Gore Conditions (2013-2014)

good day today. everything skied really well. north side being the only exception (horrible!)

Another great day at Gore, no crowds and great skiing especially the Summit

I was at Gore from Sunday until today.  Rode only from 8:30 to 11:30 this morning but I definitely had the most fun today.  The snow was great on all areas of the mountain, Tahawaus being the only exception (it just opened today and had a frozen granular surface).  The cord was nice at the summit yesterday, but the light, dry powder today was an awesome way to finish off the trip.

Snowguns were blasting today on Sunway, Quicksilver, and Burnt Ridge.  The natural snow depth at the summit is recovering nicely and hopefully this next storm can open up some additional terrain.

New Year's Day lift line.

Raymo40 wrote

New Year's Day lift line.

That's more like it!

It was surprising how deserted Gore was yesterday, and also surprising how nice the skiing was.  Between the snow Sunday night and the lake effect bonus Tuesday night, the mountain has improved dramatically since the weekend.  One of the nicest ski days so far this season.

Hawkeye, deserted in mid-morning:

Just about every trail that we skied up top it seemed like we were the only ones there.  I guess getting stupid drunk for New Year's Eve and watching football all day on New Year's Day must still be popular.  My tr and pics here.

Utah powder today get it before the wind tomorrow

got it 

reports of a greet powdahhhhhhhh day at Gore, dam work

Mountain was rather interesting today.  Lots of powder... that got tracked and scraped off quick.  Hullabaloo turned into an ice rink by 11am.  Hawkeye skied nice in the morning, didn't hit it in the afternoon.  I actually had the most fun on the Northside, both sleeping bear and tauhaus were great and no one was over there.  Thick fog was traveling around the entire hill, lower mountain in the morning and upper later in the day.  Made the mistake of going down a partially roped twister, that was... interesting.  Most people were walking down it by the end, guns going, huge whalebacks, and snow gun fog pretty much made it total white out.  Decent crowd, saddle was packed.  This snow is going to be killer after it gets tilled in.  Would go up tomorrow, but I froze my ass off today, tomorrow is supposed to be much colder and windier.  

Unfricken believable, no lines, not too windy, great day

A brief look at the fun I had today...

I think I might have seen that before...

I think the cold kept the crowds away on Saturday.  Didn't look like anybody had to park on the access road, which is pretty surprising for 2 days after a big region-wide snowstorm.  Conditions were nice all over the mountain, and it turned out to be a very comfortable day on the slopes with bright blue sky and minimal wind.  


Woods looked enticing but there's no base.  We skied the one open glade (Darby Woods), it hadn't seen much traffic but was still kind of marginal.  Here's another peek into the woods - it looks good but it's fluff over rocks and sticks.


The triple chair has been down for a week now, and you could notice the difference in the gondi line on Saturday.  While it was never more than 5-ish minutes, it should have been closer to walk-on for the crowd size.  On the other hand, the triple usually doesn't get a lot of takers on a zero degree day anyway.  But it is a reminder how reliant Gore is on the gondi - if that thing suffers a mechanical or a windhold without the triple as a backup people mover, the mountain will be SOL.
Gondi line:


As usual, my full tr and pics are here.

Saturday was good. I thought it was pretty crowded on Sunday and spent too much time standing in line. The repeated attempts at scanning season passes that won't scan backs things up pretty quickly. They were blowing snow on the Rumor again. All in all the mountain was in good shape. The woods need one more big storm. Hopefully it didn't rain up there as bad is it did just South.

That picture of the summit is a classic, Jeff.

ml242 wrote

The triple chair has been down for a week now, and you could notice the difference in the gondi line on Saturday.

I bet that ORDA wishes they got rid of that hunk of junk last year.  Good thing that they have got the Hedges Trail now.  You can now get to the top as long as the BRQ and the NQ are running.  Skate down Cedars and take the BRQ to the top.  Then ski Hedges to Tahawus and ride the NQ to The Saddle.  Then down Wood In to the HPC and you are in the summit area.  I ski right by the gondola if there is a line and the triple is bearable.  I go to Gore to ski, not wait in line to get out of the base area.  If it gets too crowded, you Gore skiers can always come to Hunter or Creek to avoid the crowds.  They already got rid of their rickity old lifts and replaced them with new ones, so lines like the one pictured wouldn't be caused by lift issues.

snoloco wrote

I bet that ORDA wishes they got rid of that hunk of junk last year.  Good thing that they have got the Hedges Trail now.  You can now get to the top as long as the BRQ and the NQ are running.  Skate down Cedars and take the BRQ to the top.  Then ski Hedges to Tahawus and ride the NQ to The Saddle.  Then down Wood In to the HPC and you are in the summit area.

I did this the other day. It's pretty lame and takes a long time, BUT it beats standing in the Gondi line.

snoloco wrote

You can now get to the top as long as the BRQ and the NQ are running.  

And as long as the HPC is running, all three of which are usually shut down mid-week.

But could you imagine lapping Showcase or any of the frontside trails by skating down Cedars and riding the BRQ and NQ?  That's not an option for the general public.

I'm not complaining about the situation with the triple or about having to wait 5 minutes for the gondi, just pointing out that the current situation leaves Gore quite vulnerable.  

YUKON CORNELIUS wrote

I did this the other day. It's pretty lame and takes a long time, BUT it beats standing in the Gondi line.

By the way Yuke, how long was the wait for the gondi on Sunday?  Cedars -> BRQ -> Hedges ->North Quad has to take a lot more time than toughing out even a 10-minute gondi line (which is a long gondi line by Gore standards).

Adk Jeff wrote

all three of which are usually shut down mid-week

While they should be running mid-week, the midweek crowds are never enough to cause a lineup at the gondi, so my option is not needed.