Belleayre 1-13-12

[legalskier]

Friday the 13th turned out to be lucky. I wanted to get an early jump on the holiday weekend. The Thruway on the way up was sunny but by the time I got to Phoenicia late in the morning it was snowing. And it snowed all day long, anywhere from light snowfall to heavy almost blizzard conditions with wind gusts from time to time. I'm guessing they picked up 3" during the day in addition to the 3" they reported from Thursday night. The mountain is completely white- it finally looks like winter. The temp dropped 18 degrees while I was there, so it feels like it too. In areas sheltered from the wind the dry powder got deep and you could rip through it. I skied Dot Nebel for a good hour...and there was only one other skier there, a ski patroler at that. It was awesome- I felt like I owned my own private ski club like Ted Turner. Around 3 o'clock they turned the guns on Tomahawk Crossing and upper Dot, so I wouldn't be surprised if they open those up completely by tomorrow. I'll be out again tomorrow to get some early turns.

 

[Bene288]

Good report. I've been waiting to go to Belle until they open Dot. I'll be there Wednesday or Friday for sure.

 

[kingslug]

Bell is the only place where I was the only one there except for patrol...used to have a place down the road from it..haven't been in a while..

 

[k123]

Anyone hit the Bell today? How's upper Dot Nebel looking? The projected conditions says 22 "trails" for tomorrow, and today it was 20, guessing that means Tomahawk Crossing and Dot Nebel are going to be open

 

[legalskier]

Anyone hit the Bell today? How's upper Dot Nebel looking? The projected conditions says 22 "trails" for tomorrow, and today it was 20, guessing that means Tomahawk Crossing and Dot Nebel are going to be open

Tomahawk Crossing opened this morning- the guns were going on it all day too. Top of Dot not open yet. They groomed all open trails during the night except for upper Tongora, so conditions were sweet. They turned the guns on lower Yahoo & Algonguin, as well as Area 15 and the part of Belleayre run below Overlook lodge. Lots of poaching on runs like Belleayre run and Tongora above Overlook, which have enough snow to ski on but not enough to open officially. One night of snowmaking probably would be enough, so they're getting close. Temps are projected to stay low for the next few days.

 

[thinnmann]

Tomahawk Crossing opened this morning- the guns were going on it all day too. Top of Dot not open yet. They groomed all open trails during the night except for upper Tongora, so conditions were sweet. They turned the guns on lower Yahoo & Algonguin, as well as Area 15 and the part of Belleayre run below Overlook lodge. Lots of poaching on runs like Belleayre run and Tongora above Overlook, which have enough snow to ski on but not enough to open officially. One night of snowmaking probably would be enough, so they're getting close. Temps are projected to stay low for the next few days.

Skiing to Tomahawk via Tomahawk Crossing was interesting. The snow guns blinded the goggles pretty fast.

Upper Tongora? I think you meant upper Onteora was not groomed. It had some nasty icy bumps.

Only line I had to wait in was at Superchief after lunch. Stay away from there after about 10 AM.

After lunchtime there were ski patrol people at the bottom of Belleayre Run stopping the poachers. I don't think they were taking tickets, though. I wouldn't have skied those; I disagree that there was enough snow on them to ski. Well, I guess if you really didn't care about your bases, you could ski them.

They have to get lower Yahoo open for races next weekend.

It was demo day, so I skied those most of the day. My conclusion about this "Rockered" thing: it is very bogus. Unless you have not learned to carve yet. I imagine a non-carver could carve pretty quickly with those. They feel like beginner skis, but can still be skied hard. I said to the Elan rep after I skied them, "If I just detuned about 4 inches of my outside edge, I would effectively have a rockered ski." He agreed.

I think I am going to start that thread....

O, and the newer Atomic Nomads can't hold a candle to the older Metrons. Too damp to be much fun. Is everybody dumbing down their skis just to be able to call them "all mountain"?

Top skis of the day for me were Elan SLX slalom racers.

 

[Bandit2941]

I wouldn't have skied those; I disagree that there was enough snow on them to ski. Well, I guess if you really didn't care about your bases, you could ski them.

Lol thinnmann....I'll be busting on you about this on sat!

And I totally agree about the Nomads....I skied those Crimson Ti's and thought "meh." I prefer my metrons to anything I skied that day for those conditions.

 

[thinnmann]

Lol thinnmann....I'll be busting on you about this on sat!

And I totally agree about the Nomads....I skied those Crimson Ti's and thought "meh." I prefer my metrons to anything I skied that day for those conditions.

~~~ never ski on closed trails ~~~

 

[Bandit2941]

~~~ never ski on closed trails ~~~

Yeah I can't believe people were skiing that stuff. They are lucky they didn't get tickets pulled as ski patrol was on the prowl