Gore Mtn 2/24-2/26/12

When I heard that 3-5" of snow was to fall Friday, I decided to head out Thursday night and be there early for the arrival of the storm. I woke up at 5am, peaked out the window in Minerva and saw a dry road. Not a flake. I got to Gore by 8am and it started to snow. I was pumped to ski in the storm. By 9:30, the snow had stopped, but the trails were skiing quite well. The glades skied ok, but were a little dirty with rocks and sticks strewn about. When my friends arrived at noon, precipitation began to fall. It wasn't quite snow. It was mostly freezing rain. We skied until we could no longer ski, then we'd stop, scrape, and ski until we could not see again, repeat. Snow conditions remained good all day, but the weather kinda sucked. We were glazed over, head to toe. Took a break by the fireplace at the Saddle lodge and dried out. People came in all glazed. It didn't let up. So we braved the visibility and took a few more runs before calling it a day.

When we got to our camp, it began to pour. I was so bummed. Then 30 minutes later it turned to snow and continued to fall.

Saturday was a powder day! Pam and I got to the mountain early and hooked up with EDeO, Chuck, Bobbie, Mark M. We only skied trails to get to the woods.

This is EDeO in Tahawus Glade.


Here is Pam negotiating a tricky line in a place I cannot devulge


It was very windy and cold, but we kept very warm skiing hard.

This was the best day at Gore all season. I skied harder that day than a whole week in Tahoe combined! It's all about the snow!

Sunday the sun came out, but it was even colder. The powder was tracked out, but we went back to the trees for more fun.

I brought 25 people to Gore that weekend, and everyone had a blast. We were very lucky for the new snow.

Powderqueen wrote

This was the best day at Gore all season. I skied harder that day than a whole week in Tahoe combined! It's all about the snow!

Sunday the sun came out, but it was even colder. The powder was tracked out, but we went back to the trees for more fun.

I brought 25 people to Gore that weekend, and everyone had a blast. We were very lucky for the new snow.

Yup, that snow was a godsend.  It was the best weekend of the season.  Amazing what 6 inches of new snow can do!

My son Daniel - who as you know is 7 - has been talking up Rumor all winter.  I haven't had the heart to tell him snowmaking's done and Rumor ain't gonna happen this year.  Sunday, when Rumor had its surprise opening, I asked him if he wanted to ski it.  His answer: "Nah, let's do (undisclosed trees location) to Mineshaft to (undisclosed trees location)."  Fickle 7 year old.  What's a dad to do?

This is Daniel in the Straightbrook Glade:


Here's my report from the weekend.

What a weekend!  I argued with Harvey all last week that I would get shafted on the weather while he told me to keep positive.  While it did rain some throughout the week, things were looking good for a changeover heading into our weekend.  We left Brooklyn at 1pm on Friday and it rained almost all the way up but, on cue, as we exited the Northway in Warrensburg, we could hear and see it changing to ice.  By the time we got to the grocery store, five minutes later, it was snowing hard and didn't let up for many hours.  We got lost looking for Powderqueen and her discount tix but found her and then finally got into "The Log" in Bakers Mills at a decent hour.  What a great rental house!

Gore ended up with about 6" by the end of the night.  Thus, I started my campaign to be at the mountain by 8am.  Alas when the morning rolled around, I was thwarted by my crew as usual.

Saturday morning, we got out to the lifts at about 9:30.  I started out alone and got a couple runs in at the summit.  All the ungroomed trails were pretty chopped up already but tons of fun and beautiful.  I tried out Kill Kare Glade, Chatiemac, and then Lies.  Wasn't skiing at my best so I took a run to the bottom finishing with Showcase and found my groove.  This proved to be my favorite run of the weekend and I hit it many more times on Sunday and Monday.  Spent the late morning and early afternoon with my wife and some of our other group on Jamboree and Sunway.  They found these to be too crowded for their liking but had fun as they warmed up.  Headed back out on my own in the afternoon and tried out Pete Gay...I now knew where to bring them the next day!  Chased down to the base and got to Burnt Ridge.  As usual it was empty over there.  I hate to think of how much money they sunk into the development of that area.  Hopefully it will blossom as the condos get built.  Anyways, the runs are great and I had forgotten how much vertical there is.  It's hard to believe that you are on a detachable because the ride up takes a while.  You know you've got a long run ahead after that!  Sagamore was phenomenal.  Fantastic snow still at 3:45.  Made it back onto the chair but the patrol was closing Sagamore right before I exited the chair.  Finished the day on Echo.  These were my two favorite runs of the day.  I rarely can say that about runs taken so late.

