Gore Mtn, NY: 2/26/11

Ski Day 24:  Since Neve was six months old, we've been handing her off to someone at Gore. Bear Cub Den or ski lessons, we've never just walked out of the lodge, and onto the gondola. Today was to be the first time that we came to the mountain, and skied as a family.

But this morning presented an interest conundrum.  

When you live deep in the heart of the flatlands, you don't have a lot of advantages when it comes to skiing fresh snow.  If snow falls during the week, most of the time you just read about and it look at the pictures.  If it falls on a weekend or holiday, you're after it, along with every other joe out there. There is however, one very small advantage we have. If it snows over night on a weekend, we're close to the mountain and we are motivated. We get to the mountain early and, usually, I can stay far enough ahead of people to get some first tracks here and there.

Last night, I did something a little devious.  I showed Zelda the clearly overblown windchill forecast for today (-18!) and made the argument that it would be better to give Neve a few hours in the Bear Cub Den, so temps could warm up. Yeah un huh.

Granted much of what we skied in the morning was cutup and windblown, but it was real fun.


First on High Pines


Zelda took Topridge. There was a groomed swath down skiers right.


Lower Steilhang


Dark Side

After we spent the morning at the summit, we headed down to find Neve to ride the Gondi.

She skied Sunway with ease. At the top of Twister we asked Neve which way she wanted to go.  Twister or Sunway? When she learned that Twister was steeper, her eyes lit up and the decision was made.



There was racing on the lower half of Twister and the sign at the top that said "Twister open to 1A." I imagined the transition to 1A as something very benign and was a little surprised to see a narrow fenced off chute for the non-racer traffic. It was bumped, and by the time we got to it, the troughs between the bumps were pretty icy.  Now maybe I'm nuts for putting Neve onto Twister so soon, but she really handled it without an ounce of fear.  Even with all the great tree skiing I'd done in the morning, it was the highlight of the day.



Around 2pm Zelda and Neve quit, and I skied the trees for remainder of the afternoon.


Twister Glades

Best snow I found ... Pine Brook, Mineshaft, Twister Glades, parts of the Darkside, Tahawas, Twin Fawns and Ward Hill. The entire mountain skied well, and the lower mountain was especially soft.  Some of the most fun I've had this year was playing follow the leader with Neve leading on the gentle, soft runs on the front side. Doing little teleturns in her tracks, with mom bringing up the rear, fending off snowboarders. It was really really fun.


Summit View at Day's End

"You raise me up, so I can stand on mountains..”
Your little skier is great.Thanks for sharing
My granddaughter is 2 so I use Neve to see whats coming up.

HH... thank you for the comment.  I almost posted a disclaimer at the front of the TR ... "if you tired of reading about my kid skiing Sunway, feel free to skip this TR."

Maybe this relates to the "TRs are stupid thread." If you're a true local, and you ski 100 days a year, I can understand wondering why someone would make a big deal out of a ski day, by taking pics and posting a report.

I crank these things out because I want to remember what happened. It's like a scrapbook or something.  I get maybe 30 ski days a year, and to me they are a big deal.  Like I said above, I 'll remember 2/26 as our first real family ski.

It was great to see the Harvey Neve Zelda ski train coming down Sunway.  Neve was doing great.  You have to love Gore Mt Ski School(they did a great job with my two)...maybe one day she will be a part of it
It won't be long before Neve will be leaving you in the dust
Enjoy these days

I've had many great times with many great people but I have to say the ones I remember the best are with my boys. Watching them go from little kids to big rippers who will ski anything I throw at them has been nothing short of joyful. I got a rare chance to ski with my college age son the other day and we had so much fun! I will remember it for along time. Keep up the trs on neve Harvey it reminds me of when they were little.

I ski about 60 days a year, and I always read trip reports.  I love seeing how other people experience the mountain.  And if I'm going to another mountain, I scour the internet for recent trip reports from that mountain.  People who take the time to type up trip reports should be commended, not made to feel like crap.  I didn't even read that thread, but I imagine it was dumb.

MC, I didn't read that thread either or the "tele is stupid" thread or whatever it was called...

Harv, 2 years ago my little guy was riding the Magic Carpet at Willard.  That same little guy's been skiing trees with me all winter, at not quite 7 years old.  We spent the whole afternoon today in upper mountain trees, some on the map and a bunch off, you know 'em all.  He even jumped in for some runs in the trees with Dad's "ski pals."  95% of my days at Gore this year have been family ski days, but they've all been great.  The time you put in now skiing with your family will pay big dividends much sooner than you probably think.  Make it fun for your kid now, and she'll make it fun for you for years to come.

