waiting on a good answer to this question even as I annoy long lines of Alterra executives and PR folks by persisting with it, KSL Resorts has started to resemble a capable ski area operator. The company dropped new six-packs onto both Camelback and nearby Blue Mountain (which it also owns), for last ski season. RFID finally arrived and it works seamlessly, and mostly eliminates the soul-crushing ticket lines by installing QR-driven kiosks. Both ski areas are now on the Ikon Pass.But there is work to do. Liftlines – particularly at Stevenson and Sunbowl, where skiers load from two sides and no one seems interested in refereeing the chaos – are borderline anarchic; carriers loaded with one, two, three guests cycle up quad chairs all day long while liftlines stretch for 20 minutes. A sense of nickeling-and-diming follows you around the resort: a seven-dollar mandatory ski check for hotel guests; bags checked for outside snacks before entering the waterpark, where food lines on a busy day stretch dozens deep; and, of course, the mandatory paid parking.Camelback's paid-parking policy is, as far as I can tell, the biggest PR miscalculation in Northeast skiing. Everyone hates it. Everyone. As you can imagine, locals write to me all the time to express their frustrations with ski areas around the country. By far the complaint I see the most is about Camelback parking (the second-most-complained about resort, in case you're wondering, is Stratton, but for reasons other than parking). It's $12 minimum to park, every day, in every lot, for everyone except season passholders, with no discount for car-pooling. There is no other ski area east of the Mississippi (that I am aware of), that does this. Very few have paid parking at all, and even the ones that do (Stowe, Mount Snow), restrict it to certain lots on certain days, include free carpooling incentives, and offer large (albeit sometimes far), free parking lot options.I am not necessarily opposed to paid parking as a concept. It has its place, particularly as a crowd-control tool on very busy days. But imagine being the only bar on a street with six bars that requires a cover charge. It's off-putting when you encounter that outlier. I imagine Camelback makes a bunch of money on parking. But I wonder how many people roll up to redeem their Ikon Pass, pay for parking that one time, and decide to never return. Based on the number of complaints I get, it's not immaterial.There will always be an element of chaos to Pennsylvania skiing. It is like the Midwest in this way, with an outsized proportion of first-timers and overly confident Kamikaze Bros and busloads of kids from all over. But a very well-managed ski area, like, for instance, Elk Mountain, an hour north of Camelback, can at least somewhat tame these herds. I sense that Camelback can do this, even if it's not necessarily consistently doing it now. It has, in KSL Resorts, a monied owner, and it has, in the Ikon Pass, a sort of gold-stamp seal-of-approval. But that membership also gives it a standard to live up to. They know that. How close are they to doing it? That was the purpose of this conversation.What I got wrongI noted that the Black Bear 6 lift had a “750/800-foot” vertical drop. The lift actually rises 667 vertical feet.I accidentally said “setting Sullivan aside,” when asking Makarsky about upgrade plans for the rest of the lift fleet. I'd meant to say, “Stevenson.” Sullivan was the name of the old high-speed quad that Black Bear 6 replaced.Why you should ski CamelbackLet's start by acknowledging that Camelback is ridiculous. This is not because it is not a good ski area, because it is a very good ski area. The pitch is excellent, the fall lines sustained, the variety appealing, the vertical drop acceptable, the lift system (disorganized riders aside), quite good. But Camelback is ridiculous because of the comically terrible skill level of 90 percent of the people who ski there, and their bunchball concentrations on a handful of narrow green runs that cut across the fall line and intersect with cross-trails in alarmingly hazardous ways. Here is a pretty typical scene:I am, in general, more interested in making fun of very good skiers than very bad ones, as the former often possess an ego and a lack of self-awareness that transforms them into caricatures of themselves. I only point out the ineptitude of the