Small Lake Effect Hills

That Snow Ridge post reminded me of a couple other places in that general area I've never been to...

Woods Valley in Rome NY and McCauley Mountain in Old Forge NY.

Woods Valley is 2 hrs from my house; McCauley is 3 hrs.

Can anyone comment on those places in terms of snow and terrain?  I've driven past both of them but never skied either... looking for no crowds and natural snow for next year.

There has been some mention here about McCauley, the place looks cool.

Never heard of Woods Valley.

http://forum.nyskiblog.com/Woods-Valley-2-21-11-tp2549689.html;cid=1399562646148-15

Back in January, we (Cornhead and I) came back a slightly different route from Snow Ridge and I saw some lights off to the left and I said to Bob, that looks like a ski area... and it was. Woods Valley right across from a good sized lake... However a quick glance driving past, there did not appear to be any steep expert trails. Also Woods doesn't get hammered with as much Lake Effects as Snow Ridge does. Now McCauley might be worth checking out.

This is a cool Woods Valley story:

http://forum.nyskiblog.com/Windham-GM-to-buy-Woods-Valley-td3034885.html

Thanks for the replies.

I've heard good things about McCauley on other forums.  I've seen this hill many, many times and never gave it much thought... I might have even taken the chair up in the fall when I was younger.  Old Forge usually gets good snow which has made me rethink my previous assessment.

Woods Valley (and Oak Mtn for that matter) seems to be a pretty mellow hill.  I've never been to either but I love skiing mellow runs, and if the snow is good, even better!

Snow Ridge looks like the place though - with some good powder I bet the steeper terrain really shines.

I almost seriously gave up again on lift served skiing.  Mainly I'm sick of skiing on man-made ice.  Crowds are not my favorite either.  I still love Gore, and one of these days I'll actually get there when the glades are open!  It just tends to be too far away for me to drop everything and go skiing.  8hrs round trip is too much.

I'm thinking Woods Valley and Snow Ridge will be high on my radar next year because they are still close enough I can make a reasonable day trip out of it.  McCauley and Oak Mtn are just about the distance where I want to make a weekend of it.

Have skied Both , McCauley is special,has  one gnarly lil sumbitch of a bump trail( Helmers) , big vw bumps  , some other trails there are interesting .Woods Valley is pretty tame.

So the Ridge and McCauley are worth the drive .

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