Belleayre Conditions

Honestly I didn't encounter any lift line during Saturday - so yeah, pretty deserted. But the parking lot (at Overlook Lodge) was suprisingly well packed.

How deeply covered was the trail?  Will it hold up through this week's warm temps so they can open again this weekend?

I suppose/hope the coverage survives warm temps this week. According to their website they plan to open on Thursday. Not sure if they are able to blow enough snow these days to get any other trail open.

Marcski wrote

How deeply covered was the trail?  Will it hold up through this week's warm temps so they can open again this weekend?

Not sure. I asked Tom T this question when I saw him on Sunday and he didn't really know the answer either. Did it rain last night?

It rained very little..

Anybody have info on Belle to share?   I was hoping to take my guy out at least once over the break (4 yo) and I saw they have the bunny slope open there.  I am assuming hunter is a bad call given the stereotypical experience.  

The beginners area is open today, 12/31.  I was really worried with yesterdays liquid precipitation that the beginners terrain would be washed out but it turned out to be much better then I expected.  They only have a couple of trails and the bunny hill open but it's just what I need to get my 6 year old niece on skis for the first time and she's loving it.  Only flurries today but the snowmaking turns back on tonight and hopefully stays on...

Thanks for posting.  I am taking my family up tmrw.  My guy is 4 and my girl will be in daycare.  My expectation is for a half day.  My second day and my wife s first this year ( beating her number for last year!).

Thanks to Marcski for the info on the BOGO. I had big plans for getting up ultra early and making my way to VT this morning but I overslept. Bell was my fallback and turned out to be fine. My 13 year old came and had a great time. There was even a tiny bit of natural snow.

Belle has a webcam:

http://belleayre.com/the-mountain/webcam-feed

It is linked on our weather page too.

Harvey wrote

Belle has a webcam:

http://belleayre.com/the-mountain/webcam-feed

It is linked on our weather page too.

Very nice. Kudos to Belleayre.

Belle was wierd and wonderful today, the upper mountain was cloaked in a soupy fog with great soft snow.  It played havoc with my depth perception and gave me the feeling of skiing in a cave.  I felt slightly out of control all day, could be one of my best day's at the Belle.

Went up to Belleayre on Tuesday the 12th.

After 12pm everything started to pay off, as the snow fell it made for one of the best days of the year so far (as sad as that is). Things really softened up and it finally felt like winter.

Trail count is still low, but whats open is well covered. In a year like this it really shows Belleayres weakness with snow making capacity. They normally do a very nice job getting things open but either the lack of Cold and the Lack of moisture when it is has really shown how low their capacity is.

In the development plans they show building a new main compressor site where the Tiger Den house is currently located. Hopefully that with a combined with more Low-E tower guns mounted permanently on trails will help them get through years like this.

evantful wrote

Went up to Belleayre on Tuesday the 12th.

After 12pm everything started to pay off, as the snow fell it made for one of the best days of the year so far (as sad as that is). Things really softened up and it finally felt like winter.

Trail count is still low, but whats open is well covered. In a year like this it really shows Belleayres weakness with snow making capacity. They normally do a very nice job getting things open but either the lack of Cold and the Lack of moisture when it is has really shown how low their capacity is.

In the development plans they show building a new main compressor site where the Tiger Den house is currently located. Hopefully that with a combined with more Low-E tower guns mounted permanently on trails will help them get through years like this.

2 things.

They're doing ok with trail count compared to lots of places. You can't make snow if it's not cold.

That said, if it is marginally cold, those low-e guns put out the worst snow i've ever skied. This is again a taste issue, but I would rather have fewer SOFT trails (like platty has with the fan guns) then rock hard boilerplate ice smeared over everything.

YMMV.

Wrong thread? I'm sure with consistent cold and lake effect snows the ropes are going to start to drop.

not trying to hijack the thread

Hunter is crushing it...90% + of the mountain is open..Say what you want , on a year like this , they are the king of the cats...

ml242 wrote

2 things.

They're doing ok with trail count compared to lots of places. You can't make snow if it's not cold.

That said, if it is marginally cold, those low-e guns put out the worst snow i've ever skied. This is again a taste issue, but I would rather have fewer SOFT trails (like platty has with the fan guns) then rock hard boilerplate ice smeared over everything.

YMMV.

Wrong thread? I'm sure with consistent cold and lake effect snows the ropes are going to start to drop.

I hear you, Fan guns would be welcome too. And while temps certainly haven't been cooperating this year, they weren't for the other two Catskill resorts which are now lapping Belleayre with meaningful Trail count and Acreage open.

Im not trying to rag on Belleayre, I understand their current limitations in snowmaking ability, but hopefully a year like this makes it a priority in future. I say this as a season pass holder at Beallyre for the last 8 years and just want them to succeed.

JasonWx wrote

not trying to hijack the thread

Hunter is crushing it...90% + of the mountain is open..Say what you want , on a year like this , they are the king of the cats...

Agreed 100%, although the mountain is more like 80-85% open now (will be 90+ after this wave of terrain expansion).  If you don't have good snowmaking, your experience will suck this year.  I hope this teaches WF, Gore, and Belleayre a lesson about the importance of snowmaking.

What is the lesson?  That you need snowmaking?

With regard to Belle, do you know what their infrastructure improvements were each of the last two summers?  They ZONED the system.  Three years ago you had to charge EVERY PIPE on the mountain to blow out of one gun.  As of October of this year the system is divided in three.  This is still not ideal, but it's a huge improvement, and it wasn't cheap.

How come you aren't ragging on Plattekill?  Danielle's first words to me were: I don't need to win the Powerball, I just need 2 million for snowmaking.

It's extremely naive to think that these GMs have never considered the advantages of greater snowmaking capability.  I challenge you to walk into Ted, Tommy, Mike, Aaron of Cuomo's office and say "hey I have an idea you've never considered... get more snowmaking."

If you are trolling me sno, great job.

^^^

hunter has always "crushed it"...gore,wf,and belle are starting to catch up...skied hunter last tues.,wed., and thur....I'm thinking they had the best terrain and maybe even the best conditions in n.y.s....have to say that without clair's,anna.,44,lower k and several other trails they were more like 65% open at best but more terrain will open soon...hopefully clair's by fri....guess I,m hijacking too ...I'm new to this...sorry if this is bad etiquette...just learned what trolling is/means