Many PA ski resorts will be open this weekend ... Earliest openings ever for them. Bear Creek and Big Boulder opening today
OT: PA Skiers rejoice
- Thread starter bwifan
- Start date
Is it just me, or does this seem like a marketing ploy to get people to buy season tickets hoping it will be a snowy winter? It’s not like there will be a great base or many trails open today.
Couple of things.... it most likely is going to be a snowy cold winter for PA northward. 2nd and most important is ski resorts have to have so many ski days open/available for season ticket holders otherwise they have to offer pretty big discounts on next year's season pass. So by opening early this counts for season ticket holders as available open days.
To some extent, all ski resorts engage in marketing ploys. That said, I don't think that's the case here. The Pocono ski resorts have a limited season. A warm Nov. and Dec., and they'll barely have any trails open for the Christmas holiday, when they typically make a lot of money.
This cold spell is annoying to most on the East Coast, but it looks to be a godsend for Eastern ski resorts. Most of them have been cranking up their snow making machines for several days. I don't believe that any of the Pocono resorts will have all of their trails open when they open their gates. However, that's rarely if ever the case. They open as soon as they have enough trails open to make it worth the expense of opening. I've skied some of these resorts when they open early, and while it's nice to get out early (for this region), it's not a great experience.
I'm sure they've looked at the long-term forecasts. If they expected all the snow they've made in recent days to be melt off the slopes in the near future, it's doubtful that they'd be opening. They usually open in Dec., and have to close in April, so if they can expand their time period to make month by a month, it's a great situation for them.
And if one or more that goes skiing in Nov at these resorts happens to buy a season pass, then so much the better for them.
