Belleayre Conditions

Conditions at Belle are awesome right now.  They got 31 inches, and on the trails it is packed powder.  I had my first experience of skiing deep powder (still perfectly powdery, if that is a word), on an ungroomed trail.  I also learned first hand that six-year old new snowboarder (son's friend) and skier (son) should not got on said trail.  I probably should have been able to figure that out, but they wanted in.  My son is a tall 6 year old, and he probably is 52 inches.  It was the first time I had packed powder this season in NY (got some in Maine earlier).  

Also a few milestones - we skied our third day on our first Ski 3 pass, and my son went down Eagle Falls, a short, but relatively steep blue with a double fall line using short radius turns, no pizza.  Super cool.  

The rumor is that Belleayre is going to aim for 4/15 for closing, which I am sure was not in the cards before this storm.  

Saturday and Sunday, five days after the storm, the mountain was skiing really great.   Hope everyone is enjoying the fruits of this storm.

I skied Belleayre today for the first time in 6 years. I can't believe I haven't been to such a great place in so long considering I ski in the Catskills frequently. I got a ticket for 20 bucks today with my ORDA frequent skier card. Belleayre has so many great trails, some groomed, and some with bumps. The elevation, and the views are inspiring. Definitely the most beautiful ski mountain in the Catskills. I will be skiing there a lot more in the future. Maybe an excuse to go ski3 next year instead of Peak Pass.

I met up with Snoloco and Glade runner.



Afterwards, we headed North up 28 tward Woodstream Ski Area.

Glade says he had more Fun at Woodstream than he did at Belleayre. I'm not so sure about that.

Snoloco riding up.

I only had a couple hours to ski today, so I ran up to Belle. Overnight a few inches of cream cheese fell on top of what ever came before and it made a big difference. Since it was above freezing everything was very skiable.  Signs were trying to discourage you from skiing the ungroomed bumps, but I was gear testing so I had at it.

People on the lifts were excited about the future.



Word is that Belle is going to weekends after tomorrow, and shooting for two more weeks.

Good day (morning) and great to see the smiling faces at Belle again.

If it's cold enough to groom tonight tomorrow should be very good.

Role reversal:  I was at Gore this weekend.  I hope to meet you at some point Harv.

Decent day at Belle, one way down, the venerable Onteora.



There was more gunpow around, it looks like they'd made some progress on other trails before the midweek rain.

I checked out the Discovery Lodge (my first time ever down there), the Lodge looks nice. Doppelmayr was there working on the Gondi. Actually they were also busy at the top of the Gondi, with heavy equipment moving soil etc.



Came across this bad boy on a table in the Overlook Lodge... who else was there?

Lift 7 broke only lower mountain open 2 runs up top only going home with ticket for another day

Think about what $8 mil in snow making would have done!

Pretty good conditions on all open trails this morning.  Was with friends on their first day on snow, so did the two greens and Roaring Brook.  By lunch time there were a few places getting skied off.

Overlook parking lot and the little lot close to Discovery filled up.  I moved my minivan to Discover after lunch because I took a tele lesson.  First time trying tele.  Turns out my daughter's boots fit better than I thought.

From Christmas Eve; Not exactly timely photos but I thought I'd throw 'em up here since I decided not to do a TR.



Thank a patroller some time.




One of the things Belle critics bring up is that the black diamonds that are strung out across the middle of the ridge, between the Tomahawk lift,  lift 7 and the Super Cheif are all the same. The critics are right. Also there's no reason one should be a double diamond while the one next to it isn't. Honestly nothing at Belle should have a double diamond sign on it.



There is other stuff to ski there though, especially for mixed-skills groups. I do look forward to returning when it's all open

Brownski wrote

One of the things Belle critics bring up is that the black diamonds that are strung out across the middle of the ridge, between the Tomahawk lift,  lift 7 and the Super Cheif are all the same. The critics are right. Also there's no reason one should be a double diamond while the one next to it isn't. Honestly nothing at Belle should have a double diamond sign on it.

While I agree that the double-diamond distinction is probably not that needed, the top section takes more concentration for me when it's icy and/or skied-off.  Granted it's a very short section.  But keeping some people from going there could make it better for ski patrol in the long run.  Won't deter everyone who shouldn't be there, but . . .

Yeah I think we mostly agree probably. The tops of all those trails are steep enough for a single black diamond. The run outs down below are all or nearly all blues I think. My point is that none of them should be double black and that nothing else at Belle should be either. They made Onteora double black to puff themselves up so they can Market the place as being more well-rounded then it really is. Just like the gondola is supposed to make them appear more destination-worthy then they are.

