In the 1950s, when developers were working to expand the original solitary ski run, they negotiated with the then Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Resources for permission to use a small portion of the state park for the ski area in exchange for $1 a year and the obligation to maintain the entire park.[1]
Camelback Mountain reaches an elevation of 2,133 feet (650 m). There are 166 acres (67 hectares) of skiing & snowboarding terrain. The resort has a total of 39 slopes; the longest is the Nile Mile, at .88 miles. It features a vertical drop of 800 ft (244 m), two terrain parks, 16 lifts, including a high speed detachable chairlifts the Stevenson Express, and the new Black Bear 6 lift. The mountain summit receives an average of 50 in (127 cm) of snowfall each winter. It has snowmaking facilities on ski slopes, primarily relying on portable snow guns to create snow, and is 100% lit for night skiing.[2]
Camelback has over 40 snow tubing lanes, making it the largest snow tubing park in the nation.
In May 2015, Camelback opened their 453 room hotel, which includes both suites and condos, and Aquatopia Indoor Waterpark. Additional attractions were added with Camelback Mountain Adventures, which features a 4500' mountain coaster and multiple ziplines.
Aquatopia Indoor Waterpark was opened in 2015. Aquatopia was voted the #1 Indoor Waterpark in the country by USA Today in 2015, 2018, 2019, and 2022. The indoor park is open year-round while the outdoor park, Camelbeach Waterpark is open only in the summer. Aquatopia includes over 37 waterslides, the most in Pennsylvania, including four body slides, a mat slide, five tube slides and four raft rides, in addition to a 30,000-square-foot (2,800 m2) wave pool, lazy river, a children's play area, and a full-sized competition pool. Aquatopia also features the FlowRider, a wave riding pool for surfing and boogie boarding. In 2022, Aquatopia added a new slide, Mountain Mayhem, which offers a virtual reality experience.
Camelbeach offers similar slides with the newest addition, Rival Racer, opening in the summer of 2023 for their 25th anniversary season.
Camelback Mountain Adventures offers 1,000 ft (300 m) of zipline, 4,000 ft (1,200 m) ZipFlyer, Mountain Segways, UTVs, and a 4500' Mountain Coaster. Camelback Mountain Adventures are open between spring and fall with the mountain coaster operating in the winter depending on snowfall.
According to the Trewartha climate classification system, Camelback Mountain Resort has a Temperate Continental climate (Dc) with warm summers (b), cold winters (o) and year-around precipitation (Dcbo). Dcbo climates are characterized by at least one month having an average mean temperature ≤ 32.0 °F (0.0 °C), four to seven months with an average mean temperature ≥ 50.0 °F (10.0 °C), all months with an average mean temperature < 72.0 °F (22.2 °C) and no significant precipitation difference between seasons. Although most summer days are comfortably humid at Camelback Mountain Resort, episodes of heat and high humidity can occur with heat index values > 93 °F (34 °C). Since 1981, the highest air temperature was 95.4 °F (35.2 °C) on 07/22/2011, and the highest daily average mean dew point was 70.7 °F (21.5 °C) on 08/01/2006. July is the peak month for thunderstorm activity which correlates with the average warmest month of the year. The wettest month of the year is September which correlates with tropical storm remnants during the peak of the Atlantic hurricane season. Since 1981, the wettest calendar day was 6.77 inches (172 mm) on 09/30/2010. During the winter months, the plant hardiness zone is 6a with an average annual extreme minimum air temperature of −9.4 °F (−23.0 °C).[6] Since 1981, the coldest air temperature was −21.6 °F (−29.8 °C) on 01/21/1994. Episodes of extreme cold and wind can occur with wind chill values < −22 °F (−30 °C). The average snowiest month is January which correlates with the average coldest month of the year. Ice storms and large snowstorms depositing ≥ 12 inches (30 cm) of snow occur nearly every year, particularly during nor’easters from December through March.
Climate data for Camelback Mountain Resort, Elevation 1,883 ft (574 m), 1981-2010 normals, extremes 1981-2018
According to the A. W. Kuchler U.S. potential natural vegetation types, Camelback Mountain Resort would have transient dominant vegetation types of Northern Hardwood (106) and Appalachian Oak (104) with transient dominant vegetation forms of Northern hardwood forest (26) and Eastern Hardwood Forest (25).[8] The peak spring bloom typically occurs in late-April and early-May and peak fall color usually occurs from early-to-mid October. The plant hardiness zone is 6a with an average annual extreme minimum air temperature of −9.4 °F (−23.0 °C).[6]
