Gore Conditions (2017 - 2018)

Garnet Hill's cam showing moderate snowfall:

https://www.garnet-hill.com/skiing/trail-conditions/

At our condo, snow is coming down sideways.  Gore website says no gondola today, looks like upper mountain is closed, so you have Showcase, Sunway/Quicksilver and Wild Air the only main trails open (at least this morning).

Petronio

Nuking in wilmington since 7!  Perfect get back snow

Gore closed

NorEaster27 wrote

Gore closed

How did you learn this?

Website, trail count keeps deferring from 20 to 12 now which is really just the bunny hill

While driving up last night I knew it was going to be bad.  

Its 11:10 AM and the sun is coming out, its about 12 degrees with patches of blue in the sky.  An ideally winters day.  

It came and went like a nightmare in our deep winter slumber brought on by -20 below temperatures just a week ago tomorrow.  Tree boughs laced with beautiful tufts of snow, wood smoke bounding from the camp trying to overcome the deep arctic air, all washed away in a torrent of Gulf moisture that invaded our domain.  

Torrential rain, fog and strong firm winds, driving it all deep into the snow pack.  At around 3:00 AM I could hear the tell tale sound of the rain transitioning into ice and I awoke to a white out of thick heavy snow which transitioned to a fine cool powder, sugar coating the remains of what was the beginnings of a spectacular season.  

I look out my window and question, did it really happen?  Was the nightmare real?  Did this tropical holocaust really reign down the peril and destruction that is every skiers darkest night?

Reality has set in, we are standing down from Gore today.   Giving the mountain the space it needs to recover.  As pass holders and we will waive what limited terrain is available to our mountain guests who undoubtedly committed valuable resources to this Holiday weekend.

Tomorrow is a new day, I'm sure I'll take my hat off to the Gore crew at least once and thank them for their fortitude.


View of the fresh sugar coated nightmare

I am here now.  AE2 and Sunway chair only lifts running. Talked to a liftie  - the gondola is iced up.  Showcase scraped down to bare ice in numerous places.  Have not skied Sunway yet.  Overheard a nonpassholder in the saddle lodge: "I knew it was going to be bad, but not this bad."

Petronio

May be the worst MLK weekend ever which is amazing considering how good it was just a few days ago, like best ever Xmas week into new year's

This is why I stayed home this weekend. While I love to ski, and have a season pass, sometimes it isn't worth it to drive up for 2-3 runs followed by drowning the boilerplate away in beers.

I'll be back at it next weekend. Glad I got 2 great days in at Baker last weekend.

NorEaster27 wrote

Gore closed

I guess you are right, tomorrow's report is up...

I hear that the webcam is nearly upon us. Not the usual Source but a fairly official source I would say.

Okay, deep breath.  We actually had a good ski day today.  There are problem spots.  Every time we got to the saddle, the only words in my head were "barren, windswept wasteland".  Big sheet of ice, so stay to skiers left.  Sunway off the chair  (right before Otter Slide) is an icy, bumpy mess.  But when they opened up Lower Sleighride it was sugary goodness -- we just lapped it over and over.  The Arena is in surprisingly good shape.  Ski with caution, however - I got careless, and hit a frozen slush tire track.  Both skis came off and I went flying.  Lucky I didn't break my arm.

Petronio

Sagamore recovered.... but bone chilling at 8:45 am

So Sunday...how was it....Monday....how will it be....back to mid-Jan normalcy by end of week or sooner?

Hopefully by next weekend but not till the level it was around Xmas, glades are done until we get a 10 inch storm

Today was the best ski day of the year.

Not because the conditions were amazing, not because we had the whole mountain to ourselves, not because 98% of the mountain was open, not because we summited from the Yurt, not because the glades were full of deep powder, not because of the amazing hero snow, not because of it was dumping white out.

It was amazing because I was greeted in the parking lot by a smiling face, full of warmth, and because of liftie Jim on High Peaks chair, his smile and New Year greeting, because of the guys loading the Straightbrook and their friendly hello.  Most of all it was because of everyone that worked behind the scenes to bring the mountain back and give us a ski day that was our best of the year.  Topped off of course by a fantastic fireworks display in the Arena.

It was Gore at its best.  There was no doubt about it in my mind as I lay on the snow in single digit temps listening to Elton John's Rocket Man as the fireworks lit up the winter sky.

We took the AEII up to Wood In, which had guns on it, but very skiable.  Up the High Peaks Chair, to Cloud and Headwaters, which considering the weather were skiing quite well.  On lower Headwaters just below the Hawkeye merge there were some substantial rocks peaking out, semi hidden in the gun plumes.  Chatiemac and Hawkeye both skied well.  Tannery was a bit scary as I realized that one more heavy rain event could severely punish what is left of the cover.  

By far the best run of the day was Uncas.  On skiers right, immediately adjacent to the woods line was really good fresh snow.  Even skiing through the weeds on the headwall, there was still cover.  Foxlair has extremely light cover leading down to the headwall.  Sunway and Quicksilver were both skiable, especially under the guns. We did not cover Burnt Ridge.

Of course there was ice and hard pack, but isn't that what Northeast skiing is all about anyway?  And who cares?  Today was the best ski day of the year!


Fireworks in the Arena
Courtesy kpomography.com

Lol

MikePom wrote

Of course there was ice and hard pack, but isn't that what Northeast skiing is all about anyway?  And who cares?  Today was the best ski day of the year!

Amen

Haven't had a chance to update -- MikePom summed it up nicely.  The mountain needs a fresh dump to bring it back to where it was before last week's weather event.

Two things:  

1 -- thank God for the snowfall at the end of the weather event, we would be in much worse shape if that did not happen.  

2 -- kudos to Gore staff.  The transformation of conditions from Saturday to Sunday was simply amazing.  Granted, I saw a record number of folks being brought down in toboggans by patrol on Sunday, but like I posted on Saturday night, these are "ski with caution" conditions.  Here dwell (ice and rock) monsters.

We did not ski on Monday due to work schedules, but from the condo it looked like guns were blasting all night. Presumably they will continue blasting snow around the clock.

Petronio