Looking for a mountain

[SkiDevil]

Hey all, I wanted to go away to a place where i have not been before that has

lodging on the location. I only want to drive up to 3.5 hours.

 

I ski and 12 year old rides. We live near Trenton NJ and want to go mid-week for 2-3 days.

Both are intermediate level.

 

Was thinking about Elk or Hunter Mt. Any ideas would be good.

 

We usually go to Blue or Bear Creek in PA

 

Thanks

 

Steve

[Ski]

Windham Mountain in NY has the best intermediate terrain in the Catskills..and 3.5 hours from Trenton..

Yeah, I'd agree with Windham. And tons of inexpensive places to stay...Greek Peak is another good option and less crowded.

[method9455]

Definitely avoid Hunter for an intermediate. Third for Windham for an intermediate. Hunter & Belleyare have stuff for people who want to ride black diamonds and stuff for people who want to ride greens, but really nothing in between. Unless you get off at the mid station at Belleayre, and at that point why drive all the way up there?

[JaySkisBig]

Definitely avoid Hunter for an intermediate. Third for Windham for an intermediate. Hunter & Belleyare have stuff for people who want to ride black diamonds and stuff for people who want to ride greens, but really nothing in between. Unless you get off at the mid station at Belleayre, and at that point why drive all the way up there?

 

I would completely agree with Method of the assessment of Hunter Mtn., but I lean hard the other way regarding Belleayre. I think Belleayre is a great mountain for intermediates. Even with how they rate their own difficulty, they have about 60% intermediate. I've been up there twice this year so far and each time I go, I still think the same thing over and over again. "These trails should not be rated Diamond or Double Diamond."

 

First off, there is NOTHING at Belleayre that should be called Double Diamond; NOTHING! Anything labeled as a Double Diamond should be a single diamond and anything that is rated as a single diamond should be a solid intermediate. This place really overexagerates the terrain that they have. The only areas that are really even close to expert is The Glenn which is a dense glade, Winnisook Glades (which is an extremely SHORT, but steep glade) or small sections of Cathedral Brook (which can get somewhat narrow). Almost all glades should be labeled expert because of how quickly the conditions can change and lets face it, you are skiing through trees, it can be very dangerous for those not quite ready to be in there.

 

It is because ski areas rate their own terrain that it becomes Most Difficult (pun intended) to figure out exactly what they have from only reading their Trail Map or website link. How is it that Mad River Glen (great place design to break, snap or implode body parts) has no Double Diamonds, but Belleayre has eleven? The answer is simple. Belleayre, in reality, does not have even one real Double Diamond and much of Mad River's intermediate terrain would send chills down the spine of most recreational skiers. There is no real comparison!

 

At Belleayre, the upper sections of Winnisook, Wanatuska and Mohawk should all be blue squares (NOT EXPERT TERRAIN). No worries at all. Even Dot Nebel's upper section is really really weak. Sometimes it can be bumped up, but even so the steep section is very very short. Blink once and ya missed the 'Expert' terrain. Bellearye is a really odd moutain. Parts of the very top can be somewhat steep, but it is all so short that it's over before making just a few turns leaving all but the top 300 vertical feet nothing but a long flat groomer.

 

As far as the 'Mid-stations' go, neither are true midstations. Both mid-stations are almost at the top of the hill leaving only a very short stretch from mid to top. Either way, even if I were a weak intermediate skier, I still would not leave the chair at the 'mid.' What they call 'expert' is not hard or technical at all.

 

The whole place, especially the lodge is family oriented and has a very good feel to it. The food is decent and even the bar prices are very reasonable. The mountain has 1404' of vertical and encompasses over 170 SKIABLE acres. Yes, read again, this is skiable acres. Do not be confused by ski areas that list total acres as this would incorporate areas that can be out of bounds or off limits. Belleayre's uphill lift capacity is just about 11,000 people/hour and rarely do they have long liftline waits. The best part of skiing Belleayre is that all the 'fuhgeddaboudit' gumba johnies make their way to Hunter on the weekends leaving Belleayre a better place to be even if the terrain is not as steep or wild. There are better restaraunts in the area (within 25 minutes) and a decent selection of hotels nearby as well. With a lift price of ONLY $48 for a weekend holiday and $39 for non-holiday midweek, you really can't go wrong with Belleayre for an intermediately skier.

