Tug Hill Advice

After a long warm period, the Tug Hill region of New York State is now
getting blasted with lake effect snows. So off we go next weekend. Except
that I've never been to the Tug Hill cross-country centers. There are two
main ones: Salmon Hills and Osceola. They appear to be near each other.

I'd appreciate seeing thoughts about each.

Thanks.

--
Bill in Schenectady

Bill in Schenectady wrote:
After a long warm period, the Tug Hill region of New York State is now
getting blasted with lake effect snows. So off we go next weekend. Except
that I've never been to the Tug Hill cross-country centers. There are two
main ones: Salmon Hills and Osceola. They appear to be near each other.

I'd appreciate seeing thoughts about each.

Thanks.

These guys usually have current snow reports:
(this is for the Winona Forest, also nearby)

http://www.tughillskiclub.com/Trails/trails.php
map w/contours
http://www.tughillskiclub.com/Trails..._trailhead.pdf
map, no contours
http://www.tughillskiclub.com/Trails...nocontours.pdf



http://www.salmonhills.com/conditions.htm
http://www.uxcski.com/?taret=_blank

"gr" wrote in message
...
Bill in Schenectady wrote:
After a long warm period, the Tug Hill region of New York State is now
getting blasted with lake effect snows. So off we go next weekend.
Except that I've never been to the Tug Hill cross-country centers. There
are two main ones: Salmon Hills and Osceola. They appear to be near
each other.

I'd appreciate seeing thoughts about each.

Thanks.

These guys usually have current snow reports:
(this is for the Winona Forest, also nearby)

Not really snow reports I'm looking for. I know they have snow. I'm
wondering about the pros and cons of their respective trail systems. Are
the challenging? Pretty? Crowded?

As for me, I enjoy hilly trails and only do classic skiing. Also enjoy
narrow wooded trails.

On Tue, 07 Feb 2006 03:13:30 GMT, "Bill in Schenectady"
wrote:

After a long warm period, the Tug Hill region of New York State is now
getting blasted with lake effect snows. So off we go next weekend. Except
that I've never been to the Tug Hill cross-country centers. There are two
main ones: Salmon Hills and Osceola. They appear to be near each other.


I've only been to Salmon Hills once. It was quite nice. Very good
lodge, nice trail system that was well-groomed and set for classic
technique and skating. The only things I didn't like about the ski
center were that certain parts of the trail system were very loud (due
to snowmobiles going fast on a lake) and that sometimes it was snowing
too hard to see much at all. Everone came indoors for about an hour
when we were there due to the heavy snow.

JT

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Also Jackson Hill area near Boonville has nice classic skiing (Eastern
Tug Hill, Salmon Hills is Western). My understanding is that some well
to do person that likes XC skiing bought the land, developed trails,
has them groomed occasionally and lets the public ski on them for free.
Had some great skiing there last President's weekend. You can get a
trail map off the internet by doing a google search. Trail system also
goes down the hill to connect with some sort of canal system that is
skiable.

One big difference is in grooming methods. Hugh at Osceola uses a
snowmobile; the SH folks use a Pisten Bully. This affects the firmness of
tracks for classical and the feel of the surface for skating - go to Salmon
Hills if you want corduroy and firm, pressed tracks; go to Osceola for
narrower trails with softer, less manicured conditions. Note that trails at
both places will be soft and better for classical for the next few days b/c
of the new snow. The terrain at both places is rolling. Osceola is hillier
and arguably more interesting than SH, especially this season because SH is
not grooming Coey Hill, a part of the trail system with several big climbs
and winding, fun descents.

Oscoela is more rustic - the lodge is the parlor of an old farm house with a
wood stove. Salmon Hills has a lodge with motel and yurt lodging and
restaurant. Both places have reasonably well-equipped shops, but the shop at
Osceola has a much bigger inventory of racing equipment and wax this year.

I would guess that both have more snow and better conditions than any other
Nordic ski center in the northeast right now. Enjoy!