Adk Jeff wrote

...95% of my days at Gore this year have been family ski days, but they've all been great.  The time you put in now skiing with your family will pay big dividends much sooner than you probably think.  Make it fun for your kid now, and she'll make it fun for you for years to come.

I had to experience it to really get it. I had an amazing weekend, and somehow, the turns we made with Neve on Sunway and Twister are right at the top of the list of greatest hits.  When we crossed trails with Suds on Sunway, I MUST have had a monster grin on my face.

How did you sell BETH on taking Daniel into the trees?  Neve saw a Mtn Adventure class go into the trees (Otter Slide I presume), and has been saying that she wants to "change into the class that goes in the trees." Could be a tough sell.

My little one did the Gore Ski School, then the training center, and now we go visit her at her home in Aspen.  

started my 2 boys @ 3 yrs old . they were on the dark side program

Harvey44 wrote

How did you sell BETH on taking Daniel into the trees?  Neve saw a Mtn Adventure class go into the trees (Otter Slide I presume), and has been saying that she wants to "change into the class that goes in the trees." Could be a tough sell.

I never really had to sell Beth on the idea of Daniel skiing in the trees.  She enjoys the glades herself, and it was a pretty natural progression when I first started showing Daniel easy stuff like Otter Slide and little side-shots into the trees along trails like Sunway and Foxlair.  That was around mid-season last year. When I took him into his first easy off-the-map glade last year, his eyes got as big as saucers.  The sense of exploration and the fun of the terrain adds a huge element of fun.  Exploration and fun in movement are universally appealing to to kids, and even to some of us old guys too.

The Mtn Adventure programs do go into the glades.  Daniel's group has skied Otter Slide, Chatterbox and Twister Glades that I know of, perhaps a few others as well.  Skiing the trees forces kids to turn and to use their edges, and the fun element of the glades makes them love skiing and want more.  Good stuff.

Great hearing about others taking time to ski with their children. Take it from me when Neve gets a little older and starts rippin it up hard and is really throwin it down under a lift ,the air will feel a little fresher and the snow will feel a little softer!

This past Sunday was one my favorite days ever on the mountain. Not just because the conditions were great, but the company too - my 9 year old son and I went off to ski on our own while the rest stayed in bed, and he let the way down every trail on the top. He is in the full season Mountain Adventure program, and so we don't get to ski together very often, and I was amazed at his progress. He was barreling down upper darby, double barrel, rumor and dark side glades, with not a pause or hesitation.  I was hesitant about doing Chatimac glades after last year's rescue, but he took me in, saying "Don't worry mom, I'll show you where to go!"  He has hit every trail and glade on the mountain (including the ski bowl) with his group, and knows the mountain better than I do.  I never thought we would get to the place where my kids would outski me so quickly. Just 3 years ago, I was holding him up from behind as we snow-plowed down the bunny hills as my back muscles were giving out.  

poindexter wrote

This past Sunday was one my favorite days ever on the mountain. Not just because the conditions were great, but the company too - my 9 year old son and I went off to ski on our own while the rest stayed in bed, and he let the way down every trail on the top. He is in the full season Mountain Adventure program, and so we don't get to ski together very often, and I was amazed at his progress. He was barreling down upper darby, double barrel, rumor and dark side glades, with not a pause or hesitation.  I was hesitant about doing Chatimac glades after last year's rescue, but he took me in, saying "Don't worry mom, I'll show you where to go!"  He has hit every trail and glade on the mountain (including the ski bowl) with his group, and knows the mountain better than I do.  I never thought we would get to the place where my kids would outski me so quickly. Just 3 years ago, I was holding him up from behind as we snow-plowed down the bunny hills as my back muscles were giving out.

This is a great story.  How old does Mtn Adventure take kids?

We weren't planning on doing it next year, as the long drive, weeks in a row without a break is a lot for us. (Not me! but hey it's a democracy mostly.)

But after watching the magic this year - the incredible progress - we are really torn.

Great memories 70s Gore Kid.

I think that mountain adventure takes kids as young as 4 and as old as 12-13, although I heard that they are extending it to older ones as well.  I originally wasn't planning on the season long program, since we come from Suffolk County every weekend, but it is the best bang for the buck, since it includes a full season pass, instruction on both days of the weekend and lunch every Sat. and Sun (the way my two kids eat - that is a big deal).  They even get their own lounge (i.e., a trailer) outside the locker room, so we don't have to deal with the mayhem of Kids Klub every day.  We miss a few weekends every year, but it still works out great.  My kids have made great friends, and so have we. The drive gets to be a drag, but there's not much to do on Long Island in the winter, so it's worth it for us.

Here's a video from that day.