Belleayre, NY 02/20/14

Earlier this week, I realized that none of my 18 ski days this season had been in NYS and that I was in danger of violating the terms of this site, so I joined Jason for a run up to Belleayre, which is currently leading the lift-served mountains in the Catskills and Adirondacks for natural snow with 130 inches YTD. We figured that it'd be smart to get out before today's forecasted rain, as did marketing manager Joe McCracken, who joined us for a good portion of the day.

Even though this is a quasi-vacation week (with some schools on break and some not), lifts were ski-on and Belle did its usual excellent job of spreading people out on the trails.

Joe and many of the on-mountain employees are wearing ORDA coats with the Whiteface logo on the back: good product placement for the Ski3 Pass, which he mentioned has been selling well, especially amongst Belle's downstate clientele.


Upper Peekamoose


Until the early afternoon, skies were clear and conditions were superb; in fact, I was getting a bit warm by late morning and opted for the open-coat/parachute effect on one run. Jason pointed out that all I needed was a Starter jacket and jeans for the complete tri-state Joey look.


Pepacton [pic: Joe McCracken]


The standard rap on Belle is that it's ridge-line skiing with a steep upper pitch followed by blue-square runouts back to the lift, which is accurate, but those runouts, with their soft snow and gentle curves, are really fun and always lead me into a soothing Zen mindset. Plattekill's "Ridge Run" and Windham's "Wiseacres" have the same effect on me.


Lower Peekamoose


It was virtually impossible to find a lousy line yesterday. Groomers and off-piste alike were skiing beautifully.


Tomahawk Glade [pic: Joe McCracken]



Belleayre Glade [pic: Joe McCracken]



Belleayre Glade [pic: Joe McCracken]


Note to self: when taking a pair of veteran skis out for the first time this season, don't leave the DINs at 1.


Belleayre Glade [pic: Joe McCracken]


By the early afternoon, clouds had rolled in, which flattened the light quite a bit. Around 2 pm, Jason and I headed over to Cathedral Glen. The "thin cover" sign really isn't necessary at this point.




Conditions over there were excellent as well. With temps continuing to climb, we hit it just before the mashed-potatoes stage.






A very pleasant, relaxing day at Belleayre and a reminder that spring skiing and BBQ & beerz in the sun on the Overlook Lodge deck aren't far away.

great day!!!
where's the pic of me crashing?
ya gotta post the good with the bad..

JasonWx wrote

where's the pic of me crashing? ya gotta post the good with the bad..

Jason blamed this fall on his new Line skis and is lawyering up as we speak. Something about "punitive damages"...

That looks awesome.

Jason buddy, you alright?

Harvey wrote

Jason buddy, you alright?

Mine was an equipment malfunction; Jason, well... he's still dialing in his new skis.

They are almost dialed in..almost..

Saw this article on Belleayre Facebook. Was there Monday with daughter and bumps were good. She loves the EZ ones on Bellayre Run! I wanted to go in the woods but she wouldn't go with me. Love Platkill, but Belleayre is great too.

Bumps