average Camelback skier because navigating them is an inescapable fact of skiing there. They yardsale. They squat mid-trail. They take off their skis and walk down the hill. I observe these things like I observe deer poop lying in the woods – without judgement or reaction. It just exists and it's there and no one can say that it isn't (yes, there are plenty of fantastic skiers in the Poconos as well, but they are vastly outnumbered and you know it).So it's not Jackson Hole. Hell, it's not even Hunter Mountain. But Camelback is one of the few ski-in, ski-out options within two hours of New York City. It is impossibly easy to get to. The Cliffhanger trail, when it's bumped up, is one of the best top-to-bottom runs in Pennsylvania. Like all these ridge ski areas, Camelback skis a lot bigger than its 166 acres. And, because it exists in a place that it shouldn't – where natural snow would rarely permit a season exceeding 10 or 15 days – Camelback is often one of the first ski areas in the Northeast to approach 100 percent open. The snowmaking is unbelievably good, the teams ungodly capable.Go on a weekday if you can. Go early if you can. Prepare to be a little frustrated with the paid parking and the lift queues. But if you let Camelback be what it is – a good mid-sized ski area in a region where no such thing should exist – rather than try to make it into something it isn't, you'll have a good day.Podcast NotesOn Blue Mountain, PennsylvaniaSince we mention Camelback's sister resort, Blue Mountain, Pennsylvania, quite a bit, here's a little overview of that hill:Owned by: KSL Capital, managed by KSL ResortsLocated in: Palmerton, PennsylvaniaYear founded: 1977Pass access:* Ikon Pass: 7 days, no blackouts* Ikon Base Plus and Ikon Base Pass: 5 days, holiday blackoutsBase elevation: 460 feetSummit elevation: 1,600 feetVertical drop: 1,140 feetSkiable Acres: 164 acresAverage annual snowfall: 33 inchesTrail count: 40 (10% expert, 35% most difficult, 15% more difficult, 40% easiest)Lift count: 12 (2 high-speed six-packs, 1 high-speed quad, 1 triple, 1 double, 7 carpets – view Lift Blog's inventory of Blue Mountain's lift fleet)On bugging Rusty about Ikon PassIt's actually kind of hilarious how frequently I used to articulate my wishes that Camelback and Blue would join Alterra and the Ikon Pass. It must have seemed ridiculous to anyone peering east over the mountains. But I carried enough conviction about this that I brought it up to former Alterra CEO Rusty Gregory in back-to-back years. I wrote a whole bunch of articles about it too. But hey, some of us fight for rainforests and human rights and cancer vaccines, and some of us stand on the plains, wrapped in wolf furs and banging our shields until The System bows to our demands of five or seven days on the Ikon Pass at Camelback and Blue Mountain, depending upon your price point.On Ikon Pass reservationsIkon Pass reservations are poorly communicated, hard to find and execute, and not actually real. But the ski areas that “require” them for the 2023-24 ski season are Aspen Snowmass (all four mountains), Jackson Hole, Deer Valley, Big Sky, The Summit at Snoqualmie, Loon, and Windham. If you're not aware of this requirement or they're “sold out,” you'll be able to skate right through the RFID gates without issue. You may receive a tisk-tisk email afterward. You may even lose your pass (I'm told). Either way, it's a broken system in need of a technology solution both for the consumer (easy reservations directly on an Ikon app, rather than through the partner resort's website), and the resort (RFID technology that recognizes the lack of a reservation and prevents the skier from accessing the lift).On Ikon Pass Base season pass add-onsWe discuss the potential for Camelback 2024-25 season passholders to be able to add a discounted Ikon Base Pass onto their purchase. Most, but not all, non-Alterra-owned Ikon Pass partner mountains offered this option for the 2023-24 ski season. A non-exhaustive inventory that I conducted in September found the discount offered for season passes at Sugarloaf, Sunday River, Loon, Killington, Windham, Aspen, Big Sky, Taos, Alta, Snowbasin, Snowbird, Brighton, Jackson Hole, Sun Valley, Mt. Bachelor, and Boyne Mountain. Early-bird prices for those passes ranged from as low as $895 at Boyne Mountain to $2,890 for Deer Valley. Camelback's 2023-24 season pass debuted at just $649. Alterra requires partner passes to meet certain parameters, including a minimum price, in order to qualify passholders for the discounted Base pass. A simple fix here would be to offer a premium “Pennsylvania Pass” that's good for unlimited access at both Camelback and Blue, and that's priced at the current add-on rate ($849), to open access to the discounted Ikon Base for passholders.On conglomerates doing shared passesIn November, I published an analysis of every U.S.