frontrange
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The annual pilgrammage to Whiteface was- wet and cloudy. We burned the 540 miles from Ohio on Weds full of anticipation after a year of Holiday Valley and Seven Springs. The weather, well it wasn't looking so hot but at the last minute it seemed to be at least acceptable. We were teased with snow in northeast Ohio, then in the usual snow belt north of Syracuse, then increasingly around Tupper Lake. <BR> <BR>Getting up early we arrived at Whiteface Thursday morning well before the lifts opened. We were on the first gondola and elected to take Excelsior down the entire way before catching a second gondola and then taking the summit chair. Early morning sunshine was softening the snow and grabbing at skis left and right. Charlie, new to Whiteface, had a nice fall on the first run getting spun backwards then flipping a couple of times. He left his glasses about 50 feet above him- luckily I found them. Plus, skiing barehanded, he cut his hand and left a flap of skin somewhere on the slope. <BR> <BR>Next run was to the summit. We did Paron's while the boys took off down Upper Skyward. Unfortunately clouds obscured the view from the summit. Second run was Upper Skyward for everyone. The soft conditions made it feel like a tough intermediate run instead of the normal terrifying i*y expert run. But still, the steep, long run was fantastic. Except for a legendary fall- Charlie again. Nothing exciting but we were figuring he slid further on his side than the vertical drop of Peek'n'Peek, a small western NY area. <BR> <BR>Later, the rain moved in. We skiied in it most of the day until finally giving up late afternoon. It was warm enough that it really wasn't annoying like it would normally be. It actually made the snow better, a bit faster and much more consistent. <BR> <BR>Did a couple of the runs off Approach on Little Whiteface. They were mostly groomed and you could do whatever you wanted with the soft snow. Nothing like a long expert run top to bottom. <BR> <BR>The mountain was pretty much all open except the Slides and Upper Empire. Good coverage everywhere but you could see thin areas starting to show. I'm not sure what the r**n on Friday night did as we bailed Saturday morning due to absolutely zero visibility. Friday was Gore- I'll post another report. <BR> <BR>The only downside of the trip was not getting the fantastic view that we expect from the top of Whiteface and the full mountain view from Little Whiteface. I'd still like to see them close some of the runs in a bit with trees, especially on the lower mountain- the slopes are simply too wide- probably for racing.