abc
Well-known member
Everyone who managed to get a day of powder on Saturday (or the best, Friday) are probably still living in their high, and too tired to bother today. But those of us who didn't get it first will try to get some sloppy second Sunday, Monday or beyond.
I still don't have power in my house. So all things considered, sloppy second powder sounds way better than sitting around in a cold house with no food.
I arrive at Belleayre around 9:30-9:40. The all the parking lot, including the overflow lot at the bottom by the highway were already full!
So they sent us up the hill and started parking along side of the road. I saw a spot only a New York City driver can squeeze in (and I have a compact car) and promptly took advantage of it. Then I noticed I was right underneath the new bridge below Tomahawk. I made a mental note that I might be able to ski back to the car. Not bad. But the walk to Overlook lodge was long. I kept looking behind me to see if the shuttle was coming that I could jump on. No such luck. Later, I met 2 ladies who said they waited for the shuttle for 1/2 hr! Glad I walked.
Line for ticket was long. But with 4 windows, it moved fast. Magic Chief wasn't running. The single's line on lift 7 winds way up the hill. I had to walk all the way up to the end of it. It took a bit to get out of that area.
I skied Belle enough to know Tomahawk is the least busy lift. So that's what I did from the top of lift 7. Even there, there's a bit of a line, even for singles. But it moved fast.
Snow was SOFT! That makes it difficult to move around the flat top of Belle. So I just drop in on the couple of trails next to the lift. First run lucked out when I spotted a path through the trees between MagicChief and lift 7. So good I was almost tempted to wait inline for lift 7 again. But decided against it and headed over to Tomahawk. Again, I didn't traverse, just drop in the couple trails next to the lift. It's just too much effort in the soft, unconsolidated snow. In fact, there snow was too deep and too wet in its undisturbed form. They ski better once compacted by skier traffic. Even the glade runs were actually better on the well-trotted path. By and large, snow was just very nice and soft. In runs that formed mogul, it was soft. So much more fun to ski.
Around 12, the crowd entirely evaporated! Everybody went in for lunch! So I thought I move back to lift 7 to lap that side of the mountain while everybody was at lunch. But lift 7 was no longer running! What the heck? But MagicChief was running. So I headed down to take that to the top. The line was MASSIVE! No wonder there's no one on the upper mountain. They're all stuck down here in the lift maze!![Frown :( :(](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)
So, another run of that glade next to the lift. I thought I'd give the gondola a try. But as I passed above MagicChief, the crowd was gone! Strange! So I took that lift again and did a couple of other trails.
By then, I was tired and hungry. So I break for lunch probably around 2. Interestingly, despite the parking line and the lift line, the Overlook lodge wasn't too bad. I was able to find a seat without too much trouble.
After lunch, I didn't want to wait on line for MagicChief more than the bare necessity. I aimed for Tomahawk again. No crowd. But 2 chair from loading, they close the chair!!! No choice but to head down to the gondola, with its requisite long line.![Frown :( :(](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)
Fortunately, by the time I finally got back to the top and ski by Tomahawk, it was running again as if nothing had happened. No word on why it was closed or why it re-open again.
So all day long, I end up riding just about all the chairs, as various chairs stop running at random times of the day.
Still, lift idiosyncrasy aside, the snow was good and it's a hugely enjoyable day.
I still don't have power in my house. So all things considered, sloppy second powder sounds way better than sitting around in a cold house with no food.
I arrive at Belleayre around 9:30-9:40. The all the parking lot, including the overflow lot at the bottom by the highway were already full!
Line for ticket was long. But with 4 windows, it moved fast. Magic Chief wasn't running. The single's line on lift 7 winds way up the hill. I had to walk all the way up to the end of it. It took a bit to get out of that area.
I skied Belle enough to know Tomahawk is the least busy lift. So that's what I did from the top of lift 7. Even there, there's a bit of a line, even for singles. But it moved fast.
Snow was SOFT! That makes it difficult to move around the flat top of Belle. So I just drop in on the couple of trails next to the lift. First run lucked out when I spotted a path through the trees between MagicChief and lift 7. So good I was almost tempted to wait inline for lift 7 again. But decided against it and headed over to Tomahawk. Again, I didn't traverse, just drop in the couple trails next to the lift. It's just too much effort in the soft, unconsolidated snow. In fact, there snow was too deep and too wet in its undisturbed form. They ski better once compacted by skier traffic. Even the glade runs were actually better on the well-trotted path. By and large, snow was just very nice and soft. In runs that formed mogul, it was soft. So much more fun to ski.
Around 12, the crowd entirely evaporated! Everybody went in for lunch! So I thought I move back to lift 7 to lap that side of the mountain while everybody was at lunch. But lift 7 was no longer running! What the heck? But MagicChief was running. So I headed down to take that to the top. The line was MASSIVE! No wonder there's no one on the upper mountain. They're all stuck down here in the lift maze!
So, another run of that glade next to the lift. I thought I'd give the gondola a try. But as I passed above MagicChief, the crowd was gone! Strange! So I took that lift again and did a couple of other trails.
By then, I was tired and hungry. So I break for lunch probably around 2. Interestingly, despite the parking line and the lift line, the Overlook lodge wasn't too bad. I was able to find a seat without too much trouble.
After lunch, I didn't want to wait on line for MagicChief more than the bare necessity. I aimed for Tomahawk again. No crowd. But 2 chair from loading, they close the chair!!! No choice but to head down to the gondola, with its requisite long line.
Fortunately, by the time I finally got back to the top and ski by Tomahawk, it was running again as if nothing had happened. No word on why it was closed or why it re-open again.
So all day long, I end up riding just about all the chairs, as various chairs stop running at random times of the day.
Still, lift idiosyncrasy aside, the snow was good and it's a hugely enjoyable day.