Mountain Creek

I love it there. It’s my favorite:)) I am so happy when I’m there. It’s great trails and I feel like I’m in another world. Camel back is great too. But mountain Creek is first;)

A group of us went snow tubing on a weekday. We were one of the first groups there so the snow had not been used. The first few trips down a decent amount of people in our group for injured due to the ice chunks in the wall. Once we got back up we asked a few of the workers why it’s like this and they said the snow is usually never this hard. It is ran but a bunch of kids so don’t expect anything extravagant. By the time the sun set the snow was frozen so people were flying down the mountains. It was definitely a good time and worth 20 $, but I can see where the frustration and disorganization comes into play.

Let me preface this review by saying that some context is in order before I get into the details: My wife and I went skiing here yesterday which was the day after Winter Storm Jonas dumped 2 feet of fresh powder on this resort. We went into the day expecting crowds and lines for lifts, however it was the lack of preparation and inefficient management more than anything that really irked us. My wife and are avid skiers and go upwards of 10 times per year (mostly east coast resorts, but occasionally ski in Colorado), thus we are observers of both efficiently run mountains and inefficient mountains, and Mountain Creek is the latter.
We show up around 8:15, purchased our tickets and took our first run about 8:36am from the Gondola. We noticed the line already backing up on our second run so we asked when they would open the triple chair (which would have taken some of the pressure off the lines on the gondola)…no response. At about 10:00 AM, the triple chair was still not open so we decide to work our way over to the South Peak due to excessive lines at the gondola. We work our way over and after a brief stop in the lodge for a snack, we head back out. South Peak has 2 lifts, so we head to the one with no line. We are stopped in our tracks and told by an employee that this lift is closed for racing until 2PM. Really? Keep in mind this place only has 5 «real» lifts and they decide to close one for most of the day on the busiest days of the year? This essentially forced people to wait in line a half an hour just to get on the other lift (meanwhile folks are watching empty chairs go up on the other lift — utter insanity).
We then work our way over to the middle lift (Appalaichan I think) and the lines had already begun to back up. Again, we expected crowds, however what really infuriated us was that this particular chairlift was a quad, and we noticed the staff sending people up in 2s, and 3s, with the occasional fully occupied chair (4 people). Essentially, no one was efficiently managing the process of loading singles onto the chair lift, which exacerbated the problem. Simple math tells you that if you send 4 people per chair instead of 3, you will be 25% more efficient. The triple chair also had the same problem. We observed many chairs being ridden up with only 2 skiers on the chair. Very frustrating to see when you are waiting 20+ minutes to get on the chairlift.
The saving grace for us was that the snow was amazing. We got their early enough to get several runs in before it became too frustrating to ski. I’m sure our experience would have been a lot better had we gone mid-​week, but overall I think they need to have a «team meeting» on how to run the lifts more efficiently.
That is my $.02.

Would love to go but you can only buy snow tubing tickets on the phone and no body will answer the phone!

Ok, so here’s the deal… Called and ordered a gift card for xmas on 2 December. It’s 21 December and still nothing is received. I figured 19 days is long enough to wait, so I called them up. TALK ABOUT THE RUDEST CUSTOMER SERVICE OF ALL TIME!!! First off, the girl I was talking to wasn’t helping me in the least. Her name was Brooke or something like that. I told her my situation. No help. I asked to speak to a manager. She wouldn’t let me… Ok, that’s not cool. She then told me to print out the email confirmation as proof of the purchase and give that email as the gift because she didn’t know when the actual gift card would be mailed out… I told her that I wouldn’t do that and that was very tacky way to give someone a gift… and it was already 19 days now since I purchased it, so waiting longer wasn’t an option, and apparently there’s no one I can even speak to find out anything! So, at this point, she just transfers me to absolutely nobody… after about 5 minutes, I hung up. I must have been transferred to the black hole and I’m not sure why I even waited that long… So «Brooke» or whatever her name was didn’t even try to help me, I had no choice but to dispute the charge with my bank.
I will tell everyone I know to stay away from this place and spend your money somewhere else for their skiing needs. Besides, the Ski Resorts in the Poconos are nicer anyway. Not one time did «Brooke» try and help me. She saw my charge, but offered no help whatsoever and was completely unprofessional. Maybe they are losing money due to it being spring time weather instead of winter and snow, but whatever is the case, someone needs to have a talking too… Totally unacceptable!!!

