New Glades at Gore 2014/2015

I am surprised no one has mentioned the update to Gore’s website with the 4 new glades being added this year:

TRAIL WORK- Gore is introducing FOUR NEW GLADES! Abenaki Glades, which connect Barkeater Glades on Burnt Ridge Mountain to the Pipeline Traverse; The Narrows, which offer skiers a lively alternative to the Headwaters trail; Birch Bark Alley, which links the Lower Cloud Traverse to the Woodchuck trail and The High Peaks Chair; and MacIntyre Glades, which is loaded with balsams and starts and ends on the Upper Steilhang trail.

One looks to be one new glade (Abenaki) and could be a nice addition, while the others are local spots that have yet again been claimed by the mountain. I am sad to see Birch Bark Alley most likely along with Hot Damn and Thumper bite the dust as well as what would be my guess of New Thing (not sure it ever got a better name) and Upper Newton’s added to the growing list of once local stashes now on the map glade.  These will really hurt on powder days when Gore does a horrendous job of opening the trees in a timely manner which will result in either risking the pass or wasting precious powder time.  I would love to hear others thoughts.  

I guess I'm not surprised that these are being opened for public use. I guess it had to happen eventually.

The one to provide a "lively alternative to headwaters" must be Nugget, right? I think that trail can benefit from a little professional work. It's one of my favorites, but there's been a lot of blowdown in there lately. Wonder where they are going to put the entrance.

Upper Newt's should have always been on the map. I think the only thing preventing that has been the sketchy exit. I hope they're doing something about that, because it could get dangerous.

All of these trails need a lot of work to get them ready. Some spots (exit of BBA, drop off on Nugget, etc.) get skied off with only a few people in there. Imigine how quick they'd go if they were official trails? More lines need to be cut. Hate to say it, but the BBA/Thumper/Hot Dam triumvirate of lines might have to go down to one big open gladed slope.

I know a lot of people say that state law prohibits the type of open boundary policy that exists at Jay and MRG, but I have to imagine that's the eventual end game here. More on-the-map glades means that more off-the-map glades will follow. I'd love to ski the kind of mountain with open tree stashes all over the place and no chance of getting your pass pulled for skiing good snow. The trees on both sides of Showcase would be a good place to start.

I agree with Matt that seems somewhat this inevitable.

When I first heard about this I guess I was most bummed about BBA, but I mean hey... it's a marked trail. I always planned out my defense... "hey I'm here cross country skiing Schaeffer Trail, I thought it was legit!"

In some ways it may make Nugget a little safer removing the chance of getting hurt by the rope.

IMO Gore is pretty "terrain friendly" from top to bottom. That's one thing I really love about the place.

SnowSnake wrote

I am surprised no one has mentioned the update to Gore’s website with the 4 new glades being added this year:

I heard that Mike Pratt said that the announcement of the new glades on their Facebook page in July was premature because all resources are being concentrated on completing the new Lift # 1. I didn't even know that the info was on their web site. Thanks for pointing it out.

BBA on map bums me out a bit. I never loved upper Newts and it's exits' ability to either compress my spine or put me in a near collision with someone standing right in front of the out. Why not put the rest of Newts on the map? Everyone skis it anyway. Nugget could use some, ahem, improvement. Hopefully without affecting the surrounding area.

All in all? Just more ropes to duck.

This seems like a trend everywhere. Cannon did this a few years ago. What blew my mind is that they didn't make any "enhancements" to the glade. Which you might think is a good thing. But the glades were tight trees with some scrappy entrances and exits clearly designed with intent of reducing visibility from the trails. Essentially, they really shouldn't be on the map without some additional clearing, brushing, and widening. And of course, little to no maintenance happens because the old trail tenders aren't going to waste their time on an on map trail.

One thing that burns me is the contradiction of resorts saying "stay off our land!" but then absorbing rogue cuts into their trail system. It is essentially tacit approval for the unauthorized cutting when a ski area puts rogue glades onto the map. They can't have it both ways. Either turn your head or don't. I don't know if Gore has authorized the off map cuts or not, but that is what burns me about this type of thing... the two faced approach. Don't do it, but if you did then we will reap the benefits by incorporating "new" terrain onto the map.

