CNY and PA Ski Tour - Day 3 - 2/6/2014

Day 3

Day 3 of my adventure was going to be a busy one, with the plan to ski three mountains today, spending about two hours at each one. The first stop of the day was Labrador Mountain. Labrador definitely meets my definition of a "neighborhood" mountain.

Labrador Mountain


Labrador Mountain From The Parking Lot

I arrived shortly after 9:00, booted up and headed out. It was a beautiful day, but it was pretty cold ... colder than I had expected!!!

Labrador is made up of three "peaks", Northern Peak, Central Peak and Southern Peak. I started on Central Peak, making my way to skier's left to Northern Peak. My plan was to once again, work my way across the mountain from left to right.

When I asked Camp and Pro about these mountains the day before, they had told me that Labrador would be mostly groomed terrain, and they were right. This was some of the best machined groomed packed powder I've skied in years.


Perfectly Groomed Corduroy

The terrain on Northern Peak and Central Peak is pretty mellow, and it was fun to just cruise along, enjoying the ride.


The Base Lodge at Labrador Mountain

After skiing Northern and Central Peaks, I made my way over to Southern Peak. This is where you'll find the most challenging terrain at Labrador. The pitch was steeper here, and the No Name trail was ungroomed, with lots of cut up powder on top.


The No Name Trail at Labrador Mountain

I enjoyed skiing here, but to be honest, there really wasn't enough here to keep me interested. There were quite a number of senior citizens skiing here the morning I visited, and they all seemed to be enjoying themselves a lot, and as far as I'm concerned, that's what it's all about. It's great that places like this are out there for people to enjoy.

Song Mountain

My next stop for the day was Song Mountain. According to Camp and Pro, I'd find a lot more ungroomed terrain at Song than I would at Labrador, and once again, they were right.

There were some really nice views from the top of Song Mountain. I'm not exactly sure what I was looking at in the picture below, but it sure looked nice to me.


View From The Top of Song Mountain

There was lots of fresh untracked powder from yesterday's storm all over the mountain, and I was having a great time playing in it.


Untracked Fresh Powder

Like Labrador, the trails that had been groomed had some of the best packed powder I've skied in years.


Perfectly Groomed Packed Powder

Song Mountain is clearly another neighborhood mountain, though somehow, the atmosphere didn't seem quite as friendly as Labrador.


The Base Lodge at Song Mountain

There were a couple of fairly challenging, though somewhat short trails, including Jupiter, which was quite steep, with a nice double fall line and plenty of fresh snow on top. I spent about two hours here, most of that time skiing fresh powder, and by the time I called it quits, my legs were pretty tired. I was pretty impressed with Song Mountain, and I'd definitely go back if the opportunity presented itself.


Jupiter From The Parking Lot

Toggenburg Mountain

My final stop of the day was Toggenburg Mountain. I arrived a little after 3:00, and there were a lot of school aged kids showing up for an afternoon and evening of skiing under the lights. It was getting late, and I was already pretty tired, so I only spent about an hour here, which didn't give me enough time to ski the entire mountain.

I found it to be a lot like Labrador, with mostly groomed terrain and a few ungroomed trails.


Groomed And Un-Groomed Terrain Living Together!


A Small Glade

Toggenburg was another nice neighborhood mountain and I'm sure the people who ski here regularly really enjoy it.


Wide Open Skiing at Toggenburg


The Toggenburg Base Lodge

After leaving Toggenburg, I headed for a small town near Oneonta to spend the night in preparation for the final day of my tour at Plattekill.

CNY trifecta in one day!!

Lab is a fun place --- if GP went belly up that's where I would've bought a pass. I think the tree skiing is a little better at Lab than Song.