Gore Conditions

Today's podcast says that the the Hudson chair will open Friday without the interconnect. Wednesday they were blowing snow on lower Pipeline near the BRQ, but not on Rumor. Patrollers were brushing out Tahawus glade and under the Straightbrook quad. It was a really nice day for fast groomers. I Clouded out without skating, maybe for the first time ever. Lies was groomed and skied as easy as I've ever skied it. Everything held up well in the cold weather.

They also have contractors building an impressive skier cross course on Wild Air if you like that kind of thing, but No Rumor for you!

mm

Rumor is a lot of fun for the 1 hour it's open before patrol has to close it because it gets too icy and dangerous.  I'd rather Gore blow that snow on main runs like uncas and tannery to build up the base to keep upper mountain open longer in the spring

TheGreatAbyss wrote

Rumor is a lot of fun ....  I'd rather Gore blow that snow on main runs like uncas and tannery to build up the base to keep upper mountain open longer in the spring

I agree with that, but it's discouraging to see so much effort (including widening WildAir) go into an event that doesn't add much value when they can't get the whole mountain open.  Upper Chateimac hasn't been open at all yet.

The biggest operating problem at Gore is that they need to cover miles of connecting trails (like Tannery, Wood Out, Pipeline, Cedars, etc) just to get the place open. Diverting snowmaking resources for a skier cross event just exacerbates the problem.

mm

I didn't even know about that event - but totally agree.

Is this what we are talking about?

Milo Maltbie wrote

The biggest operating problem at Gore is that they need to cover miles of connecting trails (like Tannery, Wood Out, Pipeline, Cedars, etc) just to get the place open.

True of course.

But all that traversing is big part of what makes Gore a special and magic place.

Draw me a topo map of a 500 acre hill with as much to do as Gore, that has no flats or traverses.  My guess is, it is not easy.

The ultimate no traverse mountain is either a ridge like Belle, or a single peak.  It's hard to find multiple peaks without some kind of valley in between.

Mike Pratt always said at Gore you were skiing 9 sides of 4 mountains.

Who here has skied Gore when it was all open and the trees are in? IMO it's a total blast.

Harvey wrote

Is this what we are talking about?<br><br>

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If Gore wants to add stuff like this, its fine, but not at the expense of adding terrain that season pass holders are looking (and paying) for.

There are such a limited number of skiers who can benefit from a ski cross course, I don't know if it is justified.  Not to mention all the novice skiers and wanna be's that might give themselves a TBI trying.

Harvey wrote

Milo Maltbie wrote

The biggest operating problem at Gore is that they need to cover miles of connecting trails (like Tannery, Wood Out, Pipeline, Cedars, etc) just to get the place open.

True of course.

But all that traversing is big part of what makes Gore a special and magic place.

Draw me a topo map of a 500 acre hill with as much to do as Gore, that has no flats or traverses.  My guess is, it is not easy.

The ultimate no traverse mountain is either a ridge like Belle, or a single peak.  It's hard to find multiple peaks without some kind of valley in between.

Mike Pratt always said at Gore you were skiing 9 sides of 4 mountains.

Who here has skied Gore when it was all open and the trees are in? IMO it's a total blast.

All that traversing is what allows Gore to swallow thousands of skiers on a Presidents Day crunch without one even realizing it (after you get out of the parking lot of course).  Its one of the best parts about Gore.  

Next time you're on the Hudson Chair, look up at the Summit and you will realize how absolutely huge Gore has become.

MikePom wrote

Harvey wrote

Is this what we are talking about?

If Gore wants to add stuff like this, its fine, but not at the expense of adding terrain that season pass holders are looking (and paying) for. There are such a limited number of skiers who can benefit from a ski cross course, I don't know if it is justified. Not to mention all the novice skiers and wanna be's that might give themselves a TBI trying.

They have blown an ungodly amount of snow on Wild Air for this event, while the rest of the mountain lacks. Twister, Sagamore, etc. not blown full width... They've shown what they can do with snowmaking when they really try. Interesting... Also, with the way it's been crowded on the weekends the actual course set-up will be problematic. There are a couple of choke points that will be scary. I love that they're planning an event for the mountain and I think they should do more, but not at the expense of regular skiers. Get the whole mountain open first. Spread out those crowds.

I'm not a ski cross guy myself, and they did blow a ridonkulous amount of snow on it. And sure, that snow COULD have been blown elsewhere. I get it.

