Wax ‘Em Up – Ski Season Is Here

By Bob Nesoff

The first flakes of snow always herald the upcoming season. This year certain areas in New York may have wished too hard with dumps of several feet. But the ski areas aren’t complaining.

With 54 ski areas in New York, more than many of the Western resorts that people flock to because of their reputation, New York has more to offer than most any other state. Ski areas range from the former Olympic site at Lake Placid to some Bunny Slope only locations. So, where to go?

For close to 40 years Belleayre has been one of our most favored destinations. Our daughters and then grandchildren all learned to ski there. It’s location with just over a two-hour drive from Northern New Jersey and New York City makes if very convenient. It’s great for a day’s outing or by taking accommodations such as at nearby Emerson Place for overnight or a weekend away, gives it a heads-up.

Over the years Belleayre has undergone major transitions from simple two-seat chair lifts to quads and hi-speed gondolas. There are sufficient greens, blues and even blacks to satisfy the most ardent skier.

All of our daughters learned to ski there. They started on the Bunny Slopes in Belleayre’s excellent ski school that accommodates children from four years old and up. In fact, they learned so well that they easily outskied the rest of us. Our eldest daughter started there at the minimum of four and took to it like a, well like a Snow Bunny. Her sisters followed and soon enough boyfriends and the husbands followed, all doing their first downhill runs a Belleayre.

Belleayre is located in Catskill Park, designated as a forest preserve since 1885. It didn’t take long for skiers and hikers to find the place and begin enjoying it. It was a bit of a chore for them as there were no lifts and they had to hike up the mountain in order to come back down. In the 1940s New York State woke up and began improving the resort. There were originally five trails, a rope tow and New York’s first chair lift.

Today Belleayre is the only Catskill ski area operating a gondola, called “The Catskill Thunder”. It now has increased snowmaking ability to 90% of the trails and modern RFID reloadable lift tickets instead of the old method of hanging them from a jacket. Skiers can enjoy 61 named runs, eight lifts, and a run that goes on for 2.5 miles. There are 17% greens for the novices (or some old guys), 44% blues for those who like a bit more of a challenge and 24% blacks for skiers who really know what they are doing.

One of the most enjoyable things about skiing at Belleayre is that if the slopes get too crowded, they stop selling lift tickets. That means considerably shorter wait times to get on a lift to the top and head back downhill.

A method we strongly recommend, before heading to the top, especially for the blacks, is to do a run or two on the greens. Or, if you are an advanced skier, hit the blues. That can often save some grief later on with muscles tightening up. Doing a couple of runs below your ability level is the same as marathon runners do when the stretch before a race.

The runs are expertly groomed with lines that look like corduroy. Skiers and snowboarders share the slopes, something that was not always the case. They now get along. Even one grandson has gone over to the “Dark Side” and is a Boarder. The other one tried it and has gone back to skis.

The lodges have undergone massive upgrading and offer a warm and comforting respite with a decent variety of food to choose form. You can either take an indoor table or, as many do when weather permits, take your food outside and sit on the picnic tables on the deck. That is common in Europe. 

While you’ll see well-dressed skiers and boarders, you might come across a large number of downhill skiers wearing military fatigues. They are all members of the Army’s 10^th Mountain Division, a unit with a history of providing ski troops in mountainous areas with deep snow. In combat they’d be outfitted in white to blend in. Skiing a Belleayre for them is not only fun and recreation, but valuable training for any eventuality.

While lift tickets have become expensive across virtually every ski resort in the world, you can receive substantial savings by going on-line and purchasing them in advance.

Contacts for Belleayre: (845) 254-5600; snow report (800) 942-6904, GPS 181 Galli Curci Road, Highmount, NY. Coming from the south, take the New York Thruway north to the Kingston exit # 19. Then head west on Route 28, a straight shot to . Enjoy!

Photos Courtesy of Belleayre

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