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Catamount Ski Area
9 reviews for Catamount Ski Area
9 reviews in English
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Review from Leighann F.
Astoria, Queens, NY
The fact that I did not fall and break my face here is above all the best news I can deliver about Catamount.
Excellent, varied runs, a bit on the icy side, but well maintained throughout the day. Tons of kids and families on the weekends and plenty of room in the bar--for those who know their place at a ski resort!
Weekend rental ski gear and lift pass: $92Listed in: Outdoor & Athletic Adventures
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Review from L L.
New York, NY
2/6/2011 1 Check-in Here
When we were there, we had friendly staff, expensive food, and a few nice runs down nicely kept trails. One reviewer talked about not bringing the camera but I had to disagree with his recommendation. The little pocket Canon camera came in handy and captured as evident all your friends and family members' falls and wipe-outs.. great black mailing materials and a laugh afterward.
Try to get to the self service lodge or the cafeteria areas by 11:30 am before the ski school finished at 12:30 noon.. so you would have a better chance of getting a table. The problem was that people left their stuff on the seats and tables early, and as result, it was hard to find empty seats after you got your food.
We went to their restaurant because of the crowd on the first day and the damage was around $140 plus tip for 7 people.. okay but expensive for fries and hamburgers with coke. We also saw a lot of people (locals) brought their own food (a great idea), but an option not available for us weekend visitors.
Overall, a positive and good experience as every staff was helpful and pleasant to deal with. Will definitely go back. -
Review from Myles A.
10/4/2010
Went here for the Adventure Park. It was a lot of fun for a big group of us. We climbed all over the platforms wires and zip lines. This place is a good spot for beginners and intermediate climbers and such. Most of our group did not have much experience but were able to traverse the majority of platforms.
The harder levels of obstacles is pretty damn challenging too. The black diamond and double black diamonds were hard enough so that even the ones of us that had a pretty good amount of climbing experience had to cheat on a couple obstacles because they seemed too tough, especially after expending energy on the previous ones.
All & all we had a blast. Their safety system is pretty awesome, in that our group members afraid of heights even felt comfortable after one run. Sometimes the gear gets in the way during some of the more challenging obstacles, but we all had a blast, so that's not much of a negative. -
Review from Marcus V.
Brooklyn, NY
2/22/2010
As a one-day snowboarding trip, Catamount made for a descent day. The trip up from NYC isn't that bad, and the stretch on route 23 is very scenic with lots of rolling hills along the countryside and lots of farm lands and silos.
Catamount is certainly a small mountain, with picturesque views of the Berkshires from the top, that shares with both New York and Massachusetts. Interestingly, we found the slopes on the New York side to be slightly better. For some reason, the ones on the Mass side were really icy. I ended up hitting the Ridge Run most of the day, but even so conditions overall weren't that great. All in all, however, it was an enjoyable day, and perhaps some day I'll visit again. Next time I'll pack a lunch because the food at the lodge was horrible. -
Review from Steve P.
New York, NY
Updated - 1/17/2011
I went to Catamount on MLK weekend and I have to write about the food situation. On Saturday, the hot chocolate machine was BROKEN. No hot drinks for the kids. How is THAT possible? Don't you make it the old fashioned way? Ridiculous. Then, on Sunday it was more crowded than I have ever seen it...so we went to the Taconic Lodge. We brought our own sandwiches. The hot chocolate machine worked in the lodge, but there was a huge line because there was only one person working the food area. The poor girl was working the register, dishing out the nachos, replenishing the supplies...everything. Of course, after waiting on line for 20 minutes, they were OUT of nachos, were down to two hot dogs and the soups were congealed masses of slop (at $6.25 a bowl!). This was a 1pm mind you.....
My only point is that no one expects haute cuisine at a ski lodge, but on the busiest weekend of the ski season, you'd think they would put some resources into making it a pleasant experience for customers. This was ridiculous and I was seriously thinking of trying a season pass at Butternut or Windham next ski season.
The skiing was fine, thought the lift lines were longer than ever and relatively chaotic.1 Previous Review: Show all »
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12/30/2008 First to Review
Good family ski destination not too far from NYC. We put our kids in the ski school and can go off… Read more »
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Review from Judy K.
Queens, NY
9/5/2010
For those of you who have been told too many times that you act like a monkey, this is the place for you. Catamount is a ski resort that provides a recreational activity during the off-season called adventure park. The park contains a series of obstacle courses built up in the treetops that test your balance, your agility, and your fear of heights. And yes, you do get to play monkey here as you scramble across rickety bridges of various materials, climb ladders of dubious hold, swing around by your arms in some cases, and zipline from tree to tree. I had a lot of fun here and most other people will too.
