Spring Skiing in PA

I know, I know. Skiing in the Poconos goes against what I said on the main site about travelling across NYC with traffic and all that, but I decided to take an overnight trip anyways, mostly because I have a good friend who lives in Pennsylvania. End result, HUGE win for the family. We decided to go to Bear Creek Mountain due to proximity to my friend's house. It took about two hours and thirty minutes to make it to the mountain from Nassau County. Bottom line up front, this is my new favorite family ski resort. Bear in mind, I now see everything from the viewpoint of a father with small children, so things like vertical drop and deep powder mean way less to me than they used to. The facilities at Bear Creek are WAY better than most other mountains. There is a hotel on site for those who want ski in ski out convenience. The learning areas are a lot nicer than most other local options. A very long magic carpet takes students to the top of a wide flat learning area. Once the kids graduate off of the carpet, a small lift takes them to another flat, long beginners trail. The lodge has a nice, clean dining area with lots of good options aside from typical burgers and chicken fingers. The snowsports school was well run and very friendly. Directly adjacent to the school is a nursery for children up to age 6. It looked clean and well organized inside. There is a tubing area as well should the kids want a break from skiing. All of this added up to my new favorite familiy ski mountain in the local area.

On another note, Spring Skiing is waaaaay underrated as a family activity. Most of the skiers and boarders were wearing tee shirts today. You may want to consider introducing your kids to the sport of skiing during the warm Spring months as they are more likely to enjoy the nice weather and the slushy snow actually helps to control thier speed a bit.

I'm officially over my prejudice against skiing in PA!!!