PALMERTON, Pa. — A sold-out sign is getting a lot of use this season at Blue Mountain Ski Area as nearly every Saturday and Sunday are sold-out.
The ski resort is operating at 60 percent of normal capacity because of the pandemic.
For the popular weekend before Martin Luther King Jr. Day, ski passes were gone days ago.
They're already sold out for Monday, too.
"We've been selling out almost every weekend since we've been open and even sometimes during the week I think with flex schedules and kids being home from college it's just been kind of steady all-around," said Ashely Seier, Blue Mountain Ski Marketing Director.
And while they're keeping things quieter than MLK weekends in years past, employees say that's not the only thing that's different.
While they're still seeing many visitors from New York, New Jersey, and the Philly area, there's been an uptick in locals hitting the slopes this year.
"This is my first time skiing here, and in fact fun fact it's my first time skiing since 2012 so I am super excited to be out on the slopes again," said Debbie Aichele of Lancaster.
"We've done some family trips out west and up to New England and weren't able to do it this year and wanted to get out as much as we could," added Bob Aichele of Lancaster. "It's a nice mountain. it's the first year I've skied here and, beautiful mountain."
Visitors need to wear a mask when in line for the ski lift, while riding the lift, and anytime they're within six feet of someone.
Masks are not required while skiers and snowboarders are cruising down the mountain.
Those who were lucky enough to score a lift ticket this weekend say it's been really nice on the mountain with reduced capacity.
"It's really nice that it is a smaller capacity so that there aren't as many people you could potentially be running into or watching out for so that's been a nice change," said Alyssa Aichele of Lancaster.
As a health precaution, there are no ticket windows open at the resort; all tickets must be purchased online.