Bought My Season Ticket for '09-'10 Ski Season!

Here it is - the "official" beginning of summer - Memorial Day Weekend - and I just purchased my "family pack" season ticket for skiing this coming December '09 - Spring '10.  We will be hitting Belleayre almost exactly six months from today, on December 23rd.  I might get up there on some weekend before that date, but the entire family usually doesn't start until school is out for the holiday vacation.  I bought the season ticket today because season ticket holders from this past season get a 20% discount for purchasing before Memorial Day.  This is new.  That brings the price from $1610 to $1286.  We were forced to pay $1610 last year because of the financial problems that delayed the 2008-2009 pre-season planning for Belleayre.  For the previous season we got a 10% discount for ordering before Labor Day, which is available this year also.  That option didn't happen last season because of all those financial woes.  I am a little worried that Belleayre might have to pull back operations this coming winter because of the same financial problems.  But last winter seemed not curtailed at all in our experience, so hopefully they will hold it all together.

So here I sit, thinking about the summer, thinking about the beach, thinking about winter and mountains and snow.  I really can't complain.

Happy Memorial Day weekend!  And to the military and former military people, thanks!

Believe In The Run

Please help me win this contest.  Click below and vote me up.  Thanks!

BELIEVE IN THE RUN Sponsored by Visit NIKE USA

Lance Armstrong and His Skiing Kids

Training in Colorado has its fine points for family activities....

Looks like they are sponsored by Head already!

Lance, Man, You Don't Know How Good You Have It

Lots of snow this spring in Colorado.  Lance Armstrong training there - what a lucky man.  For me, twenty seven ski days this winter was not enough.  I want more.  I still want more.  I wanted 30.  Sugarbush just announced they will be open into May.  Could I do it?  We are just too busy!  Grrrr.....

Thank You Senator Bonacic

This just came online today - but for some reason the information in the article feels old.

CUTTING BELLEAYRE MAKES NO SENSE

State Senator John J. Bonacic, visited Belleayre Mountain ski center on Wednesday and urged the DEC to ensure that the ski center would be able to continue to grow and be the "economic engine” which drives tourism along the Route 28 corridor. The Senator stated that he strongly opposed efforts by the state to diminish operations at Belleayre for the upcoming season.

The rest is here.

February Begins with a Bang

Been sittin on this trip report - didn't even take the pics out of the camera yet. Don't know why. Busy, maybe.

Anyway -

February 1st - Superbowl Sunday - was the most crowded day so far this year that I have been at Bell. The lines topped 5 minutes at all lifts by mid-morning and mid-afternoon. We have been spoiled by the economy: few, if any, lift lines so far this winter at Bell. But what happened was Potter Brother's Flex Day. That is one of the days people could use the special cheap lift ticket vouchers for Belleayre that Potter Brothers Ski Shops sell. The result was a ton of people, and a bunch of 1980's straight skis and rear entry boots.

But the day was a heat wave compared to the day before. It was sunny, and the temps probably topped out at about 35 degrees. Lots of people out on the porch catching some rays, eating and drinking. Bell had a bunch of new Adirondack chairs out, as if it was springtime. I got a little sun color on my face.

And the skiing was awesome. The snow was all very skiable snow - zero ice. The bumps on Yahoo, Seneca, Onteora & Winnisook continue to be awesome. The park gained a wall. Mother nature is being very kind to Belleayre!

Great Skiing Today!

Snow was great today. There was a little ice on the groomed steeper tops in the morning, but otherwise the bump runs were sweet and the middle groomers & Dot Nebel were fast GS and SL heaven. No lines over a minute on lift 7 and tomahawk. Yea, it was cold: 10 to 20 or so. But it is supposed to be in the low 30's tomorrow.

I hope you can see these photos - if not, try this link.

Bumps on Onteora






Retro Guy sportin' the purples


1980's skis and rear entry boots, unsafe at any speed

January 18, 2009 - Powder Day!

This was a day that everyone should have been skiing. There was 6-10 inches of light dry new snow. everything was open. And it was all snow. Even skied Cathedral Brook and Tomahawk Liftline with not bottom-outs. There were no real lift lines, until 2 PM at lift 7 - at that time Tomahawk was still relative line-less. First time in a long time I saw cars parked a good ways down the road. Get out early and save the shuttle ride! One more day tomorrow before heading back to the daily grind.... I am genuinely exhausted from skiing this deeper snow today. I usually don't feel that way after a day at Belleayre.

January 17, 2009 - Cold but Great

In this part of the Catskills when I started the car it was -20 degrees. Strange noises and autotrans didn't want to shift into gear, even after about a 10 min idle warm-up. That scared me, considering the history of this Chrysler transmission - it is its third - and the 140000+ miles on the vehicle. Driving to the mountain, the engine worked really hard for a few minutes before it settled down. Trans fluid must have been like Vaseline....

It was -16 at Belleayre when the day started, but I think it went up to a balmy 3 in the afternoon. Cold enough to suck all the juice out of my camera batteries, so no pics today. I wore two pairs of longjohns, a thinsulate liner jacket under my regular insulated ski jacket, glove liners, no exposed skin. Gotta love the $6.50 gloves from an impulse buy at Straus Auto, combined with golve liners to make for the warmest gove set-up I have had in years!

Luckly there was no wind and the sun was out, plus it was dry - so the skiing was actually great and it didn't feel so cold. In the afternoon I had to open my arm vents. Not a lift line to be seen. Overall great day. It is warmer now - like about 7.

Belleayre is nearly 100% open. Skied bumps and natural conditions on Winnisook, Tongora, Belleayre Run, Belleayre Glade, Seneca and Utsyantha. Skied groomers on Wanatuska, Onteora, Yahoo, Area 51, Seneca, Dot Nebel. No bad ice except in the troughs of the bumps on Yahoo. Snow was squeeky and dry, sun was out for a mostly bluebird day.

My daughter raced the "Mini World Cup" Slalom race #1 and took first place for girls born in '97. Yay! I think her time of 41.44 was one of the fastest times of the day, even with '96 borns and boys participating. Have not seen an officail print-out to find out, though. More on this later. It was nice to see all our friends' kids podium also.

To make a long story longer, when we got up here to the house we rent at 9:30 last night, the furnace wouldn't turn on. Had to call the owner and have a technician dispatched. It was 46 degrees inside. Tech came at midnight and took 1.5 hours to diagnose, then clean the oil filters. Only got the house up to 60 by wake-up time. Luckily there was propane heat upstairs in a bedroom and a woodstove. OK, waah waah - kinda like winter camping, I told the kids - and we survived to ski another day :)

Spotting Running T-Shirts

You don't see many Escarpment Trail Run shirts randomly in your day-to-day travels, outside of a group of select runners.  So I was surprised to spot one worn by a teenager in the Overlook Lodge at Belleayre Ski Center last Saturday.  I proudly said, "Hi, I ran Escarpment four times."  At first it seemed like he didn't get the connection, but then I think he remembered he was wearing that shirt.  He said he was a volunteer at Blackhead.  I told him sincerely thanks for being a volunteer - and we went on to discuss the lightning and the trail-turned-river, which seemed to be the most impressive part of the crazy weather that day last July.  It seemed so out-of-context to be discussing it there, during the winter in a ski lodge after a day of great skiing.  Nice kid.  I told him I would see him in next July.

Another time last year a guy noticed I was wearing the mock-turtleneck from the Our House 5 Mile run in Summit, NJ.  Those shirts are my favorite skiing shirts.  So we talked about running for a little while.