I was itching to ski today, but didn't want to drive too far in case the forecast rain arrived too early. Gore Mountain in the southern Adirondack Mountains of upstate New York, which opened for the season yesterday, seemed like just the ticket -- and it was.
It was balmy when I pulled into the lot at 9:10 a.m. (at 11:30 I checked my thermometer -- 51.7ºF at the base, and 42.1ºF on top). Gore is way behind schedule on the cafeteria renovations -- they were still hammering and sawing today, even though they were supposed to be done on the 16th, and it looks like they still have a couple of weeks to go. As a result, food service was very limited, with a small temporary counter set up at one end of the room, and another setup on the patio offering slightly more (burgers, hot dogs, and chips). That's going to be tough through the Thanksgiving holiday weekend next week.
A white route decending the mountain underneath the gondola was visible from the base (see photo #1, below). I boarded the gondola and headed up (see photo #2, below), and what I saw wasn't terribly encouraging. In many places, the skiable route was very narrow, only 1 snowcat wide (see photo #3, below). Many of these spots called for some creative route finding (see photo #4, below). As I got higer up, though, the snow coverage became more thorough (see photo #5, below), giving me hope that the Top Ridge trail dropping southeast from the top of the gondola to the base of the Top Ridge Triple Chair would have more cover. In the meantime, I was treated to a wonderful view of the Adirondack High Peaks punctuating the skyline off to the north (see photo #6, below). Visibility was excellent today, and the profile of the Pico/Killington ridgeline was clearly identifiable in the distance off to the east.
Sure enough, the coverage on Top Ridge was pretty much wall-to-wall (see photo #7, below), but the snow on it was rather funky, an odd mix of pushed around stuff, harder icy snow underneath, and some heavier piles thanks to the warm temps. As a result I spent the morning alternating 1,700 vertical-foot runs on the gondola and 1,000 vertical-foot runs on the triple.
Most frustrating was trying to get dialed in with the new boots, that were seeing their second day for the shells and the first day in the new, second set of liners. The cramping in my feet was so severe that I spent one gondola ride with my feet completely out of my boots. At that point I nearly quit for the day, but with time I struck the proper compromise between clamping the shells down tightly for performance, and leaving them buckled loosely enough for comfort. After that it was sheer bliss -- perfect comfort and performance. I'm going to be really happy with those boots (Garmont Adrenalin AT/alpine hybrid).
As the day wore on and Top Ridge was skied more, the snow became more consistent, and some filtered sunshine actually softened the firmer sections such that Top Ridge actually became quite pleasant to ski again (I'm told that it was wonderful at 8 a.m. this morning), so after lunch I continued doing laps on Top Ridge until my quads couldn't take it anymore (see photo #8, below). I quit only because my legs were toast, I was enjoying myself so much by that point on Top Ridge.
One thing that was perfect about the day was the lack of crowds, in contrast to the human pinball on Great Northern at Killington last week. I never waited for a lift all day, and there was plenty of room to negotiate the mountain freely, even at the narrowest points underneath the gondola.
One peculiar sight while riding the chairlift was a tower from the old gondola that remains in place, sticking up high above the treetops like a big blue giant, eerily lacking cables (see photo #9, below). At one point where the chair traverses the old gondola liftline, you can see past this tower down to the old angle station (see photo #10, below).
By the time I called it a day at 1:30 my quads were positively screaming, so out of shape am I this early in the season. The last run down underneath the gondola showed the effects of traffic and temperature from the day, such that many of the narrowest stretches were now covered by a lovely shade of brown snow that wasn't more than an inch or two deep. In order to try to hang onto what they've got, Gore now plans to close after tomorrow until after Thanksgiving, rather than follow the original plan of remaining open for daily operations. I'd even be concerned about some of those narrow stretches tomorrow, following a warm overnight with rain that's falling now, although guests were permitted to download on the gondi such that you could ski only on Top Ridge if you wanted to.
By the time I quit, I'd racked up 13,724 vertical feet for the day, considerably more than my day last week at Killington, so I left quite satisfied with the accomplishment. It was a fine day to be out on the hill, but bring on the snow and cold! Props to the folks at Gore for putting out a very skiable product today despite a week of well above-normal temperatures.
