Gore Conditions (2014-2015)

snoloco wrote

This is the lodge I'm used to.  It's fancier than any lodge in NY.  Take a look at the pictures below and you'll imediatly want out with the tent the bowl has now.

Slope side view


Parking lot side view.


Cafeteria complete with fancy wooden beams and light fixtures


Floor to ceiling windows.


Super fancy restaurant.


You can clearly see from these pictures that MC's lodge is anything but utilitarian.  You go in there after being in a lodge anywhere in NY and it looks like a museum.  Everything and I mean everything matches (floor, walls, ceiling, doors, tables, chairs, signs, or anything else).  You name anything in there and it'll match perfectly with the rest of the lodge.  It cost 12 million to build it and I'm sure the new/old owners think it was worth every penny.  As you gore guys boot up and eat lunch in a tent, think of what we've got down at MC.  Just admit, you'd love to have a ski lodge like this at the bowl.

Overcompensation. They try and make up for a shitty mountain with a crazy, fancy lodge. No thank you.

Harvey wrote

Txt from Shaman:


4 inches up top

And they opened Rumor from the head wall.

Harvey wrote

Txt from Shaman:


4 inches up top

Awesome.  It ain't over till its over folks.  Next weeks plans just changed for me.  

Gore skied great today.  The 4 to 6 inches from Thursday - Friday put the mountain back into full-on winter mode.  Bunch of glades were open up top.  Straightbrook trees, Chati Glade an Darby Woods all skied very well with some untracked lines if you know where to look.  A few others skied nicely that Patrol must have forgotten to drop the ropes on .  Hawkeye, Chati, Uncas, Open Pit all nice packed powder that probably would have gotten scraped down to ice with heavier traffic, but with today's light crowds (didn't fill Lot D) it all held up great.  Bottom of the mountain got a bit granularish but we stayed up top all day other than a run down at lunchtime. Tons of base, great coverage all over.  

Bottom line, a really nice day.  On a day like today I am not wishing for spring.

Sunshine and hero snow. Spring corn and some first tracks in the woods. The mountain is still skiing great.

Conditions as of Tuesday 3/31, from what I skied/saw:

--Dark side/High Peaks has great cover.  Cloud, Lower Darby, Santanoni, Woodlots all keeping their cover and skiing well.  From the double chair, the darkside glades looked like they still had plenty of cover, at least enough to ski it without skiing dirt.  A few bare patches.  Only saw a couple of people there all day.  Upper part of Open Pit got kind of mushy in the afternoon.  Sometimes cementlike.  

--Off the Straight Brook chair:  I skied Chatiemac, Hawkeye and Lies for the first time.  Skied well.  Can someone tell me that this is the perfect time of year to ski Lies?  It was steep but I thought I'd have a more difficult time.  I can see if the snow is frozen hardpack it could be pretty scary.  Headwaters still has great cover.  People were having a blast on the Straight Brook Glades.

--Topridge:  Pine Knot and Uncas have plenty of snow cover.  Uncas was a lot of fun.  Tannery holding up.

--Did not ski the front side except for Twister.  Twister never softened up at the top, but then halfway down (right around the first steeper drop), started to get kind of mushy in the afternoon.  Some dirt showing on the lower half.  Arena is a mess.

Burnt Ridge and North Side closed today and tomorrow.

Right before lunch, we took a water break at the saddle lodge.  We came outside and it was like there had been a zombie apocalypse -- no one around as we were gearing back up.  Finally a woman skied over from Cloud and my daughters shouted There's someone!"  

Tomorrow should be great, can't wait to get back out there.

Petronio

wind kept things a bit stiff depending on the aspect and the time ,Rumor headwall had the aspect! we found the time!

Thanks to all who reported.  This page really helped me make the decision to drive up for the Holiday.    

1030 to 1230.  Didn't rush up there as it was lightly raining here in the AM and wanted to give it a chance to stop.  Never saw the snow materialize that was coming, though it was clear that they had gotten some last night.  Very hard snow underneath that never softened up in the short time that I was there on Hawkeye and Chattiemac.  Clouds enveloped the mountain and the wind started to pick up and just wasn't feeling it so I cut it short.  Topridge is closed and probably won't re-open.  Lots of brown showing through there and on the Arena.  When I left, mashed potatoes on the lower runs.  Sagamore was similar but getting over there is quite a bit of an effort in the soft, melting snow and a pretty sizable crevasse has opened in the gully that makes it an adventure.  There is ice from the Saddle Lodge down to almost below the gondola on Sunway.  Rumor and Lies were open, but with Hawkeye and Chattiemac so hard with loose snow on top, I didn't want to chance it.  Maybe I'll be hitting it again tomorrow for the sunrise service.  

