Sharon
New member
Friday's drive was horrible, drepressing and stressful. I opted for the northern route via Rome/Speculator to get to North Creek. The first 3 hours was in the pouring rain. I mean non-stop buckets of rain with the wipers on full speed the whole way, speed reduced to keep from hydroplaning on the inches of water on the road surface. The benefit of this route, vs the southern route is that it is 35 miles shorter and avoids Albany at rush-hour. In dry conditions it is a good 30-40 minutes quicker than the mostly interstate route that dips south before heading north.
By the end of the 3rd hour, just shy of Lake Pleasant, the rain drops started turing into phat drops of glop splatting on the windshield. By the time I neared Speculator, these phat glops began to accumlate on the road and the first signs of slippery roads began. Some cars had slid off the road. My speed was barely over 50 most of the ride but for the last 2 hours I'd be lucky to go even 40. At some points I was plowing through 3" of untracked heavy gloppy slush. Staying in the car tracks was key, however, there was not always car tracks except for the ones that were behind me as I progressed. When a car would creep up on my tail, I would pull over and let them break trail and see how they liked it. I would give them plenty of room. Most sane people were not driving these mountain roads at this time of night. Though it wasn't late, most people were home at the dinner table with their families. I had a different agenda. The plan was to get to Casey's North for the Warren Miller film fest and to meet up with friends for a few desperately needed drinks after 5 hours of white knuckle driving (unsually the drive takes 3 1/2 hr).
While we partied at Casey's and then at a friend's in North Creek, the precipitation changed from all its forms, the whole range from non-phrozen to phrozen phat phlakes and back. When it turned back to NFP we went to bed in hopes of cooler temps and a fresh coating on top in the morning. Once daylight broke, I peeked outside to see if it had improved. No additional whiteness and temps above 35
. Hit the snooze and went back to sleep for a little while longer.
By 9am, we were up, caffienating and considering what the mountain might be like. We headed up and found minimal crowds, some dense fog and very soft conditions. Lucky for us, the fog lifted shortly after we loaded the gondola at 10:30. There were 2 runs down Top Ridge (Pine Knot/Tannery and Top Ridge). They both had good coverage, though Pine Knot/Tannery had snowmaking whales and funky terrain changes that were difficult to see on the first run. Precipation of all types required frequent stops to ski-gee the goggles. It also made that first run with the terrain changes more interesting. For the most part we were skiing on "hero/corn" and laying into every arc of every turn. It was beautiful.
After 2 lift rides at Top Ridge, we were ready to ride in the gondola where it was not as wet. I was giving a new soft-shell jacket a test-drive and was not sure that it was going to hold up in these wet conditions. Silly me did not bring the gore-tex shell because I thought for sure we were going to see all snow and none of this liquid stuff in the mountains.
Usually I don't mind skiing in the rain, as long as I have the right gear. Conditions in warm weather are usually pretty nice. Would rather ski on a wet day than a frozen/bullet proof day.
The lower mtn trails served by the gondola, Fair View, Sunway, Quicksilver, FoxLair were all in fine shape with excellent coverage. Soft hero snow for all abilities. There seemed to be a good number of novice skiers working on their skills and taking lessons. Ski instructor and race clinics abounded as well, and the ski patrol rookies were kept busy keeping the slopes safe by covering exposed snowmaking equipment.
After sampling each open trail, for a total of 6 routes (11 trails), we decided to check out the newly remodeled Saddle Lodge, dry out our gloves and jackets by the fire and have some lunch. The Saddle Lodge got a fresh coat of paint and new seating, as well as a modern fire-place, with tile that had been locally mined garnet and feldspar. Unfortunately the fireplace was not complete and was inoperable. It was waiting for a hearthstone. This building has a nice windowed north side, with nice views of the High Peaks, which that day were enshrouded in cloud. Instead, the views were of the rime encrusted tree tops with the chicadees fluttering around. It might have made for a nice painting in black and white. The upstairs also takes advantage of this view and there's a lot of new and comfortable seating from which to eat your lunch and take in the scenery.
One of the biggest disappointments of the Saddle Lodge is that they are no longer serving grilled cheese sandwiches, or any other types of sandwiches for that matter. Fried food fare is all that is offered, including burgers, chicken fingers and fries. I put in a request to bring back the grilled cheese sandwich, as well as other sandwiches. The staff was very friendly and accomodating. They would have loved to have made a sandwich for me had they had the right food items. They did offer to grill a hamburg roll with cheese for me. Instead I sampled the chicken fingers and fries. I am not a big fan of fried food, but it wasn't too bad. Starbucks coffee is also a nice touch. I think if enough people ask for sandwiches they may get what they need to make them.
When we went in for lunch the precip had turned to all flakes. From the big picture windows we watched the number of flakes increase as we downed our fried food and coffee. It was starting to accumulate. We relaxed until about 2pm to get back out on the slopes, saving our energy for the best skiing during the last 2 hours of the day, and we'd have the slopes mostly to ourselves. This is indeed what happened.
