Skiing in Mountain Creek
Mountain Creek Ski Area
The largest ski resort by acreage in the region and one of the tallest by vertical drop, Mountain Creek is an excellent day trip option for New York City residents.
A Sunny Day at South Peak (Photo Credit: Mountain Creek)
Formerly known as “Vernon Valley, Great Gorge,” Mountain Creek began its life as two separate ski areas – Vernon Valley and Great Gorge. The two separate ski hills merged in the 1970’s, creating a resort which is the largest in the region. From looker’s left to right, the four peaks of the resort are Vernon Peak, Granite Peak, South Peak and Bear Peak. The resort’s 1,040′ vertical drop is amongst the tallest in the area; only Pennsylvania’s Blue Mountain and its 1,082′ drop are bigger.
The connection between the two formerly independent resorts is not seamless, however. The trail infrastructure at Vernon Peak and Granite Peak (comprising the former Vernon Valley resort) ties together nicely, as does the network of trails at South Peak and Bear Peak (comprising the former Great Gorge resort). However, navigating between the two sets of twin peaks can be downright annoying. Going from the Vernon Peak side to the South Peak side requires a lengthy, flat traverse which the resort (somewhat hilariously in the author’s opinion) labels a blue square. Perhaps it’s rated for intermediates because skiers will need to know how to pole and snowboards how to hop or walk. The return trip is little better as it requires use of the brutally slow Southern Sojourn double chair. Most visitors will stick to one side of the resort or the other and utilize the shuttle bus to move between bases.
Despite the difficulty required to move between base areas, the uphill transportation is first rate. Mountain Creek employs an 8-passenger open air gondola (the Cabriolet) together with 2 express quads, 2 fixed grip quads, a triple chair and a handful of surface lifts in the beginner areas.
The terrain on the Vernon Peak is geared towards traditional alpine skiing and snowboarding, while the South Peak side of the resort is home to the majority of the resort’s terrain parks and freestyle terrain. In fact, in recent years Mountain Creek has turned the entirety of South Peak into one big terrrain park. The closure of nearby Hidden Valley resort has resulted in Bear Peak becoming home to numerous high school and junior alpine racing programs.
On the whole, Mountain Creek is an excellent day trip choice for those looking for a quick sojourn from New York City. There is more terrain than most skiers can ski in a day and new slopeside accommodation in the form of the upscale Appalachain Hotel has even made Mountain Creek an increasingly popular choice for weekend visitors. However, weekends can be crowded, but the same could be said for practically any other resort in the nearby Poconos.
Mountain Creek Beginners
Beginner skiers and snowboarders have limited options at Mountain Creek.
Photo Credit: Mountain Creek
Mountain Creek’s beginner terrain is situated entirely on the Vernon Peak side of the resort. South Peak and Bear Peak are home only to blue square and black diamond trails, though many of those ratings overstate the difficulty of runs in comparison to other resorts in the East. Strong beginners will be able to handle most, if not all, of the intermediate trails on the mountain. Strong beginners will also likely want to challenge themselves to step up in class due to the limited number of green trails offered at Mountain Creek.
The learn to ski area is located at the bottom of the Granite Peak, where the Sugar Quad accesses an eponymous green slope. Two magic carpet lifts surface the children’s learn to ski area on the opposite side of the Red Tail Lodge.
Progressing beginners have only two options – one from the top of each of Granite Peak and Vernon Peak. However, one of those green runs (the Osprey-Red Fox combination run on Vernon Peak) is accessible only from lifts that have no green trails to their bases. As a result, the main green run from the top of Vernon Peak (Upper and Lower Horizon) tends to be incredibly crowded. Sheer boredom forces beginners onto blue runs to escape the monotony of Horizon and while most beginners are able to handle the slight increase in difficulty to some of Mountain Creek’s easier green runs, some are not, creating a veritable minefield of fallen beginners on many of the blue and black trails.
Mountain Creek Intermediate Skiing
Intermediate skiers will be able to explore all of Mountain Creek’s four peaks.
A view of blue trails from the Cabriolet (Photo Credit: Mountain Creek)
A quick glance at the trail map shows that intermediates can ski from the summits of all four of the resort’s peaks. However, much of the expert terrain is severely overrated meaning that intermediate skiers confident on blue trails in Vermont or the Rockies will be able to ski most of the hill.