Todd

"Bill in Schenectady" wrote in message
news:ufUFf.3126$PK2.2389@trndny06...
After a long warm period, the Tug Hill region of New York State is now
getting blasted with lake effect snows. So off we go next weekend.
Except that I've never been to the Tug Hill cross-country centers. There
are two main ones: Salmon Hills and Osceola. They appear to be near each
other.

Couple thoughts:

If you're interested in equipment, Osceola has a really good selection
and their prices are the best I've seen anywhere (including the web).
Trail tickets are reasonably priced. Hilly. 1.5hr drive for me, so we
don't get there a lot, but I really like it - we got a family season
pass this year.

Salmon hills has very nice trails, trail prices are more than Osceola.
We went skiing there once, late in the day. Their lodge and public
'yurt' are very nice. They sold us a day/night pass - then didn't turn
on the lights! I had to go find them to turn on the lights. They said
yes, we went out, and they still didn't!

Not sure where everyone is located, but one place to think about: Greek
Peak Nordic center, south of Syracuse. Their phone is (607) 835-6562.
They tend to get more snow than Syracuse (although not as much as the
tug), groom for skate and classic. Flat/hilly, woods/open - your
choice. Very nice trails. The guy who runs the place knows what he's
doing. No 'lodge' or ski shop. This place is the closest to Syracuse
with good skate skiing - I really like this place.
http://www.greekpeak.net/content/nordic.asp

"kddonath" wrote in message
oups.com...
Couple thoughts:

If you're interested in equipment, Osceola has a really good selection
and their prices are the best I've seen anywhere (including the web).
Trail tickets are reasonably priced. Hilly. 1.5hr drive for me, so we
don't get there a lot, but I really like it - we got a family season
pass this year.

Salmon hills has very nice trails, trail prices are more than Osceola.
We went skiing there once, late in the day. Their lodge and public
'yurt' are very nice. They sold us a day/night pass - then didn't turn
on the lights! I had to go find them to turn on the lights. They said
yes, we went out, and they still didn't!

Not sure where everyone is located, but one place to think about: Greek
Peak Nordic center, south of Syracuse. Their phone is (607) 835-6562.
They tend to get more snow than Syracuse (although not as much as the
tug), groom for skate and classic. Flat/hilly, woods/open - your
choice. Very nice trails. The guy who runs the place knows what he's
doing. No 'lodge' or ski shop. This place is the closest to Syracuse
with good skate skiing - I really like this place.
http://www.greekpeak.net/content/nordic.asp

Thanks for all the advice. This is what I'm looking for. I think we'll try
Salmon Hills on Saturday and Osceola on Sunday. We're coming from
Schenectady but are meeting friends from Rochester. I'll keep Greek Peak in
mind, but for this trip, we have our hearts set on Tug Hill.

Isn't Greek Peak also a down hill area?

Now the next question: I've not been able to find suitable lodging near
those Tug Hill ski centers so am inclined to stay in the Rome, NY area and
commute. Any other ideas? The yurts are too expensive for a family of
four, plus we don't intend to stay for two nights.

On Wed, 08 Feb 2006 01:16:32 GMT, "Bill in Schenectady"
wrote:

Isn't Greek Peak also a down hill area?

Yes. Bike races finish there too....
http://www.jt10000.com/jtgal/cornell.htm

Now the next question: I've not been able to find suitable lodging near
those Tug Hill ski centers so am inclined to stay in the Rome, NY area and
commute. Any other ideas? The yurts are too expensive for a family of
four, plus we don't intend to stay for two nights.

The Super8 in Redfield (I think) is OK.

JFT


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In article QDbGf.101$Ob.98@trndny05,
Bill in Schenectady wrote:
Now the next question: I've not been able to find suitable lodging near
those Tug Hill ski centers so am inclined to stay in the Rome, NY area and
commute. Any other ideas?

The area is full of armpit motels that cater to the
snowmobiler/ATV/fishing/hunting crowd, but they're
inexpensive and well-located. Try www.harrislodging,com,
www.brendasmotel.com, www.portlodge.com,
www.portlyanglerlodge.com, among others.
--
Melinda Shore - Software longa, hardware brevis -

Prouder than ever to be a member of the reality-based community.