-based entity that owns or operates two or more ski areas. I've continued to revise my list, and I currently count 26 such operators. All but eight of them – Powdr, Fairbank Group, the Schoonover Family, the Murdock Family, Snow Partners, Omni Hotels, the Drake Family, and KSL Capital either offer a season pass that accesses all of their properties, or builds limited amounts of cross-mountain reciprocity into top-tier season passes. The robots aren't cooperating with me right now, but you can view the most current list here.On KSL ResortsKSL Resorts' property list looks more like a destination menu for deciding honeymooners than a company that happens to run two ski areas in the Pennsylvania Poconos. Mauritius, Fiji, The Maldives, Maui, Thailand… Tannersville, PA. It feels like a trap for the robots, who in their combing of our digital existence to piece together the workings of the human psyche, will simply short out when attempting to identify the parallels between the Outrigger Reef Waikiki Beach Resort and Camelback.On ski investment in the PoconosPoconos ski areas, once backwaters, have rapidly modernized over the past decade. As I wrote in 2022:Montage, Camelback, and Elk all made the expensive investment in RFID ticketing last offseason. Camelback and Blue are each getting brand-new six-packs this summer. Vail is clear-cutting its Poconos lift museum and dropping a total of five new fixed-grip quads across Jack Frost and Big Boulder (replacing a total of nine existing lifts). All of them are constantly upgrading their snowmaking plants.On Camelback's ownership historyFor the past 20 years, Camelback has mostly been owned by a series of uninteresting Investcos and property-management firms. But the ski area's founder, Jim Moore, was an interesting fellow. From his July 22, 2006 Pocono Record obituary:James "Jim" Moore, co-founder of Camelback Ski Area, died Thursday at age 90 at his home — at Camelback.Moore, a Kentucky-born, Harvard-trained tax attorney who began a lifelong love of skiing when he went to boarding school in Switzerland as a teenager, served as Camelback's president and CEO from 1963, when it was founded, to 1986."Jim Moore was a great man and an important part of the history of the Poconos," said Sam Newman, who succeeded Moore as Camelback's president. "He was a guiding force behind the building of Camelback."In 1958, Moore was a partner in the prominent Philadelphia law firm Pepper, Hamilton and Scheetz.He joined a small group of investors who partnered with East Stroudsburg brothers Alex and Charles Bensinger and others to turn the quaint Big Pocono Ski Area — open on weekends when there was enough natural snow — into Camelback Ski Area.Camelback developed one of the most advanced snowmaking systems in the country and diversified into a year-round destination for family recreation."He was one of the first people to use snowmaking," said Kathleen Marozzi, Moore's daughter. "It had never been done in the Poconos before. ... I remember the first year we opened we had no snow on the mountain."Marozzi said her father wanted to develop Camelback as a New England-type ski resort, with winding, scenic trails."He wanted a very pretty ski area," she said. "I remember when the mountain had nothing but trees on it; it had no trails.I also managed to find a circa 1951 trailmap of Big Pocono ski area on skimap.org:On Rival Racer at CamelbeachHere's a good overview of the “Rival Racer” waterslide that Makarsky mentions in our conversation:On the Stevenson ExpressHopefully KSL Resorts replaces Stevenson with another six-pack, like they did with Sullivan, and hopefully they can reconfigure it to load from one side (like Doppelmayr just did with Barker at Sunday River). Multi-directional loading is just the worst – the skiers don't know what to do with it, and you end up with a lot of half-empty chairs when no one is managing the line, which seems to be the case more often than not at Camelback.The Storm explores the world of lift-served skiing year-round. Join us.The Storm publishes year-round, and guarantees 100 articles per year. This is article 11/100 in 2024, and number 511 since launching on Oct. 13, 2019. Get full access to The Storm Skiing Journal and Podcast at www.stormskiing.com/subscribe

