Montage Mountain Ski Resort, near Scranton, Pennsylvania, opened in 1984 after development backed by public and private financing on land bought in 1979. Rising to 1,960 feet with a 1,000-foot vertical drop, it is tied for Pennsylvania’s third-highest vertical and became known for especially steep terrain after the 1987 opening of the experts-only North Face complex. White Lightning later emerged as its signature run and is noted as the second steepest trail in the Eastern United States. Ownership changed several times from the nonprofit Montage, Inc. to county and private owners, while the mountain grew into a year-round destination with skiing, snowboarding, tubing, and a summer waterpark.