But this hasn't exactly been a great season weather wise thus far. But they've got every face of the mountain open with some isolated snowmaking area pockets still closed (Rumor, Lower Uncas, and upper Chati, namely). If they had blown that snow elsewhere, would it really have made for a significantly better experience than what we have today? Are the turns I'm making this weekend going to be all that more memorable? For me, I don't think so. And for me each day is about the memories--i love great conditions as much as the next guy, but it's the peak moments (both up and down) that I remember year over year. I don't remember the average day last year with packed powder throughout and most of the woods open but firm. But I remember the powder days. And I remember skiing in the rain and ice storms.

On the other hand, there's some buzz and excitement around the event. It's been cool watching them build that course. It's going to be cool to have all that excitement up there. That's a memory I wouldn't otherwise have and I think could spice up an otherwise week "average weekend".

And skiing Wild Air before they started construction with all that snow was a blast!

We wouldn't be having this discussion if it were not for the fact that Global Warming (yes I am saying it and yes I believe its a reality) hadn't destroyed our winters.

If Gore was getting the snow it deserves we would all be in the woods by now skiing our A**es off and no one would care about the blow over.


I'm watching the weather next week and what started as a three day snow fest, is now teetering on a rain snow mix.

Ugh.

See you at Gore next weekend Mike?!

I can't ski this weekend.  Work...but next weekend for sure.

Good choice!

Was up a Gore on Friday. Conditions were excellent all over, the very wet snow that occurred last weekend seemed to have formed excellent packed powder conditions. One of the best days so far this year. The only ice we encountered at all was at the very bottom of Sagamore and was easily avoidable. Echo, Hawkeye, Lower Chatimac (top was closed), Uncas and Topridge were excellent and even Pine Knot was good. They actually had Kill Kare open although we did not venture in. We did go in Tahawas glade which was good, probably could use a little more snow.

I had to work this weekend.  My boys are skiing and happily reported that they summited from the Yurt yesterday and today.

I don't know if anyone looking at the long range forecast, but next weekend could be off the charts.


Long Range Forecast Courtesy of Weather Underground

15" would open the entire mountain.

I'm still on the rehab with my knee (but feeling much better after my over indulgence at JHR) so I decided to hit the Ski Bowl today for some PT. Upon walking over to the lift, I was greeted with enthusiasm by MikePom's son, and I was psyched to see the guns blasting all the way up Hudson (or 46'r as they want to call it, and still needing a few more days of snow). Took my first run down Oak Ridge and the coverage and quality of snow was good to go. I stopped at the top of the Village Chair as there was a NYSEF U10 race going on. I was chatting with my friend @K9Kneeds and a snowboarder(yes one of those heathens!) approached us and said, excuse me, how do I get back to the base of Gore?

Well, upon first having the 97th chuckle of this happening, I said to him, come on I'll show how to get back to the base.
So I get on the Hudson Chair with the guy and I introduce myself, and ask him where he is from, and he says, Midland Michigan, and the he is here with some friends. So we shoot the shit for a little bit, and I say to him, so you're from Michigan, how to come about coming to Gore, are one of your friends from around here? And he says no, we drove here from Michigan and it took us 12 hours, (and Im thinking holy shit!) So I asked him, are you having a good time, and he says hell yeah! So I showed him the way to Burnt Ridge and to carry his speed on his board, hopefully he enjoyed the rest of his trip.
Lesson learned on my part today, be thankful for what we have

And for good measure and positive vibes, JJ's!

Gore was sunny with a good groomed surface that held up all day everywhere last Wednesday, but it got a little worse every day after that.  Even Sunday morning it was way better than you would expect based on the recent weather. New snow this week should tune it up nicely.
On the plus side, they set up guns at the top pf Rumor Saturday afternoon, but as of yesterday it doesn't look like they used them.  Maybe we'll ski Rumor this year after all.

mm

Gore started out awesome today, I posted a pic in the storm speculation thread.  Lots of fresh tracks and soft snow.  Most of the upper mountain was open including the glades.   However as the day wore on it kept sleeting and freezing raining.  By the end there were still untracked lines all over the mountain, but they now have a solid  3-4 mm of ice crust on them.  What wasn't crusted was quite heavy.

TheGreatAbyss wrote

Gore started out awesome today, I posted a pic in the storm speculation thread.  Lots of fresh tracks and soft snow.  Most of the upper mountain was open including the glades.   However as the day wore on it kept sleeting and freezing raining.  By the end there were still untracked lines all over the mountain, but they now have a solid  3-4 mm of ice crust on them.  What wasn't crusted was quite heavy.

Base building for the woods. The next 7 days could turn things into epic. Cross your fingers.