Tag Archive for: Resort Reviews

Joan Wallen

SeniorsSkiing Guide: Windham—A Gem In The Catskills

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A Mid-Week Senior Program Includes Clinics, Group Lunch, Yoga, Plus.

Windham is 2 1/2 hours from NYC and has something for everyone.

Driving from New Hampshire through Vermont to Windham Mountain in the Catskills of New York on a recent weekend I felt some trepidation as to what I would find. There had been rain, lots of it, and temperatures reaching 60 degrees over the course of the weekend. Arriving at the mountain on Monday mornin,g it was not looking promising – lots of bare ground and brown spots. But everyone in our group was game to try it out so we booted up and headed for the lift.

And what a pleasant surprise was in store for us! There had been a small window of snowmaking temperatures Sunday night,, and the mountain crew made full use of it. While it didn’t allow any new trails to be opened, it did a wonderful job of patching and spot resurfacing. The groomers smoothed out the surfaces, and, though only a small percentage of the trails were open, those skied very nicely on softish, granular sugar snow.

Snowmaking is robust and widespread at Windham.

Windham is a sizable mountain with a 1600’ vertical. To me, it feels like a much bigger mountain. There are 54 trails, ranging in length from 300 to over 12,000 feet, serviced by a total of 11 lifts including a high speed six pack and two high speed quads. Snowmaking covers 97 percent of its trails and slopes.  Much of that is fully automated, making it very responsive to changing weather conditions. There were several trails open off the Westside Six, the six-pack going to the West Peak summit, and the Wonderama Express Quad.  We found enough good skiing to keep us entertained over the course of a day and a half. An Express Quad took us up to East Peak where we found a couple of good runs including Wanderer, a long, easy cruiser that sweeps along the ridge at the edge of the resort and eventually winds its way to the base. All were in agreement that the mountain ops crew did a fantastic job in recovering from the “R” event prior to our arrival.

The modern, airy base lodge houses a spacious cafeteria on the ground floor and a table service restaurant with an upscale menu upstairs. Also on the upper level is a private club with its own food service and lounge areas.

The resort has spent more than $12 million in the last two years to elevate the guest experience, and it is quite apparent from snowmaking to grooming to base area and resort amenities.

Midweek Program Just For Seniors

Windham boasts an active 50+ Midweek program which runs for eight Tuesdays from early January to early March. There’s an optional yoga program at the beginning of each day followed by on snow clinics with the instructors then a group lunch. During lunch, there are presentations on snowmaking, product reviews, what’s happening at Windham, and various other topics of general interest. The program currently has more than 70 participants who come from New York City and its environs as well as the local area. The Midweek program costs $250, pass not included.

You can ski the big race courses on the simulator. Credit: Joan Wallen

The Adaptive Sports Foundation has partnered with the mountain to bring in the Ski and Ride Simulator which provides real skiing and riding in virtual reality. Used by the race teams for training, it is also available to the public for a fee. Skiers and riders of all ages can test themselves on virtual race courses from around the globe simulating real World Cup and Olympic courses. From grandparents to grandkids, it can an enjoyable challenging to all. A portion of the proceeds help support the Adaptive Sports Foundation.

The Alpine Spa, kids snowmobiling, snow tubing and ice skating will keep everyone – kids to parents to grandparents – busy when not on the slopes.

While we didn’t get to ski all of Windham, what we experienced was great and certainly whetted the appetite making us eager to return when the mountain is fully operational to explore what is truly big mountain skiing just 2 ½ hours from New York City.

Tickets And Passes

Day tickets for 65-74 are $76; 75+ is $70. Windham also offers a four-hour Flex Ticket good for any four consecutive hours. 65-74, $52; 75+, $35.

Season Passes, 65-74, $659; 75+, $229. A Sunday-Friday mid-week pass is $549 for all ages.

Click here for Windham Mountain Web Cam.

Click here for Windham Mountain Trail Map

The base area is the hub of activity with lifts radiating out.

 

 

Bob Nesoff

SeniorsSkiing Guide: Belleayre, A World Away…

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…But Close Enough To Enjoy The Day.


The new Belleayre Gondola whisks skiers to the summit in comfort. This is part of the continuing upgrading of facilities at the mountain. Credit: Belleayre Mtn.

Folks living in and around major urban centers, with the exception of places such as Denver and Salt Lake City, often find it difficult to plan a ski day within an easy drive. And while the population is graying, more seniors are skiing that ever before. So the hunt for ski areas within easy driving distance becomes a chore.

Belleayre Mountain in Highmount, NY, off New York Throughway Exit 19 and about 40 minutes west of Kingston on a straight run along Rt. 28, neatly fills that bill. About an hour from Albany and two hours more or less from the New York City/North Jersey Metro area, the resort makes a day trip a reality for urbanites.

While there’s no danger of Belleayre ever becoming an Olympic ski venue, its trails offer enough of a challenge for expert and novice skiers alike.

The Catskills resort is owned by New York State’s Olympic Regional Development Authority, a public benefit corporation originally formed to manage the facilities at the 1980 Lake Placid games. Not too long ago in a move to cut expenses, New York dispensed with the Belleayre Gold Lifetime card that granted seniors over 70 the opportunity to ski for free. There was also a Silver Sliders Card for those with little color but silver in their hair, that also offered older skiers courtesies. But according to mountain spokesmen that program was discontinued because of a lack of participation.

Holders of the Gold Card often arrived at Belleayre on midweek days and more often than not were practically the only ones on the slope. Looking at the Gold and Silver cards, it’s difficult to understand why they would have been discontinued for lack of participation. The cost to the state of granting such privilege was microcosmic. 

