Belleayre Conditions

[snoloco]

They did exactly the right thing to shore up the damaged portion of the roof and stabilize the structure. I work for a company that does damage assessments and structural repairs, so I have some knowledge.

 

[Ripitz]

I hope you guys are faster than the state

 

[Ripitz]

few hours later he wasn't careful and took a little dunk. Good, safe lesson: same trail, same day, doesn't mean it skis the same!

I was skiing the trees one day with my nephew spinning laps all day on well known terrain. We were careful to stay together and watch each other ski. After our last meetup on the last run I powered out of the woods to gain speed for the flats back to the lodge. When I got there he was no where to be found. I waited and waited. I tried to call him and my phone had no service. I went into Overlook and used the guest phone and it went to voicemail. I went back outside and checked the ski racks. I even looked in the bar. I went back to customer service and told them to ask patrol to look for him on their sweep. I contemplated walking up myself because I knew exactly where I left him. I went back outside and waited in a panic. Then he appeared, walking downhill on skis. Turns out, where we stopped he had unknowingly stepped in a seep. After I shoved off he tried to as well and fell over into deep snow. His skis were iced up and clumped with snow. He tried again and fell into water. He tried to scrape his ski with the other with minimal results. Wet and sweaty he then walked out at a snowshoe pace. Lesson learned and now we always ski with scrapers and radios.

 

[DomB]

I was skiing the trees one day with my nephew spinning laps all day on well known terrain. We were careful to stay together and watch each other ski. After our last meetup on the last run I powered out of the woods to gain speed for the flats back to the lodge. When I got there he was no where to be found. I waited and waited. I tried to call him and my phone had no service. I went into Overlook and used the guest phone and it went to voicemail. I went back outside and checked the ski racks. I even looked in the bar. I went back to customer service and told them to ask patrol to look for him on their sweep. I contemplated walking up myself because I knew exactly where I left him. I went back outside and waited in a panic. Then he appeared, walking downhill on skis. Turns out, where we stopped he had unknowingly stepped in a seep. After I shoved off he tried to as well and fell over into deep snow. His skis were iced up and clumped with snow. He tried again and fell into water. He tried to scrape his ski with the other with minimal results. Wet and sweaty he then walked out at a snowshoe pace. Lesson learned and now we always ski with scrapers and radios.

I am sorry you both went through that - glad it ended ok. I can imagine how intense and scary that was for you both.

 

[Ripitz]

Thanks, it was scary. Especially with the lifts closed I couldn’t go back up to look for him. He’s a big boy, 21 years old with two deployments in the Middle East, can hold his own and then some, but we all know that accidents can happen to anyone. It really hits you though when you start a missing person report. I really wasn’t looking forward to calling my sister to tell her I lost her son. We had just been up at Whiteface and saw all of the search and rescue efforts looking for the guy who bumped his head and ended up in California. The helicopter flying around, guys with dogs loading in the gondola and lines of people probing all over the woods... not good. In the end he was fine and luckily wasn’t hurt or didn’t end up on a cross country trip. It’s super easy to get lured into complacency when riding the lifts but we try to be prepared like any other mountain adventure.
I’m glad your son was fine too, just a little wet. In some situations extra dry clothes can be the difference between life and death or in this case a more comfortable ride home?

 

[DomB]

Belle skied well today from 8:30 to 10:30. Once lines on the least used lifts got to more than a minute or two, I left - just my own personal risk tolerance. Then took a walk in the woods on a trail in Phoenecia that used to be used for accessing tanbark (Cypress?) for civil war boot-making and later bluestone for the city. Very peaceful.

Belle should get a lot of credit for (1) blowing snow - they are blowing all over on the trails that are not open, so it may be they can sell more tickets on MLK day and (2) customer service - this was only my second day, and as TJ anticipated, my pass did not work. They taped my new pass to the door so I could pick it up this morning without going inside any buildings.

My guess is that for the holiday weekend you will be able to weave between Tomahawk and 7, which will help with crowding.

Also credit to Belle because they are taking Covid mitigation meaures very seriously.

I don't want to complain about grooming because I know how many challenges the hills have with Covid, but it seems like they are doing what they have done the past few seasons - don't groom too deep, which can get skied off quickly. Weather obviously has been a big challenge.

 

[idratherbskiing]

Belle skied well today from 8:30 to 10:30. Once lines on the least used lifts got to more than a minute or two, I left - just my own personal risk tolerance. Then took a walk in the woods on a trail in Phoenecia that used to be used for accessing tanbark (Cypress?) for civil war boot-making and later bluestone for the city. Very peaceful.

Belle should get a lot of credit for (1) blowing snow - they are blowing all over on the trails that are not open, so it may be they can sell more tickets on MLK day and (2) customer service - this was only my second day, and as TJ anticipated, my pass did not work. They taped my new pass to the door so I could pick it up this morning without going inside any buildings.

My guess is that for the holiday weekend you will be able to weave between Tomahawk and 7, which will help with crowding.

Also credit to Belle because they are taking Covid mitigation meaures very seriously.

I don't want to complain about grooming because I know how many challenges the hills have with Covid, but it seems like they are doing what they have done the past few seasons - don't groom too deep, which can get skied off quickly. Weather obviously has been a big challenge.

First time at Belle in a few years for me and I echo it was good from 830 to 1030. Skiing as a single is not as much fun now that there isn't a single line. Parked by Tomahawk, admired someones sprinter from a distance and a roof top tent which I haven't seen in person.

 

[DomB]

First time at Belle in a few years for me and I echo it was good from 830 to 1030. Skiing as a single is not as much fun now that there isn't a single line. Parked by Tomahawk, admired someones sprinter from a distance and a roof top tent which I haven't seen in person.

Ha - that was my tent - size is a bit bigger than a queen bed inside. "Skiing parking lot" was not a planned use case when I was buying, but worked well : )

Did you stay later, and if so, how were conditions after?

 

[idratherbskiing]

Ha - that was my tent - size is a bit bigger than a queen bed inside. "Skiing parking lot" was not a planned use case when I was buying, but worked well : )

Did you stay later, and if so, how were conditions after?

was outta there by 1045

 

[snowalrus]

Did you stay later, and if so, how were conditions after?

I was there yesterday too and agree the morning conditions were nice. Felt like they've done a good job with snowmaking especially after the rain & avalanche. By early afternoon it got skied off and icy - by no means the worst it can get but it was obvious the snow was deteriorating.