Resort Round-Up

Here are the latest developments and news from your favorite local ski resorts. 

 

1. MOHAWK MOUNTAIN
Cornwall, Conn.
www.mohawkmtn.com
Built in 1947, by Skiing Hall of Fame member, Walt Schoenknecht (who later went on to found Vermont’s Mount Snow), Mohawk Mountain is celebrating the 60th anniversary of snowmaking, which Schoenknecht invented in 1948. Tucked into the Southern Berkshires, Mohawk has 24 alpine trails as well as cross-country trails for snowshoeing and cross-country skiing at the top of the mountain. New this year is the triple chair, which is replacing the original double in service since 1961. The Mohawk Chair Lift is the only lift at Mohawk Mountain that provides access to all mountain trails from the top. The new lift will provide better service to the summit and increased skier and snowboarder capacity.
Elevation Summit: 1600 feet, Base: 960 feet
Vertical Drop: 650 feet
Longest Run: 1.25 miles
Number of trails: 24
Skiable Acres: 107 on 350 scenic acres of state forest.
Night Skiing Trails: 12 Trails

2. BELLEAYRE MOUNTAIN
Belleayre, N.Y.
www.belleayre.com
Belleayre’s efforts this year are being focused on operating more efficiently, including closing less-used lifts adjacent to high-capacity lifts to save energy without decreasing capacity by too much. Snowmaking will be similar, but some runs will be left with a natural cover. Use of the Half Pipe terrain also will be weather dependent.
Construction has started on a handicapped accessible building near Overlook Lodge that will serve as the new home for Belleayre’s adaptive snowsports program.
Longest Run: 12,024 feet
Vertical Drop:
Skiable acres: 171
Number of Lifts: 8
Number of Trails: 39 (plus 5 Glades, 1 Rail Park, 1 Terrain Park, 1 Half Pipe)
Uphill Lift Capacity: 10,980 people per hour

3. HUNTER
Hunter, N.Y.
www.huntermtn.com
New at Hunter this year to help service winter sports lovers in a rush is the Wintersteiger TuneJet, an automated tuning station for skis and snowboards with a stone and belt unit. The stone unit provides nearly perfect finishes with its wide 400 mm width. It also has software for specific racing structures. The belt unit is lightning fast and can feed up to 15m/ min making it able to tune over 30 pairs of skis or boards an hour. Hunter also has 45 new high-efficiency snowguns this year; 21 of them are going to the terrain park, which is getting its own water and air lines to make more and better snow for the tricksters.
Base Elevation: 1600 feet
Summit Elevation: 3200 feet
Vertical Drop: 1,404 feet
Skiable Acres: 240
Lifts: 11
Trails: 55

4. WHITEFACE
Wilmington, N.Y.
www.whiteface.com
Whiteface has four new trails opening up this season, adding acreage and excitement.
1. The Wilmington Trail: a meandering wilderness Intermediate trail with snowmaking that takes you 2.5 miles to the base with views of the town of Wilmington.
2. Lookout Below: an expert trail off of The Wilmington Trail that will bring skiers to the base of the Lookout Mountain Triple chair.
3. Hoyt’s High: an expert trail beginning at the top of the Lookout MountainTriple Chair 4,182 feet.Named for Whiteface Veteran Ski Patroller Jim Hoyt Senior who has been employed at Whiteface for over 50 years.
4. Sugar Valley Glades: 4277 feet through a hardwood forest full of maples, construction in progress.
Base Elevation: 1,220 feet
Little Whiteface Elevation: 3,676 feet
Highest Lift Terminus: 4,386 feet
Highest skiable terrain: The Slides at 4,650 feet
Peak Elevation: 4,867 feet
Vertical Drop: 3,430 feet – The greatest vertical drop in the east
Number of Trails:76
Skiable Acres: 225 including 35 acres of out of bounds skiing on “The Slides”; 28.5 acres of tree skiing
Lifts: 10

