New York State Mountains

Well the season is over for NYS but starting to plan for next season and wanted to get some feedback on some of the ski mountains in the area. Been to Windham, Hunter, and Catamount. What's your fav and why?

[justdust]

Haven't been to any of those mountains, but Butternut and Jiminy Peak are both close for Albany, even though they are both in MA. Butternut is the best season pass deal in the area by far and is a small but good fun family mountain. They invested a lot in snow making and have a fair terrain park but no pipe. Jiminy Peak is a little larger, with condos, etc., more resort oriented, but I've never enjoyed it as much as Butternut. A lot of people around here go to Gore, which is pretty decent, but I don't know about overnight accomodations there. Whiteface is beautiful but is nicknamed iceface for a reason. When we are not at Butternut we favor VT...especially Mt. Snow.

I haven't heard a lot about Butternut or Jiminyso there's an option. Anyone go to Belleayre? I know it's state run but heard mixed reviews on it. Anywhere else?

[Suburban Blend]

Whiteface and Bristol are the only NY mountains. All other resorts are hills.

[Vlaze]

Originally Posted by Suburban Blend

Whiteface and Bristol are the only NY mountains. All other resorts are hills.

I want to know what the hell you're smoking putting out that line.

Bristol, is quite smaller contrast to many resorts in Eastern NY, such as the Catskill 3 (Bell, Wind & Hunter) which are near 1,600ft vertical drop compared to Bristol's 1,200ft. Gore also is far larger than those 3 itself boasting 2,100ft in vertical drop. Whiteface all know is the biggest of any in NY, but doesn't mean it's the best. It's referred to as IceFace for a reason.

I say for best snow all around, the main 3 near Tully, NY (Song, Togg & Lab) get the best snow year round with the combination of lake effects and regular snow drops although they are all around 700ft in vertical drop, nothing big but great snow. Gore is also right up there known to get hammered a lot without the well known ice coverage that Whiteface gets. Again that's just best snow coverage trail wise is opinionated.

Jiminy and Butternut are in MA, not NY while they are about a 30-60 minute drive from Albany, NY. They are about the same size of Bristol, nothing fancy.

[Suburban Blend]

I forgot about Gore and the other 1000+ vertical foot mountains in the Adirondacks.

I'm currently from Holiday Valley (750) and our 180+ inches of lake effect a year.

NYS mountains diectory

[JohnnyBlaze]

hey man...I know some ppl from middle village, lived in glendale soo...I worked at Belle over the winter...what exactly did you want to know about the mountain? See the thing with Belle is, at least from my experience, is that it's a unique mtn to say the least. People either love it or hate it. When you go has a lot to do with it too.

As you said earlier it is state run, so at certain times you will have things like the boyscouts there (all 200 of them :-/)and other functions. When that happens it gets annoying lol. They also tend to run out of snowboards on busy weekends quick..if you are trying to bring ppl that need to rent (as in by 10:15am).

Decent amount of blacks and blues....greens are flat, all runs are fairly short (it is an ENY mtn sooo)

IMO: busy day: Belle, Hunter, Wind
Reg day: Hunter, Wind, Belle

again no bashing that is JUST my opinion lol....as we all know everyone's experience is different

You caught me getting ready to shut my laptop off. lol

That sounds like some of the best advice I've gotten to date about the NY mountains. Don't mind the boy scouts much, was one for like 9 years(starting from cub scouts) and if I can deal with some of the people at Hunter most of the time, Belleayre should be great. Everyone I know has a board already cept my gf(looking to change that soon) and my son(same). Mostly I'm just looking for a nice place to go by myself on a weekday for a few hours or maybe a weekend with some friends or so. Plus I still need a lot of practice, so lessons too.
Thanks btw.

[JohnnyBlaze]

well if you like the weekdays belle is for you. It is absolutetly empty. It's like a private mountain. I loved riding during the week last season, in fact I planned around it for that reason. And yea the crowd at Hunter is...the crowd at Hunter we will leave it at that. I'm glad I could help, b/c I get a lot of advice from this forum and It's good to know I can help lol..... They great lesson pkgs btw.... rental/lesson (with all day continued help)/lift 85 bucks or so

[milner_7]

Originally Posted by mpdsnowman

Well if u want "real" snow and no crowds then my area is the place. Sure u can hit the catskills its close to NYC however thier snowfall is absolutely nothing compared to ours. Out west is fine...if they get enough lake effect. Holiday Valley, Bristol are way too expensive and very crowded and rely heavily on snowmaking for the most part.

Riding the Powder at my home mountain Labrador Video by Mpdsnowman - MySpace Video

I hit Holiday Valley often. I have never had a slow day there. Lines move fast. It is expensive though. I really want to find some new places to shred. How far are you from Niagara Falls ON/NY?