Gore Conditions (2017 - 2018)

Better tuck that Ski3 Pass into your pocket and sharpen your edges Harvey because the countdown clock is ticking!



(PS...note the 3:00 PM delta on the countdown time due to my being in London this week....the poor brits...they'll never get to experience the wonders of snow!)

Ain't going to need no sharp edges in this pow filled season.

Mike's post will be the first of the new Gore Conditions thread when I get back to my desk.

Thanks for the reset Harvey!

The Old Farmers Almanac has an 80% success rating on their weather predictions and its looking like November should be setting up for the start of a great ski season!

NOVEMBER 2017: temperature 35° (4° below avg.); precipitation 5" (1.5" above avg.);

Nov 1-6: Rain, then flurries north, showers south;

Nov 7-11: Snow, then sunny, cold;

Nov 12-17: Rain and snow, then flurries, cold;

Nov 18-21: Rainy, mild;

Nov 22-26(GORE Opening Day!!: Snowstorm, then flurries, cold;

Nov 27-30: Showers, mild.


Bring it on....I'm ready!

Love the optimism in the first page of this year's conditions thread.

Let's hope everything works out. New Saddle Lodge looks spiffy.

Was out in Lake George for a wedding yesterday and decided to swing by the Ski Bowl to get some mountain biking in. Love the trail system at the Ski Bowl, and ended up riding to the top of the Hudson chair. From what I could see on the singletrack that went through some of the glades woods looked to be in good shape. If you've never ridden the Ski Bowl on a MTB I highly recommend it. Trails are well built and well maintained (except lots of leaves right now but to be expected).



While I love biking, time to get some snow on these trails!

Was thinking about doing "10 Questions with Bone."

If anyone can help me out, post below. I'd appreciate it.

Looking back at my October 15 entry, I'm seeing that the Old Farmer's Almanac predicted it going Snowy and Cold for November 7th - 11th.  It appears that their 80% success rate might hold up with this coming weeks forecast!  

That being said perhaps this is the line up for the Thanksgiving snow storm they are predicting.  Seeing Whiteface fire up the guns today and the Killington posts this morning, I'm realizing that the 2017 - 2018 season is getting real really fast.



16 days to go and with a bit of luck, maybe Gore can better that.  This is my last countdown entry.  Next time you see me I'll be stepping into the Gondola with my Monoski.

Ski on!!  I'm pumped for a great season!

Just saw on the Gore homepage some shot's of snowmaking on Showcase. Won't be long!

Rumor has it Gore will open AE 2 and Showcase on Sat 11/18....  A week early would be nice!!!

DanM wrote

Rumor has it Gore will open AE 2 and Showcase on Sat 11/18....  A week early would be nice!!!

It's now official.  Saw the announcement on their FB page.  Website says Showcase fully open, and a second hodgepodge
 trail down from AE2.

Petronio

Figures, Gore gets primed for an early opener, and I am looking at the weather this weekend, could be dicy, especially Sunday.  My hats going off to the first skier to make turns on Saturday morning. The good news, looking at the forecast for next week, they should be able to recover and build on what’s opening this weekend.  It’s exciting, I can’t believe the season is right on top of us.

Any one have any pics from today?

EDIT: from Suds...

Best coverage I've ever seen on opening weekend. Great idea to open showcase as it can accommodate far more volume than quicksilver. Conditions were classic eastern- wind scowered ice on the saddle, frozen cord and cat tracks, and pockets of granular sugar. Checked out the remodeled saddle lodge. The bathroom looks, well, out of place. It looks like you are in a newly built office building. Curious about thoughts on high tables with bar height stools. IMHO, there don't appear to be ski boot friendly. I would have gone with traditional height tables and chairs.

saddle looks good, will take a little getting used to I guess.

I love the amount of seating and all the windows. New baths are fine--a little office-y? Sure, but heckuva an improvement.

tables and chairs look good....but I had the same opinion on them being bar height. I kind of liked the lower traditional chairs that let you kind of spread your legs out and slouch if you wanted to. Sitting on those higher chairs with boots is a probably a short term affair. Though we did dig the little "shelf" under each chair to put gloves, helmet, scarf, etc.

mystery text

bumps on Wild Air

After a late morning recovering from a turkey overstuffing, we opened Gore today.  The weather was excellent, sunny, and the perfect temperature to rediscover our ski legs.

As Harvey displayed, great conditions on Wild Air, nice bumps built up with surprisingly skiable snow.  Showcase, along with everything that was open, had deep cover for Black Friday.  Foxlair was firm hard-pack, especially in the chute.

I decided to take my first run of the season on my Monoski, its a big board to throw around, but it felt great to be skiing again.  It also felt great to be back at Gore.  I think its wonderful that the State invested so much back into the mountain.  The improvements to the base gondola barn are impressive, and though we didn't have a chance to get into the new Saddle Lodge, we are excited to do so, as it also looks impressive.  More than anything else, we are looking forward to breaking in the new Straightbrook Lodge.

With solid early season cover, the mountain is in a great position to expand terrain as it appears the weather system we are in will continue to hold.

We are looking forward to making more turns over the Thanksgiving weekend.  Harvey...flag me down....look for my big board!


Snow Texture on Showcase

Mike I saw you ripping that mono!
Will keep my eyes open for you.  I agree great to be back at Gore!

MikePom wrote

Snow Texture on Showcase

Mike
I would love to see more stuff about your mono board. When I worked at Alpine they still banned snowboards but there were a decent number of mono-skiers and folks on the ultra short ski-blade type things. It always struck me as funny that there were so open to folks on the niche-gear while they were so close-minded towards boarders. How did you get into it in the first place? Does somebody design boards specifically for this application or is it just a snow board with ski bindings screwed on? If so, what style of board is a good candidate to be a mono? What's it like to ride? Maybe we need a thread in the wood stove dedicated to this? I would read it.

I'm glad to see so much interest in the Monoski.  I was always intrigued by them, those latent mental images of the 70's.  A long time ago at Killington I blew off a mogul and hammered my hip.  For years it would bind up and I could push on it just the right way and it would pop back into place....sometime in my late 40's it stopped popping and the arthritis set in.  

I needed a way to manage my bad hip still be challenged on the mountain.  The monoski spread the forces out over both legs much more symmetrically.  And it skis the way I learned how, in the late 60's, boots tight together, sitting back.

It is a lot of board to throw around and I've been working it for 4 years now.  On packed powder its like skiing on a 747, you turn into a jet and can carve monster turns.  I've been working the 46er the last few years with it and enjoying the pitch.  Its a bit intimidating taking it over the headwall of the Rumor.  Most of all though.....it HATES ICE....

It was built by a small fabricator on an island in Puget Sound....

http://www.snowshark.com/TTHAMMER.HTML

I believe Parlor in Boston can build one for you also.  And then there is always France.

Whats your boot size???