Sharon
New member
It's been a good week for snow in upstate NY. As an Alberta Clipper was making it's way to the northeast, plans were forming to take advantage of the bounty in the northcountry.
I rescued Dave, a full-time Greek Peak ski patroller from that molehill and we went to another molehill, only the molehill we went to is in the direct snowbelt off the leeward side of Lake Ontario in the Tug Hill where it drops off into the Black River valley. The piles of snow along the road from Rome to Snow Ridge were impressive. We pulled in to the parking lot around 9:30 to find a bunch of snowmobilers as well as a hoards of children in racing duds. One child put on quite a performance that reeked of spoiled brat while we booted up in the sunshine. There was a Kandahar race going on, which brought in people from all over, but overall there weren't really a whole lotta people at this sleeper mountain and most were there for the race or to snowmobile. There were no lift lines on a sunny Saturday after a few dumps of snow. Where were the powder hounds? The hill was not all that impressive from it's front face which made me quite skeptical and wondering why we didn't go right to Gore where there is a whole lot more vertical, plenty of tree skiing and a fresh foot of new snow. We purchased our $33 lift tickets and headed up on the lift to see what this place is all about.
With a bit of a traverse from the top, we dropped into a beautiful low-angle glade that suddenly dropped into some of the steepest pitches I have ever seen in New York. Not only was it super steep, it was in the trees, and sometimes tight trees. We dropped off the steep face into a ravine, crossed the creek and went back up for more. On the second run in this area we scoped out some of the steepest chutes. The first one looked a bit too tight for my likes, so we traversed a bit to the next one. It too was steeper than anything I had ever skied in NY and it was tight, but I could see the line and thought I could nail the turns necessary to get through the steepest section. Dave encouraged me to go for it. There certainly was enough snow, untracked. So I dropped in, and with one turn the snow slid completely off the face. I was getting carried down by the slough and worked right to get out of the way of the slide. I lodged myself into a submerged tree out of the fallout zone. The pitch was still greater than 45 degrees and I was holding onto the tree so as not to tumble or slide the rest of the way down into the trees below. I had one ski under the tree. I somehow managed to get my ski out while hanging onto a branch and was able to ski away from the slide zone. Close call. I looked up at the chute and all that was left was leaves, dirt and rocks. Dave took a different line.
As we were skiing out of the ravine to the lift we inspected the other side of the ravine. It had seen not a single set of tracks. Up the Little Hill lift we went to access the goods. The lines were plentiful and the pitch was steep, though not as steep as the chutes on the other side of the ravine. We tracked up as much as we could before lunch, and there was still plenty leftover.
For lunch we avoided the hoards of brats in the lodge and tailgated in the sunshine, beer chillin in the snowbank. Suddenly our sunshine was gone and it was puking snow and we were getting our parkas on. In 20 minutes there was a half-inch of new snow accumulated on my skis that were laying flat next to my car. The sun came out again and we headed over to the t-bar which is the furthest south side of the ski area.
We skied off to the left and then into the woods. There were a few tracks in these woods, but not many. We found our own fresh lines in this short shot. We rode the catapulting t-bar up and took the same trail south and came to a freshly made bootpack up a logging road. We decided to take it and enjoy a few more feet of vert. This was definitely a worthwhile hike, not just for the increased vert, but many more fresh lines became open to us the further up and out we went. The glades were much lower angle than what we had skied in the morning, but the snow was deep and fresh. We came out on the road and walked back to the ski area. Back at the t-bar we met up with a telemarker from Syracuse who was heading the same way. He was happy to be with a group, because skiing alone beyond piste is not a good idea. I was just amazed at the lack of powderhounds in this powder paradise.
The three of us did the traverse, passing a ski patroller who didn't seem to mind us being out there. We never had to duck any ropes. It seemed that it was open for us to enjoy. So we hiked up even further. We came upon a sign that said "Caution Ice Ahead". We never did find that ice. Each time we'd have to walk further back on the road to the t-bar, though during one of our walks a Snow Ridge operations guy in a pick-up stopped and offered us a ride which we were happy to accept, even though it was not that far. By the end of the day my shins and toes were sore from all the walking and boot packing we did that day.
Snow Ridge gets up to 375" of snow per year and were reporting a base of 57". Essentially it was bottomless in this very good snow year. There was no crusty base anywhere to be found. It was just soft and deep snow. It got a little creamier and heavier later in the day, but the low-angle glades we skied in the afternoon were simply divine. What the resort doesn't have in vertical, it makes up for in side-country woods. steeps, and acres of fresh deep snow. The runs were short, but they were super sweet. It was a lift-served backcountry experience, or call it side-country, but it seemed like it was our own. I couldn't understand why there were not many others taking advantage of this bounty.
On our way to the next destination we drove through blinding snow on Route 28 through Old Forge and beyond for about 30 miles. We thought about checking out McCauley Mtn, since it was puking there, but we had a plan that we decided to stick with.
