Our trails are ice covered so we are temporarily closed. We are hopeful for snow next week and will re-open when conditions permit.
Trail Conditions Report: Wednesday 2/17/2016
We will be closed tomorrow, Wednesday 2/17 and will continue to assess the snow coverage, trail conditions, downed trees (if any!). Plans for the Triathlon on Sunday are still a go, if there is unskiable snow we will bike and run on the Trails and still have a great time enjoying a pristine environment. Please continue to check in with us, winter isn’t over yet!
Trail Conditions Report: Tuesday 2/16
We are closed today Tuesday 2/16. Conditions will be assessed today and will be updated when known. Please continue to check back with us and thank you for your support!
Trail Conditions Report: Get it while we can!
Sunday 2/14: just back from Crystal myself. See the skier comment on my 2/12 post. I did Boardpile, Sassafras, and Wazoo; others did most of the beginner, intermediate, and some steeps including Superloop. We really don’t deserve such great skiing from so little snow cover. It’s fast, controllable, and easy to miss the few obstacles. Grab it tomorrow if you can. We can only hope that we are on the snow side of the coming storm.
– Michael
Trail Conditions Report: Conditions as of 2:00 Friday 2/12
Sue and I just skied Wild Rice, Blueberry, Kettle, Hidden Pond, Backway, and Lake trails. The skiing was a pleasant surprise. The surface has tightened up and is no longer so slow. Sticks are of course visible but stones mostly hidden and it was not hard to miss them. I think a decent skier could do without ‘rock’ skis, at least until the trails get more use. And we might get hit by one of those heavy bands of flurries tonight. I don’t suggest skating, because of potential damage to skis and also fragile snow cover. Enjoy! –Michael
Trail Conditions Report: Thursday 2/11 early afternoon
Sue here. We received about 2 additional inches overnight. Early season conditions continue with the additional snow that covered some rocks. Two of us set out late this morning, very enjoyable, Beginner and Intermediate trails will be open Friday. Grooming was done yesterday and will be assessed each day to ensure we can maintain the coverage we have.
Trail Conditions Report: Opening Friday 2/12/2016 9 a.m.
Update 2/10: Conditions are early season-like. The cover is thin, but it’s there! Rocks and sticks are around, so bring your ‘rock’ skis, or ones you don’t mind getting dinged a bit, because they will be.
Trail Conditions Report: Presidents’ Weekend
Michael here: as I look out my window halfway up the mountain I am a little more optimistic than the morning note on the ski center website: it’s looking pretty good for skiing this weekend, though perhaps not enough to set track and cover all rocks. Tom and Bob are planning to roll the trails later today, and only then will we know how the snow holds up to its job of keeping skiers off the ground and moving. We also may get a few more lake effect flurries a the very, very cold front enters. So if our wishes come through, dress very warm!
Crystal Lake Ski Center Featured in Susquehanna Life Magazine!
A couple cross-country ski a wintertime trail after a recent beautiful snowfall.
Nice write-up in Susquehanna Life Magazine! Full article here: http://www.susquehannalife.com/2015/11/20/93462/new-life-for-a-nonprofit
Crystal Lake Ski Center is situated on 960 acres, featuring 25 miles of groomed cross-country ski trails with set tracks, and five miles of snowshoeing trails created over glacial moraines. No, the ski center is not in Colorado; it’s located in Hughesville, Pa.
In operation since the 1970s, Crystal Lake Ski Center recently was purchased by Crystal Lake Camps, a non-profit 501(c)(3). After one year under new ownership, the ski center’s popularity is on the rise, according to Crystal Lake Camps executive director Nathan Bowen, who has lived on the property since 2008. But its future was not always certain.
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Bowen has seen positive results. “I certainly saw what felt to me like an increase in traffic,” he said. “Even the energy around [the ski center] is different.”
His goal is to make Crystal Lake Ski Center financially sustainable before considering expansion. In the first year after the purchase, he witnessed countless efficiencies and is now confident that the best course of action was taken.
“It’s clear that the ski center should stay around for a long time,” he said. “Having it used by the community is hugely important to me, and I’m really glad we did it.”