Belleayre Conditions

I went to Hunter and it was a fun morning, but the snow was cement.  It was better on the top half but down low was wet! They left a lot of the top ungroomed and the runs before the rain hit were awesome.  Belleayre though is a little more south and didn't get as much snow.  So, you didn't miss much. Today or this weekend will have better conditions i'd guess...

Louie, if you didn't go to Belleayre, then you did miss much. Snow wasn't cement at all. Snow totals there were underreported (which is highly unusual for Belleayre). It may be south of Hunter, but they did very nicely.

I was just assuming and not making the man be that mad about missing work... The snow seemed to be hitting the northern catskills more and belleayre didn't report as much.  I realized after I posted there was a review from yesterday.  Some spots at hunter you couldn't make any turns it was so heavy down low

Will be down there on February 7th to meet my daughter, coming up with her college's ski club for a day trip.  Question.  Any glades there?  Don't see any on their official trail map, but.......  ;)

Belleayre has got some "underutilized" trees.

Right now the Chippewa Glade is open and some people have been poaching Belleayre Glades.

Need more snow for much else.

Any chance these glades are marked in any way or is it on a need to know basis? ;)

Hoping someone else who knows (James?) will chime in. I am not the Belle trees expert.

Chippewa is to the skier's right of the Super Chief lift. It's a nice quick pitch, but I'd barely call it a glade. Go further to the right for Chippewa, which is better.

Those are about the only marked trees on the hill and they tend to be bumped up. For better results, just go sniffing around between the trails, especially on the far skier's left (Seneca/Tomahawk/Dot Nebel) and far right (Cathedral Brook).

When it gets decent natural cover (a rarity in recent years), cut left at the right-angle turn on Deer Run and head down into Highmount for a great shot down through the regrowth. It's a great run.

Txt from Belle this morning:

"More glades have opened – right now we are saying the Belleayre Glades and Dreamcatcher Glade are closed and all the others are open."

Monday - Rare Catskills powder day.  Nice foot of fresh snow although a bit heavier than I expected - don't have powder skis but usually not a problem in light powder.  Could have used some wider skis, should have brought my telemark skis instead.  They seem to cut through the "chowder" better but maybe it's just a matter of technique.

Mountain 100% open including glades.  Only surprise was at the edge of some trails - didn't realize that under that foot of powder there were some large ice cookies that shook my confidence a bit.  Overall, however, conditions were awesome.

Hadn't been there in over 10 years - lifts seem slow but it's still a fun place to ski when there is snow.

Skied Belleayre on 2/6 with my daughter.  Her ski club's inaugural trip, so no Gore for me this weekend.  Has the same kind of no frills feel that Gore has, with parents camping out on the tables in several small lodges that are spread across the mountain.  Lift lines pile up outside the pens, but then are quite organized, once you're inside the pen and the lifties are very active with grouping you up to fill the seats on the lifts.  Lifts load from both sides and some times the lines are inordinately long on one side(usually the lodge side) and short on the other, so we quickly learned to look down and ski to the shorter line.  We had the good fortune to be there after they received what one fellow skier told me was 17 inches of snow earlier in the week, so conditions were outstanding.  Many of the runs are bumped up and several were ungroomed and natural.  Our favorite run of the day was the Belleayre Glades which we lapped several times.  Worst lift(line wise) was the Super Chief.  Best lift, Lift 7.  Several trails traverse the mountain, so you can easily get to the other lifts as all lifts face the mountain in the same direction and you'll want to get away from that Super Chief line.  Ugh!  Runs are relatively short.  Lots of kids getting lessons and they get preference on the lift so that's a drag, but with the laid back feel on the mountain, it's all good.  The lifts seem pretty old, so I would bet you'll see some ORDA money going in to Belleayre in the future.  I find it hard to believe this place was losing money.  It was PACKED with people!  I know it was a weekend, but I've never been on lines at Gore like I was at Belleayre yesterday.  Lots of trails rated double black diamond here that would be single black at Gore.  Nothing with the steepness of Rumor or Lies, but it's more a family mountain.  Onteora, Alqonquin, Yahoo, Mohawk all skied nicely.  Their glades are a bit more wide open than Gore, so a good place to learn to ski in the woods.  All in all a great day, that was greatly aided by the snowfall earlier in the week.  

Nice report, glad you got to see the mountain in good conditions. Even better, I'm glad you figured out some of the quirks early and where to ski. Cathedral Glen? Dot Nebel?

Didn't find those.  I'll look the next time.  Sarah will have a car next winter and we'll get the ski 3 pass again and I'll be back! :D

I saw a photo from Belle today on twitter of some insanely deep snow at Belle.

Certainly gets you thinking.

It was fantastic.  Better than anything I've seen at Gore this season......guy on the lift said it was better than anything Belleayre had seen all season too!  Perfect timing and hopefully this current storm keeps it going!

I believe it. Odd that Cats are getting all snow and Daks no.

Laz txtd me a few minutes ago and says it is hammering at Plattekill.

It is a beautiful day here in the Catskills. The crowds are small, and the lines are short. Lift side and slopeside parking are currently available at the Tomahawk lift.




We have intermittent sun and clouds. And the winds are howling pretty good. The groomers are in great shape. Got a nice view of Plattekill from here.






The bumps are in great shape. The lower ones are nice and soft, and the upper ones are just starting to get some ice in the troughs.
O








The conditions are freakin' excellent. Winters almost over. Get out and have yourself a good freakin' time.

Looks good Bosco.  I hope I can get to Belleayre this year.  Looks like you get around.

I love that run under Tomahawk, and the ease of parking a few feet from this lift adds to the unique charm of the Belle.  Great Pix.

2" of pixie dust over firm but totally carveable midwinter snow. zero ice anywhere. Wall to wall cover.

Already looking forward to Plattekill next weekend.