Sharon
New member
I skied monday, tuesday and wedneday at Greek Peak, and by thursday I was totally beat. Rain was in the forecast, and riding the slow lifts and short vertical at Greek Peak for the weekend, on less-than-stellar conditions didn't make me feel much better. <BR> <BR>I dragged myself home from work on thursday, put my ski clothes in the laundry and went to bed early. Friday morning, I packed my stuff and threw it in the car. This way I'd be prepared to go anywhere after work. <BR> <BR>I checked all the weather forecasts and they were saying 2-5" in the Adirondacks. Gore Mountain is just about 3 1/2 hours away, and I have a very good friend who lives 10 minutes from the mountain with a sofa with my name on it. <BR> <BR>Gore Mountain Rocks. I have so many good feelngs after a fabulous weekend of skiing at one of my state-owned ski areas. <BR> <BR>We got the full 5" and that was all it took to freshen the surfaces and make most of the mountain wonderfully skiable, on trail and off. Saturday was a powder morning and we got an early start when the lifts began loading. We got first tracks in Straightbrook Glade. Chatiemac Glade was closed, so it was a prime time to check out Grim Reaper (not on the trail map). This is a lovely traverse through the woods to some very nice glades, with numerous shots throughout, eventually dropping into Chatiemac Glade. We got fresh tracks in there for a couple of runs. Schweeet! <BR> <BR>We got some fresh in some other woods near Upper Darby as well. Then we went over to Lower Steilhang and dropped into The Newtons (another off-the-map glade) for more fresh snow. The Dark Side (the run under the High Peaks lift) was officially open, Gore's newest official trail. It reminded me of Redline at Magic. There were cliffs and boulders making this run under the lift technical and challenging. Narrow chutes and lots of things you could launch over, and plenty of rocks to avoid. We took a few runs over there. <BR> <BR>Rumour and Lies were in fine shape. They had blown snow on those slopes earlier in the week. The new snow was a nice addition to these very steep and very busy trails. They were skied off by sunday, but still fun. Upper Darby was another natural snow treat. This trail is a narrow, twisty, steep trail with natural conditions. <BR> <BR>Another cool run we did was under the Top Ridge lift. It is another technical, natural snow trail under the lift. The snow was nice on this run with only a few rocks to avoid when dropping into the chutes on the steeper pitches. <BR> <BR>Both days we ended the day with a run in the Twister Glades. This glade goes on and on. It is quite long and very beautiful, with very large boulders scattered throughout. Lots of air opportunities if you like to launch from boulders. Its not very steep, but there's lots of room and the terrain undulates and never gets boring. <BR> <BR>One of the things I really like about Gore, besides the wonderful terrain is the good vibe amongst the local community. I skied with some of the rippin Gore locals, and now I know more than 50 new people! Everyone is so friendly and so many of them are great skiers. It is not unusual to see a pack of 12-20 people waiting atop the Straigtbrook quad for all their buddies to catch up. Large groups of skiers dash off under the ropes, off the trailmap, not unlike when the Skivtlers get together. <BR> <BR>I've skied at Gore quite a bit this season with the local crowd, and I think I'm becoming one of them, or at least, a regular guest. Most of them know me by name and will say 'Hi' from the lift. I am thrilled to be part of the Gore skiing community in addition to my own at my local hill.