Best Ski Area near Buffalo, NY?

I found them are all about the same. PeaknPeak and Kissing Bridge. KB sources more than it's share of Olympic material, and these two areas simply get so much snow they don't know what to do with it it. It would be total heaven if only they had more vertical. HV is a good choice, a little more out of arm's reach of the snow, kinda shoulder's reach, still not bad.

CWHappyRN":2a2kf3yk said:
For lack of crowds what is the best ski area near Buffalo, Batavia, and Tonawanda, NY? Anyone know?
Click to expand...
 
Thanks for the information. You put a big grin on my face thinking about shoulder high snow! I feel so fortunate to love the humidity in summer and massive amounts of snow in winter! You made me laugh! :)

Carol

I am a patrol. If anyone is interested do not hesitate. I have been since 17, but, you can learn at any age! If you think your skiing is not good enough, it will be. Many patrols will work with you. I was a racer, already, winning at 17m, out of high school in college already!They limit your duties as a minor, but, did not then! You can't take a toboggan until you are 18.
check it out http://www.nsp.org and click how to join in your area! Also, http://www.oeczone.org is for the ground up knowledge stuff. You can even be an auxillary patrol. There are a lot of benefits and things to do all year round! Carol
 
Well, "shoulder's reach" shouldn't be taken literally - it was a figure of speech. Then again, I've had my share of knee-high and waist high days. When I lived there, if you traveled there when it was snowing (when wasn't it? - thanks Lake Erie!) - the drive could be kinda hairy due to the (dreaded & PITA) "blowing and drifting snow" (can you say, "I can't see the road!") but once you got there, you were one of the few fools on the slope.

Literally though, too much snow on a big hill -that's really what they are - 100's of vertical feet max, can be too much to enjoy, since the pitch just isn't steep enough or sustained enough to take advantage of. Maybe they should just dig a bigger hole at the base, cart the soil to the top and make more vertical.

CWHappyRN":2psc0qfk said:
Thanks for the information. You put a big grin on my face thinking about shoulder high snow! I feel so fortunate to love the humidity in summer and massive amounts of snow in winter! You made me laugh! :)

Carol

I am a patrol. If anyone is interested do not hesitate. I have been since 17, but, you can learn at any age! If you think your skiing is not good enough, it will be. Many patrols will work with you. I was a racer, already, winning at 17m, out of high school in college already!They limit your duties as a minor, but, did not then! You can't take a toboggan until you are 18.
check it out http://www.nsp.org and click how to join in your area! Also, http://www.oeczone.org is for the ground up knowledge stuff. You can even be an auxillary patrol. There are a lot of benefits and things to do all year round! Carol
Click to expand...
 
Harvey44":35asy245 said:
Gore.

:lol:
Click to expand...

Yeah, right. Only if you define 5 hours, 300 miles as "close" :lol:

That was the real problem with living in Western NY. There was nothing big that was close. So once you graduated off the bunnies, you were forced to move. (I did!)
 
I guess it depends on whether the emphasis is on "best" or "close." Question - is there a better mountain closer than Gore?
 
Harvey,

I can't think of anything else that would be closer. Western and central NY often does seem like a waste of a lot of good snow :D , however I had some good days at Greek last year during the big dumps, just had to stay on the steep trails.
 
Never been to Greek. I know Sharon is a regular there - but this may be a love affair of convenience.

For us, Gore isn't much farther and may even be the same distance - and we have a camp there - so I don't imaging I'll ever get to Greek.

:cry:
 
Bristol is much closer to Buffalo than Greek Peak and it is probably about the same as far as terrain goes. It has a HSQ, so that is a big plus.

Holiday Valley is even closer to Buffalo, but it gets crowds...hoards. 600,00 skier visits a year, and it doesn't have much skiable vertical drop. I was not impressed with the skiing, but I was impressed with the 59 second lift ride on th HSQ.

I would not drive from Buffalo to ski at Greek Peak. I'd go to HV because it is closest with the most skiable terrain, or Bristol if you don't mind driving an hour, but you'll be dealing with Rochester crowds there.

Buffalo is not really the heartland of ski country, even though they get a boatload of snow every year. Take up kiteboarding.
 
I almost forgot...join Holimont! That place has some interesting terrain. It is a private club, but if you are on patrol, I'm sure you can get in as an employee. That may be the ticket for you if you are in Buffalo. The xc skiing there looks really nice. If you don't telemark yet, then while you are in Buffalo, it may be a great time to learn. That is what I did to make Greek Peak ski bigger and be more challenging.
 
Sharon,
I don't think you should recommend Holimont for its "interesting terrain" and then say you're not much impressed with the skiing at Holiday. They are pretty much the same pitch and vertical and get the same snow. In fact, other than the crowds at Holiday being more (weekdays before the school kids arrive are fine) I usually like skiing Holiday a bit better. Glades are better and they've got a couple of nicer steeper slopes.

Of coures that rumored $10,000 fee to join Holimont may slow a few people down (note- you can ski Holimont for a regular lift price on weekdays but its not open on weekends.)
 
I don't think you should recommend Holimont for its "interesting terrain" and then say you're not much impressed with the skiing at Holiday. They are pretty much the same pitch and vertical and get the same snow. In fact, other than the crowds at Holiday being more (weekdays before the school kids arrive are fine) I usually like skiing Holiday a bit better. Glades are better and they've got a couple of nicer steeper slopes.
Click to expand...

I've only been to both of these areas twice, and I was unimpressed with the terrain at HV, though it was early in the season and it was not fully open.

Holimont's trails seem a bit more interesting. They were narrower and less straight. HV's trails seemed to lack character and seemed so much shorter than Holimon'ts. But I will say that my one visit to each area with 50% terain open is probably not enough to give it a fair judgement.
 
i like bristol best for that area. i do a lot of skiing in western ny. you'll find more natural snow at the resorts near lake erie but bristol does an awsome job of snowmaking and has quite a bit more vertical, and with the quad you'll be able to crank out some runs. If there's a big dump off the lake hit one of those resorts, otherwise check out bristol, you'll have a lot more room to breathe.
 
Sharon":1u72mngw said:
I almost forgot...join Holimont! That place has some interesting terrain. It is a private club....
Click to expand...

Holimont is a great bet but forget about joining because a membership is like 10k. It is OPEN TO THE PUBLIC however midweek. Monday-Thursday every week. The grooming and upkeep is terrific, good snowfall, OK Vert with good pitch and a strong variety of terrain. That mixed with the fact that it is completely empty during the week makes it fantastic.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top