I suspect we'll continue to see more and more of this at ski areas across the northeast. There are some very impressive networks of unauthorized cuts out there and plenty of unscrupulous mountain managers and marketing departments that could use a media bump and new draw without any investment despite their policy that folks shouldn't be doing that sort of thing.

wow, riverCoil, sounds like you have been stewing about this for a long time. i'm glad that resorts allow for off grid trails. everyone wins. now that "back/slack country" has become trendy, there has been a tipping point with some of the most popular off maps glades. upper newt hasn't been a secret in years. i worry that the new glades will be neutered so intermediates can manage them. clean up the blow down but keep them tight and interesting that is why i'm in there in the first place. a snow fence can be place just above the exit for upper newt so people can exit safely. i say open the whole mountain and drop the ropes fast. gore doesn't need more closed trails. also, i say that there is a very limited audience for glades. twister glade has seen the most increase in traffic but i haven't seen other glades teeming with skiers. even on a holiday, the glades are mostly empty. the old saying that 85% of skiers ski 15% of the trails still holds true.

Gore has (what i think is probably) a unique relationship with the locals who maintain the glades.  Or maybe I should say "had" as that relationship seems to be changing in the last few years. I don't feel comfortable elaborating on the precise nature of the arrangement other than to characterize it as "semi-official."

I will say that that relationship is generally acknowledged as a huge factor in the development of Gore's tree skiing. It is the best in the state.

Personally I wish that relationship would return to it's former status.  But that era may have ended.

frk wrote

wow, riverCoil, sounds like you have been stewing about this for a long time.

Didn't mean to come off overly harsh but I can see how how post could be easily read that way. I don't really stew on stuff... I'm much more of a wear my emotions on my sleeve type guy. I am a big proponent of expanding tree networks, both on map and off map. Both officially sanctioned and not. I appreciate ski areas getting behind that. All the way behind it...

but if you want to stew about about roped off trails which are perfectly skiable i'm with you.

frk wrote

but if you want to stew about about roped off trails which are perfectly skiable i'm with you.

That is certainly the rub with putting stuff on the map.

Love how folks have different names for "secret" glades…some of those described I assumed were Hedgehog, possibly Red Dog,  Hippie, and one I always called (unimaginatively) US Glades…

Nugget wouldn't technically be an alternative to Headwaters.

riverc0il wrote

frk wrote

but if you want to stew about about roped off trails which are perfectly skiable i'm with you.

That is certainly the rub with putting stuff on the map.

I don't totally understand this.  Do you get in more trouble skiing a closed glade than and off the map glade?

If it's off the map it would not be roped  so much less trouble unless it's outside a boundary rope

Harvey wrote

I don't totally understand this.  Do you get in more trouble skiing a closed glade than and off the map glade?

Most areas allow you to enter and exit unmarked woods from open trails. But if woods are roped, patrol doesn't like you skiing closed trails. So an off map glade you can ski whenever you judge conditions to be safe without worrying about patrol. Put that same glade on the map... and now there is a rope to consider even if conditions may be sufficient...

Duck. Duck. Goose!

its fun playing bang the gong

SIAWOL wrote

Love how folks have different names for "secret" glades…some of those described I assumed were Hedgehog, possibly Red Dog,  Hippie, and one I always called (unimaginatively) US Glades…

Nugget wouldn't technically be an alternative to Headwaters.

How is nugget not an alternative to Headwaters? Isn't that what you call the one with the exit at the very bottom of Headwaters? I guess Hippie could be an alternative to upper Headwaters, but it would really be more of an alternative to Open Pit...

mattchuck2 wrote

How is nugget not an alternative to Headwaters? Isn't that what you call the one with the exit at the very bottom of Headwaters? I guess Hippie could be an alternative to upper Headwaters, but it would really be more of an alternative to Open Pit...

Maybe I've got my nugget and hippie backwards? I always thought nugget was the top half. I would say I may be about to learn something new but then the mountain is going to decide for me anyway....

i was up at gore today for the 5k trail run. after the race i went up top. well, the first scalping has been completed. they have uber trimmed the exit of the new mac glade aka upper newt. i didn't have time to look elsewhere but now i'm kind of afraid to look.