Gore Mtn, NY: 12/29/13

Ski Day 9: Today was better than yesterday. It really surprised me.



First thing it was right around freezing up above and the cord was heavy duty, but sliceable to half a ski width.  Really good cord.  As is almost always the case Sunway Cord was primo. Other spots were very good too.

We headed to the top asap.  Neve did a fantastic job on Uncas.  

With some encouragement from a few trouble makers on the quad, we decided to let Neve try a groomed Hawkeye.

She did it without thinking, but then froze at the headwall.  She was basically saying... I can't imagine a way down!

She made a few turns picked up too much speed and basically set it down.  She cried for a minute and we skied on.

Down Cloud and she asked about Open Pit.  It still had cord and I figured ... now or never.

We went for it and Neve took those 4 easy turns down skiers left, before you come to the ice.  Then she traversed the entire headwall slicing off half the vert.  She was a little scrapey but pretty darn competent. She cranked a turn at the side in a small amount of loose snow, and she was down.

I was quite impressed with her strategy.



The rest of the morning we lapped the Dark Side.  We took a break at the Saddle and heard the triple was done for the day, so we spent some time on the North Side.  Pete Gay had snow that rivaled Sunway.


Fan Gun on Cloud

There were a bunch of fan guns set up and ready to go on the Dark Side.  There were some big piles around and they had some sweet snow on them.  Neve pushed for this route down each time:




Hulla-View


High Peaks from the Saddle Lodge

In the end we came back down the front side to ski.  The Gondola line was really short, but Neve wanted to try the JBar out, so we did some laps before calling it.

A slightly better day than yesterday, certainly worth skiing, and as always way better than work.

It's cool she's doing the bigger hills. MAKE her master side slipping. Then when she gets on something she can't handle too well or she panics, she'll just side slip right on down. Use the headwall on Jamboree or 3B or such. Make her do both sides. It will also quickly raise her game up big time, it will end snow plowing and she will quickly learn how to stop properly. MAKE her do it. It works.

Little kid like that on a steep hill, if she panics, straight lines and freezes you will be sorry.

What was wrong with the triple?  There were no chairs on the line in the first picture.

That first picture threw me off. I'm not used to seeing the base lodge from that perspective. At first glance I was thinking they added on a ton to the mountain side of the building where the patio is. Weird.

Also, Re: the triple, I'm not 100% sure if this is the case when it's just closed for a day in between regular use, but when it's closed for extended periods of time the chairs live in the building at the bottom since it's detachable. A lot of times it doesn't run midweek and I'm trying to remember if the chairs are usually out hanging on those days or not. Has it been open yet this season?

snoloco wrote

What was wrong with the triple?  There were no chairs on the line in the first picture.

All the chairs were pulled and I heard something about a broken conveyor.  Whatever that is.

I emailed Mike tonight when I got back. His response is what I would call non-committal optimistic:

"We will continue to evaluate timeframe of repair tomorrow. Hoping for quick turnaround."

miker92 wrote

That first picture threw me off. I'm not used to seeing the base lodge from that perspective. At first glance I was thinking they added on a ton to the mountain side of the building where the patio is. Weird.

Neve PUSHED me for two more runs on the Jay Bar.  She's got a little NELSAP in her. She likes the surface lifts.

I remembered being up there a few years ago and thinking it was a cool angle for a shot of the resort.

miker92 wrote

 A lot of times it doesn't run midweek and I'm trying to remember if the chairs are usually out hanging on those days or not. Has it been open yet this season?

 Rarely are there chairs on that thing if its not spinning midweek.  Usually the only time they turn it is if it is that weird week were all the Canadians show up or there is racing on twister.  They will turn the lift if guns are running on showcase, chairs or not, just to keep the thing from freezing up.  

Footer wrote

 that weird week were all the Canadians show up

Hah, I love that I know exactly what you're talking about.