Belleayre: December 22, 2007

[adamti91]

Belleayre Mountain, December 22, 2007:

Introduction: Got up to the mountain at around 10, first time I've been up since the 8th, and I wanted to get a day in before this tornado comes through tomorrow.

Weapon of Choice: Endeavor Colour 156

Conditions: Almost all trails were open, and the ones that weren't had been poached to death by the end of the day anyway. Started off on Superchief, hit up Onondaga and Wannatuska (which no longer has moguls on it, real nice...). Soft groomed on most trails. Made my way to Lift 7, down the switchback trail to the right of the lift and then I was off to Tomahawk. Hit up Deer Run but it was pretty boring since I didn't go in the woods at all (I think I'm going to wait for the next storm because those woods have a lot of obstacles right now), took a run on Dot Nebel and cut back over to Superchief trying to find some friends. Met up with someone, took some runs down Belleayre Run and Roaring Brook and looked for a place to toke up. Went into the woods near Onondaga, so perfect. Came out of the woods feeling pretty good and did laps through freshies in there almost all day, stopping once or twice to get some more... inspiration with some other friends we met up with. On our way out of the woods we saw an old couple smoking a joint too, right on the trail. I guess smoking on the mountain is pretty popular, I've seen people you wouldn't expect smoked toke up all the time. Took some runs down Onteora and Wannatuska, the glades to the right of Belleayre Run were OK, but they got a little icy near the end of the day. There is a table in the rail park and the boxes stayed pretty nice all day. Headed over to Tomahawk one last time, hit up the old T-Bar lift line which had been pretty tracked out already, but there were still some freshies to be found. Headed back for the woodsy Onondaga goodness for a few more runs and finished the day off with a hot ramen in the lodge (cost? 59 cents.... lunch at Belleayre? 10 bucks).

Weather: Cloudy, cold but it warmed up.

Lifts: Ride on on Tomahawk, a few minutes on Lift 7, Superchief was a mixed bag all day. No wait around lunch time but the after-lunch crowd made the lines pretty long (which is when I usually head over to Tomahawk).

Notes: Snowmaking on upper Yahoo and Seneca, the mountain should be fully open soon barring this storm tomorrow just destroying the world.

Rating: 10/10

Conclusion: Amazing.

[ERJ-145CA]

Yeah, Belleayre was great yesterday too. I'll hopefully get there later next week, give them a few days to recover from the monsoon tommorrow.

[Method9455]

I was up wednesday and it was great, if they don't get murdered by this storm it will probably actually be good for the snow, make it a little wetter and it will freeze up and be a good base for future storms. If it starts washing/melting stuff away that would suck.

[thinnmann]

I was there too. I didn't wait in one line all day, however - guess I was lucky. Virtually right up to the chair every time. O, there were some noob lifties at Tomahawk that actually slowed things down for maybe one or two loads during early PM. Gosh, all you gotta do is count to 4... and if you are gonna yell at somebody (not me) for being in the wrong line, at least make them go to the back or hold them up longer or something, don't just pair them up and let 'em load - either that, or just don't waste time saying anything.

Got some pics and vid, but they are still in the camera.

And I just called friends in Margaretville... It was like 45 degrees and raining. Hope I didn't jinx the whole holiday week by doing something last week I have not done in a bunch of years: buying snow tires.

As a matter of fact, as I was riding Superchief with my buddy, thinking of the pic below from MLK weekend 2007, I said, "This is great - remember what this looked like last year?"

[thinnmann]

Originally Posted by adamti91

Almost all trails were open, and the ones that weren't had been poached to death by the end of the day anyway....

...the mountain should be fully open soon barring this storm tomorrow just destroying the world.

Rating: 10/10

Conclusion: Amazing.

For the people who missed it yesterday, odds are on world destruction

Here are my pics from December 22.

Here are the vids:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6twuH2yVhVI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4NaHEy1MQBA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwLEG0sCrWk

[skidbump]

Was there today..Most natural terrain trials were down to dirt in troughs..Man made trails were holding nice,snow was soft as butter.

[Method9455]

Originally Posted by skidbump

Was there today..Most natural terrain trials were down to dirt in troughs..Man made trails were holding nice,snow was soft as butter.

Meaning the troughs where dirt but the rest was still snow? that isn't too bad, a few strategically placed guns could open stuff up again without too much expense

[MarkC]

An inch of rain with a 30 degree temp drop overnight will make for some interesting conditions in the morning. Lets just hope that it does not get worse than this.

[billski]

Originally Posted by MarkC

An inch of rain with a 30 degree temp drop overnight will make for some interesting conditions in the morning. Lets just hope that it does not get worse than this.

I hate the word "interesting"; I know exactly what you are talking about. Think I'll go work on the garden for a couple of days. It's kinda good some of us have Christmas to distract us for a while. Maybe there will be a killer ski shop sale on Dec 26th.... Still, I'm heading out there somewhere this week.