Skied Belleayre for the first time on Tuesday.It was a fun day conditions were excellent overall and temperatures at least tolerable.  As noted in the previous posts the mountain has some steep pitches up top followed by solid blue runs below that and greens below the upper lodge. Everything was groomed except for the steep section of (Seneca?). Interestingly a ski patrol member told me the only reason it wasn't groomed was that it goes under the new gondola and with the towers they were concerned the snow cat would have trouble making it down as it would need to go sideways on the steep pitch, but the bumps were nice and had good snow. The top is a ridge and the different chairs take you to different sections of the ridge, although i think you can walk across the top. Mostly skied the high-speed quad which had at most a couple of minutes wait, the rest of the lifts were ski-on. The gondola had the cars on it but as not running yet, too bad given the cold weather this week.

Brownski wrote

Yeah I think we mostly agree probably. The tops of all those trails are steep enough for a single black diamond. The run outs down below are all or nearly all blues I think. My point is that none of them should be double black and that nothing else at Belle should be either. They made Onteora double black to puff themselves up so they can Market the place as being more well-rounded then it really is. Just like the gondola is supposed to make them appear more destination-worthy then they are.

But trail difficulty designations are specific to a ski area.  So for an aggressive intermediate who thinks they are hot stuff, making them a bit more cautious with a "double black" can be a safety consideration for certain snow/ice conditions.  Meaning not just a marketing decision.  Certainly would make it easier for me if I were an adult skiing with a tween/teen boy who was eager to prove himself and wasn't quite as good as he thought he was.  When my nephew was 11-12, I would not have wanted to take him down Onteora except in the rare case that there was soft snow and groomed.  If that combination ever happens.

marznc wrote

But trail difficulty designations are specific to a ski area.  So for an aggressive intermediate who thinks they are hot stuff, making them a bit more cautious with a "double black" can be a safety consideration for certain snow/ice conditions.  

You’re right but I think some times we take the whole “it’s a black at this mountain- doesn’t mean it’s a black at that mountain” thing too far. If Onteora and Yahoo are doubles then Tomahawk and Peekamoose should be too. I guess it’s a pet peeve of mine. So many trail ratings are just pure BS, not just at Belleayre but lots of places.

Brownski wrote

marznc wrote

But trail difficulty designations are specific to a ski area.  So for an aggressive intermediate who thinks they are hot stuff, making them a bit more cautious with a "double black" can be a safety consideration for certain snow/ice conditions.  

You’re right but I think some times we take the whole “it’s a black at this mountain- doesn’t mean it’s a black at that mountain” thing too far. If Onteora and Yahoo are doubles then Tomahawk and Peekamoose should be too. I guess it’s a pet peeve of mine. So many trail ratings are just pure BS, not just at Belleayre but lots of places.

Not really that big a deal to me.  But then my favorite mountain out west is Alta.  Alta only has "black" for terrain that more more than "blue."  Fair to say that the range of difficulty from a black groomer to the chutes off Mt. Baldy is pretty big.  Also, all the mountains in the southeast have green, blue, and black.  But a black in the SE is usually easier than most blues at a big mountain in ski country in the northeast or out west.  So I've often explained to newbies who have never skied a place with more than 1000 ft vertical that just because they can ski all the blacks in NC/WV/VA/PA doesn't mean they are ready for the advanced terrain at Snowbird or Jackson Hole or Stowe or Whiteface or just about any mountain with more than 500 acres.

As for the double black vs single black at Belleayre, I haven't skied there often enough to have much of an opinion.

I know that some staff at Belle are wondering how many intermediates are going to ride up the gondola and then decide to ski down Dot Nebel.  I assume there are times when that trail is a bit harder because it's icy or skied off.

snoloco wrote

And I'm skiing Belle now because I'm not up north and it's on the same pass.  And their shiny new gondola is great.

Is it snowing hard? How much down?

I'm here with Ethan, Joe, and Greg P.  5-6 inches so far and still coming down.

SWEET!

Belle was awesome today.  My son is in the seasonal Alpine program, and I spent a lot of time on the Gondola while he was in his group.  

Say what you will about the wisdom of the Gondi.  I was really impressed how it allows you to ski top to bottom through fun trails like Seneca and Dot Nebel.  A pleasant surprise (to me) is how the Gondi makes it very easy to access all parts of the mountain.  

Snow quality was great.  

I was there today.  Great day.

Gondola is a great addition to the mountain and seems to be very popular.  I still prefer to lap Tomahawk as the bridge trail gets a bit old on your 3rd or 4th lap.  I normally use it on cold mornings and when going from the east to west side.