by Albert Neubert
I was supposed to write about my first experience on snow this season when I went to Belleayre last Friday after management announced they would be open to the general public following their Thursday season opener which was only for pass holders. Instead, as Robert Burns, the Scottish poet, opined, “The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry.” And, so it was at Belleayre that gorgeous and spring like Friday morning when I pulled into the Discovery Lodge parking lot a little after 8:30 a.m. I was greeted by an attendant that told me they had bad news and that was the ski area was forced to close due to an electrical outage.
A few minutes later, Bruce Transue, Belleayre’s General Manager, was driving from the Discovery Lodge and stopped by for a quick chat. He told me that his team was searching for the cause of the outage but it would likely take a while and even if found, he felt it might be too risky to operate the ski area given that another outage might strand people on the lifts. Transue told me that there was a lot of electrical work done at the ski area during the off season and the outage might have been related to that.
I also asked about the snowmaking upgrades that have allowed Belleayre to open ahead of every other resort in the Catskills and his response was that he wanted more snowmaking power. Transue said that even with the upgrades more snowmaking was needed to combat what appears to be a warming climate in the region and throughout the Northeast. Transue’s background includes running operations at Hunter which is still the leader in snowmaking firepower in the Catskills.
While I was there, I drove to the upper lot where the Overlook Lodge is so I could see the new quad chair and the skier bridge over the parking area. I was surprised to see that the bridge was located just to the immediate west side of the lodge and the base of the new chair was considerably lower than I expected. That said, it’s in a great location to take skiers from the lightening quad chair that starts at the Discovery lodge base and from there to the summit of some of the best terrain on the mountain.
Let’s turn our attention to this coming holiday weekend which will be filled with ski area openings and plenty of choices near and far. Close by, Belleayre has plenty of manmade snow and should be able to open top-to-bottom off of the Catskill Thunder Gondola. While Hunter and Windham haven’t announced anything as of my column deadline, I would expect one or both to be open this weekend. Also, another surprise might be Mohawk Mountain, in Cornwall Connecticut, and within easy day-trip range of the lower Hudson Valley. Their management is very aggressive when it comes to snowmaking and they have a very powerful system so check their website for updates.
Gore and Whiteface, in the Adirondacks will also be open this weekend. In Vermont, expect Mount Snow, Stratton, Bromley and Okemo all in southern Vermont, to be open this weekend. Further north your options will include Killington, Sugarbush, Stowe and Jay Peak. Next door in New Hampshire, Wildcat, Loon, Waterville Valley, Cannon and Bretton Woods should be in decent shape. A little further, in Maine, you should find a fair amount of terrain available at the two mega resorts in the region, Sunday River and Sugarloaf, both favorites of mine.
Keeping up with off-season improvements, Plattekill, the fiercely independent ski area on the western side of the Catskills and with the tag line, “Keeping it Real,” made a number of upgrades. I had a chance to speak recently with Laszlo Vajtay, who, along with his wife, Danielle, own and operate the ski area, and he told me that he has been focused on expanding terrain for lower level skiers and snowboarders. The ski area has some of the best steep skiing and riding anywhere in the east but has been short on green circle level terrain and snowmaking on the terrain that is there. That will start to change this winter with the newly widened “I Think I Can” and the “Rascal Flats” trails, the latter of which was added last season but both now will be under the guns to ensure coverage. They are served by the Triple chair and accessed from the summit using the Powder Puff novice trail.
Vajtay also said that the long and beautiful Overlook trail on the double chair side of the ski area is also slated for snowmaking and widening in the near future. Overlook is rated a green circle but has a bit of a challenging first third to it that I recommended only for more advanced novice skiers and snowboarders. When those improvements are made it will be a very welcome addition to that side of the trail network.
Additional improvements include more wrap around decking on the base lodge, which retains its old school charm and coziness. That lodge is like wearing a warm blanket on a frigid winter day but when the sun is out and there is no wind, the deck is the place to be. The rental shop has been expanded and the railing to the steps to the get up to the Triple chair extended to make it easier to make the climb in snowy conditions. Also new for this season and is really revolutionary for Plattekill is that season pass purchasers will have full or discounted access to 25 partner resorts. That’s a way for an independent and family run operation to better compete with the multi-ski area pass products like the Epic, Indy and Ikon passes among others now available.
Think a Thanksgiving feast and a side of happy skiing and riding!
You can contact me at asneubert@aol.com or you can visit my Instagram page at asneubert