The new snow topped the already soft hero snow with butter-cream frosting. It was delightfully rich. Every trail improved with each run. The terrain was getting shapely with soft bumps here and there and lots of soft buttercream to turn in whenever/wherever you wanted. Many of the people who got out there first thing in the morning were long gone. They missed out on the best skiing of the day. It was ideal that we didn't start too early and poop out before the good stuff ripened. The thick gloppy wet snow made for a nice base and now the frosting on top of it made the surfaces devine. We were on the last chair at TopRidge, and then had time for 2 more off the Gondola. At 3:55 we boarded the gondola for the last ride and enjoyed a perfect cruise down FoxLair.
After skiing we went back to North River to change out of our wet clothing. My brand new Sierra Designs Answer jacket was soaked on the outside but I stayed completely dry underneath. I give it 5 stars for a hooded, non-goretex breatheable fabric that doesn't soak through and dries fast. My gloves were also soaked but not soaked through. As we were getting out of our ski clothes the electricity flickered off and on a half dozen times. I imagined an ice-laden tree falling on a power line. Each sway caused it to sputter until the weight of it overcame the power line. It would be a while before this would be fixed. With no heat or water, we quickly changed in the candle light and headed back to Gore Mtn where we attended the Gore employee holiday party as guests of the director of the ski patrol.
Being a regular visitor to the area for skiing and kayaking over the last few years I have gotten to know a lot of the locals, many of whom are raft guides in the summer and work on the mountain in the winter. This party was a lot of fun because I knew so many people who work at the mountain, from marketing to operations and quite a few ski patrollers. It was warm and friendly. After a few hours and many drinks, we called back to North River to see if the electricity was back. If the answering machine picked up were were good to go. We did not party as late as we did on friday night. We were all a bit tired from all the activity, and we called it a night at a reasonable hour.
Sunday, we slept in, as there was not much in the way of new snow. By 11 we got up to the mountain. The parking lot had more cars than the day before. The sound of roaring snowguns filled the air. The trails had been groomed, frozen and quite firm and scratchy. Top Ridge was the most treacherous. After skittering down that trail, we stuck to the lower mountain, where we could at least find piles of snow to turn in between the sheets of ice. Fair View's steepest section was nearly a freefall as there was not much to hold an edge with. Sometimes you just gotta go with gravity and it just is not worth it to even try to sink an edge in. At least the runoff is long and flat. Quicksilver and Sunway had the best conditions (least ice).
I didn't stay all afternoon, as the conditions were not exceptional and I was pretty tired from skiing hard the day before. Hit the road by 2:30 and was in my backyard hot tub by 7.
By the end of the 3rd hour, just shy of Lake Pleasant, the rain drops started turing into phat drops of glop splatting on the windshield. By the time I neared Speculator, these phat glops began to accumlate on the road and the first signs of slippery roads began. Some cars had slid off the road. My speed was barely over 50 most of the ride but for the last 2 hours I'd be lucky to go even 40. At some points I was plowing through 3" of untracked heavy gloppy slush. Staying in the car tracks was key, however, there was not always car tracks except for the ones that were behind me as I progressed. When a car would creep up on my tail, I would pull over and let them break trail and see how they liked it. I would give them plenty of room. Most sane people were not driving these mountain roads at this time of night. Though it wasn't late, most people were home at the dinner table with their families. I had a different agenda. The plan was to get to Casey's North for the Warren Miller film fest and to meet up with friends for a few desperately needed drinks after 5 hours of white knuckle driving (unsually the drive takes 3 1/2 hr).
While we partied at Casey's and then at a friend's in North Creek, the precipitation changed from all its forms, the whole range from non-phrozen to phrozen phat phlakes and back. When it turned back to NFP we went to bed in hopes of cooler temps and a fresh coating on top in the morning. Once daylight broke, I peeked outside to see if it had improved. No additional whiteness and temps above 35
. Hit the snooze and went back to sleep for a little while longer.By 9am, we were up, caffienating and considering what the mountain might be like. We headed up and found minimal crowds, some dense fog and very soft conditions. Lucky for us, the fog lifted shortly after we loaded the gondola at 10:30. There were 2 runs down Top Ridge (Pine Knot/Tannery and Top Ridge). They both had good coverage, though Pine Knot/Tannery had snowmaking whales and funky terrain changes that were difficult to see on the first run. Precipation of all types required frequent stops to ski-gee the goggles. It also made that first run with the terrain changes more interesting. For the most part we were skiing on "hero/corn" and laying into every arc of every turn. It was beautiful.
After 2 lift rides at Top Ridge, we were ready to ride in the gondola where it was not as wet. I was giving a new soft-shell jacket a test-drive and was not sure that it was going to hold up in these wet conditions. Silly me did not bring the gore-tex shell because I thought for sure we were going to see all snow and none of this liquid stuff in the mountains.
