This winter this year has been kind to us out here in the western part of New York and, as a result, we have been putting a fair amount of miles on our passes as Kissing Bridge. But skiing the same hill can get a bit stale after a while so today we decided to venture down to Cherry Creek to check out WNYs newest hill, Cockaigne.
Opened in 1965, Cockaigne faithfully served families in the area until a fire in 2011 rendered the lodge (originally built for the 1964 World's Fair and relocated) a total loss. Cockaigne finished out the season but the hill closed that year. Usually the story would have ended here but a new ownership group purchased the site in 2018 and a new lodge and outdoor stage were built. After a false start last year (lift issues) skiing operations resumed for the 2020-2021 season with 7 trails and 4 slopes on 430' of vertical served by a pair of Hall doubles and a J-Bar. An additional three trails served by another chair are off to the north but are currently closed and used as a snowmobile park. Horseback riding is also offered.
We arrived just after 9am and were the first people in the parking lot though a couple more cars pulled in shortly after we did. I had purchased the tickets on line the night before ($50 weekend adult, $40 junior) so all we had to do was do a quick covid check and redeem our tickets before heading for the lift. We were lucky enough to be the first ones up the hill and for the first hour or so it felt like we had the place to ourselves getting first tracks on several runs. They had not groomed the night before so no photos of fresh tracks on new corduroy but everything felt like it was in good shape. We did our first few runs off the Macaron lift since it was right next to the lodge. This chair was the last of the three lifts to reopen and had just started spinning on Thursday. I found out from the folks in the ticket office as I was checking in that it had needed a new haul rope. This lift serves the two black runs, Macaron and Honey Bun, and offers an alternative to skating to access the blue runs that make up the middle part of the hill.
Panoramic look at the base area
At the base of Macaron
Getting first tracks on Macaron
After skiing a few runs we headed over to the Marzipan chair to check out that side and the "timber trails" through the woods. While the main slopes offer nice wide runs the triber trails twist through the woods crossing over each other as they meander down to the base giving the hill that "skis bigger than it is" feeling. The runs on this side were all blue or green.
Bottom of Marzipan
Peppermint Twist, one of the timber trails.
On the other side of the base area is the Jelly Roll slope and train park served by a Hall J-Bar. This lift only runs about 1/3 of the way up the hill with 100' of vertical.
Base of the J-Bar
My son loading the J-Bar...
...and heading up
Riding up, slight depression about half way up
Close to the top
J-Bar top terminal
View from the top of the J-Bar showing the new lodge and outdoor stage.
At this point it was getting to be lunch time so we took a break and checked out the lodge. The lodge felt very open with huge windows offering a nice view of the slopes outside. Seating was offered on both the main and an upper level. The main level also has the small pub and a counter service cafe. Food was reasonably priced, rather good, and delivered hot to your table which is a nice feature. After lunch we headed back out and skied a few more hours before finally calling it a day. While the parking lot did start filling up as the day went on it never felt crowded or busy.
The lift infrastructure looked like it was right out of a 1960s Hall brochure. All three lifts were in great shape for being 56 years old. The doubles still had their original wooden seats which were in good shape though I will admit some padding would have been nice. Everything looked like it has just been painted.
Looking down to the base of Marzipan
Loading area
About half way up
Top of Marzipan showing the unload and return terminal.
Cockaigne 1965 stamped on the counterweight at the top of Marzipan, never seen that before.
All together the new owners have done a great job bringing this area back to life. It may not be the tallest or steepest in the region but there was enough verity to keep it interesting. At $50 for a weekend adult all day ticket and $30 for a weekday all day (no half day or night options) the price isn't too bad either. If you are in the area and have the chance Cockaigne is worth the stop.
