The Belle 3-23, 3-24 2013

[legalskier]

"All trees, all the time."

Remember last year at this time? We were all drowning our sorrows as 75 degree heat destroyed our season.
Not this year, thank heavens. Good fortune is smiling on Belleayre as the high mountain just keeps picking up more & more snow. The only times I skied on a trail this weekend was to get into the trees, where untracked pow awaited me everywhere. Informal measurements found depths of up to 20 inches. What was interesting was that this natural snow has several layers- half a foot of fresh on top of a firmer layer, which then lay on top of more soft pow, on top of a firmer base. The effect was sort of a "mattress pad" of soft freshies over a firmer mattress of snow- perfect for ripping through the trees without any cares about my bases, and never sinking down too deep. A rare, and very enjoyable, experience. Kept finding untracked lines all over the place.

 

[Bene288]

I was there yesterday as well.Terrific conditions! Woods were awesome, as were the marked trails. They left quite a few trails ungroomed which was a nice surprise. The woods off of Cathedral Brook and the Tomahawk line were unreal. Sounds like you enjoyed yourself just as much as I did.

 

[legalskier]

Sounds like you enjoyed yourself just as much as I did.

Sure did. I went in lots of places I'd never been before, like dropping in off Roaring Brook. Sweet-



Next time you're there let me know...

 

[Bene288]

Will do! I plan to get one more Catskill trip in. I ski Belleayre quite often, but they've never had enough snow while I've been there to really learn my way around the trees.

 

[180]

nice, found the same at Hunter