Camelback Resort gears up for winter fun

TANNERSVILLE, Penn. – Camelback Resort, an award winning 560-acre Pocono Mountains resort known for its stellar line up of snow sports, will usher in the 2022-2023 winter season this December with a spate of innovative upgrades and new activities for the entire family.

A year-round adventure hub rising 2,100 feet above sea level – just 90 minutes from New York City and two hours from Philadelphia – Camelback Mountain is the perfect getaway for snow enthusiasts, boarders and avid skiers of all levels. Offering plenty of exhilarating family-friendly fun – with 39 trails spanning 166 acres – Camelback’s new winter season gets underway with an expanded terrain park, a new enclosed high-speed lift, snowtubing, an action-packed Aquatopia indoor water park and a roster of snowboarding and skiing lessons for all. Highlights include:

Black Bear 6 – a new high-speed six-person, enclosed lift – will make its debut at Camelback Resort in December 2022 – in time for the 2022/2023 winter season, replacing the smaller Sullivan Express. The new lift will rise 667 vertical feet with an uphill capacity of 3,000 passengers per hour, an increase of 600 passengers per hour over the previous lift. The top drive lift will have a fully enclosed storage facility for its 50 carriers. The resort’s next most recent new lift – Sunbowl Express – was built in 2020.

This year, the terrain park is on the move and will now be located at Upper Moore’s Ramble, Oak Grove, Lower Moore’s Ramble, and Rhododendron Glen, and serviced by the Glen lift. Enhancements include automations, new designs and a Next Gen Pisten Bully Park Pro 400 for creating precise and uniform park builds. The park will open earlier in the season and be maintained, rebuilt and refreshed regularly throughout the winter.

Upgrades at Camelback this season include a pipeline replacement and fully automating snowmaking on Nile Mile, a new grooming machine equipped with snow depth technology, lift operator house upgrades and continued automation advances including updates to last year’s new Radio Frequency Identification Device (RFID) system, which offers hands-free, streamlined and efficient lift access. Additionally, SkiLynx is being added to the resort’s app – allowing guests to live track their total trails, miles and vertical feet, as well as find friends and view real time lift wait times.

Boasting one of the country’s largest snowtubing parks, Camelback appeals to thrill seekers with access to more than 40 snowtubing lanes, day and night. The all-lit nighttime, after-dark experience, Galactic Tubing, is back. It’s a tubing party slope side complete with music, disco lighting, up to 44 lightning-fast lanes and two magic carpet lifts. Snowtubing is complimentary Monday through Friday on non-holidays with purchase of an Unlimited or Value Season Pass.

Top-notch ski and snowboard instruction continues at Camelback Resort at its Ski & Ride Academy for learners starting at age four and levels from beginner to advanced. Children’s Lessons for ages four to 12 will begin at Adventure Base Camp and run for 1.5 hours. During the Family & Friends Beginner Lessons, beginner skiers aged four and up will head to The Learning Center for one hour of lessons on the snow. Also available are private lessons for beginners through advanced skiers. Ski rentals are included in both the Children’s Lessons and Family & Friends Beginner Lessons.

Partnering with Pennsylvania Center for Adapted Sports, Camelback offers a full-service adaptive skiing and snowboarding program with skiing and snowboarding lessons for people with disabilities of all levels ages five and up. Instructors are all certified and use the latest approaches for a safe and fun experience.

Skiers and boarders will find plenty of snow at Camelback even if Mother Nature isn’t in accord. With more than 1,500 guns covering 166 acres of slopes, Camelback’s state-of-the-art snowmaking system can move 12,000 gpm of water – with 6,000 gpm of production and 6,000 gpm of refill. Capturing refill water and recycling it, this automation captures the most amount of snowmaking production in a given time period while creating a safe and efficient system for guests and employees alike.

Accommodating both those who want to hit the slopes for a day or return multiple times, ticket packages are available for everyone. One-day lift tickets start at $62 and vary on demand. The three-day Triple Ticket Pass is $189, and the Unlimited Season Pass for $699 includes unlimited day and night skiing; complimentary snowtubing; first tracks access; general parking; an equipment check; and no blackout dates. A Value Season Pass for $399 offers access from open to close midweek and Saturday and Sunday from 3 p.m. to close, including general parking and an equipment check. Information on tickets and passes is available at https://www.camelbackresort.com/2022-23-ski-board-season-passes/.

The only ski-in/ski-out resort in the Poconos, Camelback Lodge offers 453 luxury guest suites with 21 layouts to suit couples, families and groups, along with an array of dining choices (including ski-in/ski-out restaurants), Aquatopia Indoor Waterpark, the much-loved Arcadia Arcade, Arcadia Adventures and seasonal and souvenir shopping.

Aquatopia – voted as the #1 Indoor Waterpark by readers of USA Today – recently unveiled its new Mountain Mayhem immersive slide, which offers over-the-top adventure each time. Taking water slides to the next level, sliders choose from multiple different technology adventures and experience lights, music and exciting visuals inside the slide.

Exclusively for Camelback Resort’s hungry skiers and snowboarders, Big Pocono Family Eatery features a collection of grab-and-go offerings. Other delicious dining options include the recently renovated Thirsty Camel Bar & Grille, an indoor/outdoor restaurant featuring local breweries and pub-style menu. Several food trucks are parked strategically for hungry snow buffs, including Tacos & Beer Truck offering street tacos and draft, Tap Bar for a refreshing beverage, You Dirty Dog, Anpu hot dog truck and Fat Heros sandwich truck.

For a more upscale experience, Berrelli’s Italian Chophouse, anItalian steakhouse, features an extensive wine list in a fine dining ambiance and a downstairs speakeasy-vibe game room for playing pool, darts and shuffleboard.

Camelback Lodge houses Café & Bar La Colombe, a brasserie-style restaurant with coffee, pastries, sandwiches and salads to-go; Hemispheres, a family friendly breakfast buffet eatery; Trails End Pub & Grille, a ski-in/ski-out American brew pub open daily; Graffiti Pizza, a New York graffiti-themed pizza spot; and Sugar Shack, a new venue which features a playful, colorful abstract wall mural and plenty of pleasing sweet candies and confectioneries. Mountain Market is opendaily and situated just off the main lobby, serving Ellis Coffee Company, grab-and-go breakfast, assorted pastries, beverages and snacks.

Nestled in the scenic Pocono Mountains, which were formed 400 million years ago, Camelback Resort is a year-round destination ideal for adventure-packed multi-generational family travel and experiences. The 560-acre resort includes Camelback Mountain for unsurpassed skiing, snowboarding, and snowtubing; Camelback Mountain Adventures for ziplining, a treetop obstacle course, and alpine mountain coaster; Camelbeach Mountain Waterpark, Pennsylvania’s biggest outdoor waterpark; and Camelback Lodge & Aquatopia Indoor Waterpark, the latter voted USA Today’s 2022 #1 Indoor Waterpark.

Accommodations are available at Camelback Lodge, an eight-story mountain modern-designed hotel with 453 guest suites, featuring many dining choices including ski-in/ski-out restaurants, a fitness center, 20,000 square feet of flexible conference and meeting venues and 170,000 square feet of indoor adventure and entertainment space.