So.....learn me about Windham

[Greg]

Gonna give Windham a shot at some point this season. Never been. What are the signauture trails/runs? Any suggested plan of attack?

 

[ERJ-145CA]

I haven't been to Windham yet but I usually find some good info about new areas on this site:

http://www.skiernet.com/ski_ny.html
http://www.skiernet.com

 

[RIDEr]

Ok, I typically go there about 3-5 times a year if I get sick of going to Hunter, Plattekill and Belleayre when visiting the Catskills. With the addition of the Winter Card by Hunter and Windham this year I am guaranteed to go there at least twice...

With that said, you want to start on Whirlwind Express quad and immediately head right... avoid The Wall... You can enjoy the vertical on this run, but it is absolutely too short... but, worth it should you want a warm up run since you will be skiing a intermediate run all the way down afterwards...

Skiing the runs on Upper Wolverine and Upper Wheelchair have a nice open Catskills version of the double diamond run that you can get a few runs on without worrying about getting bored. The Wedel and Upper WipeOut runs a little farther are nice, but require you to ski up a small slope to get to... plus, these trails require more natural snow then man made...

Along the East Peak Express Quad, you have a few runs to enjoy. These trails are best when there is natural snow since there are a few cliffs jumps off of Wing'n It to enjoy...

Overall, there are a few gems around the mountain that have some great ungroomed and gladed areas when there is some good natural snow...

 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

Windham is steep on the upper half and flat on the lower half...all their trails start with the letter W..while Hunter is a haven for bump skiers and young single partiers..Windham is know as a low key family mountain..they have Nastar racing, a decent terrain park..and quite a few twisting trails up to 2.5 miles in length. Their vert is deceiving..They claim 1600 vert..and 1550 on the Whirlwind express and I got 1280 for that lift on my Avocet..I've skied Windham a total of 4 days...but my first "Big Mountain" ski trip outside of PA was with my Dad at Windham back in 1993...A two day, two night trip...we started planning the trip in August and we went the last weekend in February and the anticipation killed me. Belleayre and Hunter have steeper/gnarlier runs for sure but Windham is worth a visit for sure..

 

[SKIQUATTRO]

I like Hunter Midweek, Windham on the weekends.....been up there 3 times, quick day trip from the Island....its a small mtn so you can hit the whole thing in a day and then some....i ususally go where the sun is shining in the mornings, other than that there really dosent need to be a 'game plan' for Windham....just ski it, you'll hit everything!

 

[andyzee]

Proper English Greg, proper English!

 

[amf]

I've always enjoyed the hill. Nice lodge, not quite as rat-packed as Hunter. Of course, I've never gone on a weekend. I like the trail layout better than Hunter. The BIGGEST thing I like about it is the aspect of the hill. When the main face goes into shade in the afternoon, the second peak is still getting full sun.

amf

 

[C2H5OH]

I go there once or twice a year. Take the triple to the top, it's slower, but no lines:

 

[drewfidelic]

One thing to be aware of is that the ski area has a northern exposure, so it doesn't get a whole lot of sunlight-- especially in December/January.

On a weekend, it may not get the same crowds as Hunter, but it doesn't have the trail capacity to absorb the same amount of crowds-- on busy days Windham feels busy. I haven't skied there since they've added the 2nd high-speed quad, which may affect the way that the mountain skis. That part of the mountain has nice cruisers with a more consistent pitch than the main face, which has some decently steep pitches, but only in short spurts. Of those, Wedel and Wheelchair are usually allowed to bump up, while Wolverine has been groomed the last number of times I've skied there (usually a couple of days per year.)

On a weekday, expect a good deal of flat/uphill traversing to get from A-lift to Wedel/Wheelchair (on a weekend, the double chair from 1/3 the way up the mountain is a better option for getting to the skier's left side of the mountain.)
________
VAPORIZER WATER FILTER

 

[jamesdeluxe]

Windham doesn't get much ink around here, so here's an article of mine that went online this week. Sorry, no earthshaking exclusives or news about the current Catskill turf wars... it's based on a two-day family trip, which is what it does best.

 

[ed-drum]

Snow conditions at Windham are varied. Good days and bad days. The lodge is nice, especially that is the only lodge around here with a bathroom on the same floor so you don't risk your life on stairs with boots on. The food is expensive, but has a good selection unlike Belleayre which has crappy hot dogs and burgers. The terrain caters to intermediates who buy the most expensive gear they can find and then complain all day. Social life for singles is almost non existent. However, there are a lot of divorced women who are lonely and a lot of married women leave their husbands home and stay in a condo.(!) The ski shop is a joke. Hunter has the best on hill shop around as far as technical knowledge. The bar is nice with comfortable couches with a good view of the slopes, unlike Hunter which has a view of the parking lot. Their trails are overly marked, which means that double blacks are single blacks. If you are a real expert at Windham you will stick out like a sore thumb and attract a lot of people. In other words, they will try to pick your brain for free. I like Windham.

