Bristol Mountain, formally known as Bristol Mountain Winter Resort, is a ski resort located in South Bristol, New York, in the Finger Lakes region. It is located 30 miles from the center of Rochester, New York, the nearest major city to the resort, and about 10 miles from Canandaigua on NY 64.
Learn more insights from Wanderboat AI.
Bristol Mountain Occasions
5.0
(16)
First, let me say that I grew up on Bristol Mtn, but haven't skied it in over 25 years because I have moved away. I returned to the mountain last year for the first time since then and (at first) was pleased with the expansion of the trails and overall experience... I was visiting with my children who are 5-7yo and in their 3rd year of learning to ski, so all the choices of the new greens was nice....
Then I returned this past Thanksgiving.... Pretty much their opening weekend... They had 1 trail (upper/lower rocket) for advanced skiers... sure, call it 2 trails if you want, but honestly, it's still only 1 path down the mountain. But they also had 1 "path" open for beginners consisting of 4 linked trails...
Now I gotta ask... How could they justify the $55 lift tix for adults and $53 tix for juniors? What is this mountain doing to increase and spread the joy and excitement of starting the ski season? Not much, that's for sure... Because they are the only game in town (in the middle of the season), I guess that gives them a big enough ego to charge full price for essentially 2 trails on their opening weekend. It was a disgusting money grab that did absolutely nothing to increase the goodwill of the sport, nor my desire to return to their humble little mountain... and I won't... I'll spend my money gladly (and liberally) at the bigger mountains of the ADK's.
What made this even worse, was that we arrived to the mountain at 1pm and was told that if we waited til 2, the price would go down to $45... A whole $10 off!!! Gee... uh... Thanks? Who the heck is going to get excited for $55 skiing on a virtually bald mountain... It's like asking "Who's ready to start getting ripped off again?".... Yeah, ummm... sign me up...
I guess the mountain was having a season pass holder appreciation day by purposely wanting the skiing public to stay away. They should've concentrated on opening the blues first... More of those are what you open a mountain with. That is, IF you want the real skiers who support the mountain all season long to show up early, excited, and ready to be your "word of mouth ambassadors." To do that, they should've charged $39 (still a rip-off for 2 trails), the mountain would've had many more happy skiers. At best, it was a $29 day.... Instead, the turnout for opening weekend was low and utterly lackluster...
Good luck to Bristol as they get ready to turn the helm over to their 30yo owners son, who has spent the past several years out west. Hopefully he learned how to grow the excitement for the sport while he was out there. Because THAT is the only way that I see Bristol ever really growing into it's full potential.
For such a good mountain that is flanked by 4 cities within a 2 hour drive, they should've been PACKED like just about every mountain in New England is on opening weekend... Again, I can only attribute the poor turnout to a lack of advertising, and the shameful prices... but with those prices, I'd keep my...
Read more
Bristol is a fabulous ski resort with everything from challenging to easy trails that fit every skier/rider from beginner to expert. They also keep the Universe trail ungroomed for most of the season, something to check out if you prefer that to the groomers. On any given day, you can generally find moguls and jumps set up to play on on the side of the trails (mainly found on comet,upper meteor and upper galaxy). They don't have any glades, but there are many areas where you can go off piste and into the trees.
Their two express lifts and long trails maximize your time on the mountain, especially compared to other resorts in the area. They always do a great job of grooming and snowmaking(they won a snowmakers contest a few years ago!), so bad conditions are rare... even when mother nature isn't cooperating. They offer two terrain parks with multiple features, and have a range of rails, boxes and jumps ranging from small to large. There is a store on site with a decent selection of goggles, helmets, socks, balaclavas and ski/casual clothing which is convenient if you forget something or are in need of an upgrade. They offer group and private lessons for multiple levels of skiers and riders, and the instructors are knowledgeable and friendly. I've taken a private lesson and they really take their time (I paid for an hour and got almost two hours worth of instruction). There are season long programs as well, including adult race leagues and coaching with the brigades program.
There is also a rental shop and tuning center on site if you need to rent gear or get yours waxed/tuned.
They host many events- NASTAR racing, slalom, super g, giant slalom and the national freestyle aerials, which are fun to watch when you need to rest your legs. In the spring they usually have a fun pond skimming and banked slalom race. Neon wave and Full Send Ski host a handful of demo days throughout the season, great for trying out new gear prior to purchase. Great dining and a new bar too for your Apres needs. The rocket lodge was updated last year and has a beautiful patio to sit at and watch the skiers and riders. I haven't dined there lately, but in the past they have had a plentiful menu with delicious food and drinks.
SNOWBOARD LESSON REVIEW: The smaller, less intimidating size of Bristol makes it a great place to learn how to ski or snowboard. I've been here a few times to teach myself, but I just recently took a snowboard lesson.
Overall, the lesson was not worth it. The first timer lesson is $89 and the beginner lesson is $109 (more than a lift ticket obviously). I was excited to have a more intimate learning experience and improve my beginner status. This wasn't the case, unfortunately. We had about 10 people in our group and our lesson took place at the same time as maybe 4 other snowboard and ski lessons, all on the one tiny bunny hill. There were children falling and running into us all morning. It definitely was not enough room to teach 10 adults how to snowboard, plus the many other people learning on the same hill.
Most importantly, our instructor barely taught us anything. The most he advised us was how to walk with one foot on the board while you're going to the lift. Once we were at the top of the hill he only told us there are two ways to snowboard: toe side and heel side. That's all he said. He never demonstrated and he never gave instructions beyond toe/heel side and keeping your knees bent. When we asked how to brake or stop he only said "put weight on your toes." Like, come on, even as a beginner I know that putting weight on my toes will cause me to faceplant. He also kept making us wait for the entire group to get to the bottom or top, and once we were all there, he'd say "go," rather than give us new advice or feedback on our last run. 7/10 people left the lesson early. It was just weird. In the end, he was saying "we only have 10 minutes left," but those of us remaining were just confused because he wasn't teaching us anything anyway.
He also told us after the lesson we'd have free range to try out the other hills, but when I went to the Comet Express ski lift I was denied entry. Overall I'm just really bummed that I spent $100 to learn nothing. I wanted to become a better snowboarder but I spent 2 hours dodging skiing toddlers and waiting around.
Last comment: food and drinks are overpriced, but that's to be expected. Besides the lesson, I've had a great experience...
Read more
