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Catskills NY 2019-20

marzNC

Angel Diva
Plattekill is opening this weekend, Dec. 7. Apparently the earliest opening ever. Probably a combination of the steady investment in snowmaking combined with the recent storm that was good for the Catskills region. Plattekill got 15-21 inches on the mountain.
 

NYC2VT

Certified Ski Diva
This will be our third consecutive year skiing all three ORDA mountains. I adore Gore. Yes, it requires a lot of hiking here and there, but the terrain is so varied, and it has pockets that are breathtakingly beautiful, especially the old hand cut trails.

Gore is a great mountain. The old runs like Sleeping Bear are so fun on a not-crowded day- i love how narrow the trail is and how quiet it feels.
 

marzNC

Angel Diva
Have seen a first-hand report that people with an Epic pass can go direct-to-lift at Hunter. They were hand scanning at the base lift.
 

echo_VT

Angel Diva
I have been to Hunter this December each weekend. The snow has been amazing after that post thanksgiving storm.

Even with the rain on Dec 9 and after, we had good conditions on Saturday bc it was warm, however it did ice up last Sunday as well as firm up to be firm and fast. It was also extremely windy on Sunday.

The north side has some changes. To access way out from the 6 pack of northern express lift, there will be a path to go left and join Belt pkwy as well as keep going left to go underneath the lift and access way out which goes to the west side and also accesses twilight and rips return (the easier north side runs).

The west side hasn’t opened this season so it’s not available currently but when the west side opens, way out will open (I’m told).

Overlook has been re rated to be black diamond instead of blue. It really is very much like Claire’s but less width on the trail.

Also white cloud merged onto belt before and they closed it all of last season. Now it is it’s own run and ends up at the bottom of Jimmy.

It’s definitely a deep blue run with some pitches. But milder than overlook for sure. I’ve lapped white cloud and overlook, however I haven’t gone on the frontside even once bc the lift lines were out of control. Hunter was very busy with the lift lines after the snow storm.

Also I will be teaching snowboarding and skiing at Hunter this season! First time. Hoping it’s amazing :smile:
 

marzNC

Angel Diva
The north side has some changes. To access way out from the 6 pack of northern express lift, there will be a path to go left and join Belt pkwy as well as keep going left to go underneath the lift and access way out which goes to the west side and also accesses twilight and rips return (the easier north side runs).

The west side hasn’t opened this season so it’s not available currently but when the west side opens, way out will open (I’m told).

Overlook has been re rated to be black diamond instead of blue. It really is very much like Claire’s but less width on the trail.

Also white cloud merged onto belt before and they closed it all of last season. Now it is it’s own run and ends up at the bottom of Jimmy.

It’s definitely a deep blue run with some pitches. But milder than overlook for sure.
From what I remember of the talk last season and a day at Hunter during early season a few years ago, the changes make sense. Do you think they were already planned by Peak even before the VR merger?
 

marzNC

Angel Diva
Also I will be teaching snowboarding and skiing at Hunter this season! First time. Hoping it’s amazing :smile:
Cool! Were there a lot of first-timers during training? Did you have any trainers from VR resorts that weren't Peak?
 

marzNC

Angel Diva
Just discovered that this fall Dan Hogan started as the Director of Snowsports at Windham. He has history at Windham since that's where he first became an instructor back in 1997. More recently he was a leader for Vail Resorts at Breck and at Perisher in Australia. The longtime snowsports director at Windham, Franz Krickl, has been around for more than 40 years. Krickl is staying on during 2019-20 season as the Director of Skiing and Riding.

Can a purchase by VR be in the near future?
 

echo_VT

Angel Diva
From what I remember of the talk last season and a day at Hunter during early season a few years ago, the changes make sense. Do you think they were already planned by Peak even before the VR merger?
I would guess planned by Peak and Hunter as the first iteration was not working. Vail is still getting its grips into Peak (this is how it feels at least) but they’ve made a lot of progress. My guess is by end of season or by next season we’ll fully be Vail-ified
 

echo_VT

Angel Diva
Cool! Were there a lot of first-timers during training? Did you have any trainers from VR resorts that weren't Peak?
I'm not sure who you’re referring to - first timers meaning first time instructors? Everyone on staff is still very much Hunter, however people here are thinking about where to go that will have access to Vail resorts. This is in reference to guests (season pass holders) too. No one’s from Vail or Peak (on staff) that we’ve met - but we are considered to be Vail staff now. I have heard that previously Peak had been surveilling how Hunter is run for some time. And then they implemented changes here and there. This is before the Vail takeover. We’re still seeing much of the same but we are adopting Vail’s policies on hill and for the instructors (as far as I can tell) - but not much else that I can spot or pinpoint
 

marzNC

Angel Diva
I'm not sure who you’re referring to - first timers meaning first time instructors? Everyone on staff is still very much Hunter, however people here are thinking about where to go that will have access to Vail resorts. This is in reference to guests (season pass holders) too. No one’s from Vail or Peak (on staff) that we’ve met - but we are considered to be Vail staff now. I have heard that previously Peak had been surveilling how Hunter is run for some time. And then they implemented changes here and there. This is before the Vail takeover. We’re still seeing much of the same but we are adopting Vail’s policies on hill and for the instructors (as far as I can tell) - but not much else that I can spot or pinpoint
Yes, I was asking about first time instructors. Did the instructor jackets change from last season?

