Dont Mess with Belleayre

I know its been a while since I wrote a column and for that I apologize. There have been so many reasons to write, yet time escapes me. Perhaps 2011 will provide a bit more time to write about economic issues that surround the Hudson Valley.

Today I received my daily email blast from Belleayre Mountain. It read 51 trails open. It would seem that "mother nature" has been very good to Belleayre this year.

At the risk of sounding repetitive, since I wrote about Belleayre slightly over two years ago, I wanted to share that the fight is still on. Belleayre Mountain is an economic development engine that has been running for years. It is a tourist destination for many who enjoy skiing in the winter time. In the summer time it has a great many attractions including swimming at its beach and night time concerts.

Rather than work together to create a true "snow capital" of New York, management at nearby Platekill Ski Center [15 minutes west] and at Hunter and Windham Mountains [15 / 20 minutes north], have continued to beat up on Belleayre Mountain by trying to close it down. Their reasoning to have Belleayre closed down is feeble at best. They say that a state subsidized mountain jeopardizes their own business and distracts skiers from going to their own mountains. While distraction may be true one has to wonder if Belleayre has other true attractions that brings skiers to its mountain rather than the other three. I am a skier and have skied at Belleayre and at Windham. I truly enjoy skiing at Belleayre over Windham. I prefer the trail structure at Belleayre. Platekill's trails are too steep for me and Hunter has just too many people on its trails. I have been to both of those mountains but not to ski. Recently, Belleayre launched a marketing campaign together with local small businesses to attract more people to the area. That's just good business for everyone in the local area. That is what economic cooperation and vitality is. The owners of Windham, located in Florida, claim that taxpayer money is being used to do this. Rather than curse the idea, Platekill, Hunter and Windham may want to development marketing campaigns with other economic organizations like Chambers of Commerce to do the same thing.

Belleayre Mountain is one of three State "owned" mountains. The other two mountains, both in the Adirondack Park are Gore Mountain, home to New York's only gondola and Whiteface Mountain, with its steepest vertical drop in the northeast. Recently Gore and Whiteface were transferred to ORDA [the Olympic Regional Development Authority]. Effectively they are owned by the State yet managed, fiscally, by another organization. Its an old "State Budget" trick that has been used by New York State for many years. Governor Mario Coumo did something similar when he sold the New York Prison properties to the New York Dormitory Authority, the same organization that effectively owns and manages public and private universities here in New York State.

Moving Belleayre into the ORDA or creating a new Authority to fiscally manage it may be a good thing. Of course, naysayers would disagree claiming that it still would have undue financial discount influence. We should embrace the positives and use the State's resources to create national and even international advertising. Lets stop the bickering and create a marketing organization with all four organizations to promote Catskill Skiing!

In early December DEC announced layoffs at Belleayre just as everyone was gearing up for its peak season. The timing could not have been worse. The attached link brings you up to date on Belleayre's status. We appreciate RadX's video and thank them for providing it on Youtube for everyone to see.



We hear all to often that the State does not do enough for economic development and for tourism and to that I would agree 100%. To choke off funding for Belleayre and let it die a slow death is not only wrong to the local economy, its also illegal.

Dont mess with Belleayre!