New slides from Irene - fantastic aerial images

CONTENTS DELETED

Its amazing how long some of the new slides are in these photos - some look miles long

a few look way too steep to hold snow and be safely skiable

Saw those today.  That Lower Wolfjaw looks like it could be a pretty damn long run.  Is that doable in a day?

Photo courtesy of adkbcski.com

Matt, that LWJ slide is essentially an enlargement of the former Bennie's Brook slide, which I hiked last summer.  The older y-shaped portion is visible to the left in the photo, the new stuff is the lighter colored rock that extends almost all the way to LWJ's summit.  The old slide was pretty long, but it looks like it has now been extended clear down to John's Brook and the Southside trail.  Bennie's Brook has been a pretty popular backcountry ski trip for years, to me it looks even more doable now, pending any issues with debris.

I tried matching the shot above in Google Earth to give a better idea of how the Bennies Brook Slide has changed as a result of Irene.  The slide looks to now intersect the southern John's Brook trail making the approach even easier than it was before.

mattchuck2 wrote

Saw those today.  That Lower Wolfjaw looks like it could be a pretty damn long run.  Is that doable in a day?

Yes. Here's a view from the top

Excellent.  On the list for next year.  I was trying to figure out how long the round trip is from the parking lot.  Looks to be about 8-10 miles? Should be good to go with an early start.  And yes, it looks like the slide has been extended all the way to the trail back to the parking area.  Sick.

The new slide on Saddleback looks particularly interesting.  It should be easily accessible from the Ore Bed Brook trail, it is of substantial length, and it almost goes to the summit.

After Irene shot from adkbcski.com


Before Irene from Google Earth:

Those are some beautiful photographs. Thanks everyone for posting, and thanks to Drew for letting me use that pic.

Jeff or anyone - what is the total vert on the slide, and how much of that is pitched enough for linked turns?

Does anyone else feel weird about looking at these pics?

I was thinking that if we all got together, for massive breakfast at a local place, and again went out locally for dinners and beer after an epic daylong ski, we could bring a little business to the High Peaks and put a positive spin on a small part of the story.   Bet we could get some bloggers interested.

Great pics Take-a-hike and SkiMore.  The comparison really shows well how much further BB has been extended.
Harv, vert on the new extended version must be damn near 2000 feet now, and yes, it does feel a bit odd looking at those pics.    The Saddleback slide looks like the upper third might be a bit steep, or maybe I'm just a whimp.  You're absolutely right about spending some $$ in the Keene Valley region asap - important aspect of recovering and restoring some normalcy.

Time for a new slide guide!

Harv, I feel the same way but then also fascinated by the power of Mother Nature. It might be a cliche but with every cloud there is a silver lining. We certainly can't change what happened so we might as well embrace it. I like the idea of getting up there and spending some money and skiing. This way it can be a win-win for everybody. Hopefully the good people of the region will be able to recover. Here's wishing them lots of luck!

Rochester Mark wrote

Harv, I feel the same way but then also fascinated by the power of Mother Nature.

Don't get me wrong - I feel the pull of those images.  

I thought Jeff's intro in his blog piece said it pretty well.

Some amazing pictures from the Johns Brook Valley:

http://www.brendanwiltse.com/Photography_Site/My_Albums/Pages/JBL_-_Hurricane_Irene.html