Belleayre

[trtaylor]

Hi!

Long time lurker, just registered.

Question:
Belleayre hasn't responded to the Ski Area Challenge yet - or else I missed it. Does anyone know the scoop on the new gladed trails they are talking about for this year?

Thanks,

Tim

 

[bvibert]

Welcome Tim, I'm glad you decided to join!

We're still waiting on the responses from Belleayre, hopefully they respond soon. Maybe someone else has the answers you're looking for...

 

[Vortex]

Welcome. post away. You won't get bashed or put off here. Friendly vibe.

 

[Greg]

Question:
Belleayre hasn't responded to the Ski Area Challenge yet - or else I missed it.

Welcome Tim! This appears to have slipped through the cracks. I'm going to follow up on it for you...

 

[Greg]

Hot off the presses:

http://news.alpinezone.com/5598/

The folks at Belleayre must read this forum....

 

[trtaylor]

Belleayre - new glades

From Belleayre's website 10/13/2005

 

[highpeaksdrifter]

Wow, I know first time posters get shamozed, but this time takes the cake.

 

[trtaylor]

LMAO

Tim

 

[Tin Woodsman]

Wow - that seems pretty open to me. Is that an orchard or a glade?

 

[highpeaksdrifter]

Wow - that seems pretty open to me. Is that an orchard or a glade?

There's not enough less challenging glades at most ski areas. It always seems to be an expert only domain. I know people who are intimated by that and don’t get to enjoy tree skiing. More green and blue glad terrain would help those who want the trees, but lack expert skills come along gradually.

 

[trtaylor]

I was actually kind of surprised by that picture. Their news release indicates these glades are located at the top of the mountain, which would be black terrain for Belleayre. Sure doesn't look like like it here.

Tim

 

[JimG.]

There's not enough less challenging glades at most ski areas. It always seems to be an expert only domain. I know people who are intimated by that and don’t get to enjoy tree skiing. More green and blue glad terrain would help those who want the trees, but lack expert skills come along gradually.

I agree and extend that notion to bumps, even more so. Very few resorts allow or seed bumps on gentle or intermediate terrain, then they wonder why customers who take bump lessons feel they've learned nothing.

Trying to learn to ski bumps on steep, icy terrain with gnarly ruts is a lesson in survival and that's it.

 

[riverc0il]

Wow - that seems pretty open to me. Is that an orchard or a glade?

There's not enough less challenging glades at most ski areas. It always seems to be an expert only domain. I know people who are intimated by that and don’t get to enjoy tree skiing. More green and blue glad terrain would help those who want the trees, but lack expert skills come along gradually.

completely agree with you HPD. it took me way way way too long to get into the trees due to intimidation. it is an awesome experience that should be experienced at all levels (well, not for beginners at least). stuff like murphy's at SBush (i think that's the one?) should be everywhere. this clear cutting a football field wide crap on every trail eliminates a lot of potential character and enjoyment expert tree skiers find in the woods. that type of character and enjoyment should be more readily available to people that don't have the time, motivation, or stamina to work their technique until they can survive a tight tree run.

all that said, a lot of my favorite tree shots are not excessively tight. but then again, a lot of my favorite tree shots you can hardly turn in

 

[riverc0il]

excellent point from JimG i completely agree with as well. learning bumps is a required to get into the woods generally. often times you find bumps in the woods and you really need to know how to negotiate them because the trees limit your options. lower pitched bump trails are essential for developing skiers looking to eventually be able to ski the whole mountain. learning the hard way by tossing yourself down steep and nasty bump shots is fine for those of us persrcibing to the 'no pain no gain' philosophy :beer: but i think the industry and developing skiers would be better served by seeding a few easier lines. only half of one or two trails per ski area would be great, it's not like the ski aeras have to do much... just not groom half a trail for two weeks and knock some bumps down when they get nasty. fewer passes with the groomer on half a trail should even save a little money.

oh yea, belleayre. never skied there but the brochure looks nice

 

[JimG.]

oh yea, belleayre. never skied there but the brochure looks nice

Belleayre is a fun place; just a little too much runout on the bottom for my tastes though.

 

[trtaylor]

To its credit, Belleayre allows some easy blue stuff to bump up.

If you pick the right days, Belleayre can be skied awfully cheap, like $15 on their skier appreciation days. Actually, with a discount ticket it is pretty inexpensive any day. Easier to overlook its other shortcomings that way.

Tim

 

[JimG.]

To its credit, Belleayre allows some easy blue stuff to bump up.

If you pick the right days, Belleayre can be skied awfully cheap, like $15 on their skier appreciation days. Actually, with a discount ticket it is pretty inexpensive any day. Easier to overlook its other shortcomings that way.

Tim

Every hill has its' shortcomings; I spend most of my time at Hunter, but I always enjoy time spent at Belleayre.

 

[RIDEr]

Bellayre is usually priced right with your NJSC card and less crowded then Hunta; however, Hunta takes the cake with terrain if you want to find it.

 

[Tin Woodsman]

So I went to ORDA's "First Tracks" media reception in NYC tonight where there were representatives from 7 ski areas in NY State - Gore, Whiteface, Thunder Ridge, Hunter, Windham, Catamount, and Belleayre. Though there was some interesting news from all of the areas, I thought the biggest news was from Belleayre. Assuming the new gladed skiing is favorably received, they have approvel to cut gladed runs down to the base of Pine Hill for next season. These runs will be over 2000 vertical feet, and skiers will return to the Belleayre base via a shuttle bus running twice per day. Should sufficient demand exist, the frequency of those shuttles will be increased throughout the year with the possibility of installing a chair from the Pine Hill base should everything go right. That's a lot of ifs, but I'd have to say it's the most excisting thing to happen to Catskills skiing in a very very long time. When you consider that next years planned instlalation of a high-speed quad will cut riding time to the top from 21 to 4 minutes, that's just huge news.

 

[RIDEr]

And the battle between NY mountains continues.... what will Hunter do to make sure Belleayre doesn't have the last say...