Coming to Gore with kids - trail advice?

I am going up to Gore with my young girls Presidents week never been there, hoping for good snow. I have been skiing for a long time but my girls just started last year.

Any suggestions on runs to take or anything that might make the trip more fun.

Ones a snowboarder 8 years old and one a skier 12 what are the blue slopes like? All of their skiing has been at Greek Peak.

Thanks everyone.

Cloud(blue), Sunway, Ruby Run should be the ones you start with and expand from there.

Welcome northerncajun.

You've got some time before your arrival and there a lot of Gore here people who know the mountain.

The East Side (front) - right outside the base lodge -  has a signficant part of Gore's green and blue terrain.  This stuff is served by the Gondola and the Adirondack Express ("the triple").

If you are doing the front side, ride the Gondi if it is windy or extremely cold - or if you want that experience. Ride the triple if you want shorter lines and it's not windy.  The last 5 poles of the triple can be extremely cold if it's windy and cold.

With a young snowboarder, ride the triple for fewer flat spots.  Flat spots are on Ruby Run (Cloud really) off the Gondi. Also Lower Sunway is a little flat. If it's not powder - looks like a decent possibility - Lower Sunway can be cruised without skating if you get speed for the flat.  At least on skis - never tried it on a board.

Sunway is accessible off either the gondi or the triple and is a great green trail.  All other trails on the front are BLUE - steepest blues are Foxlair and second is probably Showcase.  Twister is a great step up if you are handling Sunway.

Also the North Side (if open) is all blue.

There's tons more, I'll leave it to others.

Thanks Gebby and Harvey

I have studied the trail map pretty good and had those on the list but nothing beats on the ground recon.

I really can't wait to get the girls on the Mountain I am looking forward to a wonderful time.


Keep the info coming people!

I would suggest the north side during peak times. It generally remains quite light. Also the wind is generally at your back on the lift.

I would avoid pine knot until they have skied the other blue terrain. Echo also has a pretty steep section for a blue.

Tom

gores tuff on boarders,stick with lifts with easy access too trails,skiing is pretty good, hopefully the weather holds out,have a great time.

outlaw 1 makes a good point.  There can be a fair bit of walking for a boarder, and there is some skating on your skis as you traverse over from the top of the Straight Brook Quad chair to the top of Cloud.  It's even harder at the bottom of the Lower Cloud traverse as you pole over to the Saddle Lodge and many boarders walk here as well.  Smaller children are sometimes pulled along by their parents with an extended pole from parent to child.  You'll see what we mean when you get there.  

TomCat wrote

I would suggest the north side during peak times. It generally remains quite light. Also the wind is generally at your back on the lift.

I would avoid pine knot until they have skied the other blue terrain. Echo also has a pretty steep section for a blue.

Tom

Agreed about the North Side- it's exactly what the OP is looking for. There are only two problems. 1. The lift is pretty slow and 2, more importantly, it might not be open (as far as I know it hasn't opened this year).

Pine Knot as a trail can be fun, although it does have some weird angles because the cut of the trail doesn't always follow the fall line. The real problem with it is traffic with people trying to get to Straighbrook.

On the lower mountain, Twister, when not closed for racing, is a wonderful long run. It's wide enough to avoid crowds, has some varying pitches but nothing super steep, and makes some wandering turns to keep you interested. I'm not sure if Sleighride is considered a terrain park right now or not. If it's a regular trail, it's another good option. Showcase and Quicksilver are fine but tend to be crowded and have a lot of people bombing them.

Good luck and enjoy your trip!

That is great info especailly about the flat part for boarders.

I appreciate it very much.
I will give a full report after trip.

Is it worth going to Whiteface for a day trip or just stay at Gore seems like a lot of mountain for three days of skiing.

Gore is more than enough mountain for three days!  I think it is the Adirondack Quad that takes you to Pete Gay and Sleeping Bear and depending on the conditions, those are pretty nice runs for kids.  Not too much traffic and the lift lines are short, though I haven't found the lift lines bad there at all since I started skiing up there last year.

Hi Gebby,

I thought the mountain looked big enough. But it appears the north woods and ski bowl will be closed during the weekdays that may change if they get some snow this week.

Just looking for non flat spots for the boarder and overall good fun for everyone.

I am expecting a great time, the girls ski weekly at Greek Peak so this is a move to the "big mountain" so to speak. how long a run is it from the Saddle lodge to bottom on sunway vs twister.


Pour on the advice it is priceless from the people that have skied there before.

Mon-thursday next week cant wait!!

Not sure of the actual distance and the flat spots that I pointed out are the two biggies I think. I don't get to ski on twister that much as it is usually closed to skiers due to ski racing on the weekends.  Sunway is a nice long run and they've been blowing snow on there regularly the past week or so, so it should be good.  

miker92 wrote

Agreed about the North Side- it's exactly what the OP is looking for. There are only two problems. 1. The lift is pretty slow and 2, more importantly, it might not be open (as far as I know it hasn't opened this year).

Good luck and enjoy your trip!

The North Chair is slow, but it's definitely the best place to take kids. And Sleeping Bear, Pete Gay, and Loop have been open for the last 3 weekends. It might be closed midweek, but seeing as it's a holiday week, and the darkside probably won't be open, I'd say the smart money is going to be on that lift being open all week. Also, when we say the chair is "slow" we mean that the lift takes 15 minutes to the Gondola's 10. I guess if you don't want to talk to your kids for an extra 5 minutes, that would be bad, but from my experience, kids freaking love that area.