5. GORE MOUNTAIN
North Creek, N.Y.
www.goremountain.com
The big news at Gore this year is the new development at Burnt Ridge Mountain. Serviced by the high-speed Burnt Ridge Quad, there will be four new trails on Burnt Ridge (with more planned for the future) upping the ante to a vertical drop of 2,300 feet and 35 more acres of skiing. Look for:
Sagamore - A new black diamond on the lift line. Like Topridge, but bigger and badder with more vertical and sweet new glades.
Echo - Twister’s Sister and a long, blue square.
Cedars – intermediate access from the base area to the bottom of the Burnt Ridge Quad.
Hedges - An access trail that brings you from the top of the Burnt Ridge Quad to Twister, directly above the entrance to the Twister Glades.
There is also a new triple chairlift that serves the North Creek Ski Bowl which services the new terrain park with half pipe, tubing area and 150 vertical feet of family-friendly skiing.
Elevations: Summit 3,600 feet, Base 1,500 feet;
Vertical Drop: 2,100 feet
Trails: 84: 75 Alpine Trails Including 13 Glades, 9 Snowshoeing/Cross-Country Trails
Longest Run: 2.9 miles
Snowfall: 150 inches per year
Skiable Acres: 347
Lifts: 11 total: 8 passenger Northwoods Gondola, 2 Quads, 1 High-Speed Triple, 1 Triple, 3 Doubles, 3 Surface lifts.

6. MOUNTAIN CREEK
Vernon, N.J.
www.mountaincreek.com
With a whole lift dedicated to servicing just the eight tube lanes, Mountain Creek is all about the fun. Set to open this year on December 6 (weather permitting of course), Mountain Creek is your friendly neighborhood ski resort only a short drive into New Jersey from the George Washington Bridge. The resort is reintroducing its popular All-Access Season Pass’ good anytime any day and including exclusive access for an hour on weekend mornings for just $265. For those who only occasionally visit on weekend mornings, there’s the ‘5x7 PLUS’ which covers every afternoon and evening starting at 2:30 7 days a week, and midweek days, PLUS you can pick up a Saturday or Sunday ticket for just $25.
Last year Mountain Creek introduced the only true “all-mountain terrain park” in our area with 65 acres of high-speed lift-serviced terrain, with half of all the skiers and snowboarders going to the terrain park. The mountain provides a deliberately, segregated introduction and progression program to help amateur tricksters of any learn to play comfortably on specially designed jumps, boxes and rails.
Base elevation: 440 feet
Summit elevation: 1,480 feet
Vertical: 1,040 feet
Trails: 45
Lifts: 11

7. WINDHAM
Windham, N.Y.
www.windhammountain.com
Over the last few years the folks at Windham have been making some serious improvements to the mountain. The bowl between Wraparound and Wicked trails has new terrain to tie the two distinct areas of the mountain together. They’ve also been beefing up the snowmaking with water chilling equipment in the snowmaking pond, new snowmaking lines, increased air capacity and highly-efficient snow guns. So as long as the weather is cold enough there will be snow.
The G lift triple chair was replaced with a high-speed, detachable quad now known as the East Peak Express Quad. A new carpet lift was also added to the learning area and a new surface lift by the jib park and half pipe gives freestyle skiers and riders fun without the hike. Don’t forget about the Adventure Park with tubing, ice skating and a new bungee trampoline and rock climbing wall. Don’t forget to check out the Windham website, which has a great interactive trail map to help you figure out what’s open, where the moguls are, and where you want to ski that day based on trail conditions.
Top elevation: 3,100 feet
Vertical rise: 1,600 feet
Slope length: 300-12,500 feet
Number of trails: 46
Lifts: 2 high-speed quads, 4 triples, 1 double, 3 surface lifts
Uphill capacity:16,450 passengers / hour
Skiable acrage: 265 on 730 acres