Al Neubert: High-elevation Catskill resorts get Diaz boost
Winter storm Diaz was a mixed bag for local ski areas with the higher elevation resorts of the Catskills hitting the jackpot while low-lying resorts got mostly rain and minimal amounts of wet snow. Further north in the Adirondacks, Green and White Mountains, it was a dream come true for skiers and snowboarders with nearly two feet falling on some resorts.
Hunter and Windham, both in the northern Catskills, got 18 inches, while Belleayre, in the southern Catskills, picked up 19. Plattekill, on the far western side of the Catskills, got close to 18 and opened with 11 trails and a couple of lifts on Sunday. One caveat on the snowfall was that it was heavy and wet – it was great for laying a base on slopes and trails but unless it was groomed, it had the consistency of cement. Ski area reporters tend to hype the natural snowfall as a powder heaven and you even see in the snow reports descriptions such as “wet powder” – I’m no chemist but I don’t think powder can be wet!
Opening day
Despite Diaz being a dud in the lower Hudson Valley, two popular local resorts opened for the first time this season. Mount Peter, in Warwick, and Thunder Ridge, in Patterson, opened on Saturday and with great coverage from their mighty snowmaking systems. These two ski areas can literally transform a bare slope to deep coverage in a couple of days under optimal snowmaking temperatures. Catamount, near Hillsdale, opened for the first time this season on Thursday last week. The area had both side of the resort open, connected by the Ridge trail across the summit.
Mount Peter is the oldest operating ski area in New York at the ripe young age of 87. Operated by the Kuhlberg family, the area’s owners continue to reinvest in the ski area. New for this season is a reconfiguration of the Snow Basin Leaning Center. A new carpet lift was installed for this season and the learning area was reconfigured to allow for better traffic flow between the center and the learning terrain, according to Mark Kuhlberg, the area’s general manager.
The expansion and redesign of the layout of those conveyor carpet lifts increases the learning slope terrain by about 40%, a huge benefit to the participants in the ski school program. Rob Gallo, the area’s ski school director, says that on busy weekends as much as 80-90% of the visitors to the resort are beginners on the learning terrain. Mount Peter offers free beginner lessons to newcomers to the sport, which is a really great enticement to try it out on a very friendly and convenient local ski hill.
Good timing for Windham
I skied at Windham last Thursday, just before the big storm rolled in and conditions were the best of the season. That’s because of intense snowmaking over the previous few days and the seven-inch natural snowfall over the previous weekend. Their new high-speed quad lift was turning for the first time this season and I got to ride the brand new White Way Express. The lift covers the 350 vertical feet in about one minute so you barely have time to get the restraining bar down, catch your breath and have to be ready to disembark.
The real value of the lift is that it is so much easier for novice skiers to get on and off versus a conventional chairlift. High-speed lifts detach from the main cable at the base and summit terminals where they reconnect to a much slower cable that virtually brings the chair to a stop to allow you to easily sit down at the base and get up and off at the summit. Conventional chairs are actually very intimidating for lower-level skiers and riders that have the most difficulty in moving quickly to get on the chair and then get up and scoot away from the moving chair at the get-off on top.
Chair debuts
Last week I mentioned a number of new chairlift installations at ski areas throughout the Northeast. I left out a few so let’s cover those now. Camelback, near Tannersville in Pennsylvania, replaced its Sullivan high-speed quad with a high-speed six pack called the Black Bear Six. It’s also has a bubble top to protect skiers and riders from cold winds and adverse weather, although for covering only 670 vertical feet there’s not too much time on the lift with a ride time under four minutes.
Attitaash, in the White Mountains of New Hampshire and a favorite of yours truly, replaced a set of double chairs with a conventional quad chair that covers mostly intermediate and novice terrain. Loon Mountain, the largest ski resort in New Hampshire and located in Lincoln, replaced its conventional Seven Brothers quad lift with a new high-speed quad chairlift. Loon is also home to the only eight-person high-speed lift in the east – you will certainly never get lonely on that lift!
Think snow and enjoy the holidays, and happy skiing and riding!
You can contact me at asneubert@aol.com or you can visit my Instagram page at asneubert.
This article originally appeared on Times Herald-Record: Catskill resorts get ski boosts thanks to winter storm Diaz
