Belleayre Mountain

Nice, easy, family friendly mountain. I stay mostly on tomahawk side to steer clear of the stream of people running the babbling brook trail or whatever it is. On busy weekends they need some more bartenders, waited about 15 – 20 minutes to even get noticed and even then it was a nasty look like ‘can’t you see I’m busy here’. Well can’t you see I’ve been waiting forever for a lousy beer?! Paid for one and left, no need for nasty vibes when I’m paying to have fun on the mountain. Watch out for ski patrol they sometimes gather in groups of 30, so be careful going around them. Other than that– can’t wait for some expanded territory! Oh wait it’s gonna take 10 years :-(doh!

Really nice mountain the trails were all very nice. Since they hadn’t had any new snowfall, there were some runs that were still closed. Most of the lifts were operating, and we were able to get to the top of the mountain easily. The trails that were open were really nicely groomed.
I’d like to come back when they have more snow so that I can try out more of the other trails.

If you’d like to avoid the crush of industrial skiing at Hunter, I highly recommend Belleayre, where the trails are nicely groomed and frequently all yours for a few dozen yards at a time. There’s a sufficient number of runs to occupy you for a day and the longer ones girdling the outside of the network of trails permit for some long leisurely trips down while requiring some keen attention and fancy footwork frequently enough to keep you on your toes — where you ought to be anyway!

Nice place to ski for the family but for the love of God bring your own food. The cafeteria is nasty. The guy making my burger grabbed a box of frozen hamburgers looked at them and threw half of them out and started to cook the rest. Waiting 15 minutes for a crap/​cold burger. He also didn’t wear gloves.

It is that time of the year where I head to Belleayre everyother weekend, except not this year and I kind of miss it! I have been there for the past three years, between 2 – 3 times per season and I like this place. First it is super easy access from NY. You can drive there and come back in a day. Second it is a somewhat spread out resort with some tracks variety. It is not a high mountain but for a day or weekend trip it is nice, third it is like a well kept secret, this place is not very known and does not attract all the crowd from Hunter and Windham Four it is has a family vibe, and five as a state run place it is cheap for skiing around here leaving you an okay after taste even for a day. The only down side of a state run place is the lifts ages, which turns to have you spend quite some time on some of them, before getting to the top. Hopefully this will change, but I figured if it does, this won’t be the same anymore.
Anyway I put Belleayre in my 1^st ski destination of choice when looking for a resort close to NY City.

This is a lovely mountain for true novices, beginners and beginner-​intermediates. I give those three categories because they reflect the majority of the group I went with this weekend, and everybody was pleased with their experience.
I would put myself in the beginner-​intermediate category as I’m very comfortable on the «easy» green slopes at this point and can make it through some blues without seriously injuring myself. But since this was only my third time skiing in 5 years, I needed a refresher course to get back to that point. The course instructor, Allison, was great! We were all blessed with a small intimate group (4 students for the first hour, then down to 3 for a second run down the mountain when one person had to cut out early), and Allison took every opportunity to give us targeted individual feedback and show us new things. I definitely felt like I’d improved and had a better understanding of how my body and the skis were working together by the end of the session.
Every single staff member interaction I had was pleasant, from the lift tickets and equipment rentals to the customer service people and shop salespeople. The lift operators were almost TOO well intentioned and helpful. They slowed down the lifts for some people in our class that never rode one before, and then they quite literally held our hands getting on. Trust me, if you just tell people to watch for it and sit into it, they’ll figure it out and be fine.
The food was the quality and variety you’d expect for the price you’d expect. I spent $ 15 on a turkey sandwich on a roll, bottled water, and a bag of chips. Friends had hamburgers, pizza, mac&cheese, etc. All edible, nothing that stands out.
Saturday lift tickets + ski package rental was $ 119 purchased on site, class registration was $ 30, but these might all be cheaper booked in advance. Have fun!

