Belleayre Avalanche

Saw that on my Facebook feed ...crazy. Yahoo is a bit steep at the top, but relatively mellow for 2/3 of its length. If there is a knock against Bellaeyre, it's the majority of the runs ski exactly the same: 1/3 steep headwall, 2/3 cruiser - repeated 15x across its upper mountain. However, NY State has definitely spent a lot of money improving the area - especially that gondola.

What section of the run failed, just around the base area? or from the summit?

Though East Coast avalanches were more confined to the White Mountains, Adirondacks, etc. Too bad for all the Eastern mountains with this recent storm.
 
I'll connect you to the NY Ski Forum, which has a few pages of pix and details.
https://nyskiblog.com/forum/threads/bel ... /post-7268

Agreed about the ridge-line layout. They've been talking for 20+ years about having lift-served access to Cathedral Brook on the looker's left and Highmount on the looker's right. I've skied them both a number of times and they'd make Belleayre a much more interesting proposition.
 
Always thought Belleayre was to buy the shuttered Highmount ski area to the west? Like Cannon and Mittersill - or Gore and North Creek Ski Bowl.

My brother and I would race train at Highmount - since they gave good rates to ski teams in 80s/90s.
 
The whole Belleayre story is so bizarre. The pics are pretty outrageous too.

Not that that mid-mtn lodge was all that great though. While I don't like to see yet more difficulty added to their already rough season, maybe they can end up with a better looking/flowing lodge come next season?

How many years have they talked (and talked) about acquiring Highmount? OK terrain over there, though not tons of it as I recall. Interestingly, one of my coldest ever ski race days was stripping down to my speed suit for a GS over at Highmount. Somewhere around the 0F mark as a high temp as I recall.
 
ChrisC":xvbqxq9p said:
What section of the run failed, just around the base area? or from the summit?
From the NY Ski Blog link:
image0.jpeg
 
It was as if a summertime hurricane hit Belleayre in the winter with a snowpack. Not a steep slope. Anything could have slid.

As freaky as a tornado hitting and destroying Mohawk Mountain CT in 1989.
 
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