Here are my pix. http://tinyurl.com/ysfd95
I rescued Dave, a full-time Greek Peak ski patroller from that molehill and we went to another molehill, only the molehill we went to is in the direct snowbelt off the leeward side of Lake Ontario in the Tug Hill where it drops off into the Black River valley. The piles of snow along the road from Rome to Snow Ridge were impressive. We pulled in to the parking lot around 9:30 to find a bunch of snowmobilers as well as a hoards of children in racing duds. One child put on quite a performance that reeked of spoiled brat while we booted up in the sunshine. There was a Kandahar race going on, which brought in people from all over, but overall there weren't really a whole lotta people at this sleeper mountain and most were there for the race or to snowmobile. There were no lift lines on a sunny Saturday after a few dumps of snow. Where were the powder hounds? The hill was not all that impressive from it's front face which made me quite skeptical and wondering why we didn't go right to Gore where there is a whole lot more vertical, plenty of tree skiing and a fresh foot of new snow. We purchased our $33 lift tickets and headed up on the lift to see what this place is all about.
With a bit of a traverse from the top, we dropped into a beautiful low-angle glade that suddenly dropped into some of the steepest pitches I have ever seen in New York. Not only was it super steep, it was in the trees, and sometimes tight trees. We dropped off the steep face into a ravine, crossed the creek and went back up for more. On the second run in this area we scoped out some of the steepest chutes. The first one looked a bit too tight for my likes, so we traversed a bit to the next one. It too was steeper than anything I had ever skied in NY and it was tight, but I could see the line and thought I could nail the turns necessary to get through the steepest section. Dave encouraged me to go for it. There certainly was enough snow, untracked. So I dropped in, and with one turn the snow slid completely off the face. I was getting carried down by the slough and worked right to get out of the way of the slide. I lodged myself into a submerged tree out of the fallout zone. The pitch was still greater than 45 degrees and I was holding onto the tree so as not to tumble or slide the rest of the way down into the trees below. I had one ski under the tree. I somehow managed to get my ski out while hanging onto a branch and was able to ski away from the slide zone. Close call. I looked up at the chute and all that was left was leaves, dirt and rocks. Dave took a different line.
As we were skiing out of the ravine to the lift we inspected the other side of the ravine. It had seen not a single set of tracks. Up the Little Hill lift we went to access the goods. The lines were plentiful and the pitch was steep, though not as steep as the chutes on the other side of the ravine. We tracked up as much as we could before lunch, and there was still plenty leftover.
For lunch we avoided the hoards of brats in the lodge and tailgated in the sunshine, beer chillin in the snowbank. Suddenly our sunshine was gone and it was puking snow and we were getting our parkas on. In 20 minutes there was a half-inch of new snow accumulated on my skis that were laying flat next to my car. The sun came out again and we headed over to the t-bar which is the furthest south side of the ski area.
We skied off to the left and then into the woods. There were a few tracks in these woods, but not many. We found our own fresh lines in this short shot. We rode the catapulting t-bar up and took the same trail south and came to a freshly made bootpack up a logging road. We decided to take it and enjoy a few more feet of vert. This was definitely a worthwhile hike, not just for the increased vert, but many more fresh lines became open to us the further up and out we went. The glades were much lower angle than what we had skied in the morning, but the snow was deep and fresh. We came out on the road and walked back to the ski area. Back at the t-bar we met up with a telemarker from Syracuse who was heading the same way. He was happy to be with a group, because skiing alone beyond piste is not a good idea. I was just amazed at the lack of powderhounds in this powder paradise.
The three of us did the traverse, passing a ski patroller who didn't seem to mind us being out there. We never had to duck any ropes. It seemed that it was open for us to enjoy. So we hiked up even further. We came upon a sign that said "Caution Ice Ahead". We never did find that ice. Each time we'd have to walk further back on the road to the t-bar, though during one of our walks a Snow Ridge operations guy in a pick-up stopped and offered us a ride which we were happy to accept, even though it was not that far. By the end of the day my shins and toes were sore from all the walking and boot packing we did that day.
Snow Ridge gets up to 375" of snow per year and were reporting a base of 57". Essentially it was bottomless in this very good snow year. There was no crusty base anywhere to be found. It was just soft and deep snow. It got a little creamier and heavier later in the day, but the low-angle glades we skied in the afternoon were simply divine. What the resort doesn't have in vertical, it makes up for in side-country woods. steeps, and acres of fresh deep snow. The runs were short, but they were super sweet. It was a lift-served backcountry experience, or call it side-country, but it seemed like it was our own. I couldn't understand why there were not many others taking advantage of this bounty.
On our way to the next destination we drove through blinding snow on Route 28 through Old Forge and beyond for about 30 miles. We thought about checking out McCauley Mtn, since it was puking there, but we had a plan that we decided to stick with.
Here are my pix. http://tinyurl.com/ysfd95
Snow Ridge really gets hammered with snow. I'm surprised it slid down to dirt. The snowpack must be really deep in Turin. I never skied McCauley but my mom used to ski there in the 1940's I always wondered what it was like.