In view of the fact that they did not detract from the mountain’s bottom line, they could have carried on infinitum. But powers beyond the mountain—read that to say “Albany”—decided that those over 70 years of age should pay to ski. The savings hardly filled the budget gap for Gov. Cuomo.

Onondaga trail looks ready for action. Nice blue! Credit: Belleayre Mtn.

There are discounted program that are currently offered. A septuagenarian will pay only $20 for a daily lift ticket. That’s not bad. If you fall into the 65 to 69 age category, your ski tab is $52 mid week and $60 weekend at the ticket window. If you buy online, that mid week price drops to $32. Belleayre also offers a variety of differently priced passes. A Season Ski3 combo pass good for Belleayre, Gore and Whiteface now costs $999 for those from 65 to 69. A Belleayre only pass was listed as $459 for 70 plus. Season passes would have been way cheaper if purchased in August.

All of that being said, Belleayre is one of the more attractive ski destinations in the Lower Northeast. It’s easy to get to and drive time is more than reasonable. The runs offer enough excitement for expert skiers with a variety of Black Diamonds running from the summit to the lodge. 

The blues are a terrific variety that give skiers an opportunity to condition their legs and move on to a more challenging blue before hitting the steep moguls and runs on the black diamond trails. Green trails are often used to loosen up before hitting  blues or blacks and are both easy enough for true novices and interesting enough for older skiers who simply want to put on skis and enjoy a day on the slopes.

Even on holidays and weekends when the caravans of buses head to the mountain from New York City, North Jersey, Albany and every school district in-between, the lift lines move along at a rapid pace giving you the opportunity to spend more time on the mountain and less time getting there.

The mix of skiers and snowboarders, young and not so young gives Belleayre a great panache. Respect for each other is paramount and it’s not uncommon to see a senior skier stopping to help or offer advice and suggestions to a younger skier who seems to be struggling down hill.

The mountain’s ski/snowboard school offers instructors capable of working with any age group to truly imparting the love of skiing.

For a trail map, click here.

For web cam, click here.

Two hours from New York/New Jersey is Belleayre. That’s doable for a mid-week run where you will find lots of room on the slopes. Credit: Belleayre Mtn.
Tamsin Venn

SeniorsSkiing Guide: Smuggs Not Just For Kids

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Smuggler’s Notch Feels Like Way-Back-When But With Up-To-Date Conveniences.

There are lots of blues at Smuggler’s for cruising seniors. That’s Stowe in the distance.
Credit: Tamsin Venn

Smugglers’ Notch is the well-known kid-friendly ski area in northern Vermont. That same dedication to fun also makes it a good area for seniors.

Start with the intermediate trails winding off the two upper Mountains—Madonna, 3,640 feet, and Sterling, 3,040 feet. They urge your skis to turn as they follow the mountain’s contours in delightful turns and drops.

Smuggs has the only triple black trail in the East—Black Hole— with a 53 degree slope angle.  But there are also many ego-boost blues like Madonna’s Upper Chilcoot and Drifter, where you turn where the trail turns, and Sterling’s Thomke’s, Rumrunner, Hangman’s, Treasure, FIS, and Black Snake.

Doable glades include Red Fox, Three Mtn., and several “variations” of the trail you are on. The goal here is to always let you have access to the woods should you so desire. Bring them on!

Glade skiing is well known here. When you ride up Sterling, you see Madonna’s wooded flank dropping into the ravine below. All those glades are skiable or snowboardable, says Public Relations Director Mike Chait enthusiastically.

Furthermore, all trails are well defined from top to bottom so no worry about ending up on a black diamond trail by accident and all trails funnel to their respective base areas for pro-choice group skiing.

Meanwhile, The Village Center at Morse Mountain is served by four lifts and 99 percent beginner terrain where you can ski at a peaceful pace.

Views? From the Catwalk, you can look across the Notch to Mt. Mansfield’s trails at Stowe. Remember when these two resorts were connected?

The experiences kindle feelings of New England skiing way back when, but with all the up-to-date conveniences. By not being overdeveloped, Smuggs maintains a nostalgic feel.

Somewhat remote (although only 30 miles from Burlington), midweek is quiet, and the powder stashes linger.

Seniors are looked after. The Smugglers’ Notch 55+ Club is a 26-year-old club that meets every Wednesday for skiing and camaraderie. It has more than 100 members, and about 30 to 35 skiers show up each week. Coffee at 9 a.m., followed by Alpine or Nordic skiing and snowshoeing, then a 1 p.m. program. Membership is $30 for the season, which includes continental breakfast, 50 percent discount off lift tickets, and other discounts.

Most members are Vermonters who live within an hour radius of Smuggs with a wide range of skiing ability, including ex ski patrollers and instructors. Guests and new members are warmly welcomed, says Deborah Pomeroy, club president.

New this winter is FunZone 2.0, a 26,000 square foot indoor playground, a $4.2 million investment reflecting the area’s decades-long focus on family fun. Laser tag anyone?

The Facts

Vertical Drop: 2,620 feet.

Total Trails: 78. 300 acres of marked and patrolled terrain. Plus 700 acres of unmarked and unpatrolled terrain. 19% easier, 56% intermediate, 20% expert, and 5% extreme.

Snowmaking: 62 percent

Total lifts: 8.

Longest run: 3 miles, from the Madonna summit to the Village.

Places to eat: Village Center, Morse Mountain Grille & Pub for salads, soups and burgers. Music: The Friendly Pirate

Lift tickets: Senior 65 and older, $58 day, $64 holiday. Season Pass: (ages 70+) $70

Click here for Trail Map

Click here for Smuggler’s Notch website