This is a mountain where you learn how to progress. I call this mountain home.
The Good:
They have a dope terrain park
Going Monday thru Friday is empty.
They have Shuss and Kink (bars)
The service at both is good and the food is good too ! Don’t even bother going to the cafeteria.
They have beginner slopes.
The bad:
The parking sucks.
Don’t go on weekends it’s a mad house.
It gets icy but hey, it’s New Jersey.
The crowd and some locals and be agro and douchey.
Tips:
Don’t buy the lodge food. It’s over priced and terrible. Your better off ordering pizza from somewhere else and having it delivered or bringing your own food.
The snow conditions are better off the main peak and trails that get less traffic. Get familiar to get most out of your day.
Lots of newbies who stop and sit in the worst part.

Came for Oktoberfest in September… yea take a min to process…
Anyways, we drove up and paid the $ 7 for admission and then it’s a ticket program to buy things inside like a carnival, which is quite appropriate because it is a complete carnival of drunkards once you get inside. So it’s $ 1 a ticket, $ 8 for a plastic cup of beer, $ 20 for a pint, $ 10 for a burger, $ 8 for a pretzel, you get it, buy a lot of tickets.
It had a HUGE array of beer vendors and put me onto some Sam Adams Oktoberfest and Traveler’s Pumpkin which I will forever be grateful. The service from the attendants was great, courteous and fast.
Food was great! There was a GIANT pretzel stand that came with fresh mustard seed sauce. The potato pancakes were excellent as well. They had like 20 pigs roasting as well as stands for burgers, sausage and much more.
During the festival itself there were people of all ages getting hammered. I felt terrible for those who brought there small children, as it seems extremely dangerous to have small kids in crowd of drunks carrying giant glass pints. At one point a lost toddler stopped the wife carrying game because on one could find her parents. So I would seriously consider leaving the kids with grandma if you decide to venture over.
Overall, the couples and athletic games were super entertaining to watch and food was great. The stars off were for the fact that beer was a bit too pricey for a beerfest and that there were way too many drunks on top of a mountain. I seriously don’t know how people didn’t end up hurt or how that many people got home. I get that it’s a beerfest, but considering the location being in the middle of nowhere, I think more regard should’ve been given to safety.

Honestly the mountain is ok at the very best. I had some good experiences here but the last time I went here I looked online and it said 3 lifts were open and 10 trails. When I got there 1 lift was open and 3 trails. It was so packed and when o went to speak with the manager she was so rude and pretty much told me she doesn’t care about my opinion. The pizza in the restaurant is good though so that’s why I give this place 2 stars and not 1.

Grew up going to Creek so I thought it was pretty nice… till I hit up some of the bigger mountains up in VT. Those will absolutely ruin Creek or Frost or Camelback for you. The slopes here are ok but pretty short. They will often have really good deals that you should look out for. Went a couple weeks ago for their Carload Thursdays ($ 100 for lift tickets for the whole car, up to 10 people), which is an insanely good deal especially if you have your own equipment.
Food area was recently redone and it’s a lot better than before but still what you’d normally expect from ski places: basically overpriced school lunch food. There’s a bar upstairs though which is nice.

It’s snowboarding season!
Mountain Creek is by far the easiest mountain to get to, if you are from the tri-​state area. My party tried out Snowtubing and Twilight Snowboarding.
Snowtubing was really alright and this activity caters more to children. You get a two-​hour session for your ticket purchase. As an adult, it was still fun but only for the first few runs. There is a long line and wait up the conveyor since there are many people during weekends. From the top of the hill, you have to wait until the bottom clears before you slide down. The hill is very small so the slide down is quick. Do it at least once in your life!
Twilight Snowboarding means that you are buying a lift ticket for sundown, after hours snowboarding session. The mountains will be lighten up by street-​light bulbs. It was surprisingly still very crowded at this time. This is an extremely crowded mountain due to its proximity to the city. The mountain is not too difficult for beginners like me but it does take courage to ride in the dim lights with icy paths.
Overall, an okay mountain. This is recommended for night owls who prefer night snowboarding.

When I picked up snowboarding a few years ago, Mountain Creek became my go-​to slopes because it’s close to home (about an hour drive).
1) The prices aren’t too bad, especially if you plan accordingly. They have a lot of deals available throughout the season, especially for students and groups. And I recently found out you can rent equipment from there for the whole season, too!
2) As a beginner-​intermediate snowboarder, I think there’s a good variety of slopes for all different levels. There’s 2 peaks, lots of trails, and terrain parks. And if it’s your first time, the instructors are pretty good (I’ve taken a few lessons) at teaching you the basics.
3) The food is decent, but can be a bit pricey. My favorite is the chicken tenders with fries and a cold pint. You can also bring you’re own food and eat in the cafeteria. However, there’s no microwave and they will charge you even for just a cup of hot water. So if you decide to bring your own lunch, keep it simple with like a sandwich or something.
4) Customer service is so-​so. I’ve had interactions with some really strict employees, apathetic or unknowledgable employees, and some super friendly and helpful employees. It’s such a big place and so many different levels of employees that I can’t really say it’s one way or the other. It just depends on what you need customer service for and who you talk to.
To me, the most important factor is WHEN you go. The best time is early morning to early afternoon because there isn’t too many people and the snow is still pretty decent. By mid afternoon, the slopes are straight up ice. And definitely try to go during the week if you can because I find the lines and crowds absolutely unbearable on the weekends and holidays. The last time I went on a holiday weekend, my niece and I waited over two hours to get her rentals. Otherwise, have fun!

