Belleayre Conditions

Great to see that Belle still has great coverage, and that there was no ice. I was worried about all the weather fluctuations we had these past 2 weeks, so I took a bus up to Killington this past weekend thinking that the snow might be better up there. Looks like I was wrong!    



 

I had to drive back to Jersey today, so I figured why not earn some turns at one of the Catskill ski areas. I arrived at Hunter around 9:45 and got out of my car with my skis. I was immediately apprehended by a parking lot attendee and told that setting foot on the mountain was trespassing. I then drove over to Belleayre, which I knew was on state land, so I was pretty sure I would be in the clear. Still good coverage on the upper mountain, and actually 1-2 inches of fresh snow up top. Beautiful day to be out. Got in six quick laps and was out by 1:00 before things got too slushy. I would imagine tomorrow will bring more of the same conditions, with maybe a brief portage necessary around the mid-station if anyone is interested in earning some turns tomorrow. Pleasantly surprising day. Also thanks Harvey, if it weren't for your Plattekill report from last weekend I never would have thought to do this.

FTW!  Amazing cover.

Sorry to hear about the crackdown at Hunter.   Certainly is their right, and I understand it. But still sorry.

Anybody know what is up?

SEWARD, ORDA TO ANNOUNCE PLANS FOR NEW FACILITY AT BELLEAYRE MOUNTAIN SKI CENTER

ONEONTA, 11/06/15 - State Senator James L. Seward (R/C/I–Oneonta) will be in Ulster County, MONDAY, November 9th, at the Belleayre Mountain Ski Center in Highmount.
 
Senator Seward will be joined by New York State Olympic Regional Development Authority (ORDA) president/CEO Ted Blazer to announce plans for a new facility at the Belleayre Mountain Ski Center.
 
EVENT – MONDAY, NOVEMBER 9th:
*Press Conference;
*11:00 a.m.;
*Belleayre Mountain Ski Center;
*Overlook Lodge;
*181 Galli Curci Road;
*Highmount, NY.

I sure hope Bell gets a new lodge. I was there once last year to see my Grand daughter race and the lodge & parking situation was awful. However the lifts are worse. Even if they don't replace them, they need to paint them so they at least look like they are in good working order.

Does anyone have an update for Belle?  Web site states it may open tomorrow, but still nothing definite.

Looks like Onteora for tomorrow. Mtn will be open Fri-Sun.  That's all I got. Suppose to be an official announcement in the next few minutes.

So, happy to get to know that Belle kicks off the '15-'16 season - stoked. Gonna be there Saturday if anyone is looking for a company to get some Catskill turns. Hopefully they'll get some more terrain open by then.

Belle out of the gate first? Nice.

Would love to get a TR or conditions report from tomorrow of Saturday.

Christen the Cats!

looks like mid station on the triple...400 verts of skiing ..
I'll stick to the MTB for a while...

Looks like Onteora t2b.

I'm planning to go Sunday, got nothing better to do.  I'll take some pics and attempt a TR.

I'm excited that Belleayre is opening!  I think I will be very rusty.

Anybody ski Belle today...

Belle was nice today. Soft granular, not a "mashed potato" slush. Sadly, situation with opening another trails does not look that good.

Pretty impressive considering the other catskill resorts . . . .  Thanks for posting.  

Similar day today to SalSal's... maybe a little colder?



You had to get the top early, got a few on it, and after it was scrapped down, skied the lower half.


Joe

I'd say a solid showing, when you consider they are the only Cats hill open.

All the effort on one trail, that was nearly wall to wall, firm, with lots of loose granular.

Nice job Belle.

glad you got out Harv et al. with high pressures and high temps over the next week this might be the state of things next weekend also, presuming they can keep it on. http://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?lat=42.13183974703906&lon=-74.5199203491211&site=aly&smap=1&unit=0&lg=en&FcstType=text#.VmWTAmSrS2w

What were the crowds like this weekend?  In all of the pics posted by Sal and Harv, it looks pretty empty.

I'm thinking 300?  The right amount for the amount of terrain.