Windham: Make Friends with a Local

After a promising start to the season, a more traditional weather pattern set in. New York skiers and riders are used to their fair share of 50 degree weather and rain in December. This year it has seemed particularly tough, forcing many resorts to delay their opening day.

Windham base area

The resorts that are open have clung to the white ribbon of death. Mountain ops and the dedicated riders who call these mountains home have not been deterred. At the first sign of cold weather both returned in full force.

On Friday, I decided to check out Windham on my way to the flatlands; they seemed to still be holding on to a reasonable amount of snow.

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Windham Wonderland

The 80’s track Blue Monday pumped out of the speakers as we bopped up to the Sixer. The throwback tune fueled the excitement of no lift lines. Bluebird on a Monday, with the hill to ourselves, perfection. We laughed as we rolled onto each lift – a complete 180 from the Sunday mass.

Full disclosure, I haven’t been to Windham in 10ish years, so I don’t know lots of things, like: do you hike to the Wilderness Bowl? Uphill traffic on a weekend!? Why was it called Cave Mountain? Anyway, I’m super stoked on this adventure.

The Giant and I arrived in the Catskills on Sunday to volunteer for The SHRED Foundation.

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The Adaptive Sports Foundation at Windham

Adaptive Sports Foundation Hartman Race
Photo by Marc Bryan-Brown, Courtesy of ASF

Windham Mountain in the northern Catskills is known for hosting the Adaptive Sports Foundation (ASF), a well-regarded program that allows children and adults with physical and cognitive disabilities to experience the joy of snow sports. Last Saturday, ASF held its first-ever Awareness Day to spread the word about the organization’s vital work.

Headquartered in a dedicated 7,200 square-foot lodge with its own equipment shop, ASF’s 240 volunteer instructors donate more than 20,000 hours per year adding up to more than 4,000 lessons, with 3,500 of those during ski season.

In addition, since developing the Warriors in Motion® program 13 years ago, more than 1,500 wounded veterans and family members have used ASF’s services.

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