It was balmy when I pulled into the lot at 9:10 a.m. (at 11:30 I checked my thermometer -- 51.7ºF at the base, and 42.1ºF on top). Gore is way behind schedule on the cafeteria renovations -- they were still hammering and sawing today, even though they were supposed to be done on the 16th, and it looks like they still have a couple of weeks to go. As a result, food service was very limited, with a small temporary counter set up at one end of the room, and another setup on the patio offering slightly more (burgers, hot dogs, and chips). That's going to be tough through the Thanksgiving holiday weekend next week.
A white route decending the mountain underneath the gondola was visible from the base (see photo #1, below). I boarded the gondola and headed up (see photo #2, below), and what I saw wasn't terribly encouraging. In many places, the skiable route was very narrow, only 1 snowcat wide (see photo #3, below). Many of these spots called for some creative route finding (see photo #4, below). As I got higer up, though, the snow coverage became more thorough (see photo #5, below), giving me hope that the Top Ridge trail dropping southeast from the top of the gondola to the base of the Top Ridge Triple Chair would have more cover. In the meantime, I was treated to a wonderful view of the Adirondack High Peaks punctuating the skyline off to the north (see photo #6, below). Visibility was excellent today, and the profile of the Pico/Killington ridgeline was clearly identifiable in the distance off to the east.
Sure enough, the coverage on Top Ridge was pretty much wall-to-wall (see photo #7, below), but the snow on it was rather funky, an odd mix of pushed around stuff, harder icy snow underneath, and some heavier piles thanks to the warm temps. As a result I spent the morning alternating 1,700 vertical-foot runs on the gondola and 1,000 vertical-foot runs on the triple.
Most frustrating was trying to get dialed in with the new boots, that were seeing their second day for the shells and the first day in the new, second set of liners. The cramping in my feet was so severe that I spent one gondola ride with my feet completely out of my boots. At that point I nearly quit for the day, but with time I struck the proper compromise between clamping the shells down tightly for performance, and leaving them buckled loosely enough for comfort. After that it was sheer bliss -- perfect comfort and performance. I'm going to be really happy with those boots (Garmont Adrenalin AT/alpine hybrid).
As the day wore on and Top Ridge was skied more, the snow became more consistent, and some filtered sunshine actually softened the firmer sections such that Top Ridge actually became quite pleasant to ski again (I'm told that it was wonderful at 8 a.m. this morning), so after lunch I continued doing laps on Top Ridge until my quads couldn't take it anymore (see photo #8, below). I quit only because my legs were toast, I was enjoying myself so much by that point on Top Ridge.
One thing that was perfect about the day was the lack of crowds, in contrast to the human pinball on Great Northern at Killington last week. I never waited for a lift all day, and there was plenty of room to negotiate the mountain freely, even at the narrowest points underneath the gondola.
One peculiar sight while riding the chairlift was a tower from the old gondola that remains in place, sticking up high above the treetops like a big blue giant, eerily lacking cables (see photo #9, below). At one point where the chair traverses the old gondola liftline, you can see past this tower down to the old angle station (see photo #10, below).
By the time I called it a day at 1:30 my quads were positively screaming, so out of shape am I this early in the season. The last run down underneath the gondola showed the effects of traffic and temperature from the day, such that many of the narrowest stretches were now covered by a lovely shade of brown snow that wasn't more than an inch or two deep. In order to try to hang onto what they've got, Gore now plans to close after tomorrow until after Thanksgiving, rather than follow the original plan of remaining open for daily operations. I'd even be concerned about some of those narrow stretches tomorrow, following a warm overnight with rain that's falling now, although guests were permitted to download on the gondi such that you could ski only on Top Ridge if you wanted to.
By the time I quit, I'd racked up 13,724 vertical feet for the day, considerably more than my day last week at Killington, so I left quite satisfied with the accomplishment. It was a fine day to be out on the hill, but bring on the snow and cold! Props to the folks at Gore for putting out a very skiable product today despite a week of well above-normal temperatures.
