North Creek Ski Bowl (and Sidecountry), NY: 12/30/12

We skied the North Creek Ski Bowl this morning. It just seemed to make sense.



It wasn't crowded or windy.



We jumped on the Hudson Chair and saw some hale and hearty shredding it below us...





Most of the morning I skied with Neve on Moxham. Moxham is one of the original trails, and it is an absolute gem. It's really well laid out, it's rolling but you're never in danger of skating. (gasp!)  You can ski it with your 5 year old, and both really have fun. At least that's the way it's been each time we've skied it.



It was also a teaching moment. Neve assumed that we should alternate trail choice between us.  But only Moxham has intermediate pitch and minimal skating or parent pulling.   I explained to her that we should pick Moxham so we could ski without much skating.

Eventually Neve got it and started attacking the climbs...



On one run Zelda and Neve did Peaceful Valley and I checked out Ski Bowl Glades. In via the cattrack...



I found the best tracked snow I'd skied this season. Nice, soft and manageable, with no ice, and only an occasional rock...



The snow under the Chair was really good, except that the headwall was, of course, too thin.  Now that it's packed out it might be easier to ski because you can see the rocks.



The real highlight of the day was venturing over into the sidecountry with Perilous Paul.  Burnt Ridge... that disputed area officially CLAIMED by Gore. (totally kidding ok?)  We ended the day with Barkeater, Cirque and Tahawas.  All were sweet, but the snow in Barkeater and Cirque was dramatically softer and more skiable than what we found in Tahawas.

When you come around the entrance to Cirque and the whole area is in the sun it's very cool.




Mike rocked the trees.


The group was strong.


I closed the place.  

On my last two runs, they had a sign up at the top of the lift that said... "If you car is parked at Gore, you should go there now." Or something.  I thought it was funny and smart to have it.

Today was really a surprise day. Way excellent.

Excellent report. I really enjoy those original trails. I cannot wait to get up to Gore.

+ 1!  We skied the bowl the past two days, and haven't touched any other lifts than Hudson, I mean why bother? The terrain under the chair and skiers left of he chair kept us happy. The best part is that on some of the busiest days in Gore's history we had the place to ourselves. I feel like I'm skiing in a different era, like I'm in one of Jeremy Davis' lost ski areas (which of course we are). The parking, lodge, skiing, all has a "too good to be true" vibe. I hope it lasts!

looks great over there!

The ski bowl was the way to go.

The base lodge was a huge clusterfuck. Took us 30 min to get our lift tix. During that time our group of friends took off to find fresh snow while we tried to figure out how to get up the mountain. The gondi was on windhold. Triple was running so we decided to go for it. As we made our way there, they closed it. So we got back into the huge line for the gondi and eventually got up the hill.

Cave Glades were closed due to a tree that is about to snap. It is all cracked and creeking and ready to snap. It scared us pretty good, so we quickly got around it. Seriously don't duck that rope. It is closed for a reason.

We took a few fresh powder runs at the top and didn't find our people. Harv texted me "Ski Bowl" so we decided to make our way there with a quick stop at the Saddle where we picked up 2 friends. We were first in Twister glade untracked just as it opened.

Took Barkeater down and over to ski bowl. Ran into Darkside Shaman for a run in the trees there. Such a beautiful glade. Got cold and hungry and it was past noon, so we decided to make our way back. We got held up at Burnt Ridge for 40 min. We froze there while the electricians fixed the lift...then shivering uncontrollably we huddled together on the chair to the top. Got down to base just after 1:30 and missed our group again! We still hadn't fully warmed up and were pretty sore from the week of skiing that we called it a day early and headed back to CNY.

The Ski Bowl really was the way to beat the epic crowds on Saturday and Sunday.  We spent alot of time over there and it was empty.  All lifts were ski on.

Interestingly, despite the record crowds, the only place where we didn't just ski onto the lift was at the Gondi in the morning. With BR and the Ski Bowl open, the crowds were spread out. If you ventured away from the core, there was plenty of room and no wait to get on the lift.

Powderqueen wrote

 Harv texted me "Ski Bowl" so we decided to make our way there...

I wasn't sure if you got that.  I was having some trouble with communications lol. I'm 99% sure I saw you and Shaman heading into Ski Bowl glades when I was on the lift.