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Catskills 2018-2019 winter season

echo_VT

Angel Diva
Copying @marzNC ’s post from last year:

There are four medium-size ski areas in the Catskills of NY. People in NJ and the NYC area who within driving distance, it's worth checking all of them out at some point to see which one is a better fit.

Belleayre - ORDA
Hunter - Peak
Windham - independent
Plattekill - independent, regular ski days Fri, Sat, Sun, mostly natural snow
 

echo_VT

Angel Diva
I’ll start - we’ve been going to Hunter 11/17-11/18, also Thanksgiving weekend 11/22-11/24 and again this past weekend 12/1-12/2.

The snow has been good! Opening weekend they got 11 inches at the base and more up top. Many trails were open. Thanksgiving and Black Friday we had really cold weather (maybe real feel was 10F) but Sat and Sun got warmer (25F then 38F). Even more trails opened up and they started running the F lift.

Saturday this past weekend has been amazing. The crowds were thick on the Saturday of Thanksgiving and also this past Saturday. It was like ski season was in full swing!

Belt parkway is closed as they are using that trail to build the new ski lift. But most of the east face is open.

Today (Sunday) it was drizzling so crowds were light. Also high winds prevented the katskill flyer from opening until 11 am when it started spinning. We decided it was a good day to stay on the lower mountain and have the husband (a ski instructor) and the daughter learn how to snowboard. We had a good time and left early afternoon.
 

marzNC

Angel Diva
I've heard that the snow conditions at Plattekill are already amazing. There were a few folks who went hiking.
 

echo_VT

Angel Diva
Well if Killington opens the last week or 2nd to last week in October that is cause for celebration bc we hope it means good news for New York...! Sure enough we got an early start to the season. So so glad for that :smile:
 

SuperSkiMom

Certified Ski Diva
I 2nd @marzNC on Plattekill. Also, Belleayre is good with kids. We have not had a chance to ski Windham with the kids yet. When we skied it way back before kids it seemed to have a good family vibe. We like Hunter as well and will be skiing there this winter to shoot a story. We are excited to see the new expansion and hope we are able to ski some of the new glades they have.
 

marzNC

Angel Diva
Heard that the reason Plattekill is a little behind on snowmaking was an issue with a compressor. I'm sure they'll get caught up soon enough. Mostly depends on natural snowfall any way once the season gets going. Just have to remember that it's open Fri-Sun unless there is a big powder storm.
 

echo_VT

Angel Diva
Hi I haven’t been here to update but our season has not been as great. We’ve had several melt freeze cycles so the snowpack hasn’t stayed great for long.

Belt keeps getting skied off. Too many beginners and too steep. It can’t hold any snow as a result.

We have had some snowfall, but the one big dump we had was followed by freezing rain so it had a one inch crust on top. Not great!

It’s been ok the other weekends. We had some great snowfall in the last wk of Jan, first week of Feb. surprisingly it was busy during super bowl weekend. Holiday weekends were really busy except Presidents’ Day Monday in which it was super cold out there.

What’s been everyone’s experience so far?
 

marzNC

Angel Diva
From what I've read, Plattekill is still in good shape on the upper mountain.

I'm headed north this week but not going to stop in the Catskills this time. Focusing on NH and perhaps southern VT before I drive my daughter home from Boston for spring break. It's her last year up north.
 

echo_VT

Angel Diva
Yes we’ve been talking about plattekill as they have lake effect snow and have a good amt of snow -! Apparently a few days ago they had 10 inches of freshies
 

marzNC

Angel Diva
Pretty unusual snowstorm tonight. Hunter may get up to 7 inches, with 5" at Belleayre, but only an inch at Plattekill. The highest predictions are for Mount Peter and Tuxedo Ridge, the little hills closest to NYC and NJ. Mountain Creek in northern NJ is looking at 4-8".
 

echo_VT

Angel Diva
And we’re back! We weren’t here last weekend as I ran the NYC half marathon. Today the snow is deep and amazing. We just had a storm here yesterday and the day before. Loving the conditions today. Can’t believe it is spring it is 18-22 with winds so it feels super cold. The snow is light and fluffy.
 

echo_VT

Angel Diva
We went back to Hunter last week but we packed up our ski rental home. We skied but it the snow was soft, slow and soggy... even on the typically shaded areas as well as colder parts of the hill. Unless there’s a snowstorm in the next couple weeks, we’re unlikely to head back...! :( it was nice while it lasted -
 

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