Dry Hill: Finally Dry

Posted on by Harvey

In 2010, I began work on NYSkiBlog’s Directory of NY Ski Areas to educate myself about New York skiing. In the process, I learned about Dry Hill, the other Tug Hill ski area. It’s a beautiful ski hill on a ripple in the terrain, a few miles south of Watertown. Dry Hill has a magic all her own.

Dry Hill Ski Area

There’s a lot to like about Dry Hill. Dry has a double chair, a T-bar and a magic carpet serving 7 trails on 42 acres; 1.5 miles of terrain with 300 feet of vertical drop. It’s not too surprising that both the double and the T-bar were made by the venerable Hall Ski Lift Company — which was also based in Watertown NY — from 1955 until 1982.

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Tagged: Indy Pass, Lake Effect, Powder, Tug Hill7 Comments

November Snow in the Catskills

Posted on by Harvey

This has been a year of transition for my family. Our daughter is in her first year of college. My wife and I are building a house in New York, and planning to move in the first half of next year. And after forty years of employment with one company, I’m retiring. I’ll be honest, it hasn’t been easy keeping it all together.

Galli Curci Road

Finishing our house and managing my exit from the company are taking priority. The season snuck up on me, even more so than usual, and I definitely don’t have my act together. Last weekend I skied Gore with a cotton teeshirt under my fleece. This weekend, I couldn’t even find my real camera.

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Tagged: Belleayre, Catskills, Earning Turns, Plattekill, Powder18 Comments

ORDA’s Ski3 Opens Early

Posted on by ThatNYSkier

Opening weekend in New York is always a special time. After months of summer heat we anticipate autumn’s first frost. Skiers often get a first glimpse of the winter season once the resorts fire up their snow guns.

Whiteface view from the base

In a typical year, Whiteface works to open on Black Friday. While this fall hasn’t been exactly cold, the temperatures and humidity aligned this past week to allow each of the Ski3 mountains to start making snow on limited terrain.

Whiteface, the tallest of the three, opened up 1.3 miles of trail with 1,840’ of vertical that ran from the top of the Summit Quad from Riva Ridge down through Paron’s Run, over to Lower Northway and finally exiting off of Summit Express.

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Tagged: Adirondacks, Gore Mountain, Whiteface5 Comments