Ski Resort Alternatives to Skiing

Filed in archive Winter Adventures on November 7, 2007

For the last few years, winter has come slow to ski resorts. According to an article on Yahoo!, it wasn't until January when upstate New York ski resorts felt the snowy effects of winter, causing skiers to complain. So, what do you do when you're at a ski resort with no snow?

Everything else associated with cold weather. Several quick thinking resorts are offering new activities in case of unseasonably warm weather. At the Adirondack Mountain village of Lake Placid, guests can bobsled and watch watching world-class ski jumpers, aerialists and figure skaters train and next year the Greek Peak Mountain Resort will unveil a new indoor water park.

"It's just a very nice vibe that goes on there at night," said Sandy Caligiore of the Olympic Regional Development Authority. "You've got restaurants right across the street in case you get hungry. There are hot drinks from the vendor on site."

Locals and visitors alike turn out to skate under the lights, he said. Public hours are 7-9 p.m. nightly from about mid-December to late March. Daytime sessions are added during the holidays.

Another family option in a too-warm winter is swimming - indoors.

In the eastern Adirondack Foothills near Lake George, the Six Flags Great Escape Lodge and Indoor Waterpark is less than 25 miles from the Gore and West Mountain ski areas.

At Plattekill Mountain at the edge of the Catskills in Delaware County, mountain biking is the warm weather mainstay and lasts until Nov. 11. Sometimes the cyclists have had to put on chains and race on the snow, Danielle Vajtay said. Less than a month later, on Dec. 8, there's a 99 percent chance that skiing will begin, she said.

"We have a whole beginner area with its own separate lift where we do all of our beginner lessons. It's a 600-foot trail. We use it as a snow-tube trail at night," Vajtay said. "It's very easy to bury in snow even if you've got just a couple of cold nights."