Following complaints, Olympic Authority CEO Ashley Walden summons Belleayre manager to monitor operations
By James M. Odato
After steady criticism about the alpine trail operations at Whiteface Mountain, the head of the Olympic Regional Development Authority has summoned the general manager of Belleayre Ski Center to report to Wilmington from the Catskills for help.
The move by ORDA Chief Executive Officer Ashley Walden comes after mounting complaints about the quality of trail conditions at the northernmost and most challenging ski facility run by the authority for the state.
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Walden told staff last week she is assigning Belleayre general manager Bruce Transue to work at the Adirondack ski center once used for the 1980 Winter Olympics. Transue is expected to monitor operations at Whiteface in the weeks of March. The current mountain administration will continue their roles during the observation period.
Walden acted after allegations of questionable Whiteface management in a whistleblower’s letter obtained by the Adirondack Explorer, numerous inquiries from the Explorer about whether Whiteface has changed its snowmaking and grooming operation in recent seasons and an in-person meeting last week between Walden and long-time Whiteface passholders concerned about trail conditions.
The whistleblower letter, sent to the state Authorities Budget Office last April, was referred to the state Inspector General’s Office and resulted in ORDA’s top lawyer responding to the investigators with a defense of the operating decisions at Whiteface.
Yet, after veteran passholders and Whiteface’s former ski patrol director met with Walden last week, she called on Transue for assistance. Formerly at Hunter Mountain in the Catskills, he has been running the heavily used Belleayre facility in Ulster County, which became part of the ORDA-managed sports complexes in 2016.
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Darcy Norfolk, communications director for ORDA, declined to say why Transue was asked to supplement the Whiteface management team at this time. But ORDA employees, several of whom have criticized Whiteface management judgments, say he is expected to offer a fresh look at ways to improve trail conditions.
“In managing six venues, the Olympic Authority staff continually gains and shares its experiences and expertise across locations,” Norfolk said. Transue will “share his insights on operations and adding value to the guest experience.”
“He will also learn about facets of the Whiteface operation that can add to his industry knowledge and benefit Belleayre,” she said. “The Olympic Authority staff regularly engages in cross-venue communication; this ongoing exchange helps all of the venues collaborate and improve.”
Last Tuesday, Walden met with four passholders and former ski patrol director James Hoyt at Whiteface. James Sullivan, one of the passholders attending, said the five informed Walden of their dissatisfaction with trail conditions and complained about “micromanaging” of grooming and snowmaking crews that have resulted in problems the past few years.
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Sullivan, 67, who managed a ski shop in Plattsburgh for 20 years, said: “I’ve been skiing there for 50 years and told her about the poor grooming … She took notes.”
Walden, a former Olympic luger lacking a facility management background, took over as head of ORDA in the fall. Among the facilities run by the authority, Whiteface, steep, windy and south facing, is among the most challenging for snowmaking, grooming and ski patrol crews. Several from their ranks, in interviews, have questioned current operating practices.
The whistleblower letter of last April asserted that management decisions have resulted in snow piles — whales — left on open trails, limited grooming and wet, sticky snow being spread on trails, causing obstacles and enhancing risks. Skiers have experienced serious, sometimes fatal, injuries at Whiteface, the whistleblower noted.
“Whiteface is a huge revenue source for ORDA, and it needs to be managed as well as possible,” Sullivan said. “The state of New York is also on the hook for the injuries, if ORDA gets sued.”
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Norfolk said ORDA strives to make operations “as safe and effective as possible.”
“Under no circumstances does the Olympic Authority ignore safety concerns that are brought to its attention,” she said.
Criticism of Whiteface has surfaced on social media platforms from skiers on the mountain, such as Lincoln Riddle, who posts on Whiteface Conditions’ Facebook page and on YouTube, providing video reviews. He has called attention to sometimes challenging conditions due to whales, ice and rough patches.
Authority Chairman Joe Martens said bringing Transue north to Wilmington is a “great decision to get to the bottom of whatever problem there is at Whiteface.” He said he has not experienced dangerous conditions the times he has skied on the mountain in recent years.
