Buffalo Ski Center: Indy Pass Opens a Door

Coming off a great MLK weekend of skiing, the Great Lakes were firing snow into their usual inland targets. I spent the early part of the week watching the forecast, trying to time where and when to get out. In Western New York, the band was setting up most consistently over Buffalo Ski Center and Kissing Bridge, with snowfall rates that were hard to ignore.

I’ve been interested in Buffalo Ski Center’s history and the area as a whole for a few years, but I had never ridden there. The challenge was always access, being semi-private made it tricky to plan around. That changed this season when BSC joined the Indy Pass, instantly moving it from “someday” to “must visit.”

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Chasing Powder on The Tug

The lake effect storms that normally blow across Ontario and dump feet of powder onto the Tug Hill Plateau have been somewhat lacking this season. Mother Nature has had other plans, sharing the snowfall in the Adirondacks, Western NY, and the Catskills. There have been small and intense bands here and there, but not what we are used to seeing coming off of Ontario in November and December.

North Slope
Snow Ridge

This was the case for until just days after Christmas. The National Weather Service of Buffalo released their highly-anticipated Expected Snowfall map. As a Tug Hill local, you could say the map was very exciting. Dry Hill, Snow Ridge, and Woods Valley saw a forecast for 12-18” of new snow.

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Song Mountain: Surprise Jackpot

There’s something special about setting out on a ski road trip with no expectations other than spending quality time on the slopes. That’s exactly how Evan and I felt as we headed north from Ithaca, making our way to Song Mountain in Tully, NY, for the first time.

Song Mountain

With a string of recent weekends spent chasing powder and the mixed precipitation earlier in the week, we were prepared for mixed conditions. But winter had other plans, and we were in for an incredible surprise.

As we drove past Cortland, it was as if we crossed into a snow globe. Seemingly in the blink of an eye, the landscape transformed, coated in a fresh blanket of lake-effect snow.

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