The highest concentration of blue trails is on South Peak. Unfortunately for traditional skiers and snowboarders, the resort has turned South Peak into a giant terrain park. We recommend that non-park skiers still ski these trails, but simply avoid skiing over the features. It’s simply too much terrain to skip entirely, particularly in light of the quick lift that services South Peak. Because so many of the trails intersect one another at various points throughout the desecent, we found it enjoyable to disregard the trail map and simply steer left and right onto whatever run looked least crowded. All the pitches on South Peak are of low intermediate grade and easily within the grasp of any true intemediate.
Directly beside the South Peak Express quad, skiers will find the Bear Peak Express quad, which services the smaller of the two peaks on the former Great Gorge side of the resort. The Bear Claw run is the only marked blue run from the summit of Bear Peak, but the single black diamond runs are of comparable pitch.
On the Vernon Peak side of the resort, skiers will find a pod of blue trails to the skier’s right along the boundary line. Great Northern to Khyber Pass is our favorite of the bunch. On Granite Peak, skiers also have one option to reach the base of the Granite Peak Quad. From the top of Granite Peak, the blue Southern Sojourn trail brings skiers over to Bear Peak and South Peak bases. Be forewarned, though. Southern Soujourn is the longest trail and the resort and is incredibly flat. Snowboarders should avoid using the trail and utilize the shuttle bus between bases. It’s faster and more convenient than slogging along the trail.
Advanced & Expert Skiing at Mountain Creek
Expert skiers have many black diamond and double black diamond trails, though few are steep enough to merit the rating.
Photo Credit: Mountain Creek
Three of Mountain Creek’s four peaks offer black diamond trails. However, true expert skiers will find most of the terrain to be lacking in challenge. While many NYC day resorts overclassify their terrain (perhaps in an effort to boost egos or keep beginners off the resorts steeper runs), Mountain Creek’s steeps are perhaps the most egregious example of terrain being marked black when it should be marked blue. We found ourselves quite literally poling down sections of some of the resort’s black trails – Jackson Hole it is not. That said, taking the black runs for what they are – middling difficulty blues – they are actually quite enjoyable.
The highest concetration of black diamond runs can be found at the resort’s most diminuitive summit – Bear Peak. Serviced by its own express quad, Bear Peak is a great place to take a few laps. Be advised, however, that with the closure of nearby Hidden Valley many of that hill’s racing programs have moved to Bear Peak. Trail closures for high school and junior races on Bear Peak are common, particularly in the evenings.
Moving to the Vernon Peak side of the resort, skiers will find a number of black diamond runs. Straightaway is the steepest of the rather unremarkable set of single blacks. The resort’s lone double black diamond – Pipeline – is rarely, if ever, open. When it is, it offers a pitch comparable to most Vermont single black diamonds. However, true expert skiers would be better off heading to the Catskills.
Mountain Creek Mountain Restaurants
Call it a pleasant surprise for a New York City day trip ski area, but Mountain Creek’s on mountain dining is exceptional by any standard.
Schuss (Photo Credit: Mountain Creek)
It’s a rarity for resorts within a short drive of New York City to offer anything besides a lone, usually overpriced and underwhelming cafeteria. However, Mountain Creek defies the stereotype of traditional Pocono cafeteria fare and offers eateries worthy of far larger resorts.
Vernon Peak Eateries
The new Red Tail Lodge on the Vernon Peak side of the resort is amongst the nicest base lodges in the United States. The spacious wood and stone structure has ample seating for most weekends; seats are surprisingly easy to find even at peak periods. Culinary options also abound at the cafeteria (styled as “The Market“) on the bottom floor of the lodge.
On the middle floor of the Red Tail Lodge is Schuss, an apres-ski hot spot serving up wood-fired pizza and cold drinks in an American sports bar setting.
On the top floor of the Red Tail Lodge, visitors will find Hawks Nest, a waitress-service restaurant specializing in upscale cuisine. Decorated with high end lodge furniture and featuring a large stone fireplace, private bar, and patio fire pit Hawks Nest is a great place to take in a hot meal with a great view of the slopes.
Outside on the “Sunnyside” Deck next to the lodge is the Biergarten. Authentic Bavarian brews and food await hungry skiers on the large stone patio. The Biergarten is one of the best outside eateries in the Northeast and is not to be missed on sunny days.
If looking for a quick warm-up, try Kickstand Coffee on the bottom level of the lodge, serving Starbucks coffeee.
South Peak Eateries
Over at the South Peak side of the resort there are also several options. South Square on the lower level of the lodge serves good cafeteria fare similar in quality and selection to The Market on the Vernon Peak side. Upstairs, skiers will find Kink, a sit down restaurant specializing in American BBQ.