West Mountain

Has anyone skied here? What's it like? They have gone through some tough times if I'm not mistaken... Didn't open a few seasons. Or maybe I'm confusing it with another hill.

West never closed. They did have some rough years until the current owner took over. Lots of money and improvements going into the area now.  

Looks like the deadline for discounted season passes for West Mountain is 10/31.  Here's the list they have on the season pass webpage.  Facebook Page sounds like the best source for updates.

2018/2019 Big Time Upgrades include:
Brand new Quad Chairlift on the The Face Trail
Brand new State-of-the-art snowmaking north to south (AOA to the Cure)
New loading carpet on the West Express Chairlift
Brand new cafeteria

That season pass price is steep. What's the terrain like? Are the trees in play?

Not a lot of trees. Whole mountain not "exciting", but a good local hill.

Mondays and Tuesdays, they have real cheap tickets. Just grab one and explore. You can ski the whole mountain in a couple of hours.

ck1 wrote

Has anyone skied here? What's it like? They have gone through some tough times if I'm not mistaken... Didn't open a few seasons. Or maybe I'm confusing it with another hill.

Pizza in the bar is pretty good, need I say more

We used get 2 hour tickets week day mornings when the snow was good, then stay for lunch. There’s racing on Monday or Tuesday nights as well. Lots of kids after school.

It’s nice to have that close by.

mm

They've invested over $15 million, so there's a huge gamble in relation to making that back and satisfying the investers.  Their new price structure is way out of whack for what you get there.

If you're driving to Glens Falls, you might as well keep going to Gore.

marznc wrote

Looks like the deadline for discounted season passes for West Mountain is 10/31.  Here's the list they have on the season pass webpage.  Facebook Page sounds like the best source for updates.

2018/2019 Big Time Upgrades include:
Brand new Quad Chairlift on the The Face Trail
Brand new State-of-the-art snowmaking north to south (AOA to the Cure)
New loading carpet on the West Express Chairlift
Brand new cafeteria

Just biding my time until some Jerry falls on that magic "loading" carpet and gets dumped off the end of the loading area.

Saratogahalfday wrote

They've invested over $15 million, so there's a huge gamble in relation to making that back and satisfying the investers.  Their new price structure is way out of whack for what you get there.

If you're driving to Glens Falls, you might as well keep going to Gore.

This is exactly why I’ve never skied there. If I lived in the area they would get my mid-week night skiing business though.

Did West have the new quad for 2018-19?  Can't tell if this article is left over from a year ago.

https://www.visitlakegeorge.com/blog/gore-mountain-and-west-mountain-improvements

When I used to ski there we would get yelled at for skiing the trees.  Then my kids ski raced in high school and I could pull a free pass when I worked the races and we knew people.  If I didn't have to deal with getting yelled at and threatened, I probably would have skied there more. Having snowmaking on the Cure upps the ante!  I almost got T-Boned from a deer on the cure and got yelled at after skiing the lift line to the bottom. It could be a really good mountain with the new owner and very close to me, I have a bunch of West stories.

I really want to go skiing soon!!!

I'm totally curious.  Haven't seen a business model like West.  Clearly a "feeder" hill.  Would be a good addition to the Indy Pass.

For people who are willing to take a chance on a given M-F or Sun in January by buying a lift ticket before early Nov, 8-hour lift online tickets are $15 mid-week or $20 for Sundays.  Saturdays are $63.

The after school program flyer says West had 1600 kids in 45 programs last season.  Cost looks very reasonable.

sudsnbumps wrote

When I used to ski there we would get yelled at for skiing the trees.  Then my kids ski raced in high school and I could pull a free pass when I worked the races and we knew people.  If I didn't have to deal with getting yelled at and threatened, I probably would have skied there more. Having snowmaking on the Cure upps the ante!  I almost got T-Boned from a deer on the cure and got yelled at after skiing the lift line to the bottom. It could be a really good mountain with the new owner and very close to me, I have a bunch of West stories.

I really want to go skiing soon!!!

The old mountain bike trails are fun to ski if there's enough snow. While I think the new Cure is good for the general public and racing, I miss it being old and overgrown and never open. We used to just ski it all the time (and I'm sure you did too) after ducking the rope and then through the whippers, over the downed tree around or over the big rocks, etc. It was a great changeup since the mountain gets kind of boring quickly, especially when half of it is closed for racing.

The owners have been committed to racing and hold a lot of races.  It’s a good hill particularly for SL even up to the FIS Level and an added benefit for parents is you can see the whole race from the bar or if you park in the right place from your car.

I’m sure they do well in the bar and restaurants during races.  They seem to be the slowest place for doing awards after the races and the accepted theory is awards are delayed to sell more drinks. The food is pretty good there as well.

The owners kids are good racers as well.

Z wrote

The owners have been committed to racing and hold a lot of races.  It’s a good hill particularly for SL even up to the FIS Level and an added benefit for parents is you can see the whole race from the bar or if you park in the right place from your car.

I’m sure they do well in the bar and restaurants during races.  They seem to be the slowest place for doing awards after the races and the accepted theory is awards are delayed to sell more drinks. The food is pretty good there as well.

The owners kids are good racers as well.

Ah . . . reminds me of Crotched.  Working guys in the Boston area who like to race talk about Crotched.  Looks like a pretty strong program for kids too.

Also makes me think of Cochran's.

Being able to see an entire race course while sitting indoors at the bar sounds like a good idea to me!

Great mountain, amazing upgrades and it keeps getting better.  Yes new Quad over at North West is being assembled now.

I might have said this before but I can’t figure out how I never skied West. I used to live in Albany for gods sake

Okay, now I get it.  The man pushing for all the investments and improvements learned to ski at West.  He and his wife have four kids on the slopes.  Spencer Montgomery is listed as co-owner and Managing Member and Sara Montgomery is General Manager and Program Director West Mountain Racing.  It's been about 5 years since the current ownership group took over when West was headed to bankruptcy.  Managed to break even a couple seasons ago.  Certainly sounds like West is headed in the right direction from a business standpoint.

Jan 2018
https://www.saratogian.com/news/west-mountain-owner-makes-upgrades/article_5d5d3520-9104-56a3-ade9-6e1d9f6fb0c0.html

Sep 2018
https://poststar.com/business/local/west-mountain-ski-area-continues-renovation-upgrade-efforts/article_7fc6c641-0040-559d-9155-06eb3179af0f.html

Chris wrote

Great mountain, amazing upgrades and it keeps getting better.  Yes new Quad over at North West is being assembled now.

So for 2019-20, there will be two quad chairs?  The Face and Northwest.  Plus West Express, a triple.

Also lots of new snow guns including fixed installations and fan guns for a place with about 120 acres.  Don't know what existed before but sounds like a big difference.

"They’ve made a major upgrade in the snowmaking department with the addition of 100 snow guns and 50 new snow fans. These permanently-placed snow blasters should get much needed snow to the majority of the mountain."