As a 35 year member of the Whiteface Volunteer Ski Patrol, I am very pleased that ORDA is taking action on the situation at Whiteface. I believe I have not seen conditions managed so poorly.
My friends and I used to joke about Whiteface by calling it Deathface. Unfortunately for a few this has become truth. I hope conditions weren’t to blame.
*East Facing
It seems as if Whiteface is being faced with the same, corporate greed, micromanagement, dollar driven, consumer de-focusing mismanagement style as the health care system. Profitability, responsibility, and customer satisfaction go hand in hand. Apparently the failing education system is continuing to lower the bar.
Over the past 15 years I’ve skied 85 days on average at Whiteface. Have almost 50 in so far this season. Considering the crazy weather we’ve had this season, the conditions for the most part have been pretty good on many of the trails. For many of the other trails, not so much. As others have mentioned in the article, leaving the whale piles of snow to sit on trails for week after week is not something that’s been done in the past.
I give a thumbs up to the snowmaking crew, it’s a tough dangerous job. They do the best they can with what they have to work with and more importantly, the orders they’re given by management. I’ve talked to a number of snowmakers and they’ve said despite their boots on the ground knowledge, their suggestions are most often ignored.
I also wonder why, given the fact that Whiteface invested in a 2.8 Megawatt solar farm, we’re told they have to cease snow making operations in February due to budget concerns.
2.8 MW may be the nameplate rating but typically solar farms only produce 30% of this. Don’t count on solar or wind to improve operating costs; quite the opposite in the long run
That’s the green new deal for you. A natural gas or nuclear power plant has no trouble putting out it’s max megawatt rating. Actually, they are most cost effective when doing so, and can do so 24/7.
Be interesting to know what the max electric usage would be for full operation of the snowmaking system.
According to the EIA, nuclear power plants have a capacity factor of 82%, natural gas plants 54%.
I have been skiing since I was three. My dad and I have been skiing here for a couple of years, but it has certainly gone downhill. This support is much needed.
My family and I have been avid supporters of the ORDA locations. Since GM, Bruce Transue and his amazing staff have been at Belleayre the ski conditions have been superb. Total turn around ! Hoping to see the same happen at Whiteface.
My high school ski team (Massena High School, 1947 – 1951, trained sometimes on
Whiteface, either the main mountain or the narrow trails, reached by the road, at the top.
It was intermediate to expert training, and particularly good for learning to ski on ice, which
was always plentiful on Whiteface. There was no snow making equipment!
Changing the subject to Gore Mountain, they would appear to have many similar issues. I am a longtime Gore skier over the last 60ish years. I put in close to 100 days a year, and have over 60 so far this year. Gore has consistently this year undergroomed, always leaving key trails ungroomed. The response I get is “people like it”. But in conditions that we have had this season, a lot of very firm, leaving the trails ungroomed makes them borderline unskiable at best, and often closed. Having up to half a dozen MAJOR trails ungroomed per day is poor. And many of the grooms have been consistently bad – with groomer tread holes, ridges, and other groomer produced errors. These can be dangerous, and caused at least one trail to be closed for days as the area tried to address an egregiously bad groom. And several grooms are not edge to edge (covering the whole trail). Several times, I have almost gone over the groom edge in suspect lighting, which in places is a 10′ drop into trees.
And never grooming man made snow can have bad results. Gore (and Whiteface) often open trails after blowing snow into big pikes without grooming. There can be snowmaking obstacles created, and while ski patrol tries to mark them, they are not perfect. I got caught in one such obstacle in mid-December I’m still not recovered from. Two “piles” in a row with a “hole” at the base of the second which was unmarked and I didn’t see in poor light. My skis went into it and stopped dead, but I didn’t. My face, shoulder, and arm hit hard. My goggles were pushed into my nose, and I’ve been dealing with sinus issues since. and my arm and shoulder still hurt.