 

Check it out. I'll put my money on the pass line. You will like it!

[Dan-]

I would completely agree with Method of the assessment of Hunter Mtn., but I lean hard the other way regarding Belleayre. I think Belleayre is a great mountain for intermediates. Even with how they rate their own difficulty, they have about 60% intermediate. I've been up there twice this year so far and each time I go, I still think the same thing over and over again. "These trails should not be rated Diamond or Double Diamond."

First off, there is NOTHING at Belleayre that should be called Double Diamond; NOTHING! Anything labeled as a Double Diamond should be a single diamond and anything that is rated as a single diamond should be a solid intermediate. This place really overexagerates the terrain that they have. The only areas that are really even close to expert is The Glenn which is a dense glade, Winnisook Glades (which is an extremely SHORT, but steep glade) or small sections of Cathedral Brook (which can get somewhat narrow). Almost all glades should be labeled expert because of how quickly the conditions can change and lets face it, you are skiing through trees, it can be very dangerous for those not quite ready to be in there.

 

It is because ski areas rate their own terrain that it becomes Most Difficult (pun intended) to figure out exactly what they have from only reading their Trail Map or website link. How is it that Mad River Glen (great place design to break, snap or implode body parts) has no Double Diamonds, but Belleayre has eleven? The answer is simple. Belleayre, in reality, does not have even one real Double Diamond and much of Mad River's intermediate terrain would send chills down the spine of most recreational skiers. There is no real comparison!

 

At Belleayre, the upper sections of Winnisook, Wanatuska and Mohawk should all be blue squares (NOT EXPERT TERRAIN). No worries at all. Even Dot Nebel's upper section is really really weak. Sometimes it can be bumped up, but even so the steep section is very very short. Blink once and ya missed the 'Expert' terrain. Bellearye is a really odd moutain. Parts of the very top can be somewhat steep, but it is all so short that it's over before making just a few turns leaving all but the top 300 vertical feet nothing but a long flat groomer.

 

As far as the 'Mid-stations' go, neither are true midstations. Both mid-stations are almost at the top of the hill leaving only a very short stretch from mid to top. Either way, even if I were a weak intermediate skier, I still would not leave the chair at the 'mid.' What they call 'expert' is not hard or technical at all.

 

The whole place, especially the lodge is family oriented and has a very good feel to it. The food is decent and even the bar prices are very reasonable. The mountain has 1404' of vertical and encompasses over 170 SKIABLE acres. Yes, read again, this is skiable acres. Do not be confused by ski areas that list total acres as this would incorporate areas that can be out of bounds or off limits. Belleayre's uphill lift capacity is just about 11,000 people/hour and rarely do they have long liftline waits. The best part of skiing Belleayre is that all the 'fuhgeddaboudit' gumba johnies make their way to Hunter on the weekends leaving Belleayre a better place to be even if the terrain is not as steep or wild. There are better restaraunts in the area (within 25 minutes) and a decent selection of hotels nearby as well. With a lift price of ONLY $48 for a weekend holiday and $39 for non-holiday midweek, you really can't go wrong with Belleayre for an intermediately skier.

 

Check it out. I'll put my money on the pass line. You will like it!

 

 

That can be said for just about every place in Pa. But it's all about marketing. And saying you have EXPERT terrain is a big thing i guess. Take Blue for example. Look at Razors Edge and Challenge... If anything they are a Blue square at most.... But they are labeled Double Black solely for the purpose so Blue can say they have EXPERT terrain...

[JaySkisBig]

That can be said for just about every place in Pa. But it's all about marketing. And saying you have EXPERT terrain is a big thing i guess. Take Blue for example. Look at Razors Edge and Challenge... If anything they are a Blue square at most.... But they are labeled Double Black solely for the purpose so Blue can say they have EXPERT terrain...

 

 

It's funny how areas like Mad River and many others don't buy into the marketing hype. Will it get to the point that when searching for a mountain to ski, if they don't have 8 double diamonds listed on their trail map they are probably worth skiing? haha