By: Mark Branle

The days are short, everything appears to look grey and damp, and the hope for an early spring lingers. Welcome to the hardship of a long Northeast winter...NOT!
A lifetime ago I was having a conversation with a couple who had returned from having lived in the Caribbean for ten years. There were many reasons for moving there, and even more reasons for their eventual return to PA, but there was one that stood out to me the most. “We miss the seasons! Folks here don’t realize how boring living in one climate can be.” On the face of it then, yeah, living in sunny 80 degrees does sound amazing, but how many of us would dream of seeing the autumn leaves change again, or hearing songbirds singing away on an early Spring morning, or, and I’m saving the best for last... waking up to a beautiful fresh snowfall in January?
Admittedly, cold weather isn’t for everyone. When I was racing bikes and needed a lot of miles on the bike to keep my fitness up, I cursed the cold months. My wife would prefer if her winters were 80 and sunny 😊. Over the past five years since giving up bike racing, I’ve devoted my winters to teaching our three kids to ski, and I must say, it is the season I look forward to most.
So, where do we like to ski? Our family enjoys three resorts that we love for different reasons, ranging from a 45-minute drive to a 2.5-hour drive. Here is a quick summary of these three spots. Certainly, there are plenty of other places to ski or snowboard, but locally, you can’t beat these:

Blue Mountain is our go-to because it’s an easy drive, and the snowmaking and terrain are both gentle for the kids and challenging for me. All three kids were taught there, and every run brings back proud “dad” memories of me teaching them. Having two lodges (a base and a summit lodge) disperses people and minimizes crowding at bathrooms, cafeterias, and parking lots. I reward the kids with gourmet cheeseburgers and truffle fries at the summit restaurant, which has seriously good cuisine, and the service is five stars. The terrain is the star of the show, as Blue boasts the largest ski-able vertical feet in PA. The runs are long and pitchy enough to challenge even expert skiers. Little known fact, the Blue Mountain Race Team is a premier U19 racing club that promotes ski racing at its highest levels. Some of their students have gone on to race for the US Ski Team in the Olympics.
Ephrata Middle School has a ski club that takes kids to Bear Creek (formerly Doe Mountain). I tagged along on our son Caleb's first trip there this January, and both he and I came away impressed. What the mountain lacks in terrain, it makes up for with the base lodge. Pulling into Bear Creek, I felt like I was arriving at a resort in Park City! The lodge has big open spaces with large fireplaces, beautiful architecture, and floor-to-ceiling windows facing the slopes. A hotel is attached for families who want to ski or snowboard for multiple days and includes a conference center and a pro shop. For parents who don’t ski and want to take their kids, this is a place where you can hang out in the lodge and feel good that your child is skiing safely and won’t get lost on the mountain.
Elk Mountain is a gem for skiers and snowboarders, tucked quietly away 30 minutes north of Scranton. This is not a resort but rather a historic ski destination that has managed to avoid being bought up by investment groups who tend to strip away everything charming about skiing. The lifts are slow, the lodge is minimalistic, and a flatbed pickup truck drives you from the parking lot to the base, but the terrain and the ski grooming make Elk Mountain so skier-friendly. Elk is a little farther for people accustomed to traveling to the Poconos, which means much smaller crowds. An interesting feature that few notice while at Elk is the abundance of evergreen trees. Since the late 1970s, the park has planted more than 30,000 trees, including 2,000 to 3,000 White and Norway Spruce trees. This was an effort by the owners to help offset the environmental impacts of snowmaking (more on that in a future post) and provide yearlong cover for breeding birds and other wildlife. On the slopes, these tall, thick trees provide sound insulation and give the mountain an “out west” feeling you won’t find elsewhere in PA. Everyone should experience Elk Mountain at least once a season. We are looking forward to a three-day visit this February!
There is an abundance of outdoor fun to be had during winter, whether it’s skiing, birding (you’ll see more without leaves on trees), or just walking along the WERT. Skiing is what we choose to do as a family because we love seeing the kids experience the outdoors in ALL the seasons. Whatever you choose to do outside during winter, make the best of it and you’ll come to appreciate this amazing season.
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