Raymond Brook, NY: 1/4/14

Ski Day 11: Raymond Brook is fun. And on this day the snow was really good.

Day two of my three-day all pow no comp weekend.

We climbed...



...came to the height of land...



... then led by the master...



...we skied down...




On the Trail


Climbing Again


Down into the Ravine


Down.


Down....








Arrival at the Ski Bowl

There's more uphill in there than the images portray.  

I was hustling to keep up and didn't get many shots on the climbs.

FknA

Looks like an awesome day! Raymond brook is definitely on the hit list, did you start on Barton mines rd or the botheration pond spur?

gorgonzola wrote

Looks like an awesome day! Raymond brook is definitely on the hit list, did you start on Barton mines rd or the botheration pond spur?

We did it from Bartons. It's a great ski either way. Leave most of a day when you leave from Garnet Hill.

The trailhead thing is sort or messed up. There really isn't a winter trailhead at GHL anymore.

If you park at Garnet Hill especially on a busy day try not to use one of the prime spots, which are important for Garnet Hill's business.

Or even better,  park in the customer lot and walk on into the ski shop and buy something.  

Tell em Harvey sent ya.

Is that low hanging pack cumbersome to ski with?

skimore wrote

Is that low hanging pack cumbersome to ski with?

I assume you are talking about Steve's hipsack:

Harvey wrote

He likes it. But on this day he'd added a attachable side pocket and admitted that while he loves his pack, when he needs enough space to require adding an external pocket, a regular pack skis better.

Great post!  Theres something about the Raymond Brook trail that draws me in.  Ive yet to ski it but always enjoy reading about it.  Has anyone skinned up from ski bowl then ski back down?

Harvey wrote

gorgonzola wrote

Looks like an awesome day! Raymond brook is definitely on the hit list, did you start on Barton mines rd or the botheration pond spur?

We did it from Bartons. It's a great ski either way. Leave most of a day when you leave from Garnet Hill.

The trailhead thing is sort or messed up. There really isn't a winter trailhead at GHL anymore.

If you park at Garnet Hill especially on a busy day try not to use one of the prime spots, which are important for Garnet Hill's business.

Or even better,  park in the customer lot and walk on into the ski shop and buy something.  

Tell em Harvey sent ya.

Parked at ? farm-something- farm? lot last time, seemed like good starting point. I hope we get enough snow and free time to give it a go this year!

Schwanz... people do skin up and ski back down, we ran into a fellow doing it on this day.

gorgonzola wrote

Parked at ? farm-something- farm? lot last time, seemed like good starting point. I hope we get enough snow and free time to give it a go this year!

You parked at the "Old Farm Clearing."  For years it was considered the trailhead but it's currently not legal to park there.  It's only big enough (when empty) for the plow to turn around and the property owners won't allow it to become wider. (Understandable IMO).

The official trail head is a few hundred yards beyond, but if the town plowed all the way to it, it would prevent skiing from The Lodge's groomed trails directly into the wilderness. That access while not protected by law in any way, is tradition and I also don't think anyone wants to disrupt that.

So... we park near GHL and try to stay out of the way.

Whatever you do don't park at the old farm clearing if there is a chance of snow or plowing. That could cause trouble.

This year the road has been plowed into the summer lot so no problem parking.
Garnet Hill has not been grooming this way , stopping at their beach trail.

BRLKED wrote

This year the road has been plowed into the summer lot so no problem parking.
Garnet Hill has not been grooming this way , stopping at their beach trail.

I did not know this. Thanks Ed.

It makes me sad but I understand it.

The other thread reminded me of how great this day was. We started on the Halfway brook trail from Garnet Hill, so I was there a little later in the day than Harv, but there was still plenty of snow. My pics (instagrammed):