Gore or Windham (Driving from NJ)

snoloco wrote

I'd rather ski groomers than damage my skis by bottoming out in the trees.  

At some point you'll get it

This



vs that

snoloco wrote

One of the major drawbacks to Gore is that you have to go all the way to Lake George which is 40 minutes away for good lodging options.  The closest hotels where my dad earns points are the Hampton Inn and Holiday Inn Resort which are both over 40 minutes away.  My dad earns points on the Hilton chain, Holiday Inn chain, and Marriott chain.  He stays in these whenever possible because not only does he earn points for a free stay, but because they are all the same, he knows what to expect.

There's a Super 8 in Warrensburg, 20 minutes away. I've stayed at Super 8s that are nicer and better priced than Holiday Inns in the same town (looking at you, Ithaca, NY). I drive nearly an hour each way from Gore to my family's cabin. If someone told me they're looking for the big ol' corporate hotel experience in the ADKs (not talking about Lake George), then I'd politely tell them they've got the wrong park. The last time people came to the Adirondacks for posh luxury lodging and fine dining, people with last names such as Morgan, Vanderbilt, Durant, and Carnegie had their own railroads, steamboats, and private train cars to take them everywhere.

This is ABSOLUTELY not to say there aren't nice places to stay and eat, but if you want the Ritz-Carlton, you best head downstate. Some people want this as part of their skiing experience. For me, I don't care where the bed is as long as the sheets are clean.

snoloco wrote

One of the major drawbacks to Gore is that you have to go all the way to Lake George which is 40 minutes away for good lodging options.

If you only look at Gore's web site, you would think that's true.

But it's not. Not at all.

Not sure how chain hotels came into this discussion.  Sir is going to rent seasonally so hotels are a tangent along the lines of say a choo choo train.  

The seasonal rental is the first step.  Then it's on to buying a weekend house.  Harv is on step two.  Then you just can't stand the thought of having to go home every Sunday and step three is move up here full time.

Congrats to Sir for getting on the stairway to heaven.  To modify a quote from a good movie - is this heaven? No it's the ADKs

snoloco wrote

Also, at Windham, the condos are right next to the trails.  At Gore they are a significant drive away and you still have to deal with the parking headaches if you don't arrive early.  At Windham, the condos are within walking distance to the slopes, some are ski in ski out.  

There are 110+ townhouses within 2 miles of the access road. Do you consider 2 miles a significant drive?

snoloco wrote

One of the major drawbacks to Gore is that you have to go all the way to Lake George which is 40 minutes away for good lodging options.  The closest hotels where my dad earns points are the Hampton Inn and Holiday Inn Resort which are both over 40 minutes away.  My dad earns points on the Hilton chain, Holiday Inn chain, and Marriott chain.  He stays in these whenever possible because not only does he earn points for a free stay, but because they are all the same, he knows what to expect.

There are plenty of good lodging options within 10 miles of North Creek. Your dad chooses to stay in Lake George to use a national chain. There is nothing wrong with taking advantage of points programs. I do it all the time. But your choice is not the only way to stay and ski at Gore and Lake George is not the only choice for Gore lodging.

snoloco wrote

I remember when we skied Killington and Pico last President's day that we were closer than we ever dreamed of to the skiing- 5 minutes from Pico and 20 minutes from Killington Skyeship Gondola.  I didn't even need to get up at the crack of dawn to get first chair.  When my dad and I skied Whiteface last spring, we stayed in Lake Placid and were also surprised at how close we were compared to Gore.  Of the 3 ORDA mountains, the only one with easy lodging is Whiteface because of Lake Placid.  For Gore, you can't stay in any of the larger resort hotels unless you drive 40 minutes away.  If you want to be closer, there are only a few small motels which can be hit or miss.

Once again - There are plenty of good lodging options in North Creek. Just because you do not use townhouses, cabins, motels and/or B&Bs does not mean they do not exist in North Creek and its surrounding area. Lake Placid has a massive choice of lodging, but it is  about 9 miles from WF. There is more lodging available within 2 miles from Gore than within 5 miles from WF. You can easily replicate your Pico dream at Gore.

x10003q wrote

 You can easily replicate your Pico dream at Gore.

Except they don't require you to wear those white camo ski outfits and gopros

Would you rather have this.


Or this.

Everything I feel right now can be summed up with this picture. Excuse me, I will now recuse myself from this thread.

You are killing us kid!  I worry that you are the future but thankfully I know my kid likes to slay powder maybe even more than me so there is still hope.