Leaving a man made snow trail opened and ungroomed for long periods of time is also an issue. Some trails have gone weeks never seeing an initial groom. As the days mount, the trails become less and less skiable, and more and more dangerous, Not the way to run a ski area.
As for the snowmaking – it’s bad, but has been for years. Gore has upgraded their snowmaking a lot over the past few years, adding a lot of tower guns that have the capability to make nice snow. Yet they often forgo those guns to use old ground guns that make wet, gloopy, dangerous snow. Many a Gore skier has had bad falls due to this gloppy snow.
Whiteface is not the only ORTA run facility that has issues. Gore has many of the same issues, and probably some of their own. The past few seasons have been particularly bad – not grooming enough, bad grooms, and bad snowmaking to name a few. They should be addressed along with any Whiteface issues.
Some of this may be due to manpower and training. Perhaps there aren’t enough groomers to groom everything. Perhaps there are new groomers that haven’t been trained well enough (and groom poorly). Someone higher up in the snowmaking system should be a skier/border so that they might understand what makes a nice snow to ski/slide on. As it stands, the snowmakers should all just be fired.
While I don’t have as many days in at Gore as Derek does, I too have experienced the same conditions. Sometimes trails have been open after one groom when they clearly needed a second groom to be safe. Other times trails opened with no grooming and you wondered why it was open. And yes, there are times when the snow and grooming are great. It is the inconsistency that is puzzling.
In general, I think they do a pretty decent job of snow making given the amount of natural snow we have gotten. I am grateful that the skiing is as good as it is and really appreciate the efforts of the Gore grooming and snowmaking staff. But it does seem like perhaps Gore is short on available snowmaking/grooming staff or budgeted snowmaking/grooming hours. And sometimes they don’t seem to make the best operating decisions given those restraints.
I am a former groomer at Gore Mountain for many years.
The management clearly promotes the worst of the worst.
If you park the snow cat on the steepest of pitches to sleep and blow up the motor while drunk, rack up overtime and whine you’re so busy you can’t get it done they will promote you to supervisor.
Check the hours on the new snow cat 70% idle time.
Hold management accountable to it-you get fired.
Workplace violence, threats and harassment earns you a raise.
It’s clearly the management!
A major investigation of the place should occur and clean house.
Wow Derek, 60ish years skiing at these areas and you still don’t seem to understand the inherent risks of skiing. I guess you don’t read the fine print when you buy and sign your daily/season pass. Sounds like you need to make a change in your leisure activities, maybe something with less gravity. Fire the snow makers, really. It s this ungrateful entitled attitude that makes me want to ride the lift alone.
Wow Derek! Last year when you complained to me about our grooming at Gore right before I went to St Anton, Austria I found the skiing there so much more challenging! You could tell the groomers spun circles in some places where I skied the fastest. Plus the hot days and rain make trying to create great surfaces super challenging and then a freeze, wow you have no clue that is part of what is going on.
I also have been continuously complemented on our grooming and you think those people are lying!!!! I also ask people who ski all the time how they like the trails I groomed and sometimes go out just to ski them myself to see how I did and have been so happy with the results! Yes, patting myself on my back! I ski other peoples trails too and have have loved them at Gore. I know I don’t ski as often as you do but geez, Dude, I think Open Pit is better than ever, Hulabaloo rocks, Echo, Sagamore Wow! Yeah there are some areas that have had trouble but I think our cat drivers are awesome with how much they care about things looking great!
Also, our rookies on my shift ROCK at grooming, smooth trails with no windrows! You should go ski at other ski mountains and see if what you are complaining about is at those places too! So many non groomed trails at other ski areas I have skied, and so much rubble on groomed trails, but fun anyway.
It’s too bad man! Too bad that one of my past good friends just complains about what I do. You should come ride with me and see if you could even think you could do better with these challenging conditions!!!! Also when you winch it stirs some places up but at least we can flatten things out and break up some icy surfaces and cover some dirt.
