Gore Mtn, NY: 1/22/11

Ski Day 15: Today was my best day of skiing this year, and it was probably only the fourth best day this week. I could see how people must have had a blast the last few days. Luckily it didn't come close to the predicted lows last night. We had 8 degrees above at the cabin. It was about 5 when we got to Gore, sunny with no wind.


Early morning rainbow in a circle around the sun

Zelda wanted to hit Burnt Ridge. My intention was to get after the soft looking bumps on Sagamore...



But I noticed this...



The top of Barkeater is Twisteresque. You can absolutely bomb it. It actually seems to have less pitch than most of Twister...



I realized on the way down that the Barkeater "Headwall" could actually be an extension of the Sagamore headwall. In any case it's fairly far down the run. There wasn't enough snow to cover it. Still it felt like a historic occasion, so I felt it was worth sacrificing some base.

We spent most of the morning on Burnt Ridge. Sagamore skied great. A total pleasure....



Chatiemac had guns on it and a ton of snow. It was a blast skiing it, but it felt weird to be under the guns, with all the natural snow around...



Double Barrel Jr skied fantastically. Incredibly soft, midsize bumps...



Darkside was deserted. In fact the whole mountain seemed empty. Had to be the combo of 85% of terrain open, plus trees, and forecasted bitter temps.


Dark Side.

It's been a little confusing with ropes around the mountain...



I went into the trees through an unroped entrance and ended up on Lower Steilhang which was roped, from above. (It was marked as open on the mornings trail report.) If it was closed it was an honest mistake! The headwall itself was in better condition than when I skied it two weeks ago, and it was open then. Fantastic snow below the headwall...




Mineshaft


End of the day.

Yet another day bell-to-bell. Marked glades are a little thin in spots. Straightbrook Glades, Dark Side and Double Barrel were my picks for soft snow and base preservation. While there was some tree skiing last weekend, today felt like the official opening weekend for tree skiing at Gore. It felt great to be back in the trees.

The skiing that's been done over the last few days has packed the base nicely and Gore is in prime condition for that next dump coming from the lurking midweek storm.

Nice, never been to Gore, have to check it out one of these days.

Harvey44 wrote

Early morning rainbow in a circle around the sun

'Round these parts we call that atmospheric phenomenon a "sundog."  It's like a rainbow but different, and usually only seen on cold winter days.

Clearly a great day was had by all, nice TR.

Whoa ,I jut got rid of my SUV for a gas sipping Subaru, now We can go the extra miles to Gore!

What's up with Gore's trail reports? They listed Barkeater as open but they had it roped off.    false advertising. Made the treck over to Burnt Ridge just to do it . That sucked.

Maybe it's the ol Emily's Crystal ball effect.

I'll be back in two weeks. I really hope it's like this weekend. I guess I could manage without the low temps though.

Looks great, Harv! Glad to see the base building up. Can't wait to get over there later this season once all options are on the table with good base. It looks great!

"While there was some tree skiing last weekend, today felt like the official opening weekend for tree skiing at Gore. It felt great to be back in the trees."

I likewise felt the same on Saturday at Saddleback. It was the first time of the season I pretty much let loose in the trees without caution. I love it!

riverc0il wrote

Looks great, Harv! Glad to see the base building up. Can't wait to get over there later this season once all options are on the table with good base. It looks great!

"While there was some tree skiing last weekend, today felt like the official opening weekend for tree skiing at Gore. It felt great to be back in the trees."

I likewise felt the same on Saturday at Saddleback. It was the first time of the season I pretty much let loose in the trees without caution. I love it!

We aren't there yet ... ie "letting loose."  I definitely need some Ptex after this weekend. But we are getting there. We've been below freezing for at least a month (?) in the Southern Adk and it seems like YEARS since that has happened.  (Jason - when was our last NCP event?)

I'll be watching things closely, and looking for a chance to get you over on this side of the lake when I think (hope) you won't be disappointed.

Harvey44 wrote

I'll be watching things closely, and looking for a chance to get you over on this side of the lake when I think (hope) you won't be disappointed.

Definitely keep me posted when you think things are ripe! No need to worry about any disappointment... ain't gonna happen. I can tell by the reports and pics about Gore that I'm gonna have a great time when I get over there. Can't wait!