My seasonal ski resume always seems to have a hole in it until I can check off a box next to each Catskill resort, and I finally made it around the horn with a trip to Belleayre this past weekend.
I wasn’t sure what to expect, as we haven’t been hit by a storm in weeks. The outlook seemed good based on the snow report showing 90 percent of the mountain open.
I wondered, with the transition to the new ORDA team, could I expect an Olympic performance from a humble Catskills ski hill?
Saturday afternoon I received a text from Harvey asking if I could join him at Belleayre on Sunday. This season’s early cold has allowed aggressive snowmaking and the mountain has made good progress opening terrain, so I jumped on it.
Belleayre’s trail report had two lifts and 11 trails open, including a mix of green, blue and black terrain. Conditions were reported as machine groomed loose granular, loose granular with moguls, hard pack and thin cover. Both the Discovery Lodge and the mid-mountain Overlook Lodge were open.
We could see a snowmaking cloud on the hill as we approached from Route 28. We parked at the Overlook Lodge and were on the Super Chief Quad in just a few minutes.
We got a quick update on off-season improvements from Tom Tar, the general manager at Belleayre Ski Center.
Snowmaking: We replaced four submersible pumps that supply our water. We’ve also replaced 9,000 feet of air and water lines that will allow us to increase water pressure and further improve our efficiency.
We added 25 low-energy guns including ten new SMI Polecat Fan Guns that will further increase our snowmaking capabilities and energy efficiency.
Lifts: We’re replacing the handle tow (Lift #5) on the bunny slope with a magic carpet. The new lift will be ready for opening day.
Gear: We will have a new rental fleet of new skis and snowboards. As part of ORDA, it’s likely that our rental fleet will be similar to those at Gore and Whiteface.
Renovations: The Discovery Lodge is currently being upgraded. The cafeteria style food service has been replaced with a more modern food court with an enhanced menu and more space for additional seating. This should also help with the flow of customers and alleviate the some of the lines/bottleneck at the cash registers.
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