Belleayre, NY: 3-29-2013

No school on Good Friday allowed me to have a father/daughter day trip to Belleayre. I was also able to buy my daughter's ORDA Triple Season Pass at bargain rates. We got to Belleayre and parked in the Discovery Lodge (lower lodge) parking lot. The sun was shining and it was 40 degrees F.

Ready for skiing


After 1 run on the lower mountain I was told we were headed to the top


The lower mountain of Belleayre is 500 vertical feet of  wonderful, long beginner and novice trails and 2 short "blue " trails. There are 2 double chairs hanging off 1 set of towers and 2 short surface lifts. It is served by the Discovery Lodge (elevation 2025'). The snow was bountiful owing to the high elevation.


The Overlook Lodge (elevation 2541'). There is parking at this level of the mountain.


Belleayre has many choices of that rare feature - low angle moguls. These were right under the Superchief HSQ. The trail is Belleayre Run and it has moguls on the skiers left top to bottom. Skiers right was groomed allowing for easy bailouts from the moguls.


The snow conditions can best be described as creamy. There was soft cover on all trails with great depth, but it was not slushy. The heavy cloud cover that took over around 11am kept the conditions perfect. The moguls were mostly soft with a few hard pack troughs. The entire place was open including Cathedral Brook.

There are beautiful views of the Catskills.


Roaring Brook is a long blue trail from the top that most green skiers can handle.


The Sunset Lodge at the top of the Superchief HSQ


Bearpen actually in the distance


First Diamond!


The Belleayre Glades were still open and had plenty of coverage


Well deserved snoozer on the ride back to Flatlandia


Belleayre is a classic ski area with many modern amenities. The HSQ serves 1338 vertical feet and the Tomahawk Quad on the western side of Belleayre"s ridge has 945 vertical feet. There is a wide variety of terrain with the added feature of an entirely separate novice area. Joining ORDA will only improve an already superb the ski area. The ORDA Triple Pass is a bargain that will continue to enhance Belleayre.

Nice report and some very cool shots . It is always a special day when u can make memories together , BTW cute kid !

Good job Daddy !

I had an almost identical day today (Saturday the 30th) with my son, so instead of posting a new TR, I'm going to barge in on X's, sorry mate.

Absolutely beautiful conditions, silky sugar everywhere and the intermittent fluffy clouds kept the sun from baking the snow too much. We only did one warm-up run on the lower mountain and I saw that he was ready for more pitch so we lapped the mid-station runs off Lift 7 and Tomahawk: his first blue trails.


Heading East off the Super Chief Quad


His First Blues


Top of Deer Run


Lower Deer Run


Good Cover on the Tomahawk Liftline and in the Woods (hard to believe given that they're only at 125 natural inches)


Party on the Patio


Outdoor Bar

Nice reports!!!!

These two reports describe perfectly what Belleayre is all about. For those who ski the Catskills, Belleayre offers a civilized alternative, especially for families, to Hunter & Windham. Belle's biggest problem, in my opinion, is a lack of awareness. I just don't think too many people really know about it. If ORDA can do a better job of getting the word out about Belleayre, I think it can ultimately be very successful. By combining the pass with Whiteface & Gore, it becomes even more attractive, and in the long run, may help Whiteface and Gore by driving more people to the Adirondacks, who might not ordinarily go up there.

Love Belleayre in the spring! James, still remember fondly the perfect spring day we had there six years ago. Hoping for similar conditions later this week.

Both these reports are awesome. This is why we ski.

Man there is nothing better than skiing on a sunny day, in great conditions, with your kids.

Harv, your spot on..

moguljunkie wrote

still remember fondly the perfect spring day we had there six years ago.

Good to hear from you, MJ. Yep, April 20, 2007 may have been the best corn I've ever skied.

Providentially, that may have been the thread through which I met Harv.

And nice to see you out with your son. Most of my skiing these days is with my daughter. But maybe we need a corn skiing reunion one of these days.

Great matching father-sun goggle tans!! Love it!

Nice report but the ski mountain in the distant shot is Plattekill not Bearpen and the base elevation for BelleAYRE is 2200 feet not 2500+ . I've skiied Belleayre over 60 years and still find it a great place to ski. If you are adventourous you can find a lot of gladed terrain all over.

skiman2244 wrote

Nice report but the ski mountain in the distant shot is Plattekill not Bearpen and the base elevation for BelleAYRE is 2200 feet not 2500+ . I've skiied Belleayre over 60 years and still find it a great place to ski. If you are adventourous you can find a lot of gladed terrain all over.

Welcome skiman.

There are several mountains in the shot X referenced and I believe Bearpen is to the right of clearly visible slopes of Plattekill.

I think X referred to the elevation of the Overlook Lodge as 2541 feet, not Belleyare's base which is below the lodge.