Gore Mt. 3/12/2011

The mountain was in surprisingly good shape today.  The only trails open were trails that had been groomed overnight.  Everything set up firm but there was a new coating of about 3 inches of fresh snow on top which made the first several runs of the day well worth the drive up.  The top stayed firm all day and was somewhat skied off but sharp edges held.  The lower mountian softened nicely and was still in great shape when I quit around 2:30PM.  I didn’t see people in the woods –don’t think they ever dropped the ropes.   Anyone who enjoys skiing spring conditions was loving it the lower mountain.  Newbies were not so happy.

I believe Echo was the best run all day.  They opened Sagamore around 1 and the top was real nice...the bottom made it not an option for an additional run.  I left at 2 so it probably got better with more skiers.  2nd best run today was probably lower Darby.  If you had edges, I agree, you enjoyed the day.  It is 35 degrees at 10:45 in North Creek so hoping for a spring day on Sunday.  Maybe Rumor will open with big soft bumps...

Hey thanks, was wondering how it was skiing. I'd like to get one more trip to Gore this season

Sagamore was "interesting" Saturday afternoon, did a run down it right before they closed it back off.  Very unstable snow on the lower half which made it "exciting."  All and all a good day at Gore with the lower half of the mountain skiing the best.  Picks were uncas, topridge, twister, and echo.

I was at Gore on Saturday as well.  I was excited to check it out, despite the mixed precip Thursday night and Friday.  Definitely a scenic mountain with interesting and varied terrain--tons of areas to explore (at least in theory).  I was surprised and disappointed by how much of the mountain was closed, however.  I understand the safety concerns with the deep layer of softer snow under a compacted crust, but I really think they went overboard with the closures.   With so much of the mountain closed (including virtually all of the marked glade entrances), a large and expansive mountain seemed much smaller and crowded than I would have expected.

We spent the morning skiing around and scoping everything out, and then we spent most of the afternoon on the lower half of the mountain were the snow had softened up nicely.  Echo probably took the honors of run of the day, although Lower Darby was also fun (although a bit scratchy).  The woods that had been skied enough to break up the crust/manky snow (Tawahus Glades, which I think were open, and Twister Glades, which were not technically open but had been heavily skied) were also fun.  We apparently missed the brief windown when Sagamore was open, although we saw a few people enjoying the middle section.  We were particularly surprised at that closure (especially since it seems to be the only traverse-free option down the beautiful new Burnt Ridge lift), but maybe there were snow gremlins we couldn't see from the lift.

Fun day, but I'd really like to make it back some time when more of the mountain is open.