LAKE PLACID, N.Y. (November 17, 2018) – The 2018-’19 Alpine and Nordic ski seasons got underway, today, Saturday, Nov. 17, at all of the New York State Olympic Regional Development Authority (ORDA) managed ski resorts. They include Belleayre Mountain Ski Resort, Highmount; Gore Mountain, North Creek; Whiteface Mountain; Wilmington; Mt. Van Hoevenberg Nordic Center, Lake Placid; and Gore Mountain Nordic Center, North Creek.

Twelve inches of snowfall fell on Belleayre Mountain in the last 24 hours and guests enjoyed skiing and snowboarding on two trails, Deer Run and Deer Run Extension, serviced by the Catskill region's newest gondola, the Catskill Thunder, which opened last December.

Gore Mountain opened up 21-percent, or 12 trails, opening day. The open trails included Bear Cub Run, Ruby Run, The Arena, Showcase, 2B, Tannery, Lower Uncas, Headwaters, Hawkeye, Open Pit, Cloud and Lower Cloud Travers.

Whiteface Mountain kicked off its 2018-’19 skiing and riding season with two lifts and six trails on  packed powder conditions. The Cloupsplitter gondola took guests to the summit of Little Whiteface where they skied or rode to the resort’s base from the Excelsior, Summit Express, Upper Valley, Lower Valley and Fox trails. The resort’s Mixing Bowl trail and lift were also available for new skiers and snowboarders.

Forty-five of Mt. Van Hoevenberg’s 50 kilometers of trails were open for Nordic skiers. Saturday marked the Nordic center’s earliest-ever planned opening thanks to the cooperation of both Mother Nature and ORDA’s Snowfactory system. Mt. Van Hoevenberg is the only resort in North America to have this state-of-the-art snowmaking machine which is capable of making snow with temperatures as high as 60-degrees.

The Nordic trails at Gore Mountain opened with two kilometers of trails for cross-country skiing at the historic North Creek Ski Bowl.

Each of the resorts are slated to close Monday-Thursday (Thanksgiving) and reopen Friday, Nov. 23, in full swing for the 2018-‘19 season.

For photos and video of opening day at each of the resorts, click HERE. Photos and video courtesy of ORDA.

Media planning on covering the opening days of skiing (Alpine/Nordic) and snowboarding, contact Jon Lundin, ORDA’s director of communications, Email: JLundin@orda.org, Tel: 518-623-1655.

For more information about all of the activities and events at ORDA’s ski resorts and Lake Placid’s Olympic venues, visit www.orda.org.

-- ORDA --

Established in 1982, the New York State Olympic Regional Development Authority (ORDA) was created by the State of New York to manage the facilities used during the 1980 Olympic Winter Games at Lake Placid. ORDA operates Whiteface, Belleayre and Gore Mountain ski areas; the Olympic Sports Complex at Mt. Van Hoevenberg; the Olympic speed skating oval, Olympic jumping complex and Olympic arena. As host to international and national championships, the Authority has brought millions of athletes, spectator and participants to the region, resulting in significant economic development.