Gore Conditions

Raining?  Debating on going

Right now the skiing is good.

The report from the mountain is “not raining, light fog, looks like it’s brightening up” at 938.
I didn’t go.

mm

I left just after 1 in a steady light rain.  The wetness was not terrible on and off and not very hard.  There was quite a bit of wind and the worst was the North Chair as it was directly into your face. The skiing was good in places.  I really enjoyed the bumps on lower Hawkeye but getting to them was a little work.  The Hawkeye headwall was dicey.  Lies eh a bit firm.  Sleeping Bear and Uncas were two of the best for snow today.   Topridge edges were fun and the rest continued to soften as the day and rain went on. Lower mountain was mostly soft but you had to be on your toes as patches of ice were still to be found.  We lost a bit of snow but should hold on until temps improve for snowmaking.  We could use a little help from Mother Nature too.

Looks like November in the hill, areas with no snow making are bare and there is really no base throughout, sad for the end of December

I thought today was decent, on the lower mountain.

Boy the NTN rips on the hardpack.

There were some turns to be had but the views were really sad, I’ve never seen so much grass so late in December

Good new and bad news....

First the good news...

We had a great afternoon of skiing yesterday.  It was just my oldest son and I and we had a lot of fun together.  Started on Twister which skied good, then Wood In Traverse to the High Peaks Chair, Lies, also skied good, it was warm enough that it was edge able.  Straightbrook up to the summit to Hawkeye, which was surprisingly good, a lot of deep ground sugar on skiers right, a bit of hardback below the chair though.  Tannery was fast, everything was fast, Uncas, Sunway, Otter Slide. Considering how abysmal the snow pack is all the open terrain skied well.  There were signs of ski fever here and there, like tracks on Double Barrel, I could feel tension in the air, folks really want to ski the mountain.


Hawkeye from the Straightbrook Chair

Cars filled the main lots and were starting to spill onto the access road, the mountain was well attended.  There were a lot of families in Cunninghams at end of day renting gear for the entire family, good news, and they were looking forward to a winter ski week.


Now the bad news.....

There was a terrible accident on the Topridge Chair, just before unloading it appears that someone fell off the chair while raising the bar to unload.  A mass of ski patrol was on top of this person, so many that when we passed over them on the chair we could barely see them.  Next run up, we saw blood in the snow.  Our hearts sunk and we prayed this person recovers  from what must have been a harrowing experience.

Last night the rain came...hard...and its still raining, freezing onto trees, but its leaning more to the rain side than the snow side.  The mountain does not need this.  The natural cover, for late December was sparse yesterday, and after this rain event its going to be much worse.  


Gore Summit from the Straightbrook Chair


If Mother Nature doesn't turn around soon, I don't see glade skiing in anyone's future for quite some time.  Guns were going strong on Pine Knot.  


Guns on Pine Knot

We didn't make it to the North Chair, decided to have a beer in the lodge instead.  Both sides of the bar were open, the lodge was full, the only thing missing was the snow.

It is now snowing at elevation 1,650’ in Johnsburg. I’ve not looked at the base area web cam to see what’s happening at the Mountain.

Just checked the base webcam. Only thing spinning is the Sunway double. Snowpack looks saturated. No one there.

snowing

Major CF. Mallet pounding the Gondi.

I saw on Facebook today that the lift line at Gore on New Year’s Eve stretch all the way down the access road (exaggeration).

Cropped that ^^ for ya.

Seems to me the Gore conditions narrative is improving, some good info:

WHAT'S HAPPENING

With conditions like this, the mountain is making it easy to kick off those skiing and outdoor recreation resolutions!   Today will be a calm and mild day for exploring a vast amount of fun Adirondack terrain including the recently added Pine Knot and the Wood Lot trails in the High Peaks area.  Groomers are planning to hit up nearly every open trail overnight including Lies.  The snowmakers were most recently working on Pine Knot  and in the High Peaks area.  Don't forget that the Village Chair at the North Creek Ski Bowl is open until 8pm nightly through Sunday, providing some extra opportunity to keep your turns going into the evening hours.  Test your time in the gates or join your buddies in some friendly competition- our complimentary recreational racing course will be set up on The Arena every weekend in January!  Echo is open for racing only today.

Seems like Echo is only open for racing everyday

It’s officially puking at the Saddle right now.


Dark side earlier today.

That looks nice! Any new tracks on that line?

NorEaster27 wrote

Seems like Echo is only open for racing everyday

Someone from NYSEF told me a week ago that they only made snow on the lower half of Echo. That is consistent with what I could see from twister.

I was at the mountain all day today and did not see any rain. Some sleet mixed in with wet snow. 2-3 inches on my car at 3:30 so I would expect more at the top.

tom

Would expect 6 inches from top of gondola and up, we got lucky today was rain in southern VT

Harvey wrote

That looks nice! Any new tracks on that line?

Only some poachers....there and on Double Barrel from what I saw.  Great day of skiing yesterday, skied the hardest I've skied in two years.  Giving my new hip a day off today and tending to the wood stove.