Awesome slopes for a 2 hour ride from NYC. Great instructors, friendly trails for beginners and advanced skiers. Yummy lunch options in the lodge too.
If you’ve got one, don’t forget your student ID. Also, I highly recommend going for the package with a lesson, a rental, and a lift ticket all for around $ 120. Ask for the package, otherwise you pay about $ 140 for all of that piecemeal, or about $ 60 for just the lift ticket.

Different from the typical ski mountains in that it isn’t crowded and the bunny slope is a decent length. Got to practice carving because of the great distance you can travel on the bunny slope. All the children learning stayed to the side and in their designated areas so they were hardly ever coming across your path.
Only complaints are that the lift is slow and that all the paths are about the same after awhile. Currently, the lodges are under construction so it’s not a lovely sight nor is it easy to navigate.
Overall, I would come back just to snowboard undisturbed by the masses.

We headed to Belleayre for Spring skiing last Saturday and instead got Spring blizzard. But part of the day was sunny and being mid-​March, no crowds! Just ski up to the chair lifts. That was at the best part of Belleayre.
Rental was old school, meaning handwritten on 3-​part carbonless forms. Still the process went pretty fast due to no rental lines. I could tell there wouldn’t be enough places to sit and fit boots on a busy weekend. Luckily for me boots fit perfect the first time. I also liked that the lockers were 4-​quarters and take your key. Much cheaper than the $ 3-​$ 7 electronic combo ones at other ski resorts. Sometimes old school IS better!
The resort basically splits off from the base up two mountains. The lower halves are all beginner green circle runs. The upper halves are mostly intermediate blue square and advance black diamond. There are a few expert double blacks. We found that many parts of the blues could be green, and the blacks could be blues at other resorts. This could be due to the lateness of the season when everything is packed and groomed. We had fun skiing almost non-​stop most of the day until the blizzard hit.
Lunch at the mid-​mountain lodge cafeteria was very basic fare, nothing fancy or fresh and healthy. The upstairs eating area had a roaring fireplace which was quaint. The bar at the base Discovery Lodge was roomy, but with only one bartender at a tiny corner counter with 3 chairs, it took awhile to get our drinks apres ski. Our busload took up half the bar, and we were kicked out at 5PM for a private party. That’s a busload round of drinks lost.
Overall, Belleayre was the the most nostalgic ski resort in the NY-​NJ-​PA area for me. Except for its much smaller size, it reminded me of ski resorts with my parents long time ago in Lake Tahoe. It might be time to update guest facilities for the 21^st century.

This is one of the handful of Ski Resorts that are around 2 – 3 hours drive North of NYC and therefore make a practical destination for the day tripper.
We set forth from NYC on a group trip at the all too early hour of 6am on a Saturday. Journey uneventful we arrived 2 and something hours later at the mountain. Being this late in the season there were far less crowds than one otherwise might have expected and we were through the rentals process in no time. A coffee and sandwich later we found ourselves on the equally uncrowded slopes. Skiing options here have all levels covered from beginner to expert. One personal observation, some of the ‘blue’ trails might really classified as ‘green’ at other places, however true blues and diamond trails to exist, you just have to search them out.
Lodge facilities exist at the base and mid mountain levels. Nothing to write home about on a culinary level but very adequate. Today was spacious due to the distinct lack of the usual weekend crowds, however on a busier weekend I could see this being like the typical ‘zoo’ that you get at Hunter on a peak season Saturday.
All in all a great experience, some nice skiing and, oh my, what an interesting party bus we had on the way home. But that’s another tale for another review :)

We came here today for our last ski of the season 2013 – 2014.
Quite difficult to compare it to other ski resorts that we visited this season since this period is almost end of season.
The mountain is divided into 2 parts the greens and bunny hill (beginner) and the middle part of the mountain which is the blue, diamond and double diamonds (experienced).
I found this efficient in order to reduce over crowding in one area.
Getting ski lift is easy but I found ski/​snowboard rental system is a bit dated.
Canteens and bars are available in both lodges, nothing gourmet just enough to fill you for the day.
I will definitely coming back next year.

