Belleayre Mountain, NY

[GadgetRick]

Just wondering how many of ya have gone there. I have to preface everything by saying I'm a patroller there so I'm a bit jaded. I do love the mountain (for southern, Northeastern skiing). Nice, friendly mountain. Gets crowded but not so crowded you can only get in 4 runs in a day (had a day like that at Wyndam a few years back). The best part is it's the same amount of time to get there as it is for Hunter and Wyndam.

Give it a try. If you've been there, let me know.

 

[jimme]

Been there a couple of times myself, plus once with my daughter. Gave a rave review last season on SnowJournal. I liked the fact that I could ski the Black Diamond runs and that they taper off to blues. Compared to most major ski areas I thought it was uncrowded on the weekends.

The beginner area is second to none! Because it's pretty much isolated from the rest of the area, it gives beginners a chance to ski w/o higher level skiers blasting through their space on the slopes. Also, the beg. area is made up of real trails, not just a slope. It gets the beginning skier high enough on the mountain for some nice views they normally don't get.

Jimme

 

[goldsbar]

I've never actually been there but I've driven by it plenty of times on the way to Plattekill. I'm a bit concerned about the crowds as just about every car on the road turns at the Belayre as I make my way solo to Plattekill. How's the expert stuff? Do they leave anything ungroomed? Any tree skiing? I think Plattekills days are numbered due to this current warm spell & lack of snowmaking.

 

[GadgetRick]

More on Belleayre...

We have worked hard on our beginners' area to make it friendly to someone just starting. Not only is it good for them (not having the rest of us coming through) but it's better for the more advanced skiers. We don't have people falling in front of us on a run they really shouldn't be on in the first place. I can say, however, as a patroller, we get a lot of calls on the lower mountain (i.e. beginner area). Most of the calls are possible fratured wrists on new snowboarders. It's a shame really, these people come for their first time and break their wrist.

We do not do the Plattekill thing and leave trails ungroomed. We do have Cathedral, which is a run only open when we have a lot of snow because we don't have snowmaking on it and we don't groom it. Unfortunately, it hasn't been open all that much this year.

There are some fairly nice bump runs. Upper Yahoo is always a favorite. Winnisook is usually in great shape and Seneca is usually nice, too. With the warm weather the bumps should be nice and carvable this weekend.

I always liked Plattekill, too. My only complaint was it seems hard to get around the mountain because of the lack of lifts and the t-bar (I HATE t-bars!!!). It's a great mountain though--especially when they've got freshies!

 

[rjc1976]

Re: More on Belleayre...

I always liked Plattekill, too. My only complaint was it seems hard to get around the mountain because of the lack of lifts and the t-bar (I HATE t-bars!!!). It's a great mountain though--especially when they've got freshies!

They installed a new lift last year that runs along side the t-bar. You no longer have to take a t-bar if you don't want to.

 

[GadgetRick]

Thanks

I actually heard the same thing last week. I was at the Plattekill Ski Patrol BBQ and they told me they bought an old lift from us. I'm going to have to check it out next year.