Slides are open - 25 feb 2010

[Patrick]

http://www.whiteface.com/mountain/conditions.php

Last 24 Hours: 12 in Last 3 Days: 29 in Last 7 Days: 36 in YTD: 140

Slides are open (Bronze) beacon & shovel required .

Radar had snow all day at WF...snow conditions mentions r*** this afternoon.

 

[Harvey]

Patrick - I actually saw that last night on the WF site and assumed that either it or I was mistaken.

Seems odd to me that they are open.

 

[Harvey]

Slides are Silver today.

 

[colin_extreme]

Any reports on Whiteface from today?

 

[Harvey]

Tales say that the slides are rockin.

Must be "gold" status because some folks reported going in without beacons.

Pow as deep as 4ft.

From everything I've seen, elevation was huge in the final storm last week.

I think "powder" is a ridiculously overused term in the east.

But at that elevation, I'll bet it was lighter than anything else around.

 

[colin_extreme]

I went to Whiteface for the first time today.

We did the 3rd Slide and it was great, they are at "Gold" status. Pretty skied out, but still fun. I'm sure somebody who knew their way around could find plenty of powder. Definitely lighter stuff than the lower mountain (or where i've been skiing - Owl's Head)

 

[Rich]

From everything I've seen, elevation was huge in the final storm last week.

Absolutely. I drove to Hunter on Sunday morning. In Palenville, at the bottom of the gorge, the ground was practically bare. As you drove up 23A, the snow cover started to increase. Once you hit Tannersville, it looked like a different world. Walls of snow on the sides of the road. Houses with drifts up to the the 2nd floor. Trail 44 was a dream land! \/ :-$

 

[rfarren]

From everything I've seen, elevation was huge in the final storm last week.

Absolutely. I drove to Hunter on Sunday morning. In Palenville, at the bottom of the gorge, the ground was practically bare. As you drove up 23A, the snow cover started to increase. Once you hit Tannersville, it looked like a different world. Walls of snow on the sides of the road. Houses with drifts up to the the 2nd floor. Trail 44 was a dream land! \/ :-$

I saw the same thing in vermont. The snow line was very visible when you looked at the mountains between Bennington and Rutland.

 

[colin_extreme]

Wondering about the slides... Found this PDF

http://skiadk.com/WFSlides.pdf

What caused the slides? Rockslides? Waterfalls? Avalanches?

So glad I got to ski them on my first trip to WF. Would the avy gear be mandatory on a powder day?

 

[rfarren]

Wondering about the slides... Found this PDF

http://skiadk.com/WFSlides.pdf

What caused the slides? Rockslides? Waterfalls? Avalanches?

So glad I got to ski them on my first trip to WF. Would the avy gear be mandatory on a powder day?

Rockslides:
http://www.mikesandy.net/photos/images/ ... 3_0091.jpg

Typically the large one furthest to the skiers left has an icefall from early freeze/thaw events.

 

[rfarren]

Imho, WF is the only mountain that offers lift access "big mountain" skiing. Sadly that only happens when it gets enough snow to open the slides.

 

[Marc_C]

Imho, WF is the only mountain that offers lift access "big mountain" skiing.

I think in the Northeast, Stowe and Sugarloaf are pretty strong contenders to share that designation.

 

[rfarren]

Imho, WF is the only mountain that offers lift access "big mountain" skiing.

I think in the Northeast, Stowe and Sugarloaf are pretty strong contenders to share that designation.

I think the slides are steeper than the top of sugarloaf, and aren't merely glades but open fields. Have you skied the slides? I would be interested to hear what people who have skied the top of mansfield think about the slides.

 

[Powderqueen]

Imho, WF is the only mountain that offers lift access "big mountain" skiing.

I think in the Northeast, Stowe and Sugarloaf are pretty strong contenders to share that designation.

I think the slides are steeper than the top of sugarloaf, and aren't merely glades but open fields. Have you skied the slides? I would be interested to hear what people who have skied the top of mansfield think about the slides.

I'd say the slides are pretty comparable to the top of Mansfield...but you don't have to climb for it at Whiteface...unless you want to.

 

[Admin]

I'd say the slides are pretty comparable to the top of Mansfield...but you don't have to climb for it at Whiteface...unless you want to.

Comparable? To something like Hellbrook with 2,500 verts of sustained sidecountry bliss? No way.

 

[Powderqueen]

I'd say the slides are pretty comparable to the top of Mansfield...but you don't have to climb for it at Whiteface...unless you want to.

Comparable? To something like Hellbrook with 2,500 verts of sustained sidecountry bliss? No way.

OK, maybe the slides aren't comparable to Hellbrook as a ski run in character, but I would have to say the Slides are probably as, if not more challenging, due to the numberable obstacles and tight spaces one must navigate, at least when I have been on them. I don't know if Hellbrook is steeper overall, but the slides are pretty consistently steep for approx 1000 vert that we skied (more if you hike up, which they stopped allowing after the first hour). I would also add that I am sure Hellbrook has a lot more snow and coverage on any given day the Slides are open. Whiteface doesn't get as much snow and it typically blows off the mountain, therefore there are a lot of exposed areas or rock and ice, not to mention small tight dwarf spruces.

I haven't skied Hellbrook, but have seen pictures. The top looks pretty similar with the dwarfed trees and tight spaces, but in all the pix I've seen Hellbrook has a lot more snow, which IMO makes it much easier to ski.