Gore 11/25/2011 (Opening Day)

In my mind, the Black Friday rush doesn't lead to Wal Mart, but ends at the parking lot of Gore Mountain. As always, opening day was a blast. It was 50 degrees and sunny. The slopes weren't overly crowded. The snow conditions were reminiscent of late March. It was a bit difficult to put off the memory of skiing a foot of fresh powder at Killington just two days ago, but that aside it was a fine Opening Day at Gore.

Skiers enjoyed one long, mellow run top-to-bottom off the gondola, with Foxlair, Sunway, Quicksilver and Jamboree (am I missing one in there?) patched together.

Bare spots and rocks? Check.
Paths through clean, soft snow to avoid the aforementioned? Check.

As expected, the snow disintegrated as the day went on. Keep in mind that the following pictures are stills from my helmet cam (sorry about the quality) taken at about 10am.


Approaching Foxlair from the top of the Gondola.


Looking back up at the bend in Foxlair. This was a little hairy at times.


Looking up at the steep part of Foxlair from Sunway.


Approaching Quicksilver from Sunway.


That last part of Quicksilver, right before the short, steep section that dumps into the Arena area.


Approaching the base area.

All in all, it was a paradise for season-passholders itching for their first day out. I think I'd save my money for later in the season if I had to pay for a ticket, but either way it was fun.

miker92 wrote

Skiers enjoyed one long, mellow run top-to-bottom off the gondola, with Foxlair, Sunway, Quicksilver and Jamboree (am I missing one in there?) patched together.

Missing 3B. It's that almost horizontal connector between Sunway/Quicksilver an the Gondola area.  There probably isn't a way to open two lifts at Gore on less terrain. Yea it's patchy and thin, but I give Gore credit for going for it, in this case.

Great report IMO. You can look at the pictures, add in the 10am factor, and make a guess about tomorrow.

fixedheelin and I went up friday for opening day,warm temps soft snow sunny skies.not sure how things will hold up for the wkend. may head back up sunday.its always good to get that first shake down tour ,didnt forget anything except how to layer,sweaty. most all the usual suspects were there,good to see black is still in.

Given the length of the opening trail segments and the lower elevation, I wonder why Gore doesn't open with Topridge via up/download? I know there is a strong desire to have skiing to the base lodge and beginner terrain ASAP and especially for a holiday weekend. But it seems like Gore could offer a better product with less risk of melting from Topridge.

riverc0il wrote

Given the length of the opening trail segments and the lower elevation, I wonder why Gore doesn't open with Topridge via up/download? I know there is a strong desire to have skiing to the base lodge and beginner terrain ASAP and especially for a holiday weekend. But it seems like Gore could offer a better product with less risk of melting from Topridge.

They've certainly done that in the past.  The word I got today was that Gore snowmaking crews worked ~8 consecutive nights.  They blew on Topridge and the 5-trail route from the Gondola, whenever temps allowed.  On none of those days were they able to blow straight through the day, due to temps.

Also the temp inversion was really strong this AM (10 degrees in 1000 feet). This past week there were days where temperature inversion allowed more blowing (and less melt) on the bottom.  Basically they blew on both runs and weren't able to get Topridge going.  You could see it today too. Much more snow at the bottom of the mountain. Was really weird.  Will post some pics tonight.