Usually I don't mind skiing in the rain, as long as I have the right gear. Conditions in warm weather are usually pretty nice. Would rather ski on a wet day than a frozen/bullet proof day.
The lower mtn trails served by the gondola, Fair View, Sunway, Quicksilver, FoxLair were all in fine shape with excellent coverage. Soft hero snow for all abilities. There seemed to be a good number of novice skiers working on their skills and taking lessons. Ski instructor and race clinics abounded as well, and the ski patrol rookies were kept busy keeping the slopes safe by covering exposed snowmaking equipment.
After sampling each open trail, for a total of 6 routes (11 trails), we decided to check out the newly remodeled Saddle Lodge, dry out our gloves and jackets by the fire and have some lunch. The Saddle Lodge got a fresh coat of paint and new seating, as well as a modern fire-place, with tile that had been locally mined garnet and feldspar. Unfortunately the fireplace was not complete and was inoperable. It was waiting for a hearthstone. This building has a nice windowed north side, with nice views of the High Peaks, which that day were enshrouded in cloud. Instead, the views were of the rime encrusted tree tops with the chicadees fluttering around. It might have made for a nice painting in black and white. The upstairs also takes advantage of this view and there's a lot of new and comfortable seating from which to eat your lunch and take in the scenery.
One of the biggest disappointments of the Saddle Lodge is that they are no longer serving grilled cheese sandwiches, or any other types of sandwiches for that matter. Fried food fare is all that is offered, including burgers, chicken fingers and fries. I put in a request to bring back the grilled cheese sandwich, as well as other sandwiches. The staff was very friendly and accomodating. They would have loved to have made a sandwich for me had they had the right food items. They did offer to grill a hamburg roll with cheese for me. Instead I sampled the chicken fingers and fries. I am not a big fan of fried food, but it wasn't too bad. Starbucks coffee is also a nice touch. I think if enough people ask for sandwiches they may get what they need to make them.
When we went in for lunch the precip had turned to all flakes. From the big picture windows we watched the number of flakes increase as we downed our fried food and coffee. It was starting to accumulate. We relaxed until about 2pm to get back out on the slopes, saving our energy for the best skiing during the last 2 hours of the day, and we'd have the slopes mostly to ourselves. This is indeed what happened.
The new snow topped the already soft hero snow with butter-cream frosting. It was delightfully rich. Every trail improved with each run. The terrain was getting shapely with soft bumps here and there and lots of soft buttercream to turn in whenever/wherever you wanted. Many of the people who got out there first thing in the morning were long gone. They missed out on the best skiing of the day. It was ideal that we didn't start too early and poop out before the good stuff ripened. The thick gloppy wet snow made for a nice base and now the frosting on top of it made the surfaces devine. We were on the last chair at TopRidge, and then had time for 2 more off the Gondola. At 3:55 we boarded the gondola for the last ride and enjoyed a perfect cruise down FoxLair.
After skiing we went back to North River to change out of our wet clothing. My brand new Sierra Designs Answer jacket was soaked on the outside but I stayed completely dry underneath. I give it 5 stars for a hooded, non-goretex breatheable fabric that doesn't soak through and dries fast. My gloves were also soaked but not soaked through. As we were getting out of our ski clothes the electricity flickered off and on a half dozen times. I imagined an ice-laden tree falling on a power line. Each sway caused it to sputter until the weight of it overcame the power line. It would be a while before this would be fixed. With no heat or water, we quickly changed in the candle light and headed back to Gore Mtn where we attended the Gore employee holiday party as guests of the director of the ski patrol.
Being a regular visitor to the area for skiing and kayaking over the last few years I have gotten to know a lot of the locals, many of whom are raft guides in the summer and work on the mountain in the winter. This party was a lot of fun because I knew so many people who work at the mountain, from marketing to operations and quite a few ski patrollers. It was warm and friendly. After a few hours and many drinks, we called back to North River to see if the electricity was back. If the answering machine picked up were were good to go. We did not party as late as we did on friday night. We were all a bit tired from all the activity, and we called it a night at a reasonable hour.
Sunday, we slept in, as there was not much in the way of new snow. By 11 we got up to the mountain. The parking lot had more cars than the day before. The sound of roaring snowguns filled the air. The trails had been groomed, frozen and quite firm and scratchy. Top Ridge was the most treacherous. After skittering down that trail, we stuck to the lower mountain, where we could at least find piles of snow to turn in between the sheets of ice. Fair View's steepest section was nearly a freefall as there was not much to hold an edge with. Sometimes you just gotta go with gravity and it just is not worth it to even try to sink an edge in. At least the runoff is long and flat. Quicksilver and Sunway had the best conditions (least ice).
I didn't stay all afternoon, as the conditions were not exceptional and I was pretty tired from skiing hard the day before. Hit the road by 2:30 and was in my backyard hot tub by 7.