As we jump into 2024, one of the BEST updates I have to share with everyone is my partnership with Athlete Narrative. I'm an Ambassador for them because I truly believe in what they're doing to help athletes with their branding and marketing of their own name, image, and likeness. If anyone has questions regarding this, please email me or DM me on my platforms, but using my link, you can receive a 10% discount monthly for the duration of your membership. Athlete Narrative is the FUTURE of branding for athletes!! I know this will be a MASSIVE resource for athletes AND parents! Checkout the link below!!  https://ambassador.athletenarrative.com/shane-larson-join  This episode is an INCREDIBLE opportunity to learn about perserverance from a current JUCO basketball player, who made his way to the college ranks after a LOT of hard work. We don't just say that, you're actually going to hear and see WHAT he had to do exactly in order to make his way into the college basketball world! I met Kaden when he was playing basketball at a local high school here in Idaho, in the city of Eagle. Kaden didn't really get on the court much at that time, but I always knew that he had the body type to play at the next level. And when I heard his story, I KNEW he had to be on the show! He currently is playing at Blue Mountain Community College in Pendleton, OR.  Blue Mountain is part of the NWAC. Today you're going to hear what it takes to get there. You're going to hear about the hard work, daily consistency and discipline it takes, the adversity you may have to go through, and you're going to hear about the attitude and mindset required to reach your goals.  Ultimately, what I hope you gain from this interview, is an appreciation for Kaden's story. This is a man who had a goal, and didn't allow anyone around him to deter him from that. In fact, he doubled down on himself, and bet on himself (something MANY of us can learn something about and apply more into our own lives).  Please tap into this episode, and the only thing I ask is if you enjoy the interview, that you provide a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify for us! Thank you so much!  And if you want to follow Kaden's journey, follow him on Instagram:  @kaden_johnson.2 - https://www.instagram.com/kaden_johnson.2/  ____________________________ Come follow The Gametime Guru on the various social media platforms! Facebook: The Gametime Guru - https://www.facebook.com/gametimeguru  Twitter: @thegametimeguru - https://twitter.com/thegametimeguru  Instagram: @gametimeguru - https://www.instagram.com/gametimeguru/  TikTok: @thegametimeguru - https://www.tiktok.com/@thegametimeguru   

EVEN MORE about this episode:➡️ http://askjulieryan.com/podcast/419In this episode:Curious about the afterlife? Intrigued by the concept of destiny and free will? Jannecke Øinæs, a spiritual teacher from Norway, delves into these thought-provoking topics in a deep and insightful discussion. As a former child star with a successful acting career, Jannecke's journey took an unexpected turn towards spirituality after a significant personal struggle. Her transformation from performer to spiritual guide is a testament to the resilience of the human spirit and the power of personal growth.Jannecke's wisdom extends beyond personal spiritual exploration. Together, we highlight the importance of St. Lucie Day, a Nordic tradition that coincides with the winter solstice, revealing a fascinating link between cultural traditions and spirituality. We also unravel the complex relationship between wealth and spirituality, providing a fresh perspective on how our material comforts can sometimes cloud our spiritual quests.But, the journey doesn't stop there! Join us as Jannecke enlightens us on the art of manifestation. Learn how to distinguish between manifestations driven by fear or desire and those that emerge from a higher emotional vibration. Moreover, delve into the transformative power of surrendering to the universe and