belleayre

[wintersyndrome]

any one local know how belleayre has been fairing this season?

Ill be up towards the western cats visiting a friend soon and wanted to know what to expect.

Ive never been there either so i was looking for opinions of the place, too

 

[catskills]

It has been the coldest its been all season in recent days and all ski areas are making a lot of new snow. We even got some natural snow up here so things are not so brown. See snow conditions report this morning with very low temps in the single digit and and many new trails opened. http://www.belleayre.com/winter/conditions.htm

Expect limited number of trails opened with good conditions between 8:30am and 11:00am on the weekends. The upper mountain should have their new high speed quad and lift 7 tripple running. The lower mountain will have green beginner trails and lifts opened. This Friday 1/12 will be awesome skiing at Belleayre given the amount of new man made powder and the fact its customer appreciation day $15 lift tickets. Midweek at Belleayre usually has very few skiers so the skiing should be great all day midweek.

This weekend is FREE demo skis and boards and Slope Spies. You could win a free pair of skis or snowboard. Get their early in the morning for the good snow and take a late lunch. With limited number of trails, after noon time, the trails will be skied off and slick because everyone is going down the same trails over and over. This is true for any ski area in the North East except for maybe Jay Peak. They will probably close the trails for a very short time during the day to re-groom the trails which will provide another few hours of good skiing.

 

[andyzee]

My opinion, of the four main resorts in that area, Belleayre is my least favorite. I had a lot more fun at Hunter this past December 15th with it's three runs, than I had at Belleayre when it was fully open. Don't like the layout of the lifts or trails. For you Belleayre fans, sorry, but that's my opinion.

 

[goldsbar]

It's been a sad start (wait, isn't it mid-season?) for all of the areas in the NE so don't expect miracles. They should have a few distinct runs from the top and conditions should be decent unless/until it rains.

Belleayre is generally the least crowded of the major Catskill resorts with serious snowmaking (i.e. Belleayre, Hunter & Wyndham) so conditions usually hold up the best during the day. It's basically ridge skiing so the top portion is relatively steep, middle moderate and bottom fairly flat. In some ways this is good becuase the beginner trails are completely seperate. In other ways bad because many of the trails feel the same. They do allow moguls to form on the "expert" trails which is a big plus in my book.

 

[ajl50]

My opinion, of the four main resorts in that area, Belleayre is my least favorite. I had a lot more fun at Hunter this past December 15th with it's three runs, than I had at Belleayre when it was fully open. Don't like the layout of the lifts or trails. For you Belleayre fans, sorry, but that's my opinion.

If you don't like the lay-out you haven't figured it out. Once you understand how to ski belleayre and where to start you have a blast.
PLUS - and this is a HUGE plus- it's empty compared to hunter. I have been to belleayre on a holiday weekend where there was great snow and my GF and I were like the only people on an entire half of the mountain. were were getting "knee shots" ( the eastern equiv. of powder face shots out west) all day.

 

[YardSaleDad]

Last weekend was just plain sad. However they have been making snow all week. This Friday should be the best skiing of the season so far. Then it will start raining again :evil: but I will be there Saturday for the demo day. If the mountain ever opens fully this season, we should do an AZ day to show "AZ" the good stuff at Belleayre, maybe even poach a little highmount powder.

 

[andyzee]

If you don't like the lay-out you haven't figured it out. Once you understand how to ski belleayre and where to start you have a blast.
PLUS - and this is a HUGE plus- it's empty compared to hunter. I have been to belleayre on a holiday weekend where there was great snow and my GF and I were like the only people on an entire half of the mountain. were were getting "knee shots" ( the eastern equiv. of powder face shots out west) all day.

I all fairness, I was there only once, had a good time, but wasn't crazy about the place. Once again, that's just me, others may love it and I won't knock anyone for it. Probably my biggest complaints were:

1. No top to bottom expert terrain.
2. Every lift we took to the top involved walking up hill to get to interesting terrain.
3. All trails seemed about the same.
4. The one trail I did enjoy Cathederal Brook, involved going uphill at the end.

You probably are right though, if I got to know the place, I may like it better. My problem with that, when conditions are good, I just continue on to Plattekill.

 

[MarkC]

maybe even poach a little highmount powder.

cheers to that :beer:

 

[ajl50]

never been to plattekill though planning to go in two weeks if they are open....

