Sharon
New member
Gore Mountain exceeded our expectations this weekend.
With the high winds on friday, and rumors that the lifts would not run on saturday, we were uncertain there would be any good skiing. I opted for the telemark gear thinking that we would be cruising the blues on the lower mountain at least until they were able to run the upper lifts. I need to practice my telemark technique on the groomers. Seemed like a good opportunity.
We got on the Adk Express and froze our whatsis off as we disembarked at the Saddle. We scooted over to the High Peaks double and soon we were at the top of Lies. Lies was all bumped up...not the way I wanna start the day on pins. Well, I made it down, but it wasn't pretty.
The Straightbrook quad was running so we went up to check out Hawkeye that had the guns running. The freshly made soft snow was piling up and kept me warm as I dropped a knee with each turn. Chatiemac was groomed and firm, but offered easier turns for a fledgling telemarker like myself. I was hardly able to keep up with the boys running at an alpine pace. The snow guns were also on Rumor, but there was no way I was going to attempt that pitch on tele-gear, so I went down and swapped out for locked heel reliability for steep bumps, glade skiing and big grins. The trip across the saddle was the most challenging, as it was a full-on skating rink. Pretty scarey, as there was not much to grab and edge with, so I just skittered along until I hit actual snow at the top of Wild Air. I made a few dozen nice carved telemark turns on the freshly groomed snow under the gondola.
After a quick break I returned armed with the gear to make my day the most fun with the least effort.
The gondola was loading, so I hopped on and headed right back up to the Summit. I did a few laps on Rumor which was totally sweet with fresh manmade snow. Then off to explore the glades. Straightbrook was skied out and required keen eyes and quick turns to evade lurking rocks and sticks. Chatiemac glade surprised with fresh snow for almost a half dozen turns. I am sure there was more fresh snow had I ventured further out, but there was more mountain to explore.
Over to the Dark Side to try out the new Darby Glade. This was the glade formerly known as KHS. There are only a couple of lines in this narrow glade, but the cover was good for a short n sweet run. They had just opened the Dark Side glad which is the steep and gnarly run under the High Peaks lift, but it was showing a lot of rock and the people skiing it didn't look like they were having all that much fun or clean lines. There were many opportunities for core shots on that trail, and the same for Lower Stielhang. I found plenty of other stuff to keep me entertained.
Saturday night they continued snowmaking on Hawkeye for stellar conditoins sunday. Sunday was sunny and glorious. The winds were much lighter and the temperatures more comfortable. I could have skied Hawkeye all day long, until I skied Lies. Then I could have skied Lies all day long. They had guns on it top to bottom for an all-day man-made snowstorm. It was sweet!!
I did venture away for a few other runs. Top Ridge was pretty heinous. It hardly had any snow on it, though it had a very firm, yet carveable styrofoam-like surface. The groomer who grooms that trail and Uncas is a friend of mine. He had the night off so it didn't get groomed and it was pretty ugly early in the morning before the sun with skier traffic softened it up.
Before we ended our day we made the treck into Tahawus glade. I love this glade. It's a bit of an effort to get in there. Kinda like an in-bounds backcountry trail that seems quite different than the rest of the ski area.
Gore really held up well this weekend and made for a very pleasant ski experience for all who were there.
With the high winds on friday, and rumors that the lifts would not run on saturday, we were uncertain there would be any good skiing. I opted for the telemark gear thinking that we would be cruising the blues on the lower mountain at least until they were able to run the upper lifts. I need to practice my telemark technique on the groomers. Seemed like a good opportunity.
We got on the Adk Express and froze our whatsis off as we disembarked at the Saddle. We scooted over to the High Peaks double and soon we were at the top of Lies. Lies was all bumped up...not the way I wanna start the day on pins. Well, I made it down, but it wasn't pretty.
The Straightbrook quad was running so we went up to check out Hawkeye that had the guns running. The freshly made soft snow was piling up and kept me warm as I dropped a knee with each turn. Chatiemac was groomed and firm, but offered easier turns for a fledgling telemarker like myself. I was hardly able to keep up with the boys running at an alpine pace. The snow guns were also on Rumor, but there was no way I was going to attempt that pitch on tele-gear, so I went down and swapped out for locked heel reliability for steep bumps, glade skiing and big grins. The trip across the saddle was the most challenging, as it was a full-on skating rink. Pretty scarey, as there was not much to grab and edge with, so I just skittered along until I hit actual snow at the top of Wild Air. I made a few dozen nice carved telemark turns on the freshly groomed snow under the gondola.
After a quick break I returned armed with the gear to make my day the most fun with the least effort.
The gondola was loading, so I hopped on and headed right back up to the Summit. I did a few laps on Rumor which was totally sweet with fresh manmade snow. Then off to explore the glades. Straightbrook was skied out and required keen eyes and quick turns to evade lurking rocks and sticks. Chatiemac glade surprised with fresh snow for almost a half dozen turns. I am sure there was more fresh snow had I ventured further out, but there was more mountain to explore.
Over to the Dark Side to try out the new Darby Glade. This was the glade formerly known as KHS. There are only a couple of lines in this narrow glade, but the cover was good for a short n sweet run. They had just opened the Dark Side glad which is the steep and gnarly run under the High Peaks lift, but it was showing a lot of rock and the people skiing it didn't look like they were having all that much fun or clean lines. There were many opportunities for core shots on that trail, and the same for Lower Stielhang. I found plenty of other stuff to keep me entertained.
Saturday night they continued snowmaking on Hawkeye for stellar conditoins sunday. Sunday was sunny and glorious. The winds were much lighter and the temperatures more comfortable. I could have skied Hawkeye all day long, until I skied Lies. Then I could have skied Lies all day long. They had guns on it top to bottom for an all-day man-made snowstorm. It was sweet!!
I did venture away for a few other runs. Top Ridge was pretty heinous. It hardly had any snow on it, though it had a very firm, yet carveable styrofoam-like surface. The groomer who grooms that trail and Uncas is a friend of mine. He had the night off so it didn't get groomed and it was pretty ugly early in the morning before the sun with skier traffic softened it up.
Before we ended our day we made the treck into Tahawus glade. I love this glade. It's a bit of an effort to get in there. Kinda like an in-bounds backcountry trail that seems quite different than the rest of the ski area.
Gore really held up well this weekend and made for a very pleasant ski experience for all who were there.