Gore 4/16
- Thread starter skimore
- Start date
Sharon
New member
I too was there, both saturday and sunday. It was really quite good and they had a lot of trails open.
Rumor and Lies were excellent. Soft big bumps. Nice pics! Coverage on the summit trails was very good and bare spots were well marked with plenty of room to go around.
Hawkeye was great fun. Chatiemac was closed, saturday but it was worth poaching. It was totally skiable, though had some very narrow patches of snow that got narrower each run. They dropped the rope on sunday and let us at it 'legally'. There were many runs and connectors that got narrower and narrower, losing snow by the minute. There were plenty of exposed rocks, but all were manageable to get around or jump over. I managed to not even put a ding in my bases or edges. More wax might have been helpful as some of the snow got quite sticky. Especially at the end of the day, coming down Sunway or Twister. On the way down Twister, last run on sunday, a huge buck was standing in the slope. There was a 'deer in the headlights' look on its face as we came around a bend. We also saw an owl at the summit near the warming hut, perched on top of a tall utility pole. An unusual sight in the middle of the day. But she may have been concerned that so many people were congregating so close to her nesting turf. She was keeping an eye on them while they ate their lunches and drank their beer.
The weather was awesome, and t-shirts were all we needed. It was downright HOT for skiing. Did notice some 'overdressed' people with helmets, goggles, parkas. Looked quite uncomfortable.
Topridge and Uncas were very good in the morning, but got sticky later in the day. Uncas was in much better shape than Pine Knot and was the prefered route to the Straightbrook Quad from Bear Mtn.
The Darkside was really nice and its northern exposure allowed the snow to last longer with fewer bare patches and no sticky spots (until the runout to the lift). Hulabaloo and Lower Darby were super, with complete trail coverage. Lower Steilhang was one of my favorites. It is a classic narrow and twisty trail with lots of soft bumps, and perfect coverage. We also slipped into Lower Newtons and found adequate coverage, albeit 'dirty' snow for a nice woods shot. KHS had one narrow line through it. It was worth going in there for one run to make it more interesting, though I wouldn't call it 'good skiing'. It was more like 'adventure skiing' (let's go in here and see what we find, full knowing that getting over logs and rocks and bare patches may be possibilities. Luckily there was a single path of snow around all the obstacles.
Word is from ski patrol that some of those 'off the map' glades may be on the map next year. So many people are skiing them, and they are perfectly nice clear glades that they felt they should be open to all and should be patrolled.
The ski patrol at Gore is really awesome. They really care about their people and their mountain and love what they do. I can't say too much about how great they are. The director of the patrol works very hard and genuinely cares about the welfare of the skiers and he's got a good sense of humor. He's got a great crew to carry out the patrol duties. Cheers to the Gore Ski Patrol!
The hard core Gore regulars were out on sunday for the last runs of the season. Many great skiers in that group; very friendly and welcoming. They can be found picnicking at the summit when they aren't tearing up the slopes on a warm spring day. These folks ski in a pack, and they can be 'the crowd'. When they get to the lift, that is the longest lift line of the day. Lots of smiles and good energy.
Time to tune-up the mountain bike. well, maybe one more weekend of skiing...there's still snow in them thar hills.
Rumor and Lies were excellent. Soft big bumps. Nice pics! Coverage on the summit trails was very good and bare spots were well marked with plenty of room to go around.
Hawkeye was great fun. Chatiemac was closed, saturday but it was worth poaching. It was totally skiable, though had some very narrow patches of snow that got narrower each run. They dropped the rope on sunday and let us at it 'legally'. There were many runs and connectors that got narrower and narrower, losing snow by the minute. There were plenty of exposed rocks, but all were manageable to get around or jump over. I managed to not even put a ding in my bases or edges. More wax might have been helpful as some of the snow got quite sticky. Especially at the end of the day, coming down Sunway or Twister. On the way down Twister, last run on sunday, a huge buck was standing in the slope. There was a 'deer in the headlights' look on its face as we came around a bend. We also saw an owl at the summit near the warming hut, perched on top of a tall utility pole. An unusual sight in the middle of the day. But she may have been concerned that so many people were congregating so close to her nesting turf. She was keeping an eye on them while they ate their lunches and drank their beer.
The weather was awesome, and t-shirts were all we needed. It was downright HOT for skiing. Did notice some 'overdressed' people with helmets, goggles, parkas. Looked quite uncomfortable.
Topridge and Uncas were very good in the morning, but got sticky later in the day. Uncas was in much better shape than Pine Knot and was the prefered route to the Straightbrook Quad from Bear Mtn.
The Darkside was really nice and its northern exposure allowed the snow to last longer with fewer bare patches and no sticky spots (until the runout to the lift). Hulabaloo and Lower Darby were super, with complete trail coverage. Lower Steilhang was one of my favorites. It is a classic narrow and twisty trail with lots of soft bumps, and perfect coverage. We also slipped into Lower Newtons and found adequate coverage, albeit 'dirty' snow for a nice woods shot. KHS had one narrow line through it. It was worth going in there for one run to make it more interesting, though I wouldn't call it 'good skiing'. It was more like 'adventure skiing' (let's go in here and see what we find, full knowing that getting over logs and rocks and bare patches may be possibilities. Luckily there was a single path of snow around all the obstacles.
Word is from ski patrol that some of those 'off the map' glades may be on the map next year. So many people are skiing them, and they are perfectly nice clear glades that they felt they should be open to all and should be patrolled.
The ski patrol at Gore is really awesome. They really care about their people and their mountain and love what they do. I can't say too much about how great they are. The director of the patrol works very hard and genuinely cares about the welfare of the skiers and he's got a good sense of humor. He's got a great crew to carry out the patrol duties. Cheers to the Gore Ski Patrol!
The hard core Gore regulars were out on sunday for the last runs of the season. Many great skiers in that group; very friendly and welcoming. They can be found picnicking at the summit when they aren't tearing up the slopes on a warm spring day. These folks ski in a pack, and they can be 'the crowd'. When they get to the lift, that is the longest lift line of the day. Lots of smiles and good energy.
Time to tune-up the mountain bike. well, maybe one more weekend of skiing...there's still snow in them thar hills.
powderfreak
New member
Sharon,
That last picture there is what the bottom few hundred feet of a few of the Stowe runs looked like today. It was getting pretty thin in places but you don't have to go far up the mountain to get coverage like those pictures of Rumor. Stowe also has the entire half-pipe of snow to move around to make a path back to the lifts. The snow 700 verts above the lifts is plentiful and will be around for a while...the stake in the woods is still over 4 feet of natural snowdepth and that's what it seems like on some of the trails.
-Scott
That last picture there is what the bottom few hundred feet of a few of the Stowe runs looked like today. It was getting pretty thin in places but you don't have to go far up the mountain to get coverage like those pictures of Rumor. Stowe also has the entire half-pipe of snow to move around to make a path back to the lifts. The snow 700 verts above the lifts is plentiful and will be around for a while...the stake in the woods is still over 4 feet of natural snowdepth and that's what it seems like on some of the trails.
-Scott