The Time to Ski NY Blog

Newcomb Ski Slope: Community Spirit

Posted on by Harvey

I’ve gotten my ski days this year but I haven’t done much to advance my goal to ski all the lift-served hills in New York. Life has required me to stay close to home this season, and it shows in the list of areas I’ve skied.

Newcomb Ski Slope

Early this year, I realized that skiing Central NY and Western NY wasn’t realistic. I made a separate list of ski areas ranked by their distance from our base in the Southern Adirondacks. I thought “what if I try to tick them off in order of distance?” It would be something at least, some progress towards my goal.

This brought two pieces of ripe, low hanging fruit to my attention: Dynamite Hill and Newcomb Ski Slope.

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Tagged: Adirondacks, Time to Ski NY6 Comments

Val Bialas Opens in 2026

Posted on by Harvey

Talk to any seasoned skier from the Utica area and they will likely have fond memories of Val Bialas. The ski center — named after Valentine Bialas, a local Olympic speed skater — opened in the 1954. It is one of the few municipality-owned ski areas in America.

Val Bialas Ski Center

Val Bialas was a staple in the community for years. Over the last two decades unreliable winters and other economic factors have impacted the ski center’s operations. Over that time, Val has opened only sporadically, with different operators.

Its last official opening was in 2017.

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Tagged: Central NY, Time to Ski NY20 Comments

Oak Mountain: Let’s Go!

Posted on by Harvey

I’ve been public about my goals for this season, shooting my mouth off about all kinds of things. Ski 100 days. Ski every ski area in New York in three years. Do more backcountry.  Tele ’til I’m smelly. Probably some others that I’ve forgotten. But then reality showed up. Now you can watch me backpedal.

Oak Mountain

One of my big promises was based on my idea that it is Time to Ski New York.  As the editor of NYSkiBlog, recently retired and relocated to the mountains, I feel it’s incumbent on me to ski all of New York, to be informed.

It’s become clear to me, that when it’s snowing, I’m more motivated to drive a distance to ski a new area. I want to have the best chance to tell a great story.

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Tagged: Adirondacks, Oak Mountain, Powder, Time to Ski NY12 Comments