Slopes

There is a story to be told behind every slope here at Polar Peak. People often ask us "how did you come with the name....?" Here is the story behind each of our slopes.

Upper Glade / Lower Glade

It seems every ski area has a trail that is called "Glade", North Glade, Slalom Glade, East Glade, West Glade, you get the pictures. We wanted our signature run to have a signature name, and "Glade" seemed a perfect fit. Today the Glades continue to be our signature trail. Lower Glade continues to be our trademark run for first to open and last to close, snowmaking, and night skiing. Upper Glade has been a night time favorite since 1993 and gets some snowmaking attention too.

Polar Drop

The original name of this slope was called "Kick Turn 10" or KT-10 for short since it took about 10 kick turns to carefully negotiate the drifted areas. The trail was renamed Polar Drop in 1992 and the name stuck. This slope has the most southerly exposure, yet the position on the hill allows it to get a good accumulation of drifting snow. The rest of the peak can be scalped and there can be 3' on this run. We occasionally groom it however it is more fun when we have enough snow to allow it to bump up, which happens quickly when there are bluebird skies. Due to the fact that the slope is narrow, typically has a lot of snow, and bumps up it is considered a double diamond run.

Polar Bear

We had a number of plans for this run through the years including a terrain park and a place for tubing, but in the end when we did away with the Beginner Novice learning area in 1999 Polar Bear was the most logical new beginner slope. The name Polar Bear seemed a logical choice considering the terrain here is gentle enough to learn without being intimidated. It is also adjacent to the next slope up in difficultly, Jericho, which is only a short walk *or ropetow ride* away.

Chute

By far a Polar Peak favorite! The exposure and openeness of Chute makes it an amazing experience, especially when there is a good snow pack. It has the steepest pitch at about 42 degrees, however once you learn the best lines it isn't as intimidating. We have had our best skiing experiences on the Chute, March 93, April 97 and March 07 come to mind.

Jericho's Gulch

The slope is a fun jot down from the mid-station but the name means absolutely nothing, it was derived out of thin air during an invigorating lunch around our grandmother's table in 1992. It sounded different so we went with it. Also, it sounded better than Lower Chute

The Bowl

As close as we have come to being out west without physically being out west. This area of the hill came online around 1994 after much work clearing rocks and debris. We would let this area grow in with higher grass to help trap drifting snow and as a result we would end up with good accumulations in an area that would require kick turns to negotiate. At one point we combined this run and the Chute to create "The Great Eastern Bowl" but we split the two apart again since we typically groom the Chute and leave the Bowl (which actually is part of a bowl) untouched for powder skiing. A little more effort and knowledge of negotiating steep runs and power is required, making it a double black diamond run.

Arctic Alley

This run was Originally opened in 1994 and called the "Recreational Racing Slope" Then it was later renamed Polar Way, then Slalom Glade, then Race Trail, until we renamed it Arctic Alley in 2003. There are no plans to rename it again. We had originally set up a slalom course on this run, but we got bored with it so went back to just making it a standard slope. It is a fun cruiser from the top with a nice exposure.

Cascade

Up until 2009 this area of the hill was often neglected due to the fact that we didn't have enough time to mow or manicure it. We occasionally did a few runs on what we dubbed the "North Snowfield" however it lacked character. In 2009 our new mowing machine allowed us to open this area up and manicure it. As a result we created, Cascade.

Fox Run

This is an alternative run back to the base area. It starts off with a bit of an incline followed by a bit of a slough to get back to the base area. At one point we called this trail Carpenter Run (we still refer to the flat area by that name). Why the name Fox Run? Because during the summer months foxes and coyotes are often seen in this area.

Polar Run

Another signature run, Polar Run, was one of the original slopes that we opened with back in 1991. The slope extends 1/4 mile down to the base area, meandering along the ridge line. There are great views of the Catskill Mountains, and Taconic Hill range on the journey back to the base area.