 

[Vinny]

I go there once or twice a year. Take the triple to the top, it's slower, but no lines:

I think this is a common misconception. Although it looks like it may be faster, the quad is still usually the way to go even with the lines. When our kids were young we used to own a condo at Windham Mt. Village, and skied Windham regularly. We tried and timed the two different ways and the quad almost always won out. The triple is realllllly slow. On a nice day, it can be the better choice if you want to hang a bit and enjoy the ride.

 

[catskills]

Windham has two HSQ lift so make sure you check both of them out. Greg I have not skied with you so I have no idea how good a skier you are. One thing that Windham has that is unique is an green easy trail with bumps in the middle of the trail. This is a great place to learn or improve on your bump skiing. You can ski into the bumps and then bail out to the groomed green easy area if needed. It also makes the run out section of Windham's trail a little more interesting. This green bump run is usually located on skiers left side of the mountain.

Windham has one of the best lodges around. If you are into ice skating, Windham has that too.

As noted on other threads, I will not be skiing Windham or Hunter this year if Belleayre is not 100 percent open. I blame a good part of the Belleayre budget cut problem on the $180,000 Hunter and Windham spent on lobbyists to attack Belleayre.

 

[catskills]

One thing to be aware of is that the ski area has a northern exposure, so it doesn't get a whole lot of sunlight-- especially in December/January.

On a weekend, it may not get the same crowds as Hunter, but it doesn't have the trail capacity to absorb the same amount of crowds-- on busy days Windham feels busy.

This may be because a high speed quad will have a lot more people standing in line versus a fixed slower quad with twice as many chairs on the cable. On busy days with lift lines I prefer a fixed lift quad because I spend more time sitting in the chair and less time standing in the line. I hate crowded lines and lift capacity for high speed detachable quad and slow fixed grip quad is identical. Both empty a chair every 6 seconds. If you don't believe me, time it for yourself.

On the other hand as you said, the crowded feel may because the vertical lift capacity exceeds the trail capacity. I am sure having an additional 175,000 more skiers migrate over from Belleayre to Windham will help Windham's bottom line, so they can improve the up hill lift capacity and help solve that crowded feel problem. :blink: :smash:

 

[njskier]

With the addition of the Winter Card by Hunter and Windham this year I am guaranteed to go there at least twice...
Are they gonna offer this again this year?

 

[catskills]

Cost you $65 to ski Windham on a Weekend and $1410. for a Windham season pass. It pays to be a college student and ski Windham. College ID season pass is only $249. It pays to go to college kid.

Windham Ticket Prices are now posted for 2008-2009.

Last year's Windham Ticket prices

 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

Windham has two HSQ lift so make sure you check both of them out. Greg I have not skied with you so I have no idea how good a skier you are. One thing that Windham has that is unique is an green easy trail with bumps in the middle of the trail. This is a great place to learn or improve on your bump skiing. You can ski into the bumps and then bail out to the groomed green easy area if needed. It also makes the run out section of Windham's trail a little more interesting. This green bump run is usually located on skiers left side of the mountain.

Windham has one of the best lodges around. If you are into ice skating, Windham has that too.

As noted on other threads, I will not be skiing Windham or Hunter this year if Belleayre is not 100 percent open. I blame a good part of the Belleayre budget cut problem on the $180,000 Hunter and Windham spent on lobbyists to attack Belleayre.

That doesn't make sense..why aren't you skiing Hunter or Windham if Belleayre isn't 100percent open??? Crowds?? It seems like you're only hurting yourself..
Windham was my first "Big Mountain" outside of PA

 

[dmc]

As noted on other threads, I will not be skiing Windham or Hunter this year if Belleayre is not 100 percent open. I blame a good part of the Belleayre budget cut problem on the $180,000 Hunter and Windham spent on lobbyists to attack Belleayre.

We had such a good détente until i challenged those guys who started piling on and spreading lies about people wanting Bell to close... .

I'm sorry it happened...

 

[dmc]

That doesn't make sense..why aren't you skiing Hunter or Windham if Belleayre isn't 100percent open??? Crowds?? It seems like you're only hurting yourself..
Windham was my first "Big Mountain" outside of PA

To each his own...

 

[kingslug]

Snow conditions at Windham are varied. Good days and bad days. The lodge is nice, especially that is the only lodge around here with a bathroom on the same floor so you don't risk your life on stairs with boots on. The food is expensive, but has a good selection unlike Belleayre which has crappy hot dogs and burgers. The terrain caters to intermediates who buy the most expensive gear they can find and then complain all day. Social life for singles is almost non existent. However, there are a lot of divorced women who are lonely and a lot of married women leave their husbands home and stay in a condo.(!) The ski shop is a joke. Hunter has the best on hill shop around as far as technical knowledge. The bar is nice with comfortable couches with a good view of the slopes, unlike Hunter which has a view of the parking lot. Their trails are overly marked, which means that double blacks are single blacks. If you are a real expert at Windham you will stick out like a sore thumb and attract a lot of people. In other words, they will try to pick your brain for free. I like Windham.

Interesting....not the skiing...the other part.