Pretty much the go-​to mountain in NJ. The conditions are pretty decent if you ride during the day when the sun is out. Once the sun goes down the trails are full of ice. Weekends are always packed.
They do have various places to eat if hungry after riding. I personally like the waffle stands they have outside by the cabriolet. They are warm and crispy and especially delicious if you get the chocolate topping.
Overall a a good time for some winter play.

Mountain Creek is the college kid’s best friend.
I often come on wednesdays when they have deals for cheap tickets on top of all the other deals which could be found on their discounts tab on the website.
Conditions are subjective to the person and even during icy times, the trails are easily carvable and for such a decent price and small mountain you cant complain! About an 90 minute drive from the city, Mountain Creek has been a great place to come with friends and shred the slopes. Their beginner and intermediate terrain parks are great for learning purposes. Though trails may be limited and traffic may be extremely high at times especially on the green ones, many people may have trouble enjoying themselves.
The south side of Mountain Creek is often overlooked but it is a great place for people who enjoy terrain park boxes and ramps while carving every so often. Avoid coming on weekends if you want to learn how to board because it can get very crowded and frustrating just to even get on the lift.

Mountain Creek is a small east coast mountain, but serves a convenient purpose, being just an hour and half from New York City. There are 2 sides to the resort, South Peak and Vernon Peak. South Peak is the terrain park side with trails that include a fair amount of jumps of all sizes, rails, and boxes. Vernon peak is more for people who just want to ride.
Most of the time, Mountain Creek you’ll be skiing or snowboarding on just man-​made snow, except for those several times a year when you come after a snow. They are open until 10pm, which is a positive. But it’s also a negative because conditions will get icier as it gets later because you have a full day of people just brushing all the new made snow away, and it becomes colder.

Mountain Creek is my go-​to mountain for two simple reasons. It’s cheap (if you can snag a Triple Play card for $ 99) and it’s close to NYC (less than an hour). Other than those two features, I’d pick another mountain any day over Mountain Creek simply because it’s very small and way too crowded.
Keeping this review short and simple. Small, crowded, close, cheap. Get there when it opens for some good runs before it gets too crowded on weekends.

This place tries hard and has some great snow making and good terrain so close to NYC and would be a great place to ski midweek with kids … weekends are jam (and I mean JAM) packed.
In my opinion, the high speed 8 person stand up lift is great but gets crowded (lines still move fairly quickly). Escape to the Granite quad chair to avoid some of the crowds on weekends.
Be prepared to be pushed around like while walking on a busy NYC street while skiing here on weekends. Skiers and snowboarders here have absolutely no etiquette and are rather obnoxious. I never skied with a helmet until I came here as I feel safer — some of the runs seem like a free-​for-​all with so many skiers and snowboarders.
Night skiing can be fun here as well but be prepared for sharp elbows.
Oh well, it’s only 1.5 hours from NYC so what did you expect?

This was my first ski trip ever. This place was not too far from the city. Overall, it was a pretty good experience. My husband and I bought the «Go Ski» package. I printed a coupon from the internet but found out it was for 2013 when we got there. However, in the coupon, it didn’t mention the year but rather Jan 1 — 31. I didn’t feel like arguing and driving back home without trying this place.
The food in the Market (cafeteria) was very bad. Overpriced and poor quality. It smelt like smelly feet in the locker room.

For my first time snowboarding ever… this place wasn’t a bad mountain. I assume it would have been better if the weather conditions were better, but they weren’t. So man made snow wasn’t bad either — but it was warm (think high 50’s) and the snow was slushy and people were flying down the bunny slopes and i nearly got killed.
But all in all it wasn’t bad… just a few days after the trip i’m still sore — but at least i know where to focus my energies in the gym to strengthen to make the pain less painful haha.