As for the trails being similar- that is true- several of the trails in the middle of the mountain are very similar and that can get a little frustrating.

As for no top to bottom expert runs- I think this keeps people spread out and doesn't create the funneling effect that alot of other mountains have.

 

[andyzee]

never been to plattekill though planning to go in two weeks if they are open....

As for the trails being similar- that is true- several of the trails in the middle of the mountain are very similar and that can get a little frustrating.

As for no top to bottom expert runs- I think this keeps people spread out and doesn't create the funneling effect that alot of other mountains have.

Word of advice for Plattekill, you definetly need good natural snow cover, fun mountain with no lines.

 

[goldsbar]

My problem with that, when conditions are good, I just continue on to Plattekill.

Hah! I did that for years. Then it stopped snowing and my little guy was born so that extra half hour is a big difference (I'd still do it in a heartbeat if we got a couple of nice storms). Give Belleayre another shot - more crowded than Pkill but much less crowded than Hunter.

 

[kingslug]

We have a place up the road from Belleayre but have been skiing Hunter mostly. You have to hit it when it gets a good dump. I've had some of the best times there and pretty much learned to ski there.Yes the trails are moswtly the same but some have very steep upper runs with killer moguls. And at times they get more snow than Hunter or Windham. It's still the only place I ever was the only paying customer and had 6 inches of pow to my self. It was raining everywhere else and I just happened to go there after I gave up with Hunter. Great spring skiing too. Just give it some time to build a good base.

 

[thinnmann]

I'm bloggin Belleayre

You might want to keep up with Belleayre at my blog
http://skiingbelleayre.blogspot.com

Demo days are canceled, by the way.

We are chancing it this weekend. The rain/ice/snow line might be a matter of a few feet of altitude.

 

[Bandit2941]

You might want to keep up with Belleayre at my blog
http://skiingbelleayre.blogspot.com

Demo days are canceled, by the way.

We are chancing it this weekend. The rain/ice/snow line might be a matter of a few feet of altitude.

Cool blog.

By the way, Ferd found his ski's the same day they disappeared. Apparently they disappeared then reappeared a couple hours later in a different spot on the racks. Same thing happened to another guy, I was putting my skis on the rack when this other guy found his skis that had been missing. Very strange.

 

[thinnmann]

Thanks Bandit

Cool blog.

By the way, Ferd found his ski's the same day they disappeared. Apparently they disappeared then reappeared a couple hours later in a different spot on the racks. Same thing happened to another guy, I was putting my skis on the rack when this other guy found his skis that had been missing. Very strange.

I updated that post quoting your info here.

Thanks for reading~!

I will be looking for you - by noticing your skis, which I assume are Rossi Bandits....

 

[ajl50]

thinnmann- you ski belleayre today- friday?
Was there and was impressed how sweet it was in the am.

 

[Bandit2941]

I updated that post quoting your info here.

Thanks for reading~!

I will be looking for you - by noticing your skis, which I assume are Rossi Bandits....

Nah - the name is from waayyy back. I ski Metron M:11's.

You can usually find me with skidbump (Pat) from this board and Mark (aka the dude with the feather on his helmet if you know him), or in the bar (or both, LOL).

I'll be up tomorrow morning bright and early and probably Sunday depending on the weather.

Jamie

 

[thinnmann]

Friday was no doubt good, because it was cold all week and they blew lots of snow, but had to work. Needless to say, today's weather was horrible. It was warm, damp, and foggy. I thought it was April for a few minutes.........

 

[adamti91]

I haven't been since last Sunday, when the trail to get to Superchief was about (at most) 10 feet wide with an inch of slush on it. Good times. Hopefully this weekend's storms will give Belleayre a decent base. They've yet to open the west side of the mountain (Tomahawk lift), and I know I'm not the only one looking forward to it (since as all Belleayre-goers know, the west side is ALWAYS EMPTY!

 

[thinnmann]

Tomahawk was quite empty today I was just commenting to my friend while riding lift 7 past the mid-station, reading the sign that points to Tomahawk lift, "I wonder if they will get to open Tomahawk at all this year..." I still have hope.

I was there today - pics and comments at my blog http://skiingbelleayre.blogspot.com