MONROE COUNTY, Pa. — Snow covers nearly the entire mountain at Camelback Mountain Ski Resort near Tannersville.
The conditions surprised Sandy Long of East Stroudsburg, who said the slopes were better than she had expected with all the wet weather we had.
"I think the conditions are really good. Some bare spots, but other than that, it's good and windy," Long said.
"The conditions are pretty good, considering it rained," said Tyrus Frost from Bangor. "We got a good amount of rain yesterday. It's soft, but it's firm enough where you can hold an edge. Yeah, conditions are great."
Resort officials say the weekend snowstorm helped keep the mountain packed with snow despite the rain.
"With that much snow followed by that much rain, if we didn't get that much snow, I think we would've been in a little bit of a stickier situation, but it kind of helped us. It insulated what we have, added a little bit to it, and set us up to continue snowmaking," said Molly Coneybeer, Camelback's marketing director.
Strategy in snowmaking helped save the snow base at Shawnee Mountain ski area near East Stroudsburg.
"We made snow right up until we lost temperatures yesterday, and on some trails that haven't even been open yet this year, that allows there to form a really nice hard crust on that snow. It then sheds that rain," explained Joshua Urciuoli, Shawnee's operations manager.
Despite the rain, resort officials say they're not just open. They're also opening new trails and terrain for the upcoming three-day holiday weekend.
"We're hoping for the holiday weekend to even have one if not more trials open than we have right now, so although it rained, conditions are still good. As you can see, we still have lots of great coverage and were really excited for it. We have a busy and active holiday weekend planned," Urciuoli said.
"The hotel is almost sold out. Lift tickets are still available. Tubing is essentially sold out for the weekend. There are a few time slots available, and we're excited to welcome you to the mountain, especially now that it finally feels like winter," Coneybeer said.
Both mountains expect to be very busy with the Martin Luther King holiday this weekend.
If you plan to visit, you're encouraged to book your tickets online.
Book Camelback HERE.
Book Shawnee HERE.
Find out about the WNEP Ski Card 2023-2024