Pocono News Section

From Slopes to Slides

From Slopes to Slides - Friday, May 7, 2010 at 04:02AM EST

Reported by: Laurie Monteforte
Friday May 07 2010
TANNERSVILLE, MONROE COUNTY - It takes a lot of work to go from ski boots to swimsuits. And it all starts the day ski season ends. "There's no break at all," laughed Megan Mchugh. She's in charge of marketing at the resort.

Mchugh said the transition from ski slopes to water slides started early last month. She added, "The snow does not melt fast enough for us. So we have to push the snow out of the way."

They replace that snow with tons of sand. Then the staff paints, polishes, builds and cleans.

Many summer employees are also winter workers. They include Wayne Franks Junior. In summer he runs the water-park. In winter he runs ski lift operations. He said, "It's a great employment opportunity where we get to wear different hats." He added, "You don't get the same type of work every single day."

And there is plenty of work to do. So much that Camelbeach expects to hire about 600 seasonal employees this summer. Mchugh said, " we try to get as many people as we can who are local to work here to support the economy." Workers have even more to do this spring because the mountain is opening a new attraction. It's an adventure park. Mchugh explained, "[It] is kind of more for the adventure seeker." It will include a ropes course - bungee jumping and zip lines.

Camelback expects to hire eighty people to fill jobs there.

Camelbeach is scheduled to open Memorial Day weekend. Managers are still accepting applications.