It has become a tradition of sorts that following Thanksgiving Day, area ski areas kick off their snow sports season by making snow if the weather permits, and prepare the mountains for the upcoming ski, snowboarding, tubing season.

Up at Blue Mountain Resort in Palmerton, Marguarite Clark, Blue Public Relations Manager, said that they were targeting Nov. 24 to kick off their 46th skiing season with plans to open even more trails than previous years. This comes compliments of newly installed snowmaking techniques and equipment since they installed top-of-the-line snowmaking that includes 74 TechnoAlpin TL8 stick guns and 26 TechnoAlpin fan guns that are all fully automated. This addition has replaced approximately 20,000 feet of airline and waterline piping that was used for snowmaking in the past. This new equipment will offer more efficient snowmaking and allow an earlier start to the snowtubing season as well.

With this upgrade, Clark said that Blue Mountain has one of the largest snowmaking systems in the country for their 40 trails including 14 beginner, six intermediate, 11 expert, four expert-only and five terrain parks.

Some of the new upgrades include new LED lights on Paradise, Central Park, Barb’s Way, Shuttle and Burma Road, the most popular runs at the Blue. Also a favorite, Trails End run Ð serviced by all lifts Ð will be renamed Barb’s Way in honor of the resort’s former owner and daughter of the late Ray Tuthill, the founder of Blue Mountain that was renamed in 1989 from Little Gap Ski Area.

With the snowmaking upgrade, it allows Blue Mountain to open their snowtubing area earlier than ever. With 46 lanes Ð each over 1,000 feet long Ð Blue Mountain houses the largest tubing park in the nation. All lanes are targeted to open Dec. 7, earlier than last year. And all of them will feature all-lit nighttime, after-dark Sonic Tubing with music and disco lighting. The tubing park is serviced by three lifts and tubers can choose between single or double tubes.

Blue Mountain also hosts a Blue Mountain Racing Program that consists of five teams of Alpine (under 10 to under 21), Cross Team (Junior, Advanced and Elite), Moguls, Mountaineers (a developmental race team), and new Slopestyle team - that includes new rails and jumps. For more information check www.information@skiBlueMt.com.

BEAR CREEK RESORT

As Lehigh Valley’s other closest snow sports area, located at 101 Doe Mountain Lane (the resorts former name) in Macungie, they were planning on starting their snowmaking last Friday and will attempt to make snow at every opportunity from here on out, said Gary Kline, Bear Creek Director of Marketing.

Bear Creek also made changes at the mountain as they built a brand-new state of the art vehicle maintenance building for their groomers and vehicles, and purchased a new Prinoth Bison-X-Winch Car groomer that will provide better snow grooming on steeper terrain while it operates with less of a foot print on the environment.

As for snow making, Bear Creek added nine new snow guns, seven being towers, and two mobile units which will help cover more areas quicker.

For night skiing/snowboarding, the resort updated all of their slope lighting including additional lights on Upper Timberline trail.

As an all-season resort, Bear Creek offers a host of eateries and amenities that are offered at national resorts. In fact, our eldest granddaughter had her Senior Prom there upon her graduation from Fleetwood High School. It offers scenic backgrounds for prom or wedding photo opportunities. For questions on conditions and openings, call 866-754-2822.