SAM Magazine—Highmount, N.Y., June 14, 2023—A number of new capital upgrades including two new lifts and a 4,000-square-foot addition to the Longhouse Lodge are in the planning stages at Belleayre Mountain Ski Center after the New York Olympic Regional Development Authority (ORDA) released its 2023 Unit Management Plan Amendment (UMPA). The release is an amended version of Belleayre’s 2015 UMP.

“The purpose and need for the actions described in this UMPA is to update and modernize facilities at Belleayre that will achieve greater operational efficiencies and meet the needs of additional user demand,” ORDA officials stated in the UMPA.  

Plans call to replace and realign the existing Lift 7, extending it over the parking lot to Mohican Trail to allow skier access from the top of Lift 7. The realignment adds about 665 linear feet, making the completed lift 3,500 feet long and a 900-foot vertical. 

Meanwhile, a new beginner area and conveyor lift will be located adjacent to the top station of the Catskill Thunder Gondola and will measure approximately 112 feet wide and 285 feet long with a slope of approximately 8 percent. 

“This area is intended to help skiers improve their abilities beyond the terrain of the Discovery Learning center and prepare them for more advanced terrain throughout Belleayre,” said the UMPA. 

In addition, a new 1,440-square-foot building adjacent to the upper terminal of the Catskill Thunder Gondola will be constructed to hold three to four gondola cabins for maintenance and storage during operations. A portion of the building will be dedicated for ski patrol use. 

The lodge expansion will provide additional room for staff, group visits, and more room and lockers for the athletes to store their equipment and conduct race registrations. Part of the additional square footage will be created by replacing the existing deck on the west side with an 875-square-foot building addition.

Other projects outlined in the updated UMPA include the construction of a staircase connecting Belleayre’s A and B parking lots, the installation of electric-vehicle charging stations, a new pre-fabricated restroom building, new hiking and mountain biking trails, modifications to existing Nordic and alpine trails, and relocating the previously approved snowmaking reservoir. 

ORDA stated that it is proposing a different location for the snowmaking reservoir “with reduced risks” because of “concerns with the construction and ownership of the dam infrastructure.” The new reservoir will be located just east of the previous location, with approximately 6.5 acres of storage, or about 25 million gallons at a depth of about 20 feet.

Finally, five miles of new mountain biking trails will be built, allowing interconnections between Belleayre and the Shandaken Wild Forest. Mountain biking activities will be based at the existing mountain infrastructure in the Overlook Lodge area. When complete, the system will include about 15 miles of mountain biking trails with approximately five miles of easier (green) trails, eight miles of more difficult (blue) trails, and three miles of the most difficult (black) trails. 

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