Makes sense that given the relatively short time that Peak was in charge, it's hard to really know what came from Peak and what is coming from VR management. VR made a few mistakes with the first three "urban" ski areas in the midwest. But presumably learned from them and have adjusted the integration process. Those were independent, family-owned ski areas. So a somewhat different situation than Hunter.
 

echo_VT

Angel Diva
Yes we have all blue jackets now - in previous years the race and seasonal coaches had blue jackets while other instructors for private, deck, and group lessons had orange jackets. We noticed the blue jackets this year are different than ones in years past -
 

echo_VT

Angel Diva
Fri-Sat-Sun were warm days on hill (45 high, low was 28 - mostly was around 36) - not very busy in the learning area however the flyer was slammed

Christmas:
The west side opened sometime on Christmas or earlier. We skied rips return on Christmas but it was icy and not too fun. Twilight doesn’t have blown snow on it and it was patchy coverage and so it was not open. The snow improved on overlook so we did that a few times.

My husband and daughter did lower K but the snow was hard and bumpy and not very fun. On Christmas they hadn’t groomed Milky Way either so it was quite mogul-ly the whole way down.

Fri-Sat-Sun: had several lessons in snowboarding - taught never evers - and those looking to link their turns. I had older kids aged 7-12 yesterday. It was sunny and nice! However today Monday it is raining relentlessly - and has been since Sunday evening. The snowpack should be nice to ski on - but a lot will erode.
 

NYSnowflake

Angel Diva
I read that Hunter is going to make snow tonight. Usually we head to Mount Snow rather than Hunter (Epic Local Pass), but Mount Snow’s detachable lifts are still iced up and they aren’t blowing any snow so we are thinking of trying out Hunter in the AM. Any insider advice on this strategy?
 

echo_VT

Angel Diva
Hunter main line was empty on New Year’s so many folks who were here overnight lapped it. New Year’s Eve was slightly busier but not by much. We did have quite a few people learning to ski and ride on both days surprisingly...! The weekend was a zoo in the main line - but very quiet in the ski/snowboard snow sports school area.
 

marzNC

Angel Diva
Apparently there's been a change in approach to grooming at Belleayre recently with regards to bumps and trees. There used to be a few trails that were rarely groomed or at least one side was left to grow bumps. Glades were better maintained as well. Seems to coincide with the installation of the gondola and replacing the slow beginner chairlift.

There is an online petition on Change. org to show displeasure with the changes. It's going to leaders in ORDA (NY State government agency that runs Belleayre, Gore, Whiteface). Over 200 people signed in the last 24 hours since the petition was created.

https://www.change.org/p/mike-pratt...versity-of-terrain-to-suit-all-ability-levels
"Belleayre has always had a variety of terrain to suit all ability levels: From green circles to double diamonds, you could count on trails that beginners, intermediates, and experts could thoroughly enjoy.

In the past year and a half there has been a change in the terrain diversity. Moguls have nearly disappeared and glade terrain maintenance is non existent.

Part of the allure of Belleayre for skiers has always been the great variety of terrain offered: from groomers to bump runs to glades.

We feel the many loyal season pass holders and frequent skiers who have expressed displeasure with the current operations are being ignored to try to create an experience for people that have never been to the mountain.

It would be helpful to us to know and understand why these decisions have been made, and whether this is a local decision or one being made by ORDA leadership.

We would love to see the variety of terrain return to Belleayre Ski Center, so that beginners, intermediates and experts can enjoy the diverse terrain."
 

marzNC

Angel Diva
Gonna be cold in the Catskills this weekend! Full re-start on winter. :snow:

OpenSnow for Belleayre around MLK Weekend
Screen Shot 2020-01-16 at 12.15.25 PM.png
 

echo_VT

Angel Diva
It snowed on Sat and Sun and it was quite cold on Mon - the snow conditions were amazing on Mon. Best skiing all season (Besides the dump right after Thanksgiving) due to the cold and very fast snow.

The weekend before it was 60F so it was good that it finally got cold enough for them to blow snow and also we got a nice blanket that weekend.

This past weekend was kind of cold but it got warm so conditions were icy after the melt freeze cycle. Even with the rain, there was quite a large crowd for this past weekend. And the crowds were quite big last weekend Sat and Sun of MLK weekend.

Much busier than the weekend between Christmas and New Years when they presold thousands of tickets.
 

marzNC

Angel Diva
Anyone thinking of skiing in the Catskills this weekend? Could be good!

5-day forecast from OpenSnow, blue numbers for Plattekill, Belleayre, Windham, Hunter
Screen Shot 2020-02-24 at 6.59.33 PM.png
 

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