I do agree that the snow is wet when they make it and they say that snow lasts longer when it freezes up and you have to let it drain for days before pushing it out sometimes.
Just this week I had numerous friends say they loved the Rumor with its piles on it this year and then the other day when it got pushed out and groomed they were high- fiving me to compliment my boss who does that trail winching!
Anyway, I hope the heck you are wrong with most of your complaints here at Gore, and just so people know, you complain about other things all the time.
Many of the grooms at Gore are quite good. But not all of them. 6″ groom ridges in the middle of major trails just can’t be considered acceptable. And just after Rumor was groomed, a boarder went off the right side groom line in bad lighting and onto the groom rubble. The trail was shut down while they got him out. Lori – I’ve heard you complain about other people’s grooms which are not edge to edge. I’ve also heard you say that groom ridges aren’t acceptable. Yes, there are a lot of good grooms. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t room for improvement.
I have skied and raced on Whiteface for most of my life and have found the trail conditions much poorer the last few years. It appears that the groomers are not tilling the ice as well as the tillers are capable of doing. It may be that to save money they travel over the trails too fast and not allowing for proper tilling.
Spending time and effort to blow snow on Lookout Bellow trail last week made no sense when more snow on open trails would have had a better outcome. It was open for only a few days.
Having put in a new lift for beginning skiers you would think snow would be made on Boreen trail as it was very bare with pebbles on Monday 2/26. This is the only way down for beginners to get back on the lift.
I have skied Whiteface since my college days at Clarkson College of Technology in the early 70’s. It has always been a challenging mountain. I did not teach my children to ski here as I felt it had limited beginner terrain. The most recent upgrades appear to address that. However,, when any business has a partner with “Mother Nature”, there are many unpredictable factors that come into play on a mountain where the majority of the terrain is challenging to service as well as ski/board. Steep slopes will be skied off faster than gentler ones. The freeze/thaw cycles of recent haven’t helped and with a southern exposure, it only exasperates the likelihood of icy conditions. As most know, skiing/riding is not a “cheap sport” and because of the high price of admission, perhaps unrealistic exceptions are demanded base on that cost to participate (my student lift ticket was $9 fifty years ago). I count my over 70 season pass today a bargain! While the development of Lookout Mountain was appreciated years ago, perhaps it was an “over expansion” when you consider how little it actually gets used and attempts to make it skiable may compete with other mountain areas. Perhaps the money would have been better spent on other equipment. While I am not qualified to assess all the variables that mountain management/snow makers/groomers contend with, I am sure they assess what they have on hand each day and attempt to do the best with what is available. I trust a proper root cause analysis will be done and all parties will embrace best practices to ensure Whiteface offers the best possible skiing with what they have at any given time. I am appreciative we have a mountain like Whiteface available to us.
My husband was a snowmaker at Whiteface in the 80’s. They worked hard and smart with what they had available to them. Mother nature has not been giving us cold weather and consistent snow. Yes we had windblown trails. That was expected by all skiers. The workers that groomed were fantastic and knew how to groom. When people retire as groomers, its noticable and we skiers notice rifgt away. Takes allot of time to train groomers to groom. They are people who really make our skier adventures each day wonderful. Just like groomers, snow makers are also trained and that takes time, too. I have many stories Paul has told me about snowmaking at Whiteface Mountain. Paul loved it! As you can imagine freezing temperatures throughout the night working hard for all of us to enjoy for that morning after. In my opinion Groomer personnel and snow makers are very unique talented people. It just takes time. BTW he always had great stories and fun memories as a snowmaker on Whiteface Mountain. I worked selling racing gear for Pat Cunningham, alpine training center. Super Fun four years!!
The crazy weather is probably the reason for the “piles”. If the water content is really high it is a bad idea to spread that snow. Just close those trails till you can groom. Whiteface has produced some of the best skiers you see out there, partially because it is challenging terrain. If you ski this you can ski anywhere. Great place to learn how to ski. Despite the warmer winters WF has had some of the longest seasons in their history. It is too bad about the fatalities for sure, but is WH statistically higher than other places? Show us the data. This all can be fixed. Mr. Hoyt is the man to have on the job!
why did they even build Hoyts High? they can never get it open. take it off the map and let everything grow back. it’s too frustrating and sad to have to look at such a great trail being wasted.
