Gore Conditions (2012-2013)

I will be going Presidents Day weekend.  Great to see snowmaking on BR as it is my favorite mountain area.

Too funny Harv. Wife and I decided on the way up to do the Glades to Glory clinic tomorrow. 4-6 in the crick when we arrived. Should be a great day tomorrow. Get there early!

Made it to the mountain 3 times this week for a few hours each day and each time was better than the previous visit.

Monday:  Conditions were much better than the previous Friday (when a lot of the trails looked to me like they were in trouble).  Chatiemac and Hawkeye were the runs of the day for me as I lapped them over and over.

Wednesday:  Conditions were even better than Monday and they were blowing a lot of snow on the mountain.  Lies and Topridge kept me very entertained.

Friday:  Today was the best of the 3!  I spent a lot of time on the Dark Side and Lower Steilhang (my first runs on there ever) and Hullabaloo were my favorites.  I would have spent the whole day there today but my legs were feeling it because even though I only skied a few hours each day I skied hard (for me) and non-stop each day.

I'm guessing that tomorrow is going to be fantastic.  Wish I could be there.  Looks like Hickory might happen though....

Snowhunter wrote

...(my first runs on there ever)...

JG is going to post something on Hickory's status in the Woodstove tomorrow morning, when they make the call.

Thanks!  I've wanted to try Lower Steilhang for a couple of years but you can't see the trail and I never seemed to be able to get any reports on it that I could use to judge whether or not I should give it a go (I'm usually up there alone).  Today I was fortunate enough to see a couple come out from there just as I was finishing off Hulabaloo.  I waited for them by the top of the chair and flagged them down to get the scoop on the trail.  I finally had enough info to feel confident that it was within my ability range.  So glad I did it.  They weren't my prettiest runs but I had a blast doing them!  It will only get better for me from here on.

Thanks for the heads up on Hickory.  It's right down the road from me so we figure on checking it out if they open.

To keep this on track as a conditions post:  Again, based on how much snow they've been blowing, the grooming they'be been doing and tonight's snow, tomorrow should be one of the best days of the year!  Enjoy everyone!

Snowhunter - a friend of mine describes Lower Stalhang as a trail that a few well placed sticks of dynamite would improve. I have to disagree, there are trails at Gore that should never change, lower Stalhang is one. It's that classic trail that lulls you in than kicks your butt. Upper Darby is the same. Before I discovered the Glades at Gore - these two were my favorites.

Snowhunter you should have just asked. We would be glad to give you info on trails. This might have changed your mind tho. I love that trail.

Oh that looks like a classic. Do you remember the year it got the name of the toilet bowl?

DackerDan- The only thing I would change would be to make it longer!

Raymo40- Thanks, I should have.  I might be nuts but I think the headwall had a sharper drop off and some bigger mounds below today.  Could just be the angle of the pic.  I love that pic though!

I'm not sure how I made it through both times without falling (wish I had it on film) but there were no panic moments, just fun and hanging on!

Today was soo much fun. So much fun. Sorry.  The new snow was really of similar quality to what fell yesterday.  The recently groomed stuff was OK, pretty good really, but not pow. Wind deposited snow on the sides.

Duck and I got first tracks on probably 4" on top of grooming on QuickSilver and first tracks on Twister.

The north side was DELUXE and we lapped it 6x?  Each time we planned to ski something else we'd change our mind last minute and drop back into the North. Low angle poof that you could float through. You could kind of bounce down it.  Even when it got cut up, it was prime.

Best of the day was IMO Barkeater, Twister Glades, Cirque then Tahawas.  You could dive into spots if you used a soft touch.

My best day in a while. Great skiing with you Duck.


Barkeater

It was a great day Harv. Since I moved here  5 winters ago I'm pushing 400 days and today has to be in the top 10. We had great trail selection today. Your plans for tomorrow sound great, but don't forget that the bowl hasn't been skied yet!

Today was a good day, the 18" never materialized but it was a good day. I dropped the rope on Pine knot for the huddled masses and then went over to Uncas, a crowd had been there already but there was a clean line down the left. Everone was headed for the summit so I took Uncas left and it was untracked. Then up the TR3 and down topridge, it was mostly untracked - again, everyone was going for the summit. Later I went in with two other patrollers and we checked out twister glades before we dropped the rope on twister, then down echo which was absolutely virgin. Up the BRQ before it was opened. I had to set up the ropes so we could open Barkeater but not Sagamore, so I had to wait after about 20 people had gone down but there was still a lot of untracked. Then up and over to Tahawus, nice snow in there too but it had seen a lot more traffic by that time. The afternoon was just some good skiing on chopped but it was all good. It was a good day at Gore.

I am going tomorrow.  According to the website the skibowl and the Hudson chair will be open.

Another good day at Gore. I decided with the crisp but clear temps it would be a good day to try out my new skins. The groomed looked inviting, perfect but I had other plans, I put the skins on the skis and went straight up the J bar hill, that was easy. Came down and noticed that Cedars we just opened, I also heard that Sagamore may open so I put the skins in the bag and went over. As I was going up the BRQ patrol was checking the trail out, looked a little crusty in spots but still good. When I got to the top it was opened and it was indeed sweet. Back up again and then down Echo. Up the old triple and back down to Twin Fawns/Little Dipper where I watched my daughter take a practice Slalom run. Down to the base of the Tannery road and I put the skins on and skinned up to the base of the TR3. A nice little workout although not recommended, once you get past the foundation you should really turn around so that none of the usually skiers get the idea the road is a ski trail. I Popped the skins and road the lift. The rest of the day was skiing the groomers - everything was nice although some trails were a little dicey. The AT gear - wide boards and soft boots just don't grip the steep hard pack so trails like Top ridge or lower stalhang I really had to check my speed.

I really like the skins, I think they will climb very steep terrain but they don't glide well. I suspect I will need to learn to take them on and off quite a bit. They will be good for a morning workout and some adventures,

The North Creek Ski Bowl was, yet again, fantastic.  Shaman, Chuck, Freeheeln, Fixedheeln, AJ, NEWMAN! and I did laps in the trees, and didn't encounter a skier outside of our group until 10:45. Untracked everywhere. When I'm bounding down the fall line, laughing, and keeping up with those guys... you know it's fantastic.



I just don't understand the general aversion to the ski bowl. I parked 50 feet from the lift at 8am.  At 11 am we popped out of the trees onto a trail for the first time and were ripping cord.  We were laughing today, because I personally have done so much raving about the bowl over the last two years, and it's still.. tumbleweeds over there...

I probably took 500 pics this weekend, should have a few good ones in there, will get them up asap, which realistically is probably tomorrow.

Harvey44 wrote

I just don't understand the general aversion to the ski bowl.

Misguided quantity over quality perception. Must not have enough groomers

I would have stayed there until the end if the lift didn't break...did it go back online before the end of the day..anyone?

It was only down for about an half hour, minor repair. We did get a good crowd late morning.

the ski bowl was awesome today.  Not sure what happened with the hudson chair, since I went back to Burnt Ridge when they said they might need to close it.  Sagamore was really great too.

The bowl is not good. There is no powder or glades there. If there are, they are very lonely scary places. The parking is very far from the lodge, not mere steps as has been incorrectly alluded to. It's a very sad, dismal place and really, really hard to get to by skis as well. So if the Hudson's chair is open do not, I repeat do not go there.  The main mountain is so much better. Really.