Fox Lair is a horrible idea for kids who just started last year. Stay away from that all weekend (ruby is a pain to hike, but it's 1,000,000 times safer for beginner/intermediates).  Twister is good and should be open midweek. Sleighride has a couple of banked turns, but no other terrain park features, so that will be a definite go for kids.

Now the disclaimer: be extremely careful about bringing kids on an "intermediate" run thinking that it will be like an intermediate run at Greek Peak. Have your kids skied (or rode) yet this year? How many times did they go last year? They've been skiing for one year, but did they go 3 times or 15 times? Maybe it's just the instructor in me, but a lot of parents tend to overestimate their child's abilities.  

I'd probably start with Jamboree (off the double chair) to gauge how they are feeling about a green level trail at Gore.  Then, if they're totally comfortable, Ruby Run to Sunway (two greens, but a long, long run for kids).  If they make it all the way down without any problems, then you can start looking at Loop, Pete Gay, and Sleeping Bear off the North Chair (with the added bonus of having the Saddle Lodge right at the top of the lift if they get cold).  Then if they're comfortable on those trails, Twister/Showcase/Wild Air (terrain park, but shouldn't be crowded midweek)/Sleighride are all skiable.  Finally, the hardest blues are Echo (super steep section in the middle), Fox Lair (ditto) and Pine Knot (double fall line).  if they can get down Pine Knot, go to the top, where kids love Cloud, Headwaters, and Mica Park (if it's open).

That should be a pretty solid day, right there.

mattchuck2 wrote

 
  Also, when we say the chair is "slow" we mean that the lift takes 15 minutes to the Gondola's 10.
 
Now the disclaimer: be extremely careful about bringing kids on an "intermediate" run thinking that it will be like an intermediate run at Greek Peak. Have your kids skied (or rode) yet this year? How many times did they go last year? They've been skiing for one year, but did they go 3 times or 15 times? Maybe it's just the instructor in me, but a lot of parents tend to overestimate their child's abilities.  
 

They ski Greek, we know slow so no worries.

Great advise mattchuck. Being they've never skied away from Greek it's good you put that out there. IMO, if your kids can ski Odyssey & Hercules with NO issues then they will be fine on blues at Gore, or black diamonds at $tratton

There is lots of great advice in the thread.

Kids always love to ride the gondola. If you want a break from taking the skis off to get on the gondola you can ride the Adirondack Express triple and access the same terrain on the lower mountain without having to deal with Ruby Run or Foxlair off the gondola. Sunway is a great long run for green and low blue skiers. Twister is another great choice. Showcase is a little harder than Twister. Just remember the very bottom of Twister and Showcase are steeper than the rest of Showcase and Twister and can be intimidating. It is a very short drop just before the base area.

The Loop to Pete Gay is a wonderful, mellow, uncrowded green that leads down to the North Quad. Sleeping Bear has a little more steepness and is the only other choice to the North Quad right now.

If you can navigate Pine Knot, taking the Straight Brook Quad to the top leads to amazing views. There is a flat spot of 250 yards to get to the top of Cloud. Cloud to Headwaters to Tannery is easier than Pine Knot. You would then take the Top Ridge Triple up to the top of Bear Mtn and can take Ruby Run to get back down to the main face of Gore.

Whiteface does not have many long low intermediate and green trails. There is no green off the WF gondola. A solid intermediate to expert will have a great time at WF. In your situation I would not make the trip to WF.

There is plenty to do at Gore even in its current state of 73% open. You will have a great time.

That is absolutely SOLID advice . All of those trails linked as described provide your kids will provide an enjoyable and safe day for kids with a few yrs experience .  As far as the WF citations there are easier trails for green/ low blue BUT Gore IMHO will provide a greater variety for those at that skill level

I think Matt really covered it well, but Ruby run can be really painful for snowboarders because, as was posted earlier, it empties on the flatness of cloud.  If the weather is tolerable I would start on the Adirondack Express Triple and take them down Twister or Sleighride( if they are racing on Twister) to see how they go.  Foxlair can be an issue off the Gondi but if they are on the snow three days a week at Greek it should be fine.   There is a nice blue at the top called Headwaters but again for the boarder, getting to the top of Cloud can be quite a hike (from the summit you have to go around the old gondi shack, as mentioned earlier).  I think the trail ratings are similar from Greek to Gore and any strong intermediate can handle blacks like Hawkeye, TopRidge and Sagamore ( if it is groomed).  Lies is probably the only exception.  Burnt Ridge would be a great place to go for the snowbaorder(longer runs and minimal walking once you are there) but getting to that area could be very painful if Twisters little sister is not open.  and not to take business from Gore but if you have never been to Whiteface, you should watch the weather and go there on the warmest sunniest day for the best experience, your snowboarder will appreciate the long runs and lack of walking.  Best case scenario is to try to find some of us when you arrive and we can let you know first hand.  Have a great trip.

great responses this forum is loaded with info I thank all of you for your local knowledge.
I have a pretty good game plan now, didnt know that it wasnt boarder friendly so that will be something to watch out for hate having to walk when you on a mountain LOL.

This trip will be great. When we get up there I will try run into some of you no pun intended.

Thanks