Skiing is by far my favorite sport, so it isn’t often that I trash talk a ski resort, but with litter everywhere, terribly overpriced food, and a general «we don’t give a s%#t» staff mantra, Mountain Creek seems right at home in the great state of New Jersey.
Friends and I came here on a Saturday and managed to snag some $ 25 lift tickets by signing up for a special banked slalom race (think motocross but on snow). The sun was out and the conditions were great, but sadly, that’s where it ended. While taking rides up the open-​aired cabriolet and skiing Vernon peak was both organized and enjoyable, South and Bear Peaks were like the wild wild west… Douchy snowboarders constantly cutting the lift lines, lift operators that REPEATEDLY sent up quad chairs with 1 and 2 passengers rather than filling them to capacity (and thus moving the lines faster), and empty beer cans literally everywhere — under the liftlines, on the trails… all over the place.
But that’s nothing. The South Peak lift has an emergency lane for ski patrol, but the park crew decided to use that lane for faster access to the chair for the special race — fine by me, but when I noticed that two of them IN UNIFORM were carrying and drinking open PBR tall boys and pointed that out to the actual ski patroller carrying a sled who happened to be on line right behind them, his response was priceless.
«Yeah, I uhhh have no idea… its not our problem»
I’m still in shock as to everything I’ve witnessed, as there just seems to be no enforcement of anything. Either no one is doing their jobs correctly, or the bar is set this low by terrible management… even something as simple as a «please don’t smoke while on line» sign goes completely ignored. How about just saying «no smoking» like they do in baseball stadiums, or the airplane I’m sitting on right now? I couldn’t imagine what would happen to someone who broke the rules in those places, but it seems to be chaos as usual in dirty Jersey…
I brought this to the attention of guest services (after waiting on line for close to 20 minutes). Travis was sympathetic enough to my concerns and offered me «dinner» for my group. After telling him we were three, he handed us two $ 10 vouchers, which was enough to get us about four ounces of chili (good, but waaaay too small for the $ 8 price tag), and a foil-​wrapped burger with a bun so hard it literally snapped in half as we were unwrapping it (yeah, we exchanged it obviously). Needless to say, we ate a proper meal back in New York.
The $ 25 lift tickets that day certainly sweetened the deal, and the skiing itself was nice, but I couldn’t help but laugh at all the condo ownership, hotel (there are two), and spa ads all over the place. We could barely tolerate skiing here, let alone the horror of staying or (gasp) OWNING here!
Having said all this, I’m rooting for Mountain Creek, believe it or not. It’s just an hour away from NYC, they have fun terrain parks and night skiing, and the relaxing base area lodges are newly renovated and spiffy. Sadly though, they are FAR away from being a destination for me, until they really get their act together across the board.

Cheap thrills. What do you expect?
Mountain Creek is about an hour and a half from the city. It’s convenient and has a lot to offer: skiing, snowboarding, snow tubing, a water park in the summer, and zip lining. There is also a lodge and a hotel resort for those who feel that one day at Mountain Creek is not enough. The digs look pretty fancy.
I specifically went to Mountain Creek for snow tubing. It costs $ 25/​pp for a two hour session. Coupons were available online but not applicable if you make a reservation for snow tubing over the phone. There is no other way to reserve and the website said reservations are encouraged since sessions sell out. We didn’t want to take the chance of waiting a few hours so we booked in advance.
When we got to Mountain Creek around noon the parking lots were already filled so we drove down the road to park in another free lot. Luckily there is a free shuttle to take you from place to place. Or, you can choose to walk to the main lodge and slopes.
I’m not sure how many tickets they sell for snow tubing per hour but the spacing and amount of people were just fine. After lunch, the crowd increased severely but it was never more than a 10 minute wait to go down the slope. All in all, the process takes about 15 minutes per run. Five minutes to go up the conveyer belt and 10 minutes in line. We found it much more enjoyable to go down in pairs. Solo, the ride is faster but you also run the risk of getting stuck at each hill if you don’t weigh enough to propel you down the mountain.
Snow tubing was great fun for all ages. Wearing waterproof or ski pants is highly recommended. I saw a number of people with soggy jeans and sweats and ripped jeans. A cold booty makes the weather temperatures feel so much colder.
At the base of the mountain is a little concession stand and a fire pit. It was perfect for making smores. They sold kits for $ 1.99. It was a good deal because it came with about 5 marshmallows. Perfect for sharing.
Our snow tubing ticket came with complimentary Soaring Eagle rides. That was a nice bonus and perfectly safe, if not just a tad bit terrifying. We were able to go to guest services and redeem our discount coupons bringing down the snow tubing cost to $ 22/​pp. I was thankful for that. Keep in mind that if you make reservations over the phone, there are no cancellations or refunds. We were down one person on the day of and had to eat the cost. Also, you should check your credit card statement immediately after making reservations. Mountain Creek made a mistake on ours and charged us for an extra ticket. They immediately reversed the charge once we called back to complain.
Mountain Creek can get pretty crowded but they do a pretty good job of running the place. It’s not perfect but overall a nice place to bring the family to and have some good old fun.
Dress warm!