the role it plays in manifestation. Lastly, we will show you how to turn the destructive habit of comparison into a source of inspiration. It's a conversation that will stimulate, inspire, and broaden your perceptions. Unearth new realms of spirituality with Jannecke Øinæs, and let's traverse the universe together!Guest Biography:The entrepreneur Jannecke Øinæs has an important story to tell. Currently there is a rising number of people who suffer from depression and anxiety. Jannecke has suffered from depression herself but has managed to overcome it.She was a celebrated child star during the eighties and nineties and her identity was closely connected to what she could achieve. As an adult she landed several big roles in, amongst others, Hotel Cæsar (A norwegian soap opera), Grease at Chat Noir, Jul i Blåfjell at Folketeatret and Oslo Nye Teater (Christmas in the Blue Mountain, Norwegian Musical). When she lost her voice in 2001 and also had to give up a leading role in the musical “Little Shop of Horrors”, she hit rock bottom. A severe depression followed and her way out of it became the start of something that was in its infant stages at that time.When Jannecke founded Wisdom From North there were very few others on YouTube who were teaching within spirituality. She was one of the pioneers behind the wave of spirituality and life changes we see today. After more than 8 years recording and sharing interviews, she took the brave step to create her own business where she could do what she truly loved to do.Episode Chapters:(0:00:01) - Nordic Spirituality and Mysticism Exploration(0:16:01) - Exploring Spirituality and Cultural Traditions(0:20:20) - From Child Star to Self-Love Advocate(0:33:24) - Journey of Purpose and Spirituality(0:40:20) - Exploring Spirituality and New Perspectives(0:53:24) - Exploring Destiny and Spiritual Guidance(1:05:44) - Manifestation and Overcoming Comparison(1:16:17) - Manifestation and SurrenderPlease join Julie next week with your question.Thursdays at 8pm ET, 7pm CT, 5pm PT.https://askjulieryanshow.com And, please leave a five-star review and subscribe so you can hear all the new episodes. Julie Recommends:Viome's Gut Health Test and use code: JULIERYAN at checkout for $110 discount.Purity Woods' Age-Defying Dream Cream or enter JULIERYAN at checkout for 10% off first order.Zona Health and use code JULIERYAN for $50 discount.The DNA Company's DNA 360 Report for 10% off and use code JULIERYANPrimal Life Organics (Teeth Whitener)Beam Minerals and use code JULIERYAN for 20% offTru47 – Essential Oils and use code JULIE20 for 20% offDanger Coffee and use code JULIERYAN for 10% offAmata Face CreamDr. Maria AmasantiMore Helpful Information: Join Julie for a Zoom “Woo-Woo” Party at Ask Julie Ryan: LIVE on the 4th Tuesday of the month. Get your ticket!For more information go to https://askjulieryan.com.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The pumpkins are gettin spicy! The Queens rate and review a 1 Star Yelp Review for Blue Mountain Family Restaurant! Chelsey's spine got tingled when she unboxed a Brita filter packaged with styrofoam and needs to lodge a complaint! Now lift your Popsicle and bite right on in, bare teeth!! And get ready to meet Beatrice on her World Tour!(01:40) Lodge a Complaint!(07:31) 1 Star Review(26:00) Exclusive Offer(30:19) My Royal Highness(34:47) On This Week's After Show PodReview The Pod at lovethepodcast.com/thereviewqueensDONATE to the Production of Review That Review by visiting ReviewThatReview.com/Donate Click Here to Join our Patreon for Bonus content and Member's Only After-Show Companion Podcast featuring additional reviews, deeper dives, salacious stories, and more.***** PROMO CODES *****REVIEWQUEEN at clean.emailREVIEW40 at vitable.com.auREVIEWQUEEN at shesbirdie.comREVIEWQUEEN40 at NatalieWeissVoice.comQUEEN15 at SmartPatches.comQUEEN at superchewer.com***Click Here to Join the Queendom Mailing List!Leave us a voicemail at 1-850-REVIEW-0WATCH CLIPS on YouTube!Visit our website for more: www.ReviewThatReview.com@TheReviewQueens | @ChelseyBD | @TreyGerrald ---Review That Review is an independent podcast. Executive Produced by Trey Gerrald and Chelsey Donn with editing and sound design by Trey Gerrald. Cover art designed by LogoVora, voiceover talents by Eva Kaminsky, and our theme song was written by Joe Kinosian and sung by Natalie Weiss.