So, Blue Mountain has been one of those mountains I’ve frequently talked about but never actually visited. The news of them getting added to the Ikon pass happened too late for me to switch things up in the 2023-2024 season. But it’s a whole new season, late December was looking pretty good for a quick trip to the Poconos.
Of course, as luck would have it, the temperature would have jumped to the low 50s for the two days we allocated to the trip. While this did make for some slushy riding, it wasn’t horrible, and impressively, the mountain was still entirely open.
The Mountain
There is a lot of good things I can say about Blue Mountain, and almost all of them come back to the mountain itself. The design of the mountain itself has evolved dramatically over time. The newest lift, Main Street Express, was added for the 2022/2023 season.
The mountain’s base has lifts clustered tight enough to be accessible while not feeling overly crowded on an average day. Since all base lifts are highspeed, they do a good job of keeping the base clear of lines. While I’m usually not a fan of having the green trails on opposite ends of the mountain, it’s a non-issue for the blue mountain because of the base design.
Having two top-to-bottom green trails on opposite sides of the mountain helps keep the beginner population out and also keeps them away from the blues and blacks in the middle.
Additionally, the entire mountain is covered with snow guns and lights. This means that not only is the full mountain open til 9PM, but also trail coverage isn’t subject to the whims of natural snowfall.
In addition, Blue Mountain has a summit and valley lodge, both of which have parking available.
The Service
Unfortunately, this is where we get into the needs improvement section. We ran into a few employee-focused problems over two days.
Ikon Pass Confusion: Before booking, I called and asked about blackout dates. Three of us had Ikon Base passes, and they said there was no blackout on the days we were riding. After experiencing some issues, we realized this was not the case. I’m guessing there was some confusion, it wasn’t the end of the world just an unexpected expense.
Instructor Problem: On her first run down, the youngest of our bunch lost control and ended up riding across an instructor’s snowboard. I was prepared to have a control problem with them as I speeded up to catch them. I saw and heard the instructor yelling at her. Nothing he was shouting was wrong, but the fact that he was shouting was wrong.
Equipment Rental: Blue Mountain doesn’t include a helmet with your equipment package. While it’s not a money grab, as Blue Mountain’s package + helmet prices are on par with everyone else’s package price, it is confusing and dangerous. The default path for a rental should always include a helmet. I’ll be talking more about this later at some point.
Lift Attendants: So I thought the worst of it was going to be the helmet rental, until one of the six of us fell getting off the lift on our way back to the summit lodge. Falling is bad enough but they were struck not once, but twice by the chairs as they came around. Thankfully they had a helmet, but this shouldn’t have happened.
Looking up Blue Mountain’s Lift Attendant job description on Indeed, I confirmed that they are expected to “Slow or stop the lift as necessary to ensure passenger safety and comfort.” Watching a lift attendant watch a person fall and do nothing is aggravating. None of us had the energy to do anything to address it then and there, but it did leave a bad taste in our mouths.
Personal Experience
Outside of the areas that need improvement, I had a lot of fun. That honestly had a lot more to do with the people I was with than anything Blue Mountain offered.
I didn’t know it then, but exactly one year earlier, I’d joined a group of five on their first snowboarding trip to Jack Frost. It was really awesome to see them all progress. I remember last year, they couldn’t make it down one of Jack Frost’s very short greens, and now they all can go top to bottom at Blue Mountain without falling or stopping. A very special shout-out to the youngest of the bunch, who just did their first blue the day before I wrote this.
Ultimately, I think Blue Mountain is a solid mountain, especially if you’re self-sufficient. The things that are difficult to change are all solid. I can see why people talk about it the way they do, and I’d say it’s got good bones. The road bumps in the service we encountered left me worried about how things would go for beginners, which is a shame because the mountain layout makes it a magnificent beginner mountain.