Since I was up in the Catskills today I figured I'd head over to Belleayre and make a few turns.
While it was sunny over at Hunter, it quickly became cloudy and soon snowy as I headed over 214 to 28. The western peaks of the Cats clearly had more natural snow than further east, and there were about 2" of fresh in the parking lot of the upper lodge open for skiing.
So I clicked in and headed up lift 7. Only Onteora was open from mid-station down. So I ran laps on that for about 2 hours. Snow was quite good, groomed with some firm spots in the middle but creamy and soft on the edges with a few proto bumps to play on. My goal was as many turns as possible as it was the only way to get a bit tired. It was alot of fun.
After 2 hours I started to look for trouble. Upper Onteora had received snowmaking and it looked quite skiable from the top. After deciding that forgetting to open the safety bar at mid-station and just riding the lift to the top was not a great idea, I hiked about halfway up the headwall and skied down. The snow was fairly well consolidated and skied very well, but I noticed alot of spectators watching me and decided it was just too public to hike anymore there, so I stopped.
Then I noticed that Mohawk, the trail next to Onteora, had nice snowmaking whales on it. I took the lift back up and slid down to the first cutover to Mohawk. There was a track going in. Somehow my skis slid right in following those tracks and there I was on Mohawk. There was alot of manmade snow on it and about 2-3" of fresh snow. And the skiing was fabulous. A light touch was required because there was an icy crust under the fresh that was quite breakable. But the turns were awesome. Of course, the run terminates in full view of the lodge so I didn't go unnoticed, but I was discreet and decided it was a good last run for the day.
Belleayre did a good job with their snowmaking effort and I had alot of fun given the limited terrain. It was not crowded but there were other skiers and at one point all the chairs on the lift ahead of me had occupants. Very friendly staff and a raging fire in the fireplace in the lodge. Nice!
I will be back there as soon as more terrain is open.
While it was sunny over at Hunter, it quickly became cloudy and soon snowy as I headed over 214 to 28. The western peaks of the Cats clearly had more natural snow than further east, and there were about 2" of fresh in the parking lot of the upper lodge open for skiing.
So I clicked in and headed up lift 7. Only Onteora was open from mid-station down. So I ran laps on that for about 2 hours. Snow was quite good, groomed with some firm spots in the middle but creamy and soft on the edges with a few proto bumps to play on. My goal was as many turns as possible as it was the only way to get a bit tired. It was alot of fun.
After 2 hours I started to look for trouble. Upper Onteora had received snowmaking and it looked quite skiable from the top. After deciding that forgetting to open the safety bar at mid-station and just riding the lift to the top was not a great idea, I hiked about halfway up the headwall and skied down. The snow was fairly well consolidated and skied very well, but I noticed alot of spectators watching me and decided it was just too public to hike anymore there, so I stopped.
Then I noticed that Mohawk, the trail next to Onteora, had nice snowmaking whales on it. I took the lift back up and slid down to the first cutover to Mohawk. There was a track going in. Somehow my skis slid right in following those tracks and there I was on Mohawk. There was alot of manmade snow on it and about 2-3" of fresh snow. And the skiing was fabulous. A light touch was required because there was an icy crust under the fresh that was quite breakable. But the turns were awesome. Of course, the run terminates in full view of the lodge so I didn't go unnoticed, but I was discreet and decided it was a good last run for the day.
Belleayre did a good job with their snowmaking effort and I had alot of fun given the limited terrain. It was not crowded but there were other skiers and at one point all the chairs on the lift ahead of me had occupants. Very friendly staff and a raging fire in the fireplace in the lodge. Nice!
I will be back there as soon as more terrain is open.