This has always been our fave mountain to snowboard on!
2 hour drive from north jersey but usually great conditions and worth the extra hour drive compared to the camelbacks and mountain creek conditions! Been coming here for 4 years!
Very family friendly and you find that people that ski and snowboard here are very pleasant and enjoying themselves!
Trails are easy enough for those who just want to enjoy the ride! But there are also challenging ones for the pros!
Will definitely keep coming back!

This is not a fancy, schmancy ski resort, but it satisfies your snowboarding or skiing energy, especially for beginners like me. My friends and I were staying 5 minutes away atop a mountain village so it was easy to get here. It was soooooooo cold and snowing, but conditions were great. We went the day after New Years’ so no crowds at all. Not too many food options, but there is a bar and since we didn’t leave so far, we just went back to our cabin. We used Liftopia to purchase our tickets.

A beginners paradise. The lower mountain trails are gentle and long. In most northeast ski areas the beginners are limited to short runs but at Belleayre the beginner runs are a mile long.
Experts may get bored after a while because there is a sameness to all of the trails, however the upper mountain trails are steep and challenging.
Belleyare is owned by NY state and they have put a lot of money into the area in recent years, adding some high speed lifts, including one that runs from the summit to the base. The lower ²⁄₃ of that run however is an intermediate to novice run so most advanced skiers won’t make the full run and will stick to the upper mountain lifts.
Most of the trails start off fairly steep, then midway flatten out to blue and green terrain. It’s actually nice for groups who have a mix of ability and want to stay together. Intermediates can get off at the mid station and wait for their advanced friends to ski down to them and finish the run together. My wife and I do that frequently.
Belleayre does see crowds on weekends, but nothing close to the hordes that descend on Windham and Hunter.
The middle mountain lodge here is my favorite in the ski world. Built in the 1950’s out of logs it has an incredible atmosphere with huge fireplaces at both ends.
The huge deck is a great place for apres ski on warmer days.

Yeah, it’s not a five-​star resort, but for a quick daytrip from the city, it gets the job done. Last minute decision one Friday night in the city, jumped in the car early Saturday and we were on the lift by 9AM.
No frills lodges (it’s run by the State, people, let’s manage expectations) but they have roaring fireplaces you can warm yourself next to for a few minutes. The layout of the trails isn’t exactly snowboarder friendly so Sarah C. was usually waiting for me to bring up the rear but the runs are decent. Also, you won’t find the Hunter/​Windham crowds here. Epic win.
Worth it. We will return.

The best day trip skiing from NYC. Belleayre is not the place for you if you are looking for a manufactured village, an upscale bar, or anything to do other than ski. This is a great place to pack a lunch, drop your stuff, and get outside for some good snow and reasonable lines. Because Jeff M. is a snowboarder, many of the flat connector-​type trails were off limits for us, so we really only skied about 8 trails all day. But it was plenty. Belleayre is refreshingly free of the Wyndham/​Hunter crowds. It’s a bare-​bones family friendly ski area that reminds me more of the small mountains in Maine than the built resorts of Vermont.
The lodge has a big roaring fire and the bathrooms are very clean.

Great mountain. This place does not have the about to go out of business feel of Plattekill, the wannabe ski resort vibe of Windham, or the ski bus full of cursing kids from Long Island theme of Hunter. It is a cliché about this place, but this is a good mountain if you are coming with your family. Taught my wife and daughter to ski here.
The employees have always been nice all the years I’ve come here.
The facilities are pretty bare bones, it’s true, but it is about the skiing here. That’s what I like about it. Not a huge amount of expert terrain, just a couple trails that are genuinely difficult (Upper Yahoo is one.)
Take the super chief lift to the top. Take a long walk, with or without your skis or board on, to the trail which begins with a «C» (no, I’m not going to tell you the full name, I’m hipping you to a cool secret here.) The walk, and the trail, are not for crybabies. When you get to the top, look at the view and enjoy the solace. Chill for a bit in the little log lean-​to. Now’s the time to bust out that bar of chocolate, or share a smoke with your bud if he is down. The ride down is sweet. Take your time; I love this mountain, but the trails are a bit short.
Since ORDA took over from the DEP there are significantly less deals. In the 2011 – 2012 season, you could pretty much sign up for a charity race every weekend and ski for 15 or 20 bucks. No more. And season tickets are too expensive. But I hope I will always come back here.

