OT: Mountain Resorts Around Buffalo N.Y.

[little.man]

Seem to have quite a few from the North East here, so thought I might find some first hand
info on this. Wife and I looking to get away for Mardi Gras, small 3-day trip. She wants to
see snow. Seem to be some good airfare deals to Buffalo and there seem to be quite a few
ski resorts within a short driving distance. Not looking to ski, more looking to see different
terrain than marsh and swamps. Heard upstate N.Y. was pretty. Any feedback on that area?
Any places to look into to stay at? Maybe do some "ski -like" stuff - sledding or something like that. Any suggestions?

Also curious - a lot of the resorts seem to cater to mountain bikers, I am assuming in the warmer months - just what is around there in terms of mountain biking?

Thanks in advance.

Mark

[FierteTi52]

Mark,
We haven't had snow in Buffalo since the October 12th storm that left our area without power for 8-10 days. Currently are temps are 50* and there is no sign of snow in the future. The ski industry is nonexistent although I ride every day. Holiday Valley is our largest resort which is a ski hill, not a mountain. HV has a great mountain bike trail system with lots of single track located 1 hour from Buffalo. This is a nice ares with Niagara Falls and Several Frank Loyd Wright building worth touring. Feel free to PM me is you need any info.
Jeff

[pjm]

First of all, we've had practically no snow up here this year. Its supposed to be in the 60s tomorrow. Wierd. But I've got 70 miles on the bike this week!
The Great Lakes area is pretty flat, not exactly ski country. For the best skiing, you'd have to head further east to the Adirondacks, Berkshires of Western MA or Green Mountains in VT.

[majorpat]

My advice, head to Vermont. Those aren't exactly "mountains" around Buffalo, really just steep hills. As other posters have said, not much snow so far this year in CNY. Pretty slim in the Adirondacks and New England as well. Of course all that can change in a flash. See if you can get a flight to Burlington or , if you are working Southwest, they also fly to Albany, NY with Lake PLacid and Vermont close by. Good luck.

[pdonk]

Not exactly upstate NY, but about a 3hr drive north is collingwood ON, home to blue mountain and some gorgeous scenery(niagara escarpment) and all right skiing, for this area.

like upstate NY right now, limited to no snow though

[djg]

They don't have mountains near Buffalo. Trust me, I grew up skiing and racing (poorly) in the greater Rochester area, which is about an hour's drive east of Beefalo. There are lovely hills in the finger lakes region south of Rochester (and southeast of Buffalo), and Niagra falls certainly is a cool bit of terrain, if no slice of wilderness at all anymore, but the "ski resorts" near Buffalo are small even by NY standards. It's all fine if you're running slalom gates, but it's not much by way of the mountain gestalt. The Adirondacks are pretty, snow or no snow, and much better examples of real mountains, eastern style, but they're quite a hike from Buffalo--probably a good 4 hour drive just to get to the bottom of the Addies. In fact, even the Catskill's, a relatively easy drive from NYC, have more to offer in the way of mountains and skiing than does the slice of western NY by Buffalo, or the southern-tier and fingerlakes region.

Another thing which may be pretty darn striking if you're just going for scenery is that western and central NY state, especially in the winter, are some of the grayest bits of the United States. Aint no sunshine when you've gone ... there. If all this sounds like a mean attack on a fine part of the country, let me say that I'm fond of upstate NY, which has many charms. But if you're shooting for sunshine in the mountains, I'd look for a different flight.

[Ken Robb]

Leslie and I have had such nice visits to Canandaigua and DBRK and the other nice local people that I suggest you look at Bristol Mtn. ski area. They have a nice web site. As others have said, I don't think it would be anything like a major ski area but it probably would be entertaining for a few days and have a friendly local feel. If it stays as warm as it is now you can go riding with Douglas and his pals.

[bcm119]

Current snow depths (http://www.erh.noaa.gov/nerfc/graphics/snowmaps/sd1_today.jpg) in the northeast are pretty pathetic. So far this year all the cold and snow has been confined to west of the Mississippi. And its true, there are no mountains near Buffalo. Parts of western NY have "drumlins", which are long ridges left by glaciers...steep terrain, but better for cycling than skiing.

[little.man]

Thanks for all the replies. Much appreciated.

Mark

[zap]

Ellicottville.

About 1 hr south of Buffalo.

Nice small ski resort town. Hills only. Snow, not yet.

If you go, there is a great BBQ place on the drive down.

[Lincoln]

Albany, and head North (VT and or NY)