Gore Conditions (2015 - 2016)

Impressed with anyone who did Lies.  That looked scary.  Best conditions of the year and the crowd wasn't too bad.  Not too cold with temps in the 30s, but a bit of wind kept blowing clouds in and out all day and it was cooler at the top.  Hawkeye and Topridge with bumps and edgeable hard pack, with Topridges bumps being swept away as the day went on.  They'll need to keep blowing, because ice and ground starting to show through in spots, especially Quicksilver which was browning up nicely at the end of the day.  Sunway with good snow the whole way.  Open Pit finally open with bare patches where it usually have bare patches.  Lines at the AE and the gondola but ski right on at Top Ridge and SBQ, but at the end of the day it was really softening up at the bottom, like spring skiing and would have spent more time there if not for the lift lines!

Lies skier's left to the lollipop then drift right was such a blast...but I loved the ski patroller's warning of "impenetrable ice" on the headwall...avoidable on the left
The bumps on Hawkeye were really good and I enjoyed Open Pit with hard but edgeable upper and softer below.  I heard people were in the woods today and if I had my other skis I would have attempted Chatti.  Anyone on this blog get busted skiing nugget?  I saw ski patrol with a couple that might have ducked a rope
We are sooo close.  today definitely offered more than I expected
the brown on Quicksilver wasn't soo bad with rocks not terribly present.  I thought hawkeye was terribly crowded at times but other than that no complaints.  I told a Gore regular "another great day in paradise"  he said it was a great day but paradise?

I listened to patrol's Lies wrap to a few people.  They told them, that it was not very good, icy, lots of unmarked obstacles.

Some dropped off, I was going to see if they could talk me out of dropping in, but they waved me on.

Possible they had me confused with someone else. Or maybe they just assumed, being on teles, that I was a god.

I was so close to bailing...so happy I didn"t

Likewise impressed with anyone who skied Lies today.  We passed it on Headwaters and, looking up, my daughter asked if I was going to ski it today.  

"No," I said.  "Daddy doesn't want to spend the rest of the weekend in a hospital."

Petronio

I was doing a bit of exploring today so I missed this fun but looking at the pics of Lies, it looks like it would be a good prereq for Adirondack slide skiing w/o the monopods of coarse.

Best day at Gore so far this year.  SOOOO great having the summit terrain open!
Lies was a blast, kudos to Gore management and ski patrol for making it happen.  It looked WAY more gnarly from the bottom than it did from the top.  Ski Pat read us the riot act before heading in.  They used the word "technical" which I think was an excellent description.  Wisely, Beth (my wife) bailed but the kids & I thought it was great.  Pick of the day for sure.  It was just the kind of challenging, interesting skiing I needed to add some excitement to an otherwise relatively lackluster season.  Looking down (that's a patroller on the right):


Sylvie (my daughter in pink).  Daniel (my son) is already waiting at the bottom.


Looking up.  Gnarly.


Damn that trail was fun.  Great day.

By the way, whose tracks were those coming out of Nugget?  C'mon, fess up.

Get rid of those rocks so that it doesn't take 10 feet of base to get decent cover.  That's a lot of money saved that can go toward snowmaking at the Ski Bowl and Burnt Ridge.  That trail looks good if you want an excuse to get new skis.

snoloco wrote

  That trail looks good if you want an excuse to get new skis.

What a wussy.

Dynamite the whole damn thing. Or maybe go to Stratton.

The wrap from patrol was pretty intense. They were practicing for sno's next visit.  

Reality: they were most worried about how to get a sled down through the boulders.

I agree with Jeff it was awesome. This goes back to my theory about mountains attracting and retaining the kind of skiers who thrive there.  It was such a Gore thing to do (to open Lies) and the Gore faithful dug it.

Good to see you Jeff, if only for a minute. Sylvie needs a super hero costume too.  That kid is all out.

The random lollipop in your first pic is hilarious. WTF?

Harvey wrote

Dynamite the whole damn thing. Or maybe go to Stratton.

I agree with Jeff it was awesome. This goes back to my theory about mountains attracting and retaining the kind of skiers who thrive there.  It was such a Gore thing to do (to open Lies) and the Gore faithful dug it.

So blowing out the snowmaking budget trying to cover 10 foot boulders is a good thing, all while there is zero snow on your beloved Dark Side, plus the North Side, Burnt Ridge, and Ski Bowl?

