Camelback resort is a mountain resort located in the Poconos, specifically Tannersville, Pennsylvania. It has a 4.2 star rating on Google with a sample of nearly 3,500 reviews. However, are these people reviewing the resort or the ski/snowboard experience? Many locals or skiers/boarders who have attended Camelback for years believe Camelback has experienced a serious decline in customer service, slope quality and volume of trails open.
I have been a part of the ski club with West Morris for the past four years and during this time have witnessed many of the changes camelback has experienced. This season alone I have been to camelback about a dozen times and have been able to talk to many employees and ski patrol. I along with many others have noticed a decline in the service and ski experience at camelback.
Last year Camelback had an extremely slow startup. Many of the major slopes were still not open in late January, which is deep into the ski season. When I Asked Camelback staff why this was the case, they attributed it to the warm 2023-2024 season that Pennsylvania experienced. Camelback was charging full price for a mountain that was not even close to being 60% operational. This meant longer lines for the slopes that were open.
David Ehasz, the current West Morris Central ski club advisor, has been attending Camelback for over 25 years. He believes that there is a staffing issue that Camelback is not telling us about. “They’re understaffed, which is not their fault… Sure, that’s an administrative decision to save money. But it seems like with the cuts and Staffing and the type of people they’re hiring, i
t’s just not quite what it used to be.” said Ehasz. This could be the reason that Camelback was not fully operational in addition to snow making difficulties with the given weather.
Fast forward to the 2024-2025 ski season. Everyone had expected a better mountain with more lifts running and more trails open. However once again, the mountain was still mostlyy closed all of December into January.
When I interviewed Mark, a Camelback employee, he said the Stevenson Express lift had failed inspection. Camelback claimed they had to reschedule the state inspection several times but finally got the lift running by the middle of January. Some of the other reasons that we were given for another slow start to the season were water restrictions and cracked pipes.
A Camelback employee said that he believes that snow making would be more efficient if the snow making process was fully automated. Currently crews have to manually turn on and off snow making by attaching the air and water supply. The booms also have to be adjusted to desired location. Staffing shortages make it hard for this process to work well.
Ehasz believes that they are overall short staffed and can’t handle the volume of people. Ehasz believes having more staff will not only solve the issue of there not being enough snow made but students in ski clubs will also be able to be processed more quickly. Many students in a ski group who utilized the RFID card system (the pass they use to get into the lift) had issues. Ehasz observed there were only 2 or 3 staff members to assist hundreds of customers with their RFID card not working.
The Camelback employee expects fully automated snowmaking soon in the future but adds that they will renovate the waterpark first as it is the focus of the resort after it was bought by KSL.
KSL bought Camelback from the Kartrite family back in 2019 for 70 million dollars. I have noticed negative changes when Camelback shifted from a family run business to being run by a corporation. “I feel like the old staff Embodied skiing and snowboarding. Everyone from lift attendants to the ski instructors, to the people that work at the desk were all into the sport but now they turned it into a four season resort.” said Ehasz. This takes away the focus on mountain maintenance and the quality ski experience Camelback once offered. Much of the money is being dumped into the hotel and other facilities leaving the ski experience at Camelback to suffer.
When I asked Camelback various employees questions about how KSL treats the staff and any negative changes they might have noticed, they didn’t provide any information.When I tried to dig further and asked if they might get in trouble with their employer or if KSL told them not to say anything as it would lead to termination they responded with “pretty much.”
Here are things to consider before you go:
- Visit Camelback conditions page to see what is open. Consider your abilities and if there are enough trails open that match your skiing ability to make it worth it for you to pay for a pass on that given day
- Consider getting a twilight pass. Camelback is short staffed and can’t process many people per hour during the day. Wait until after 4pm to get the most runs in per hour. It will also be much cheaper! Additionally pay online to save $15 versus buying a twilight pass in person.
- See if you can borrow a parking pass from a season pass holder to save $40
In conclusion, although Camelback Mountain is not without its problems it could be a fun ski experience if you choose the right time to go with the right pass. I can’t say I haven’t encountered my fair share of issues but I also can’t say I’ve ever had a bad time at Camelback. Once you get past all of the Camelbacks and other issues it is a fun ski area. They have a variety of terrain for varying skill levels and friendly staff. It could be a convenient place to drop in and ski if you have a season pass. The only issue with getting a season pass is the lack of slopes open throughout the season. I would recommend camelback for someone who is not concerned with the conditions or variety of terrain and just wants to get on skis and go!
Here is my breakdown:
Customer Service 6/10
When reaching out to camelback staff is usually friendly but they are hard to get in touch with. Issues with passes take a while to resolve and there are limited staff to help with issues.
Fun Factor 8.5/10
Camelback is fun because of its night ski experience. Few mountains offer night skiing and camelback is one of them. There are some great runs at camelback if they are open!
Cleanliness/Facilities 6/10
At Camelback, the facilities are not dirty but again, there is limited staff to clean when there are thousands of people coming through and dirtying the areas.
Food 5/10
There is pub style food and a food court. The food court is way over priced and low quality. The pub food is more fairly priced but not anything special.
A.M Lines 3/10
It’s hard to get more than 3 runs in an hour during the day. There are not enough lifts for skiers during the day.
P.M Lines 10/10
There are no lines at night!
Terrain Park 3/10
The terrain park is short. It is seldom open.
Trails Maintenance 6/10
Getting trails up and running at camelback is slow! The tails are groomed every night though which is a positive.
Value 4/10
All depending on what pass you get, it could be a good value. However, customers find themselves paying extra money on parking, lockers and food. Rental prices are outrageous and parking is way
overpriced. Its alot of money to spend to go to a mediocre ski experience.
Overall 5.72/10
