Ode to an addict...

After having only one day under my belt so far this season,  the day before Thanksgiving, I've really been jonesin' pretty hard the last few weeks.  However, after the rain the last few days and then the hard cold, I didn't expect to even bother to ski this weekend and my wife and kids were looking forward to a nice, relaxing lazy weekend.  

There were flurries in the air upon our arrival to our winterhouse last night and about 1/2" on the ground at 7 am.  After getting up last night, I checked out the websites. I saw Belleayre was going to open with the only skiing in the Catskills, Onteora trail.  The wife gave me a window to ski in the am and with our place only a short drive away, I figured I'd get my fix when and how I could.  

I pulled into the lot at about 9. There were a few cars but not many. They were blowing the crap out of the lower mountain with just a few fan guns going on the main mountsin in key areas.  However, you could tell they had resurfaced Onteora pretty much top to bottom before starting the lower mountain.  It was chilly this morning with cloudy skies, some sun and light flurries.  The skies clouded and it snowed about an inch during the day today.  The crowds were pretty light, but with only the one trail open, it was starting to feel a bit crowded on the slope for my liking...especially with lots of beginners around.  The trail was quite firm, icy with some smallish death cookies/large marbles around.  That was this morning when I started.  By 11:30, the headwall was all scraped off to ice.  The rest of the trail, below the midstation started to ski pretty well.  Still firm but the marbles/death cookies started to breakup and, as a result, there was some loose, sugary snow around.  

Some photos before it clouded up fully.

Looking up from 1/2 way down the trail:


Looking down from the same spot:


From the bottom looking up:


From the base of the chair.  This scene, with the ice hard manmade snow and beginners struggling to get up and down over it from the base of the chair to the lodge, reminded me of an old Warren Miller movie:



I stayed about 3.5 hours and took one quick, 10 min break to warm the toes.  Probably skied about 15 runs.  Despite there being a single trail to ski, which was firm and icy at best, I really enjoyed being out there today.  I really needed the fix.

Terrific report, Marcski. East Coast skier to the core. The fix is everything!

Inspiring. Absolutely inspiring

Marky Mark FTW , way to get after it