Another great day in spite of the dogs!

To all the volunteers who make the trails so wonderful, and to those who contribute so much in the way of funding, thank you.  I have been driving about an hour and forty minutes ONE WAY to ski at Jackson Hill for 3 years, now.  I love the open meadows, the woodlots, and the gentle hills.   What I don' t enjoy is the one or two people who for some reason still believe they can bring their dogs to run the trails.  BREIA has asked, and posted, NO dogs....it does not matter that you, as the dog owner, thinks your dog is special because it doesn't bite, or it loves the snow, or if your dog has been skiing with you for years...the rule is NO DOGS !!!   Please, I know you don't have to bring your dog to work, or to the movies, or to the diner...please do not bring them to BREIA.  Many people donate time and finances so that others can enjoy the trails...have enough respect for those to follow a couple simple rules.  Once again, thank you to all who do so much for the ski community at large. The conditions today, (Friday) were spectacular !!

 

John Gosier

Chaumont, NY

Life with the BREIA Trails: A profound thank you!!

To all the BREIA staff who make it happen,  I just passed sixty days of cross skiing this season on the BREIA trails and find myself struggling to find words appropriate to express the level of gratitude for the opportunity your collective work provides.  I sincerely hope you all take pride in the quality of grooming maintained throughout this season and those past.  Because of your work the trails provide a respite from the noise of every day life and gives those who ski them the opportunity to refresh our bodies and cleanse our minds.  We who live in the area  and make use of your trails are so fortunate to have cross countryt rails and you at our doorstep.

Thank you so very much, Tony Rabasca

BREIA Trails

A note to send a sincere THANK YOU to all involved for the opportunity to ski on the BREIA X/C Trail System.  This was our first year skiing at BREIA (adding to our normal X/C skiing destinations north and south of Syracuse) and what an excellent skiing experience it has been.  We have skied most of your trail system in all weather and trail conditions this year and what a pleasure.  There is such diversity and uniqueness between all three areas from the open field experience with views, wooded areas, challenging downhills, and varied terrain.  Yesterday, it was a delightful mid to late morning ski on the "rolled" trails at Jackson Hill in surprisingly excellent conditions.  We also skied at Jackson Hill on Monday with excellent conditions and had the pleasure of seeing a pure white with black tail "ermine" scampering around in the woods next to the connecting trail between the "Into the Woods" and "Skyfield" trails. 

One question that I do have relates to mileages of your trail system.  I could find no references to the mileages of each of your trails either on your site and maps, other sites that reference BREIA, or at your different areas.   I was just wondering if any information was available.

Thanks again for a wonderful skiing experience and we are hoping to ski Egypt Hill this coming Monday. 

Tony & Liz

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BREIA Response: 

 Thanks for your comments.

With regard to trails' distance, BREIA has never broken those distances out by trail segments for public consumption.  There is no particular reason why.  Since there have been several inquiries this winter about the distances, we would like to get some new signs made for next winter that list some trail distances.

Rolling vs Grooming?

On 3/20/2013 12:48 PM, gregg wrote:

Had the pleasure of skiing the Canal trail and Jackson Hill for the first a couple of weeks ago and plan to be out there tomorrow or Friday.  I am a bit SW of your area and the snow has been very thin for many weeks, so it was a welcome find!

Can you please explain the difference between "Rolling" vs "Grooming"?  Is rolling compacting, but not laying tracks?

Thank You!

 BREIA Response:

You are correct. Rolling is the use of a cylindrical drum to compact the snow on the trail. This is a separate implement from the groomer that sets the track. Rolling is typically done early in the season  and then mainly grooming from then on. However, occasionally with thaws, heavy snows or major changes in conditions, we need to roll the trails again before grooming. Because of the time involved in doing each area, we sometimes cannot get everything done in a day.

Spring

Been really enjoying the spring ski.  Really glad other skiers helped track the trail.  Please don't go by the sign in sheets in determining how many users you have.  Usually being in a hurry to ski I never seem to sign in.  Have used the Jackson more this year then ever.  Also, the spring conditions @ Pixley have been great! Thanks to for the new convenience buildings; sorry to see them go!  mc martin

Classic ski trails vs Touring trails

On 3/19/2013 9:25 AM, Paul wrote:

In addition to classic trails, are there any good ski touring areas within BREIA or nearby?
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BREIA response:

Paul...
We generally groom all of our trails. At this time of year we do not groom more than once, maybe twice weekly because of the cost and fewer skiers out.  We are not grooming today, despite the new snow, because more, lake effect, is expected to arrive tonight. 

At  this time (noon Tuesday), we expect to roll the trails Wednesday, but that's not a promise.  Don't know where you are coming from.  Other nearby cost-free places you might consider for touring trails would be Lake Julia in Remsen and the Trenton Greenbelt in the Town of Trenton.
Hope this is helpful!

Jackson Hill Conditions March 7

The conditions on Jackson Hill were icy, crusty and wind blown in spots on march 7. Our weather has taken its toll. Hopefully, new snow and better temps will help for the weekend.

Mary 

Ski equipment?

On 3/3/2013 11:53 AM, Marion wrote:

 To whom it may concern:

A friend of mine recommended your ski trails because she had such a great time. I wanted to come with my daughter to ski there tomorrow (Monday), but I was not able to find days or times online when you are open. We would need to rent a set of boots and skis for my daughter and since we are over 1 hour away I wanted to check before heading out.

Thank you,

Marion

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  BREIA response:
Our trails are open to the public daily from sunrise to sunset free of charge. We have no staff on-site at any of the locations.  Ski equipment is only available on Saturdays and Sundays, but not from us.  See the note at the top of our "Trail Conditions" page on our website, which reads:
BREIA does not have any ski or snowshoe equipment available for rent or loan.

However, the Boonville Search & Rescue Squad, located at the Canal Trail trail-head, next to the Headwaters Shopping Center in Boonville loans out XC-ski equipment at this site only. Normal hours are Saturdays and Sundays 10am - 4pm. They have ski equipment available for free loan (donation appreciated), but you will need to leave them $5 + your driver's license as a deposit on the equipment. When you return the equipment, they return both to you and you can either take the $5 or donate it...your choice.