Best Snow

Who consistently has the best snow in NYS? Not just the most natural, take other factors into account especially snowmaking.
       

I'm just not qualified to make a judgment on this, having skied only a handful of NY mountains.

As a tree skier, I'd weight natural snow more heavily over man-made. And I'd probably put quantity over quality too.

Snowforecast.com ranks Cockaigne tops in NY at 300 inches, followed Plattekill (245), Snow Ridge (230) and Holimont (200). But "consistently having the best snow" would also have to factor in frequency of NCP events and snow preservation.  If Cockaigne's trails face north, it should probably be a contender. It's just a guess but that far western location may cut down on wintertime r**n.

FYI - I hope to be able to increase our choice of emoticons sometime in the future.

One more time Harv, What was the Harv o meter's finally snow tally for Gore last season?

My turn---or should I say turns  

Chair skier--would be happy climbing too but for my time/ski dollar, its got to be.   Thus I will reply on the inbound pistes.
Some day I may get picky over natural or man-made, for now--dont care as long as skis can move over it--white, grey-brown or black--obviously would take untouched white over anything else.   Length of season or open days plays deep into my thinking:


I will comment on all the NYS I can remember being at.  One occasion can mean one day or a week.    

Greek Peak--done it, nough said.  skied 3 differnt occasions.

Hunter--mid season mid week, very good and 100% reliable.  They know how to groom and leave bumps. Could be a contender, but further south closes 1-3 weeks earlier. skied maybe 8 occassions.  

Wyndam seems much more icy than Hunter which is only 15 minutes away.    Could be a directional issue, they too have bumps but then they are icy.   Used to get free tickets so skied maybe 6 occasions.

Whiteface---long season, always something slippy on the ground, long runs--but odd layout.  Been there on epic power days but overall---icy.      Bump runs in shade, dont much much natural snow due to trees, can get bare and icy.    skied 8 occasoins

Gore---winner,  long season, top mountain with cold good conditions, better layout for me.   60 degrees in mid-april and rumor is still holding up.

>

Hunter, no question.  During the 2011-2012 season they had consistently great conditions despite many nasty thaws and r**n events.  They also opened up every major trail and had more terrain open for all of December than Whiteface or Gore, as well as some places out west and in New England.  Hunter actually was open a few days later than Gore and they surely had a much greater percentage of the mountain open.

I agree with Snoloco, over the past few years Hunter has done an incredible job maintaining the snow..

I can't comment on the ADK's boys since I haven't skied there in a few years..

Harvey44 wrote

 Plattekill (245)

I love Plattekill, but I'd like to know where Snowforecast gets that number. I'm pretty sure that it averages closer to 180, 190 tops.

Jamesdeluxe wrote

Harvey44 wrote

 Plattekill (245)

I love Plattekill, but I'd like to know where Snowforecast gets that number. I'm pretty sure that it averages closer to 180, 190 tops.

They claim on the website the avg. is 175.  This year to date, is only 110.  Last year was even less!    With that said, conditions have been superb this year. Can't wait to get back out there tomorrow.