Some base damage is the norm even out west for skiing powder.  They make millions of new skis each year for a reason.  Buy the gosh darn damage waiver insurance and slay away kid.   I buy my son a pair of fat skis and tell him I don't care what the bottoms look like but skiing in the woods  or slides on race skis is a no no.

The easy way is not what the vast majority of hard core skiers want.  It's the hard stuff that makes all worth it.

Let him stay on the groomers,less traffic on the good stuff. Go to Gore for better skiing,go to Windam for less driving. It's your choice dude,I just can't believe I just read this many posts about this.  About bases, P-text was invented by some genius for a reason. Shut up and ski!

Ignoring Thehof's wise advise I will blather on.

How many days are a pair of skis good for? 100? You get that in one year and probably outgrow them even if they aren't worn out.

One thing about us old dudes... we know we don't have an unlimited number of ski days left.  I'm going for it whenever I can.

I don't shy away from thin cover and to Gore's credit they open stuff when it's very thin and put a double black warning on it.  Still I have never done anything close to the damage in that pic above.  How did that happen?



I leave you with this awesome pic of Eric K shrapling thin cover at Hickory this past February...

I just want to know whether sirskier got an an answer to his original question or does he regret asking for advice

SSkier- after thinking about this, for the 10k you would spend for 18 days at Windham, I bet you could swing the same number of days broken up in 3 trips to SLC. Now that's a no brainer.

I live an hour from Gore in Saratoga.  Around here, Gore's best advertising is a billboard that says "You can be on the Gondola in 55 minutes".  Take the drive.  Your doing it on Friday night anyway.  Its not like your missing any turns.  Stay away from the crowds.  Enjoy the expereince of a low key big mountain.

....and Sno... want to combine your three favorite things??? Trains, corporate hotels (we have them all!) and skiing? https://www.sncrr.com/

My life used to be set up in a way that made skiing West Mountain work.  It was my only real option.  If you had to force me to give up my Gore pass in favor of West I would rather take a bullet to the head.  

Ouch, cut West some slack... I wouldn't kick it out of bed if I lived in Queensbury or wherever. Nice little hill.

Spongeworthy wrote

I just want to know whether sirskier got an an answer to his original question or does he regret asking for advice

 
hahaha. I was thinking the same thing !  

Where is da OP ? He could stay at your place.......

Dear X100q  

I feel the same way as you do, I asked my two boys if they would want to drive less but give up the glades they said "no way"
Regarding the drive it is not as bad today as it was in the previous decades, large comfortable SUV's with Ipads movies for kids and audio books for me make it tolerable.  I need to pull the trigger on my ski passes by Friday.  

The one thing about Gore that I can't figure out is the lack of decent lodging in scale.  Think 2 bedroom modern condos with simple amenities at a decent rental price.

The one thing about Gore that I can't figure out is the lack of decent lodging in scale.  Think 2 bedroom modern condos with simple amenities at a decent rental price.

Totally agree. I'm in the "if you build it, they will come" camp on this, but then I look at real estate prices in North Creek and I think that real estate developers know what they're doing and I guess there's no market for it.

There are a lot of super expensive houses, a few condos at the summit, and some old houses in town, but you're right, there aren't any modern studio, 1BR, and 2BR (possibly slopeside) condos that actual people would buy as second homes (or timeshares). I guess there's no money in it?

If only there was a real estate guy with precise knowledge of the local market on here...

I do agree that lodging at Gore is a sorry state of affairs.  The issues with there only being super expensive houses, or much older condos, but no newer 1-2 bedroom condos are part of it.  The other issue is for people who are only staying for one weekend.  There are many small motels in North Creek like people mentioned earlier, some are even closer than most of Whiteface's lodging options.  My dad tells me that some can provide a decent and affordable place to stay while some can be roach motels.  He also says that even if you know which ones are the good ones and which ones are not so good, they can change for better or worse if ownership changes.  You just don't really know what to expect, so a lot of people avoid motels in favor of the larger corporate run hotels.  My dad travels for work a lot, so he knows what to expect from each type of chain hotel.  I will use Lake George as an example.  There is a Hampton Inn and Holiday Inn right next to each other.  Both are of similar price range although I believe the Holiday Inn is a bit more expensive.  At the Hampton Inn, you get a free breakfast buffet which is open from 6am to 10am, while at the Holiday Inn, you get a full service restaurant.  I could run through some more, but you get the point.  Every location with the same brand name should be similar, so you know what to expect from a stay there.

What about Hunter? Here come the flames......