Before you run away screaming at the mention of treetop hijinks, the first thing to know about this place is that it's pretty safe if you follow the rules. They strap you into a harness with ropes that have snap locks at the ends. Called carabineers, these things are what's keeping you from falling 25 feet to your doom. You get trained on how to use them and then they let you loose. A word of caution. This is not a guided tour - no staffer is making sure that you are using your carabineers correctly. Therefore, you could conceivably fall to your doom if you're (a) drunk, (b) ridiculously uncoordinated when sober, or (c) ethically opposed to following instructions. Don't be any of those people because your family will have to cart away your dead body and on top of that, they can't sue anyone. You signed the waiver, dummy.
I'll also need to address the fear of heights issue because I don't want that to be an excuse for you not to go. You can be scared of heights and still enjoy this place. I'm scared of heights and still had fun. How did you manage that, you ask? They offer several difficulty levels. The easiest level, the yellow trails, only take you 15 feet off the ground. They strongly recommend you do that level first before tackling the others to test yourself. That level was mildly challenging for me and was a good way to gauge whether I could tackle the next higher level. (A resounding yes.) The green course was more challenging, requiring more agility and some pep-talking to myself as things got dicier. I only did these two courses because I was challenged enough on the green level to know that anything higher up and I would freeze in my tracks. The more difficult courses seem to be for people who get regular exercise, have enough stamina to stay up there for an hour or more, and can look down at the ground without fainting. Hubby can vouch for all of that since he did the next higher level (blue) and came back with his arms shaking like leaves and stories about how he almost couldn't finish in some parts from sheer fright. Ok, sorry, I really didn't mean to scare you. Use common sense and choose your options carefully.
Some advice:
(1) Don't bring a camera (or bring one that can fit into a pocket.) I know my fellow Yelpers love to take pictures of everything, but seriously - you're going to be knocking your body around quite a bit up there and your camera might get banged up. Also, if it falls, it's gonna break. If it doesn't, well, you got a good camera there.
(2) Be somewhat fit. If you are a couch potato, you are not meant to act like a monkey.
3) Watch where you put your feet at all times. Some of the tree platforms seem to be only one foot wide. Some of the ladder rungs seem wide enough to hold a pinky toe. Not a lot of space for your feet. I'm not saying you need to tiptoe around, but watch where you're stepping. You can misstep, fall, and still be safe in your harness, but you'll be the laughingstock of everyone around.
(4) Be mentally alert. Some of the courses require you to figure out how to proceed across to the next platform. It's not always obvious. I was watching someone do the most difficult course and she couldn't figure out how to tackle the swinging logs placed at different heights. It seemed physically impossible for her, but she figured it out at the end. If you end up being trapped, just alert a staffer on the ground. They'll zipline you down to the ground.
(5) Go with friends who you can count on to help you out physically and emotionally. If you're going to monkey around, you might as well do it with those other monkeys you hang out with. -
Review from Randy R.
Clermont, FL
2/8/2011
Great place to ski or board. No twilight skiing available. Weekday prices are your friend. Pretty well groomed.
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Review from Chi N.
5/25/2009
ok totally haven't come here to ski even tho im a ski fanatic... but actually found this place for a summer destination for its adventure park! and with it only being 2.5 hrs away... it mite be a regular destination for us for the summer as there are way too many courses to do!
have to say our expectations were kinda low as we saw the parking lot during memorial day weekend completely empty with maybe 20-30 cars.
so we got our tickets, watched the demonstration done by teenagers, and then strapped on and hiked our way up to the course...
even looking at the course we were like this is it? cuz it literally takes up only one tiny section of the entire mountain... but boy were we totally wrong bout the challenge.
hints: start at the yellow... begin to SLOWLY balance your way through tight ropes, through some wobbly bridges of all sorts, and then end through zip lining! omg!
and yellow is supposed to be easy? green is longer and even more complex
and then blue
then black
then double black
try it out for yourself u will not be disappointed but definitely come fit and not afraid of heights... u are strapped to the life lines however u are still walking above ground!
good for kids AND adults i promise!!! -
Review from Andrea G.
Virginia Beach, VA
1/6/2009
AAAAAAH all of the resorts close to NYC are complete s**tmounds, but this is certainly a better alternative to the crook-ridden Hunter. At the end of the morning, I can have skied the whole mountain twice over. If you're a good skier and you come here, bring your SnowBlades, and play around in the terrain park, because it's boring, and a little run down. I brought a picnic when I was here, but the lodge is decent. I've never really seen a bad ski lodge, though this is on the lower scale. Still, you can night ski, which is always fun, and Catamount is DIRT CHEAP. I am not really in a place to complain when I'm paying $20 to ski. . .
