The Rebirth of Mont Alta Ski Area

Posted on by James Michaud

Over the past few years, we’ve published several features in the Magazine about the most underutilized arrow in the northeastern skier’s quiver: Québec.

Mont-Alta-Nov-2008
Mont Alta November Dump

From the Eastern Townships and Laurentians in the south to Charlevoix and the Gaspé Peninsula in the north, the province offers a number of great mountains, but its special sauce is the many interesting small areas similar to Hickory in the Adirondacks or Plattekill in the Catskills.

With the 2013-14 season inching closer, we learned over the past week that one of the most beloved of these locals’ hills, Mont Alta — located an hour northwest of Montréal in the Laurentian snowbelt — is going to reopen after being closed last season, with the goal of transforming it into a co-op.

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Tagged: Quebec9 Comments

Belleayre Fall Update 2013

Posted on by NYSkiBlog

Belleayre-Ski-CenterWe 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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Tagged: Belleayre, Catskills1 Comment

OK Slip Falls, NY

Posted on by Harvey

OK Slip Falls is among the highest waterfalls in New York State. Located in the Adirondacks north of Route 28, halfway between North River and Indian Lake, the falls cascade nearly 250 feet in one spot on its path from OK Slip Pond to the Hudson River.

Trail to top-of-OK-Slip-Falls-NY

I’ve imagined OK Slip Falls ever since the late 70s when I first read about the remote and inaccessible wonder. For as long as I can remember, OK Slip Brook has been on land owned by the Finch Pryn paper company.

But in 2009, the OK Slip Tract was acquired by Nature Conservancy and in the past year the lands were sold to the state in a blockbuster land deal that included diverse parcels throughout the central and southwestern Adirondacks.

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Tagged: Adirondacks, Backcountry10 Comments