Gore or Whiteface Saturday?

What do you guys think?

Hum, 21 is the high at WF, which is the warmest it should be up there for a while, and they'll probably get more snow than Gore, although the difference should only be an inch or two. However, Whiteface has 14-16 miles winds from the south forecast, with gusts to 30. IDK if that's enough for wind holds, but if it's a possibility, go to Gore IMO. Burnt Ridge also just opened at Gore, so that should be good, although Lower Skyward is open now at Whiteface, so there's new terrain on both sides. Overall, I think I'd do Gore only because of the potential wind holds at WF.

Yea i think they may get more snow saturday but im worried about the winds

NorEaster27 wrote

Yea i think they may get more snow saturday but im worried about the winds

Fortunately, the doomsday wind forecasts didn't materialize today and it was an awesome day at Whiteface.

Mackenzie (Upper & Lower) was DEFINITELY the run of the day ... it was fantastic, especially early this morning. I won't swear to it, but today may have been the best conditions I've ever skied on Upper Mackenzie!

They finally groomed Upper Skyward and it was great too ... they need to get the groomers on Niagara now ... Lower Skyward was very good ... you just had to work your way around the whales!

Not sure what choice you made, but here's hoping you had a great day either way!

P.S.: You gotta stop listening to those weather forecasts ... half the time, they've got no clue at all!!!

Went to Gore and it was pretty much ice everywhere besides echo and sagamore, should have went to WF

Some of the reports from WF I saw were similar.  Sweet under the guns, not so much elsewhere.  Similar reports from some other ski areas too.

Harvey wrote

Some of the reports from WF I saw were similar.  Sweet under the guns, not so much elsewhere.

Overall, I'd have to disagree with that. There were definitely some problem spots, but there was plenty of stuff that was in good shape through the afternoon. That's not to say it was a powder day or anything (except on Upper Mac!), but compared to the prior two weekends, it was great.

I concur with Face.  Saturday Skyward was super great packed power carving.  Sunday it was groomed and firmed up in the wind but it was so cold up there.  

Sunday was a really nice carving day.  Everything was in good shape except for the few normal high traffic spots like the middle of Victoria but I never ski the middle of that trail anyway.

Upper and Lower Mac were great soft bumps and whales.

Upper Mac ranked top 5 all time for me on both Sat and Sun!  Unbelievable amount of manAmade in 24 hours!!

Upper Skyward was absolutely effortless yesterday and the groom job on Niagara was outstanding!  

huge, HUGE one week turn around.  you had to try real hard to find ice.  

And now it's nuking!!  

Super great temps the next three days and up into normal for the weekend.  Things are looking great!

no disrepect but whoever reported that was not skiing the same mtn I did this weekend.  

+1

I learned a long time ago that there are people who just flop around on WF even when the conditions are good.  Unable to face up to the fact that they don't really know how to ski, they blame the mountain.  They should just quit skiing and go to Stratton.

ScottyJack wrote

no disrepect but whoever reported that was not skiing the same mtn I did this weekend.

Agreed!  Was sweet all weekend.  I could find any ice. Now weekend before, I would agree.

Face4Me wrote

Harvey wrote

Some of the reports from WF I saw were similar.  Sweet under the guns, not so much elsewhere.

Overall, I'd have to disagree with that. There were definitely some problem spots, but there was plenty of stuff that was in good shape through the afternoon. That's not to say it was a powder day or anything (except on Upper Mac!), but compared to the prior two weekends, it was great.

This is the way Gore was, too. Problem spots, but spots in "good shape", too.

My main problem with skiing right now is that it's boring. No bumps, no trees, no pow. Just hardpack groomers that get skied off around noon.

Similar reports from out West, Alaska, etc. We need some nice big snowstorms. Trees at Gore and snow in the BC would make me happier.

mattchuck2 wrote

My main problem with skiing right now is that it's boring. No bumps, no trees, no pow. Just hardpack groomers that get skied off around noon.

Similar reports from out West, Alaska, etc. We need some nice big snowstorms. Trees at Gore and snow in the BC would make me happier.

I definitely agree with this, which was what made Mackenzie EVEN MORE awesome this weekend. It was a VERY welcome change. My son and I lapped it 4 times in the morning, took a little break to give our legs a rest (on Skyward!), and then hit it twice more before lunch. Each time down it was a little different because it was getting "skied in". By the middle of the afternoon, the chute leading to the headwall, and the headwall itself, were both getting a little interesting, (I saw one guy go into the trees at the bottom of the headwall but he was fine), but it was still great.

Unfortunately, something came up and I had to leave early yesterday so I didn't get a chance to get back over there.

I'm still trying to remain optimistic that sooner or later, we're going to get a big storm!

Face4Me wrote

I'm still trying to remain optimistic that sooner or later, we're going to get a big storm!

There's no reason to assume we won't.  It's still only January.

mattchuck2 wrote

My main problem with skiing right now is that it's boring. No bumps, no trees, no pow. Just hardpack groomers that get skied off around noon.

Similar reports from out West, Alaska, etc.

Yeah, left the mountain at 1 to beat the traffic. Only so many times you can fly around on boilerplate, avoiding half of New Jersey in your way.


Colorado is getting some, again. Looks like a foot or two this week. So, maybe, instead of Stratton, those people should just jump in a plane and go to a place where it snows, and the mountain doesn't leech ice under the dusty crust until April.

Dude,

my weekend was so much better than yours!  

NorEaster27 wrote

Went to Gore and it was pretty much ice everywhere besides echo and sagamore, should have went to WF

Maybe we lucked out and skied the right trails, but I thought Gore was in pretty decent shape Saturday.  Chati was pick of  the day, but if you don't like running the guns the blue cruisers off the gondi were decent.  Uncas was nice, BR was nice.  Didn't ski the Dark Side or North Side. I just posted some pics and a report in the Trip Reports section of the forum...

I agree that Gore was a bore this weekend, I had more fun scraping the packed down snow off my driveway.  I found that in general the snow was softer on my driveway than on Showcase, and less crowds.