Gore Mtn, NY: 2/18/12

Ski Day 18:  I ran into Paul in the singles line for the Gondi, and we ended up in the same cabin.  He was skiing until noon, and I had to be back at the base for Neve at the same time.  We ripped together the entire morning.



By 10am the sun was out (mostly) and stuff softened up. The cord was carving to half a ski deep, and there seemed to be a bunch of untouched cord down the sides of every thing. We did Chatiemac, Hawkeye, Lies, Open Pit and Headwaters.  At the time we got to each of those trails they were very skiable.





Paul is a really strong skier.  He's well balanced  - equal weight on both legs - and he's aggressive.  Following and watching him (the only real option) seemed to help own my skiing.  I was experiencing moments when was I was truly forward, and not back at all.



He'd been lobbying for Burnt Ridge since our Gondi ride: "Burnt is good early."

Got to say how much fun it was to ski Twister from the saddle, jump to Echo and bomb it down Cedars. Love that trail combo. (Also cool to be able to ski from Echo back to the Adk Express without having to negotiate around a race.)

We skied Sagamore...





But ultimately found the best (on-piste) snow on Echo.  We had an Echo-fest and lapped it 4-5 times.



It started to snow late morning, and went all day.



After a lunch break, I headed for the northside.

I went down Tahawas. It was all natural and had patches with 6 inches of fluff to ski through.  At that moment I realized that October 30, at Plattekill was the last time I was in boot deep powder.  I was surprised to see the rope down on Tahawas glades. Had to go in.  Very skiable - much easier and more fun than I found Straightbrook last week.



I skied trees most of the rest of the afternoon. As usual the best snow was in lower traffic areas.



When I finally arrived back at the Base, it looked like Patrol was commuting home.

Sometimes the best part of our day is kept to ourselves...:)

Great pics!!  I can't wait to ski Gore next weekend with PQ and her crew.  I hope I get to meet up with you guys!  I want to meet this Paul fellow...  he sounds like the kind of tele-skier I aspire to be!