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Great conditions make for busy MLK weekend on the slopes

Martin Luther King Jr. weekend is one of the busiest times of the year for ski season, and this year was no different.

CARBON COUNTY, Pa. — Sunny blue skies and fresh white powder were all skiers and snowboarders at Blue Mountain Resort near Palmerton could ask for.

The long Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend brought many to enjoy the outdoors, like the Pollard family from New Jersey.

"We just love to ski. It's something that we can do together. You know it's something that's outside in the fresh air," said Donna Pollard. "We stayed overnight last night and then today so that we'd have the day to do it today too."

For others, a day off from school meant getting tons of runs in on the mountain.

"This is my first time out all season, and I wanted to get a feel for the mountain," said Kailey McDonough from Allentown, New Jersey.

More than 25 trails were open for people to enjoy.

Ashley Seier is the marketing manager at Blue Mountain and says Martin Luther King Jr. weekend is one of the busiest times of the season for them.

"It was a very busy weekend. I think people saw that we were refreshing the conditions, and it's a great time to get out there right now."

Resort officials say snowmakers worked so hard all last week to ensure that the mountain had plenty of powder for everyone to enjoy this holiday weekend.

"We opened for the season on Black Friday. We got a head start, a big base down, but we've seen everything this season from rain to snow to lighting — a little bit of everything, so we've just been battling Mother Nature. Last week, things were getting a little thin out there, but just a testament to how great our snowmaking team is. They were able to turn it around this weekend, and we had a great base down there now and nothing but great compliments on the conditions," Seier said.

During the packed holiday weekend, the grand opening of the mountain's newest ski lift, Main Street Express, couldn't have come at a better time.

"It's just a great addition to the mountain, so it's going to transport 3,000 people per hour, and it's a bottom to top lift, so the ride from valley to the summit is going to be four and a half minutes, so it's just really going to move those lines," Seier added.

The next busy weekend for the mountain is President's Day weekend in February.

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