SAM Magazine-Albany, N.Y., Jan. 11, 2011-Three privately-owned neighbors of state-owned Belleayre Mountain in the Catskills are crying foul over the number of free lift tickets Belleayre makes available to gain visits, often at the expense of the private areas.

Hunter Mountain and Windham Mountain used the state Freedom of Information Law to uncover Belleayre's records on the use of free and discounted tickets, and found that Belleayre relied on free tickets for 10 percent of its skier visits over the past two years. Hunter said that this is five times the percentage of its own free tickets, and well above the industry average. Hunter and Windham are seeking to pressure the state to reduce the freebies to something more in line with industry norms.

Meanwhile, close neighbor Plattekill is battling the Catskill Chamber of Commerce over a buy-one, get-one free voucher program for Belleayre being offered at dozens, if not hundreds, of local chamber members, who use the vouchers as an incentive for purchases of $50 or more. The chamber has distributed 1,000 vouchers and plans to print more. Plattekill, which has been an active member of the chamber's board, is threatening to resign unless the program is ended immediately.

In its defense, Belleayre says that it must rely on a higher percentage of free tickets to compete with Hunter and Windham, which can offer lodging packages and other incentives. Belleayre is a lift company only, as is Plattekill.

Unlike Gore Mountain and Whiteface, both of which are publicly owned and run by the Olympic Regional Development Authority (ORDA) which manages them much like a for-profit business, Belleayre is operated by the state Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC). It is viewed as a economic engine for the region and is managed from that perspective.

Even so, change may be coming to Belleayre. Following big cuts to the state budget and to that of the DEC in particular, Belleayre has had to trim its expenses and staff. In light of the state's new budget realities, New York's Catskill Watershed Corporation plans to consider alternatives to state management of Belleayre. However, the Watershed Corporation's executive director has ruled out privatization.

Still, Rosa acknowledges that Belleayre, and the privately-owned ski areas in the Catskills, are key players in the local economy, and that a stable and productive Belleayre is in the public interest. If that sort of we're-all-in-this-together thinking prevails, perhaps Belleayre will eventually join the other Catskills areas to market the region in a cohesive, unified way.

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