Gore Mtn, NY: 12/28/10

Ski Day 7: I wasn't expecting much at Gore today.  Little new snow, hurricane force winds, and a mix of reports from yesterday, some dour, had me prepared for the worst.

It wasn't really that windy an the Gore Base, which can be a windy spot. Wild Air had clearly had some attention overnight and looked inviting.



Had the pleasure of finally meeting GoreSkiMom and family in the base lodge.  I still think that lady should write a book on how to raise em Gore.  (Apologies to @JPR).

Got our daughter into her lesson, so we missed first tracks.

Nick Z snagged us in the Gondi line. "Harv... Wild Air is the Pick of the Day."



Gore was pounding the length of it, and it was bouncy and really nice.  Look I hate to write another "snowmaking TR" as much as you hate to read it, but it is what it is.  I figured if I the guns went on Wild Air all day, and I lapped it, it still beat work.



It snowed above about 2000 feet and the Summit was in the clouds most of the day.  We skied Pine Knot, which was also far better than expected. Stick to the sides, and you had plenty to turn in at 10am. Up to the summit and down Hawkeye...



Zelda is now getting faster, on bump-free blue trails, with hard pack/loose granular, if I'm doing tele turns, she's beating me down.  She waited for me a lot today.



I hit Lies. The headwall was tough but skiable, and the terrain below was really nice.  There were some hotshots ripping it.



The sun came out a few times, but it was primarily cold, snowy and windy.

I made it back to the DarkSide and it was definitely the place to be.  Lower Steilhang had marginal coverage on the headwall....



 ...but most of the troughs had a mix of manmade and natural snow that had blown in...



Ultimately the best snow I found was on Hullabaloo. While the trails were uncrowded today, people were intimidated by the Hullabaloo headwall so it was backing up a bit. I lapped it gleefully.



My final descent from the summit was on Lies. Headwall was even harder than it was in the morning, but I stayed on my toes. The rest of the run was deluxe.



The lower mountain was in surprisingly good shape. Twister, Wild Air, Sunway, Pete Gay and Jamboree skied very well. I didn't make it on to Showcase, but it looked good too.

Up top Hawkeye was definitely worth skiing - only the headwall was difficult at days end. Headwaters and Mica were in good shape. The whole DarkSide skied well.

It wasn't easy to get the Nor'easter, or lack thereof, out of my head. But once I got beyond the idea of what the storm had done for many of the other ski hills in the northeast, I had a great day.

You may want to review Harv's Disclaimer before commenting.  Actually I think I'll make it a permanent part of my signature.



Who else was at Gore today?

I thought Darby was a bit better than Hulabaloo but really it was a toss up.  In the afternoon it was Lies, Hubba, Lies, Darby until the ropes came out.  I did go Hawkeye once again about 3ish and didn't like it...then again it was absolutely perfect at 8:30.  We hit TopRidge about 10:45 and it was still cordouroy...I actually only skied Showcase and Twister on the bottom...guess I really missed something on Wild Air

Suds... we'd hit Darby in the am, and kinda forgot about it.

I was solo at the end of the day trying to get one more Hullabaloo in, but it was roped.

I was all set to Cloud Out, but saw that Lower D was still going and snagged it.

No question the snow was better. There was more loose snow, especially on skiers left. And it felt like some of it was natural windblown vs manmade.

I think I favored Hullabaloo, because it was so challenging yet still completely do able. If that makes any sense.

I'm sure we must have crossed trails today, or come pretty close.  Hope to meet you sometime soon.

Gotta say, I love, at the end of the day, cold, tired, wet and riding that High Peaks Chair.

Feels like home to me.

Seems like things should get a bit better each day this week.   FYI wind is gone now.

Harvey44 wrote

Lower D was still going and snagged it.

No question the snow was better. There was more loose snow, especially on skiers left. And it felt like some of it was natural windblown vs manmade.

Dude, I thought I gave you that beta a day or two ago...