Montage Mountain Ski Area
Overview
Montage Mountain has a reputation in Pennsylvania skiing circles that outsizes its overall footprint. The resort near Scranton opened to the public in December 1984, after construction started that January, and while its 304.6m vertical drop — from a 286.8m base to a 591.4m summit — is unremarkable next to the big Rocky Mountain names, its steepest terrain is not: White Lightning is reported to be the second-steepest trail in the Eastern United States, and the resort’s North Face section carries the steepest skiing anywhere in Pennsylvania. For a state without real mountains by western standards, that’s a genuine point of pride.
The rest of the mountain is more conventional. Twenty-five runs cover 9.93km, with 4.32km intermediate forming the core and 2.4km advanced backing up the steep-terrain reputation, while 2.92km easy and 0.3km novice give newer skiers somewhere to start. Six lifts handle the traffic, five chairlifts and a magic carpet, with 100% snowmaking and full night skiing keeping the resort in reliable operation through a Pennsylvania winter. Ownership has moved around more than the terrain has: the original nonprofit developer ran it from 1984 to 1991, Lackawanna County took over from 1991 to 2006, Sno Mountain LP ran it from 2006 until a 2012 bankruptcy, and Jefferson-Werner has owned it since 2013. In summer, the same hillside runs a waterpark operation.
Montage carries two Indy Pass affiliations — the Indy Base Pass, good for two days here with blackout dates, and the uncapped Indy+ Pass, also two days but without blackouts — putting it within reach of pass holders traveling through northeastern Pennsylvania. Its location is a genuine convenience: Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport sits just 5.3km from the resort, an unusually short hop for a ski area anywhere in the country, though most visitors driving in from farther afield come via Allentown, 84.1km away, or the New Jersey metro corridor beyond it.
At roughly 44% intermediate and 24% advanced, Montage carries a noticeably steeper overall terrain profile than many of the other Pennsylvania and Poconos-area resorts it competes with for the Scranton and Wilkes-Barre market, which tracks with its two headline steep runs, White Lightning and North Face. Only 2.92km easy and a small 0.3km novice section round out the beginner side, suggesting a mountain that expects visiting skiers to already have some experience rather than one built primarily around first-timer lesson traffic.
Six lifts serving 25 runs across 9.93km works out to roughly 4.2 runs and 1.65km of terrain per lift, a moderately dense layout that, combined with the resort’s steep-terrain reputation, points toward a mountain that packs a fair amount of vertical variety into a compact overall footprint rather than spreading a similar amount of terrain across a much larger area the way some Western resorts do.
Key stats
Official website — Last checked 2026-09-13
Lifts by type
| Type | Count |
|---|---|
| chair lift | 5 |
| magic carpet | 1 |
Runs by difficulty
| Difficulty | Distance |
|---|---|
| easy | 2.92 km |
| novice | 0.3 km |
| advanced | 2.4 km |
| intermediate | 4.32 km |
Maps
View official Montage Mountain Ski Area trail map (PDF) →
Run & lift overview
Montage Mountain Ski Area: 55 runs, 6 lifts. A schematic built from OpenStreetMap/OpenSkiMap data — this is not Montage Mountain Ski Area's official trail map. © OpenStreetMap contributors, OpenSkiMap (ODbL).
Typical conditions by month
Monthly conditions data for Montage Mountain Ski Area is not yet available.
Lift tickets & passes
- Indy Base Pass — 2 All-Day or All-Night tickets per resort; blackout dates apply (exact 26/27 holiday blackout dates not yet finalized as of verified_date)
- Indy+ Pass — 2 All-Day or All-Night tickets per resort, no blackout dates
Getting there
Nearest airports
- Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport (AVP) — 5.3 km straight-line
- Lehigh Valley International Airport (ABE) — 80.2 km straight-line
- Greater Binghamton/Edwin A Link field (BGM) — 98.6 km straight-line
Nearest cities
- Allentown, Pennsylvania — 84.1 km straight-line
- Paterson, New Jersey — 134.2 km straight-line
- Edison, New Jersey — 140.3 km straight-line
Also covered by
Where to stay
A dedicated lodging guide for Montage Mountain Ski Area is not yet available.
Nearby resorts
- Elk Mountain Ski Resort — 42 km straight-line, 276.8 m vertical
- Camelback Mountain Resort — 43 km straight-line, 245 m vertical
- Shawnee Mountain — 60 km straight-line, 204 m vertical
- Blue Mountain Resort — 61 km straight-line, 328.2 m vertical
- Mountain Creek — 98 km straight-line, 305 m vertical
FAQ
- How big is Montage Mountain Ski Area?
- Montage Mountain has a 286.8m base and a 591.4m summit, a 304.6m vertical drop, with 25 runs covering 9.93km. Six lifts serve the mountain: five chairlifts and a magic carpet.
- Is Montage Mountain known for steep terrain?
- Yes, disproportionately for its size — White Lightning is reported to be the second-steepest trail in the Eastern United States, and the resort's North Face section is billed as the steepest skiing in Pennsylvania.
- Is Montage Mountain good for beginners?
- There's a beginner base of 2.92km easy plus 0.3km novice, but the mountain leans more toward the middle and top of the difficulty scale, with 4.32km intermediate and 2.4km advanced.
- How old is Montage Mountain Ski Area?
- Construction began in January 1984 and the resort opened to the public that December. Ownership has changed hands several times since — from the original nonprofit developer to Lackawanna County, then Sno Mountain LP (which went bankrupt in 2012), and Jefferson-Werner, the current owner since 2013.
- Which pass covers Montage Mountain Ski Area?
- Montage Mountain is on both the Indy Base Pass (two days per season, blackout dates apply) and the uncapped Indy+ Pass (two days per season, no blackouts).
- Does Montage Mountain have night skiing?
- Yes, night skiing runs across the full trail network alongside 100% snowmaking coverage, plus two terrain parks.
- What's the nearest airport to Montage Mountain Ski Area?
- Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International (AVP) is exceptionally close at just 5.3km, with Lehigh Valley International (ABE) at 80.2km and Greater Binghamton (BGM) at 98.6km.
- How does Montage Mountain's terrain break down by difficulty?
- Of the resort's 9.93km, 4.32km is intermediate, 2.92km easy, 2.4km advanced, and 0.3km novice — roughly 44% intermediate and 24% advanced, a heavier concentration of steeper terrain than the state's other Poconos-area resorts.
Data sources
Last verified: 2026-09-15
- https://www.montagemountainresorts.com/winterhome/
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montage_Mountain_Ski_Resort
Base facts from OpenSkiMap (ODbL), OpenStreetMap contributors, Wikidata (CC0), OurAirports (public domain) and GeoNames (CC BY 4.0). See /data-sources/.