Windham Mountain, NY: 12/2/12

It’s my goal to ski and report on every ski mountain in New York. Given the demands of work, family, and our property near Gore, that may take a while. Until today, I’d never skied Windham Mountain in NY and it was a big gap in my resume.

Windham Mountain NY

My plan was to ski Windham for the first time last Friday — the mountain’s planned opening day — but work didn’t cooperate. Today the stars finally aligned, and I got my chance.

The forecast called for afternoon showers, so I left the flatlands well before dawn, to make the most of the morning. When I arrived at the mountain around 8:15 it was gray and warm. I grabbed a cubby in the main base lodge area and ordered breakfast. The resort feels very well cared for, and when you’re in the common areas, you do too. After chatting with the chef, I whirled around and somehow my egg sandwich ended up on the floor — it was replaced even before my embarrassment slipped away.

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Catskill Double Play: Windham and Hunter

This season Mother Nature has slowed us all down to some extent. But this week it wasn’t really the weather holding me back — I have Gore-tex hard shells, soft shells, and RAIN-X on my windshield. The real issue has been the hesitance of northeastern resorts to commit to all-in snowmaking in the face of a warm, wet forecast.

On Tuesday night, a quick surf of the web revealed that Windham was offering the greatest number of open expert trails in the Catskills. I hadn’t skied there in a few years, and wanted to get back to the hill.

I skated up to the Whirlwind Quad and said good morning to a welcoming liftie. There weren’t any lines and I was so jazzed to be skiing that I didn’t buckle my boots until I arrived at the top. Skiers were already making their way down, carving turns, and ripping.

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Windham Benefit Raises $171,000 for Irene Relief

Windham MountainThis morning, Windham Mountain reported that its recent Hurricane Relief Benefit Dinner and Auction netted $171,790 — 100% of which will be donated to the Windham Chapter of the Catskill Mountain Foundation to assist in the continuing recovery process.

The evening included a sold-out dinner for 160 guests (many of whom are second-home owners in Windham), followed by a raffle and auction headed by Windham Mountain managing partner and first-time auctioneer Randy MacDonald.

With so much bad news coming out of the Catskills in the aftermath of Hurricane Irene, it’s great to hear that Windham Mountain not only hosted this event, but helped make it into an overwhelming success.

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