Rumor was good early. Did 3 runs before 11. Did the rest on top (Chatie, Hawkeye, Open Pit, Hullaballoo) before the temp started to drop and everything started to set up. Spent the afternoon on the lower mountain and Burnt Ridge before that also started setting up. Quit around 2:30. Will be back at it tomorrow morning.

Another great day today. Started low and followed the warm temps up the mountain. Burnt Ridge early (already softening around 9:00), Rumor and Lies around 12:30 to finish up the day. Time to go eat some Easter Dinner.

Gore was a total surprise today.  We headed up late morning expecting cloudy skies and frozen trails.  Instead we had bright blue skies and surprisingly soft snow top to bottom, despite relatively chilly air temperatures.  We headed up top right away and that strong April sun had already softened Rumor, which was our pick of the day.  Great spring conditions, though the bottom third of the mountain was mush.  As mentioned by others, Arena has some significant bare areas.

Daniel hot-dogging it on Rumor (he broke out his famous cape today for the first time in a few months):


Arena:

Wow, there's not much snow left on the lower mountain.  I would be surprised if they made it past next weekend with the r*in predicted for this week.

snoloco wrote

Wow, there's not much snow left on the lower mountain.  I would be surprised if they made it past next weekend with the r*in predicted for this week.

There are a few other problem spots here and there, but the above photo is by far the worst of it.  There are some very large jumps built up on lower Wild Air.  I think they will use that snow to keep Wild Air -> Jamboree skiable and maybe just let Arena go.  Upper mountain coverage is excellent.

Upper mountain has been great these past few days!.  The bottom is certainly sketchy.  Would be nice to figure out how to manage a ride down scenario given how great Gore peak is holding up.  Wasn't there today I'm curious as to how bad last nights rain in North Creek hurt the mountain.
I think Gore needs to blow more snow in key areas.  Holiday Valley, out buffalo way, is open this coming weekend.  The elevation of top of their lifts are BELOW the lodge at Gore.  Hell! they are below the top of Little Gore.
If they can blow enough snow to keep their area open this time of year, then Gore could blow enough in the lower area to keep it covered for April.  
Last day of operation there was easily a solid 6 foot deep slab of snow on Yodeler the entire run.  You could see it from the Yodeler chair while admiring the spring flowers under your chair.  Of course it helps that they have probably the most state of the art snow blowing system on the east coast, but none the less, they do NOT have the elevation!

Gorefarmhouse wrote

Upper mountain has been great these past few days!.  The bottom is certainly sketchy.  Would be nice to figure out how to manage a ride down scenario given how great Gore peak is holding up.  Wasn't there today I'm curious as to how bad last nights rain in North Creek hurt the mountain.

They have never done it to my knowledge, but they could easily do an upload/download situation on the Gondola.  Open the entire peak and as long as tannery holds out they would be good to go.  Many of us would like to see topridge and pine knot open first and offer an upload/download but Gore has never done that either.  

Gorefarmhouse wrote

Upper mountain has been great these past few days!.  The bottom is certainly sketchy.  Would be nice to figure out how to manage a ride down scenario given how great Gore peak is holding up.  Wasn't there today I'm curious as to how bad last nights rain in North Creek hurt the mountain.
I think Gore needs to blow more snow in key areas.  Holiday Valley, out buffalo way, is open this coming weekend.  The elevation of top of their lifts are BELOW the lodge at Gore.  Hell! they are below the top of Little Gore.
If they can blow enough snow to keep their area open this time of year, then Gore could blow enough in the lower area to keep it covered for April.  
Last day of operation there was easily a solid 6 foot deep slab of snow on Yodeler the entire run.  You could see it from the Yodeler chair while admiring the spring flowers under your chair.  Of course it helps that they have probably the most state of the art snow blowing system on the east coast, but none the less, they do NOT have the elevation!

Minimal snow loss from Monday to today. It was snowing a bit up there as well. The brown spots across the top of Rumor and Lies got a little bigger, but the mountain as a whole has great coverage for this time of year. I wouldn't consider the bottom "sketchy" as much as true Spring skiing. They groomed out all the jumps of Sleigh Ride so I am thinking this is their "exit" plan for skiers to get to the bottom. Other than that though, there appears to be very little effort to cover bare spots or fill in trails. Not sure if it is intentional or not. Either way, the mountain is in great shape. Get out and enjoy it.

Thanks Yuke, very helpful.

We've got a nice significant snow event going on right now at my cabin 7 miles north or Gore

YUKON CORNELIUS wrote

Either way, the mountain is in great shape. Get out and enjoy it.

Will be there Sunday, hopefully with the oldest kid.  Should be a nice day.

Petronio