Gore Mtn Mini Reports 1/2, 1/6 & 1/8

Gore Mtn 1/2 - First time at Gore this season.  This usually is also my first day out but this year I had already made trips to Killington and Whiteface trying to follow the snow.  In my opinion conditions weren't bad considering how little snow we had had to this point and the fact that this was the first day after the busy Christmas week.  I made a point of trying out most of the open trails.  I found Hawkeye to be a bit too icy for my taste but I gave it a couple of runs anyway.  Same thing for Topridge.  My favorite of the day was Pine Knot, there was just the right amount of soft snow for me to have a good time on it.  As I said, things were pretty good considering this poor winter and the holiday crowds.  I just wish there was more open. Gore is doing a good job with what they have to work with though.

Gore Mtn 1/6 - Planned on heading up to Whiteface originally but seeing as both mountains haven't gotten any significant natural snow and there is limited open terrain at both I decided to save the gas and stay closer to home.  There were a few more open trails that day but I felt that conditions were not as good as they had been on Monday.  There had been some heavy rain during the week and I'm guessing that Gore fought to just keep what they had before the rain.  There was more ice than on Monday and the surface of the trails was very hard in most places.  Hawkeye had gone from ice to moguls and proved pretty tough for me.  Open Pit, a favorite of mine was open but I just wasn't feeling comfortable with the conditions (it was definitely an off day for my skiing and I didn't want to push it).  It was a short day for me as I had errands to run but my few hours on the mountain were still fun.

Gore Mtn 1/8 - My first busy weekend day there in a while and I realized how spoiled I've become with weekday skiing.  Had to deal with the madhouse that the first day of lessons for the kids always is and the crowds of people at the base lodge.  By the time I got onto the gondi I was pretty cranky.  Fortunately a quick run down Pine Knot and a trip up the Straightbrook Quad and I had escaped most of the madness.  Once I punched my way through the line across the top of Cloud (This was an all day thing that was making me nuts!  Stay off to the side people!  Even the ski instructors were lining their classes up across the trail.....no wonder these skiers are clueless regarding manners on the slopes.)  I skied Cloud and then Headwaters back to the Quad.  Next run:  Open Pit.  Loved it.  It's always been a favorite of mine and I thought it was skiing great on Sunday.  I made quite a few runs on Open Pit as it was my favorite of the day.  I was glad to see that the High Peaks chair was open and I rode it most of the morning which allowed me to avoid the crowds even more.  Lower Darby was open but I passed on it as I did with Hawkeye.  Lies was calling but I've yet to take it on and since once again there was a lot of ice and very hard surfaces I didn't feel up to it yet, it looked like a lot of people were having a great time on it though.  A couple of hours on the top did wonders for my mood and I was in a much better frame of mind when I hooked up with the kids and the rest of the family at the base when their lessons were over.

All in all I have to give Gore an "E" for effort given what they've had to work with this year.  I'm not a big fan of the icy, hard conditions as my skills still need a lot of work when it comes to these surfaces so I can't call these first three days there great but I still love any day I can get on the slopes.  

For Sunday I thought the summit was the place to be. The grooming really helped the recently opened trails open pit and lies. Hawkeye was also very good. I wasn't too thrilled with the darkside Sunday (it was excellent on Saturday). I think the thaw/freeze cycle overnight hurt. Once it sets and gets groomed, it should be good again.

I didn't think the lower mountain was too good. Frozen granular on top of pretty hard ice. A number of little kids having trouble (understandable) in the early afternoon. The lower mountain will likely need some work this week making it more difficult to expand the terrain.

tom

spot on report TomCat, exactly the way i saw it. it was a good day of social skiing

Yup, what Freeheelin' said ^^.  Tomcat's report is spot on.  I was surprised at how good the summit trails were.  Got the heads up on Lower Darby and stayed away.  Was great having several black diamond options up top.  Here's a few shots from the day.  I don't know who the skier/boarders are.  Some more pics from yesterday on my blog.
Lies:


Hawkeye:


BTW, nice job with the "mini-TRs" Snowhunter.

The summit was the place to be on Sunday. The snow was way better than the bottom.Skied lower darby it was rock hard bumps and ice, not so much fun. Oh well still nice to be out.  Let it snow PLEASE!

My reports probably don't carry much weight with most of the skiers here as many of you exceed my ability by quite a bit but I'm having fun sharing my days with fellow enthusiasts and I'm enjoying all of your feedback and I'm trying to learn from you all.

Thanks Jeff.  Nice pics!

It all about the smiles