Of the three popular ski resorts in the Catskills closest to NYC (Belleayre, Windham & Hunter), Belleayre is the least popular, which makes it less crowded, but conditions and trails are just as good. And that makes it my favorite. They have a good variety of terrain for all levels and a pretty good ski school. Since it’s NY state owned and managed, they don’t get a lot of capital for improvements. They could really use a high-​speed quad lift from the bottom lodge. The high-​speed quad is only from mid-​mountain to the top where there are only blue & black runs down and those are pretty good, but I would like to take some of my novice skier friends to the top.
Weekends are crowded especially on holiday weekends. Go on a non-​holiday weekend and if you have the time you have the whole place Mon-​Fri. I used to take advantage of the «free lift ticket on your birthday», but they stopped that promotion in 2010.

After a couple of days of skiing I had mixed feelings about Belleayre, but in the end I had a pretty fun time here and would recommend it to others with a couple of reservations.
I live in Baltimore and all of the skiing that’s within day trip distance of here is pretty limited. Paying $ 70 to ski on a 500 foot hill just doesn’t feel like it’s worth it. Belleayre was too far away for a day trip but close enough to drive to if we were willing to spend the night.
One great thing about Belleayre is the price. We got a deal from the place we stayed that let us ski on Friday and Saturday for $ 35/​day. Lift ticket prices like that are hard to beat. I wasn’t too impressed by their equipment rental shop and we ended up renting our skis from a store just outside the mountain.
The amount of terrain here is pretty decent although as others have said the layout is weird and inefficient. We had the misfortune of skiing on a couple of days when Belleayre’s high speed quad lift was broken down. This was very frustrating since the other lifts are old and slow and the getting to may of the mountain’s trails became a much bigger hassle. The owner of the place we stayed said that this was the only time he’d heard of a two day break down like that, so hopefully it was an aberration. Snow and trail conditions were pretty good with very little ice by east coast skiing standards.
The lodge and other facilities here were pretty run down looking and didn’t appear to be designed very well. Just as an example getting to and from the bathroom required trudging up and down stairs, not really the funnest thing to do when you’re wearing heavy ski boots. I don’t want to go into too many details but apparently there have been some ugly behind the scenes politics that have starved this mountain of money for years. If they were able to upgrade their lifts Belleayre could be a lot more appealing, and even modest upgrades to the lodges would make it more inviting.
Despite all of its shortfalls Belleayre offers some pretty nice skiing for a reasonable price. I would absolutely love to have a mountain like this close enough for a day trip and it seems like a great option for people who live in the NYC area. Hopefully it gets some better management in the future and won’t be run into the ground because of a lack of money.

Got flex tickets so it’s cheap. It’s closer to NYC than a lot of other mountains, although still a bit far, I got back to NYC in about 2 hrs 30 mins. As for the mountain itself, it was new years day so it was dead. The only perk of going that day. I’ve been to this mountain about 3x and it just isn’t memorable.
The rental equipment (although I have my own board and boots I still waited for my friends to rent) was pretty decent, it was easy to adjust and the boards weren’t scratched much.
The mountain was making snow in some parts, and thankfully there was powder in others.
The cafeteria is crap, don’t get the bbq in that station there. lol. Blech. My friends and I were like «damn it looked so much better in the picture» lol
The bar is a divey bar, nothing fancy, but satisfied by cold beer needs.
The bathrooms, beware, grossest bathrooms out of any ski resort I’ve seen. Pee everywhere! Girls, come on and aim damnit.
And if you are renting just go to the lower level mountain, don’t do what I did and drive to the top, walk a million feet carrying your shit only to find out that you have to walk back and drive back down to rent equipment lol.