Pocono Mountains' Ski Resorts Flourish With Additions and Improvements For The 2012-13 Winter Season

POCONO MOUNTAINS, Pa. (PRWEB) November 15, 2012

As the last of autumn’s leaves fall to the ground and the air turns chilly, it is time to prepare for winter excitement in the Pocono Mountains (800poconos.com). The Pocono Mountains Visitors Bureau (PMVB) is eager to welcome this year's winter 2012-13 season with the latest additions and improvements to area ski resorts. Look forward to enhancements with snowmaking to ensure open and snow-covered trails, new children's programs and expanded family-fun areas such as snowtubing, a luge track and a mountain coaster.

“We anticipate a successful winter season with cooperation from Mother Nature,” said David West, PMVB vice-president of marketing. “While our ski areas have perfected snow-making since its beginning here 60 years ago, natural snow allows for greater opportunities such as snowshoeing, cross-country skiing, snowmobiling and dog sledding.”

Blue Mountain (skibluemt.com)

• Blue Mountain has upgraded a number of their snowmaking guns and added 10 new fully automated TechnoAlpine fan guns. These upgrades and additional guns will allow Blue Mountain to make higher quality snow at a faster pace.
• Also new is the Luge that opened near the end of the season last year. Each exciting run is about 2,000 ft. long and made of over 400,000 cubic feet of snow. Along with being able to enjoy the excitement and the rush of adrenaline from the Luge, The Fastest Sport on Ice®, you can have the opportunity to be scouted for the USA Luge team. Throughout the weekends in winter, Blue Mountain will have official USA Luge coaches working to evaluate you to possibly be selected for the US Olympic team for 2014.

Camelback Mountain Resort (skicamelback.com)

• The mountain will increase its already massive snowmaking arsenal with more snowmaking guns ensuring skier and riders a 100% chance of snow.
• Camelback’s snowtubing expansion to 38 lanes and two magic carpets makes it the biggest snowtubing park in the USA.
• Visitors can ride the new 4,500’ Alpine Mountain Coaster, one of the largest in the country.

Shawnee Mountain (shawneemt.com)

• New airless snow guns have been added on Shawnee’s learning center slope. The energy efficient fan guns promise all beginners more consistent snow depth throughout the season enabling contoured nightly grooming to optimize learning.
• Shawnee Mountain has focused on improvements of children’s programs for this upcoming season.

         o Shawnee added an all new WEEriders program to its extensive mix of children’s learning programs. WEEriders, developed for children 4 through 6 years old, introduces young children to snowboarding. The program will be offered as a two hour session and is limited to four children per class to ensure proper attention is paid to each your rider.
         o Improvements have been made to the Shawnee Children’s Program online reservation system, promising parents an easier online reservation process for programs as well as rentals.

Big Boulder (jfbb.com)

• Big Boulder has extended the "T Bar" bar and added new taps.

Jack Frost (jfbb.com)

• Updates have been made to old glades and work has begun on new trails.

Ski Big Bear (skibigbear.com)

• Ski Big Bear has continued the expansion of their snowmaking system, including new tower snowguns at the base of the mountain.
• New Rossignol ski equipment has been added to the seasonal and daily rental fleet.
• A new winter menu has been added to all food and beverage operations including the Summit Restaurant and Bar, The Scramble Cafeteria and the Country Store at Masthope Mountain.

Alpine Mountain (alpinemountain.com)

• Alpine Mountain will open the slopes for groups of 100 or more Monday through Wednesday this season.
• Alpine Mountain’s new website will allow guests to purchase lift tickets, learning packages, season passes and advanced tickets online.

With over 185 ski trails and seven major ski resorts, the Pocono Mountains allows guests of all skill levels to take full advantage of winter’s offerings. For more information regarding winter in the Pocono Mountains region, visit poconoski.com.

About the Pocono Mountains
With 2,400 square miles encompassing Pennsylvania’s Carbon, Monroe, Pike and Wayne counties, the Pocono Mountains region is home to rolling mountain terrain, breathtakingly beautiful waterfalls, thriving woodlands and 170 miles of winding rivers. Winters offer guests the opportunity to ski, snowboard, snow tube and even snowshoe their way through snowy wonderlands encompassing over 185 ski trails, while summers also cater to the active traveler allowing exploration of 261 miles of hiking and biking trails, over 30 golf courses, whitewater rafting, boating, fishing and open access to nine state and two national parks.

Any time of year is a good time to visit the Pocono Mountains, located within driving distance of most major East Coast cities. This region teeming with history offers year-round cultural tours and art exhibitions, abundant antiquing and brand-name shopping and a full calendar of festivals showcasing the heritage, music and food of the Pocono Mountains.

Even the most discerning traveler will find comfortable accommodations in the Pocono Mountains, which offers an eclectic mix of resorts, distinctive properties and quaint, country inns and bed and breakfasts.

Pocono Mountains visitor information is available online at 800poconos.com or by phone at 800-POCONOS (800-762-6667). Follow @PoconoTourism on Twitter to stay current with up-to-date information. Established in 1934, the Pocono Mountains Visitors Bureau is a private, non-profit, membership organization. The Pocono Mountains Visitors Bureau is the official destination marketing organization for the four counties of Carbon, Monroe, Pike and Wayne in northeastern Pennsylvania.