Gore Mountain Adirondack Express Replacement.

Choppers were not there for an installation, but removal of old towers etc.  Choppers will come in the fall.

Progress looks good. Will have an update on the blog in the next day or so.

http://nyskiblog.com/gore-mountain-improvements-2014/

Anyone have some insight to the "adding new glades to the map" that was referenced on Gore's facebook post?  Is that literally on the map, or cutting new ones.

Gorefarmhouse wrote

Anyone have some insight to the "adding new glades to the map" that was referenced on Gore's facebook post?  Is that literally on the map, or cutting new ones.

I posed this question to Mike yesterday. That was interesting phrasing.  

Not positive but I think he may have felt that fb post was premature.  Something to the effect of... "we are really busy (with the AE2 I assume) and we may or may not get to this stuff."

I pushed him on the important detail - "new" or from "off to on."

He wasn't willing to go on the record on that.

Harvey wrote

I pushed him on the important detail - "new" or from "off to on."

He wasn't willing to go on the record on that.

Did he at least give some indication where they might be? If he didn't, let the baseless speculation begin.

Trying to get clearance to share. (I bet you could guess without help! :)

This is not a done deal as the AE2 takes precedence over all.

News lines are planned for skiers left of Barkeater.

As said this may or may not happen this year.

Nothing further on the "off to on" issue at this time.

I add new glades every time I go there, although it is not too often I go there.

Good to hear on Barkeater.  I know i will get pretty beat up for this, but Barkeater, or something next to it, needs to become a trail to improve the mountain connections.  If I start at the ski bowl, ski Burnt Ridge I should be able to connect back to the bowl without suffering the Hedges>Pipeline traverse FIASCO.  A trail that comes out somewhere shortly above the bridge would be a great connect to Peaceful Valley  Then they could just KILL OFF the Pipeline.  Hedges would then just serve as a connect to the North Side, and Burnt Ridge would have one more trail to enjoy.  (Yes, I do know everyone now enjoys Barkeater the way it is, how couldn't you.  But in the bigger picture . . . )

I am not going to beat up on you, I agree 100%.  What Gore needs is better connections between mountain areas.  What they don't need is more useless glades that are closed 80% of the time.  Gore already has a ton of glades and so many things that were supposed to be actual trails were cut as glades instead.  Cutting Barkeater to a snowmaking equipped and groomed trail will make the ski bowl so much more useful.  I rarely go to the ski bowl because I hate Pipeline with a passion.  I come to Gore to ski, not walk.  If I want to walk I can go on a hike for a lot less money.  Having better connections between mountain areas with snowmaking equipped, groomed trails is going to be way better for the general public.  Plus many glades are seldom open, so when they are closed, they don't help at all.  Luckily Gore continues to move in the right direction with more connector trails like Twister's Little Sister, Crystal, Tower 6, and Showoff to get from Burnt Ridge to the main base area, and Hedges to get from Burnt Ridge to the North Side.  Hopefully Barkeater is next to make the Ski Bowl much more connected to the rest of the mountain.  There are plenty of other glades on the mountain and that will improve the underutilized ski bowl drastically.  Many people don't know it even exists now.  I now refer to the ski bowl project as the "mother of all mistakes".  All this money spent on a seldom open trail pod that no one uses.  I would have much rather seen the ADK Express and High Peaks Chair replacements happen earlier and had more terrain on Burnt Ridge.  For me to stop referring to the ski bowl as the "mother of all mistakes", they need to find a way to get more people to use it.  I'm pretty sure that they will do this before long by making Barkeater a trail.  Now I'm really gonna get beat up.  

snoloco wrote

useless glades

We had a meeting of the executive committee and decided not to ban you.  

snoloco wrote

Hopefully Barkeater is next to make the Ski Bowl much more connected to the rest of the mountain.

This is very likely to happen, eventually as it is drawn on the topo in Mike's office:

snoloco wrote

I now refer to the ski bowl project as the "mother of all mistakes"

Disagree 1000%.

This is similar to the Lower Steilhang thing IMO. You have a HUGE mountain, the biggest in NY (acreage). It has TONS of terrain.  Does it all have to be the same?  The Ski Bowl is fantastic and adds another dimension. Easy parking, cheap lift tickets, old school vibe and trails, awesome tree skiing.

http://forum.nyskiblog.com/North-Creek-Ski-Bowl-NY-2-27-11-td2591959.html

Sno meet me back here in 10 years and if you still hold this belief I will buy you dinner.


frk in Barkeater

 Loco is an apt name.  The kid really is crazy.

I really like the Ski bowl section.  It's where I prefer to park when skiing Gore.

The kid only gets groomers and nice lifts.  The glades are what makes Gore special.  If you like Okemo you are not going to get Gore.

Apart from Gore's glades, Okemo and Gore are actually very similar.  The entire front side is all groomers and so is Burnt Ridge.  I totally get Gore for this and that is why I come.  I feel that Gore/ORDA have taken their terrain expansion overboard.  It wasn't thought out well just like ASC and The Canyons.  I listed quite a few upgrades below that Gore could have done, and would be more beneficial before the Ski Bowl was ever built.

