What a great place to live!

Not much good skiing down three but Speculator seemed pretty nice when I gave driven thru it.  Really nice lake front cottage probably way cheap compared to around here for lake front.

I dunno Hudson Hiker... Speculator has been for sale everytime I've ever driven through in the past 3 years.  This includes winter, spring, fall, and summer.

But whatever, it's a small, poor, Adirondack town with a lot of 'getaway ghetto' cottages.  It's also a real nice area of the park to ski and hike if you know wtf you are talking about.  Just because there isn't a monster mountain with a lodge and lifts all over it doesn't mean it isn't good.  I'm guessing anything that involves kicking and gliding isn't considered good skiing...

I like Spec.  It's quiet and set in a beautiful area of the park.  I support their economy everytime I'm in that area.  It ain't much, just a sub, some gas and maybe some groceries... but really if you go to the Adirondacks to enjoy the wild, public lands, then you aren't going to support much more than that no matter what the town is.

MikeK wrote

I'm guessing anything that involves kicking and gliding isn't considered good skiing...

Love the kick and glide.

Mike... you spend time in the Siamese?

Not as much as I'd like... but I was skiing out there a couple times in the past few years.

The wife and I go all over, and ski whatever we can.  There is so much good skiing both on and off marked trails in the ADKs I can't even keep up with it all.

I've been connecting with people all over the Northeast about BC Nordic skiing and there is a small, but passionate group of individuals with a great deal of knowledge.  It's really great.  So many places to ski, so little time.

Great thing about it is you can have fun exploring new places you've never been or finding new ways to ski what is in your own backyard.  It really gets back to the grassroots of what skiing is about.  Don't mean to be a crank, but I get a little grumpy when people say there isn't good skiing around.  I once thought that way when I was dh skiing at the same tired little resort and listening to the same mantra over and over.

I've never been the greatest skier, and I never will be.  It's not about that for me.  I could care less about guys bragging the big lines they've skied.  Complaining that the skiing is no good at their sleepy little hill.  Shooting down others way of skiing to make themselves feel better.  Buying the latest binding or carving ski.  I think they are just unhappy no matter what.

I read these ski forums too much, and it's easy to get bogged down in the BS, but there are actually some good people doing fun stuff who are passionate about what they are doing.  It's inspirational and sometimes educational.  So to those folks, rock on!

I started skiing nordic on groomers at age 30 and by 35 was spending most of my vacation days in the northern end of the Siamese. By age 40 I knew that end pretty well.  Almost every drainage has (or had) a hunters path that you can follow.  I bet many are still maintained as hunters seem to be big on tradition.  I think Camp has hunted the Siamese as he has family near 11th Mtn.

I started skiing Gore when I got so hooked on skiing that I wanted to ski before the woods were ready.  Not sure if you ever ski Gore, but IMO it's got a pretty good nordic culture going.  All those flat spots have a real upside IMO, regarding the kind of people the mountain attracts.

Well I think what Steve, you and others are doing in that area is a great thing.  The trails are great, they aren't harming the wild character, and it gets people out doing something healthy and fun.

I'm not against Gore, WF or ORDA.  I just think some of these LP guys need to get off their high horses.  What are they doing for the economy up there?  Nada.  And it should be that way.  The park is park.  It's meant to preserve nature and for the public to enjoy it and reconnect with it.

I like LP beer, but here's the facts:

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/1888/6751/

Pretty average by the beer communities standards.

I like Placid Boatworks, but it's not going to change our unemployment situation nationwide.

I can tolerate cottagers.  But I have to tell you I spend my spring, fall and summer on a different lake, pond or mountain with million dollar views that none of them can get from their camps.  If I'm feeling lazy I can sleep at a campground and take a shower for $20.  In the winter the hotels are cheap because the regular tourists are gone, so ski tourists help support that economy and keep it open and less expensive for the summer crowd.

I understand a tourism economy, and sometimes what it takes to survive.  But say in the case of Tupper Lake, maybe it got a little to big for it's own britches?  The logging industry in the Adirondacks ain't what it used to be, and it's kind of a good thing.  Maybe they need to downsize, stabilize, get some industry that tourists and outdoor recreationlists will utilize like restaurants, hotels, grocery stores, a few specialty shops, etc.  I'm not talking bazillion dollar resorts.  Just a few well run places.  It seems to be what works in the other towns.

MikeK wrote

Well I think what Steve, you and others are doing in that area is a great thing.  The trails are great, they aren't harming the wild character, and it gets people out doing something healthy and fun.

I'm not doing much besides skiing that stuff and digging it. Steve has been a huge driving force behind the growth and improvement of the trail network in the Siamese and Vanderwacker Wild Forest. He's got his eye on an even bigger project that will connect a lot more of what has been built.

The revitalized Raymond Brook Trail (and shuttle) and the Ski Bowl MTB Trails are great area attractions.

Have you skied Raymond Brook?

Mike

The LP beers that you buy in a bottle or on draft anywhere except at the Pub itself are brewed in Utica by FX Matt and not always to the same recipe.  Much better stuff at pub itself in LP.

Another of Steve Ovitts projects. Narrow bog bridges over the wet areas of the Hudson Point Preserve on the Hudson. Just fihished them a couple weeks ago. I had nice walk over them yesterday.

I have not skied Raymond Brook, but it's high on my list.  I need to get some info about this shuttle because it has been a major hold up for me.  I typically only go with one car, so I'd have to ski it out and back.  I've tried to get some other people to go and stage it, but to no avail.

I'd also like to do the Avalanche Pass and Hoffman Notch traverses but they are better done, for me, as shuttles or key swaps.  Again hard to find people to coordinate that with.  There are a bunch of other ski trips I'd like to do but they aren't easily done in one day.  A hot tent and pulk is high on my list of wants.  And maybe a spot or sat phone is kinda essential there.  A broken leg a day into the wilderness ain't gonna be an easy ski back.

I actually haven't even checked out any of the ski bowl stuff, by bike or ski.  I was up with my bike at the end of August and I was thinking about swinging by and checking those trails out but I wound up getting sick and spending a day in the SL hospital...

But either way, whatever you're doing, it's good stuff.  We have a ton of trail networks for mountain bikes that have sprouted up in the past 10 years where I live.  I need to check these areas out on skis and volunteer to dig some holes myself.