At Gore the GM has a weasel pelt hanging in his office for clearly inspirational purpose.
And that explains much.
One of the highest peaks in the Adirondacks, Whiteface also has a high prominence and is thus very exposed to wind. Additionally its east-facing side loses sunlight in the early afternoon during the winter months resulting in more difficult skiing due to decreased contrast and hardening of the snowpack due to freezing. I understand why the trails were put on the east side of the mountain due to more its more favorable terrain and I’m not in a position to second-guess the engineers and politicians who picked Whiteface for a ski area instead of another mountain. Perhaps some trails could be cut on the southwest side of the Mountain and out of view of Lake Placid provided the Forever Wild law were amended?
Given that we are having the warmest winter on record, I am very pleased with the job the snowmakers and groomers have done. It really is a minor miracle.
Skyward is super steep and requires cable grooming. It has been fantastic this year, my friends and I lap it until our legs give out.
I like skiing the mounds of snow and understand the need to let them sit and drain. My young grandchildren love to ski them too, and they seek them out. There is a conditions report issued every day, so if you don’t like the ungroomed trails read the report and plan to stick to the groomers.
I say a big thank you to the snowmakers and groomers. While we are all still tucked in to our warm beds they are out there under all conditions working hard to make our skiing and riding fun and safe.
BTW – when an article references social media sites as a source of information it loses all credibility.
It’s easy to complain, take some time to appreciate the hard work of others and thank them for their efforts.
WOW! I really appreciate the PASSION of everyone’s comments. If it is your opinion, based on your experience, then it is authentic and worth mentioning.
I have had some of the best skiing days of my 22 years at Whiteface this year, ungroomed whales, freeze / thaw cycles, and one of the mildest snow winters we have had in years – all included. There have also been days when we took one run and went home because of the wind, weather and ice.
A few weeks ago the entire mountain was 10+ stars on every trail we skied, we lapped Skyward, Niagara was awesome as was Lower Skyward. Wilderness was in amazing condition and we lapped it multiple times – taking the chair to the top just to start from the uppermost top. The cruisers were great fun too including Wilmington trail which had been open for about a week.
Being a public entity, ORDA is open to public scrutiny. It is impossible to create a ski experience that every skier will truly embrace. Lets be honest, Whiteface is challenging – it is why we all ski here. Do you ever ride the lifts just watching the people skiing below you? Our experts are amazing and can shred almost any terrain and conditions. Whiteface will never have the corduroy of a Killington, nor do I want it.
So lets be fair. Snowmaking and grooming are really difficult , nasty jobs that take lot of personal fortitude and stamina – yes these guys sometimes have to hike /walk the entire trail lugging hoses behind them, in the middle of the night, in brutal weather. It is not a job that you learn overnight. And they need thick skin to withstand the abuse they get in these columns. I do not know what Whiteface pays, but I can imagine it would be pretty hard to buy a house / live in LP or Wilmington based on what these guys make. I thank them for working as hard as they do, as someone else said, I am cozy in my bed when they are out in really harsh weather so my first run can be sweet.
Due to the change in climate – even though we think this was a “bad” year for snow and snowmaking this year is representative of what we will encounter in the future. I truly believe the snowmaking and grooming folks are doing the best they can – with the tools and weather they are given.
If we all can take our passion and work WITH the mountain, I think we have the potential to make the ski season last with ever crummier weather coming in the years ahead. Lets ask ORDA what they need to be more effective, to make more snow and groom better and then get involved. A retention pond, where they are not subject to what the Ausable throws at them is a great first step. Lets work with APA, local agencies, NY DEC, let them know we are engaged. My experience is that the staff is very approachable, and if we work with them, become engaged, we can help Whiteface thrive in the future. Just my $0.02.