Belleayre trees, 3/15-16/14

They should rename Belleayre "Surprise Mountain," as it routinely defies the weather forecasts.
On Saturday the forecast called for sprinkles in the a.m., then clearing. It did neither. Squalls brought snow on & off all day, starting with "dippn' dots" type snow to huge snowflake snow, in varying intensity. The morning's crispy surface softened as the temps climbed into the upper 30s, converting the mogul runs to springlike conditions.
One thing I never expected was the trees to be in skiable condition but when I spied some boarders sneaking into an opening off upper Mohawk, I decided to dip a toe in and test the waters. What we found was gorgeous- a firm base supporting a soft edgeable top layer. From there it was off to the races. We skied mostly west of Superchief.




She's on typical carving skis, not fat boards. Impromptu ski pole measurements revealed depths of 18" to 22" of natural snow.

Around 3 o'clock the heavens began puking snow:


Temps plummeted overnight, so I expected the freeze to eliminate the tree option on Sunday. But surprise again- Saturday's squalls left 2" of fresh on top of a firm base. The temp didn't get above 20, but the sun was out all day long. While the trails were getting packed down more and more as the day wore on, I continually found fresh lines everywhere off piste. I skied mostly east of Superchief on Sunday:

More pics from Sunday:











Lift lines were minimal to nonexistent both days, meaning we got lots of runs in on a perfect tree skiing weekend. What a bonus.

Looks like the base held up pretty well!

I'm impressed considering the pounding the Catskills took from the rain and recent thaws and freezes over the past week. Glad it worked out!

I couldn't believe how good it was. As soon as we emerged from the trees we'd race to the lift to go back up for more, in serious need of another fix.

nice woods

Funny how those signs said closed but I agree the trees were better than the moguls. We did the moguls several times off Mohawk, I think half groomed half moguls, that day also. Drove down from Albany thought it might rain as temp was 40+ it did on the drive down but never while we were there. Funny kids were calling it dippin dots snow. Saw what looked to be a nasty collision several ski patrol on scene - a couple ambulances. You just never know what you are gonna get kind like a box of chocolates! It was a good day!

fahz said:

Funny how those signs said closed but I agree the trees were better than the moguls.

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The closed areas were the official "glades" on the map like Winisook & Belleayre Glades. We didn't go in there. Instead, we stuck to places like Cathedral Glen, natural areas that weren't closed off.

eioTrees lpok like a blast. i glad you go t some good stuff this weekend. Sunday at Hunter was firm. Sat at MC it got warm which was awesoke. Is that gour daughter , maybe soke day i meet you all in the CTsk i dont always go to Roxbury. i might go to Bell if i knew were the trees were good i went twice this gear. I think Bell and Roxbury bith got snow on Sat im vlad you their for it. you plan trips to Hunter this spring i have spring pass their i meet some cool a zonesrs their dont worry i refranrn from MJ around you lol.

ScottySkis said:

eioTrees lpok like a blast. i glad you go t some good stuff this weekend. Sunday at Hunter was firm. Sat at MC it got warm which was awesoke. Is that gour daughter , maybe soke day i meet you all in the CTsk i dont always go to Roxbury. i might go to Bell if i knew were the trees were good i went twice this gear. I think Bell and Roxbury bith got snow on Sat im vlad you their for it. you plan trips to Hunter this spring i have spring pass their i meet some cool a zonesrs their dont worry i refranrn from MJ around you lol.

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Being that the 3 mountains are so close you'd assume they all have the same conditions, but in reality many times they don't. Belle's upper mountain seems to have its own micro-climate. Anyway, we just lucked out this weekend- totally unexpected.
The lady in the pics is an old friend who was there on Saturday. My daughter says she wants to go up for a day, which I'm looking forward to. Let me know when you'll be there, maybe we can get some runs in.

Nice pictures! It seems like there was a decent amount of coverage in there, definitely enough to be ski-able. I would love to be in there too!

I've been to Belleayre a couple of times where it was raining my whole ride there and as I drove up the road it changed to snow and snowed all day.