1.  ADK Express replacement (that lift was at least 5 years past the date that it should have been replaced).  Beyond happy that it's getting done now.
2.  High Peaks Chair replacement- that thing is antiquated and unsafe and should be taken out before it breaks apart and kills someone.
3.  More snowmaking capacity- When you can't open all trail pods by Christmas, you need more snowmaking.  Everywhere except glades should have it is as depending on nature to work for you is obsolete.
4.  HSQ on North Side- Lift isn't that old, but it sure diminishes the enjoyment of the trail pod to have to sit on that thing for 10 minutes every run.
5.  More trails on Top Ridge- If they want that lift to not run 95% empty 95% of the time, they need to give people more reason to ski off of it.
6.  More trails on Burnt Ridge- An HSQ that serves 2 trails is overkill.  Cut more trails to take pressure of the Gondola and improve the usage of Burnt Ridge.
7.  More grooming-  Already getting done on Steilhang, but all trails should have the ability to be groomed, even if certain ones aren't under most circumstances.  Being able to groom everything means no more trail closures for boilerplate.

Only after these were done should the Ski Bowl been built with these in mind, not done as cheaply as possible like it was.  They should have either done it right with a high speed lift, good connections to the rest of the mountain, and ample snowmaking and grooming, or waited till they had the money to do it.  It's not like their current trails were a demolition derby before the ski bowl was built, so why was it necessary to build.

I think that Gore is an awesome mountain and it only ranks behind Killington and Whiteface for me.  I hate saying that I am against any skiing expansion, but when the expansion was a complete waste of money and was totally botched like the Ski Bowl was, I am left no other choice.  Also Coach, you got so lucky that you could park at the Ski Bowl.  If you are lucky enough to get to Gore when it is open, it is great to ski there, but the lift mostly just rattles in the wind all winter.  A lift that isn't running and trails that are snowless are a waste of money no matter how you put it.  Keep in mind that excessive spending on unnecessary trail expansion will only increase ticket prices more.  That is something that many people on here don't want.

The BR HSQ services some the best glade skiing at Gore IMO.

I also think that lift is more accessible from the snowbowl than it is from the front side.

Nice Summary Sno, frankly I am sick and tired of you getting bashed by the old flatulence bag.

No other ski area that has to actually make money on a level playing field would be run like Gore and Whiteface, but the mission is not all about making money. The ski bowl was not built for Gore to make money, it was a political deal for North Creek. In the pre-real estate bust it drove a large increase in property values but when the developer couldn't sell a single condo unit except to himself and his family the bottom dropped out and things are just about back at 2004 levels.

Was the ski bowl a waste of money? It depends on what or who you were buying.

I'd love go skiing with old Pfart and young dough boy loco and ski your groomer loving behinds into the ground.

Without the Snow Bowl I would have so much less interest in skiing Gore. It improves the experience for me in so many ways. I hate lines.

I hate crowded lots. I hate shuffling through tons of skiers that can't watch what they're doing with their shitty I go skiing once a year equipment, and their kids. Then at the top, having to thread the needle through the herds on boring groomers on thoroughfares that aren't to be enjoyed but rather are just employed as a means to bring people down the slopes.

Just count me out.

Sometimes ones personal subjective opinion != fact, but I think that the mountain did the right thing adding that terrain as quasi cheaply as possible knowing that they would be bringing at least a few skiers like me back into the fold. The trails are interesting. It prevents me from ever having to use the main base area when its working. This is all so much more important to me than the ADKExpress, which I might never even use because I will only go when the Snow Bowl is open and the High Peaks chair is there to kick me in the calves on every run.

Your opinion is a significant portion of the market, but it isn't the only portion...

edit to add:

I'd like to go skiing with PeeTex, too. I bet he's good company on the fixed grips.

ML
Well said I agree

I have been highly disappointed by the ski bowl ever since it was built.  At first I was excited to ski on it, but it never opened in 2011-2012 when I tried.  If a ski area can't open a trail pod an entire year, that trail pod shouldn't exist.  The ski bowl should have been done right with an HSQ, ample snowmaking capacity, proper grading on 46er, and good connections to the rest of the mountain, or they should have waited till they had the money to build it that way.  No expansion should ever be built with the assumption that it will grow in, that is a very big money drain to do that.  If you are gonna do something, do it right, or not at all.

harv, thanks for posting the barkeater picture. that was one of the best ski days of the year. loco is now entering troll territory. glades don't count for acreage so why not. modest effort goes into their construction and there is no maintenance  cost such as snow-making and grooming(although i wish gore had regular glade maintenance). glades help spread out the crowd. glades make one a better skier. glades are more fun. i would rather ski on thin cover in a glade than on any groomed slope on a weekend. and, for every official glade there is an off grid glade that gets even less traffic so glades hold up very well despite often less than optimal coverage. and, please don't even think about grooming lower steilhang. the soul of the mountain lives with upper darby, lower steilhang, and double barrel (glades aside). not every area has to have an identity as groomer heaven like okemo. i'm glad gore has kept it rough around the edges. maybe it is due to lack of money rather than design but it doesn't matter why. oh, and one more request. please don't ever let the season pass increase to 799 and up. that would be a real killer.