CARBON COUNTY, Pa. — The winter weather was a welcome sight for people on the slopes in Carbon County. Temperatures dipped into the teens at Blue Mountain Resort outside Palmerton, but it didn't keep skiers and snowboarders off the fresh powder.
"It's perfect, I think," said Alessia Smith from Bangor. "It just snowed today, they've got snow blowing. I mean, they're going to open a lot more trails I'm assuming. It's going to be fun."
"It's the place to be, I would say," added Lily Pierson of Nazareth. "No other mountain could ever sway me away from Blue Mountain. It's just great."
At the start of the new year, this didn't seem like a possibility. Warm weather melted snow, despite the resort's efforts to keep the slopes going.
"With the lack of snow, it does tend to keep some of our customer base away," said Bowen Decker, Summit Rental Assistant Manager.
Some were worried their winter weekends were in jeopardy.
"I wasn't sure at first," Smith said. "Especially with COVID and stuff coming back and all. Last winter it was really surging and this year it's even worse."
But the weather has taken a turn. The Poconos received several inches of snow Thursday night into Friday and the temperatures took a nosedive. The ideal conditions are enough to make the snowboarders want to flip.
"It's really fun," said Violet Alao of Nazareth. "They opened a lot more trails. It's very cold, though."
"[Snow] definitely excites people," Decker said. "It gets them out here, for sure."
Even if the slopes aren't really your thing, it's finally feeling like winter in northeastern and central Pennsylvania and winter sports enthusiasts wouldn't have it any other way.
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