Lies is 1000 feet long and 75 feet wide.  To cover it with a 6 foot base of snow (10 feet is exaggeration) would take 450,000 cubic feet of snow.  To reduce the needed base to 3 feet would save 225000 cubic feet.  That's snow that you can blow at the Ski Bowl, or in high traffic areas on the front side to keep conditions better later in the season.  Instead it is covering rocks that could be blasted out of there in a single day.

Here's an idea.  If you like Lies with minimal cover, how about asking Mike to not blow anymore snow there and save it for elsewhere.  I'm sure Burnt Ridge needs it if they want to have any hope of opening it this year.

God, snoloco. It's like you go out of your way to piss on people's fun. Nothing is ever good enough. Nothing will ever satisfy you. Relax and lighten up. Life is about more than other people doing exactly what you want them to do. People who have the most fun are people who take life as it comes and roll with the punches. Lies is open? Cool, I'll try that. If not? No biggie, I'll have fun on another trail. Whatever's clever, as my buddy says (64er knows what I'm talking about ).

All I want to say is that I hope that's still open Monday when I can get up there.

That has snowmaking on it, in that picture? I knew Lies was rough underneath, but that is wow! Gnarly. Gives you an appreciation of what snowmakers go through to get that covered. I bet Rumor is even more gnarly. No dragging snowguns with snowmobiles. Hand carry.

Great shots - Lies looked like major fun.

Ethan Snow wrote

That has snowmaking on it, in that picture? I knew Lies was rough underneath, but that is wow! Gnarly. Gives you an appreciation of what snowmakers go through to get that covered. I bet Rumor is even more gnarly. No dragging snowguns with snowmobiles. Hand carry.

Snowmaking is one tough job. Next to the guy who has to go and replace a pump in a septic tank I can't think of a nastier job. Next to the guy whipping a chain on an off shore oil rig or one of those guys on the deadliest catch - a very dangerous job - and for minimum wage and no benefits (seasonal ORDA job). Hug a snowmaker, they deserve it.

Harvey wrote

I agree with Jeff it was awesome. This goes back to my theory about mountains attracting and retaining the kind of skiers who thrive there.  It was such a Gore thing to do (to open Lies) and the Gore faithful dug it.

Good to see you Jeff, if only for a minute. Sylvie needs a super hero costume too.  That kid is all out.

The random lollipop in your first pic is hilarious. WTF?

Lies today reminded me of how back in the crappy 11-12 winter Gore pushed the envelope by opening Chati and Rumor on natural snow only and let skiers have at some of the glades even if they weren't in prime time condition.  Strategies like that went a long way towards salvaging a crappy season.
Sylvie's actually got a cape too, but for whatever reason the kids aren't wearing their capes this year.  Once S got one, D didn't want to wear his anymore.  But yeah, that girl is a trooper.
As for the lollipop, I think there was an exposed boulder drop-off below.

snoloco wrote

Here's an idea.  If you like Lies with minimal cover, how about asking Mike to not blow anymore snow there and save it for elsewhere.  I'm sure Burnt Ridge needs it if they want to have any hope of opening it this year.

Actually I think it'd be awesome if we had more "ski it if you can" terrain.

Ethan Snow wrote

That has snowmaking on it, in that picture? I knew Lies was rough underneath, but that is wow! Gnarly. Gives you an appreciation of what snowmakers go through to get that covered. I bet Rumor is even more gnarly. No dragging snowguns with snowmobiles. Hand carry.

Yup.  Props to the crew.

I got to say Matt said it well for me.  I just woke up and skied the best snow I could.  I won't forget today, it was great!  We were headed down to ski the bottom and Zelda says... "well I feel obligated to tell you... I see skiers on Lies."  Off I went.

MC I think it will be open on Monday.  Patrol told me they are blowing there tonight. You will rock that, wish I could see.

You up for fireworks tomorrow, Harv? I'll be there for that.

mattchuck2 wrote

You up for fireworks tomorrow, Harv? I'll be there for that.

keep your eyes on the cats

Nice POV! (I keep my eyes on the cats and the daks!)

Right now fireworks probably not, early departure Monday, and I'm hoping to get up at first light and trackup the forecast 2-4.  Then we have to jump early Mon.

MC- you get freeskiing time on Sat at Platty?