Sunday, I succeeded in getting to the mountain at 8:00 with my buddy Josh.


The others met us at lunch time.  By 11:45 we had ten glorious runs in already.  Sun was very bright but temperatures stayed cool throughout the day, preserving the excellent packed powder conditions.  Highlights were a few laps on Hawkeye (forgot how cool this trail is with the nice drops and cool curves up top)


Topridge, and of course, Showcase.  We had a two hour lunch at Tannery and enjoyed guessing which songs the band might play next.  I've been to Gore enough now that I enjoy seeing familiar faces such as bass player ponytail guy.  Went back out and spent the afternoon on Pete Gay and finished with two laps on Fairview/Showcase.

Monday is such a great day to ski...Here's the base lodge at 9:00am.


 it was a bit cloudy but warm.  So, whereas, the snow was a bit hard for my taste on Sunday morning, it was already nicely softened for our first run on Monday.  Hit Sunway and then went up top.  Got back into the woods on Chatiemac glade a couple times.  Woods are sort of a new challenge for me and Chatiemac was a recommendation from Harv.  I was a bit frustrated the first time through.  Second time, I relaxed and had fun with it.  Hit Lies a couple times and those were great runs.  The snow was holding well and you could dig into it real nice.  


Came down Cloud/Showcase and I was through.  I skiied two hours and it was enough.  Conditions were great but I was not.  Picked up my son at daycare and got ready to go...


We headed south and although I was sad it was over, I got a beautiful welcome home to the borough of Brooklyn....

Great report!

Diamonddave! Nice.

With regard to the forecast for last week and weekend.... that wasn't so much about positive attitude as it was experience with NWS forecasts and Gore.  I really believed that enough snow would fall to make things good.  I mean I drove a lot of extra miles to be at Gore (and Mad) and ski Sat/Sun.

With regard to Chatiemac, I'm pretty sure we talked about Straightbrook. Or at least I intended too.  Chatiemac is a tougher glade for someone starting out IMO - so sorry for the signal crossage.

Glad you hit it right. Certainly one of the best weekends so far this season.

Harv what is a good starter glade?  My daughter and I have been tempted, but want to be as safe as possible before we try one.  Skied Lies for the first time together last weekend, but we have yet to try a glade.

otter slide glades, chatterbox are good intro glades

Tahawus glades are really good starter glades - they are very wide and not steep, so there are plenty of choices for the way down.  It's a bit of a hike getting in there from Tahawus though.

Looks like Rumor's lifespan will be extended by at least a few more days

Twister glades not to be overlooked - gentle slope and wide glade. I hope they'll be in play after storm. They were closed but looked already very good past weekend.

Well, I think positive attitude was at least part of your argument Harvey!  

I misplaced my notes about the glades before I went skiing.  I thought Chatiemac was recommended by you but maybe not.  I did remember Straightbrook and Tahawus as strong recommendations but never had the chance to get in there.  The mood only struck me to head into the woods a few times so I kind of just went with it wherever I was at the time.  

Honestly, I thought that both Kill Kare and Chatiemac weren't too tough compared to other glades I've been in.  Trees weren't too tight.  There were some ledges to drop off but they were kind of fun and avoidable if necessary.

I think the tough part for me is that I'm used to getting into a rhythm with my turns and that rhythm is interupted by constant stopping in the woods.  I'm always checking to see what line I need to take next and without the steady momentum moving forward, I find it a little more difficult to initiate good turns.  So I make it through but it feels like I'm skiing kind of crappy.  The second time through Chatiemac, I traversed much wider than the first.  This way, I had a lot more time to think and react to what was ahead and it was a lot more fun.  I think this will be my tactic til I get more comfortable.  

Any tips from you experts would be greatly appreciated!