Whiteface 12/30/12 (adventure included)

So my friend Tom and I had heard that Gore was more than packed this weekend, and after having a great pow day there Thursday, we decided to try our luck elsewhere. Whiteface. It was a little strange to be in the left lane and keep going on 87 while the fifty cars that had been around us all got of at Exit 23 around 7:45 this morning.

We had planned from the start to get creative around Whiteface today. We wanted to get over to Lookout Mountain, which hasn't opened yet this season. It turned out to be a good day for it, since high winds ended up keeping the gondola and all major lifts closed today. The trails we had to take to get over to the base of the Lookout lift were a cross between windblown crud and boiler-plate ice. It was 13 degrees at the base, probably 5 where we went on Lookout, and the wind chill had to be well below 0.

We skinned halfway up Lookout Below, then switched to bootpacking when it got too steep. There were drifts almost chest deep from the wind blowing directly up that trail, conveniently at our backs.



I meant to snap a better picture of the main mountain from the top of Lookout Below, but I forgot until later. We were a bit skimpy with the pictures in general because taking a glove off was torture every single time.



We continued on up Wilmington Trail. By the time I turned around to take a picture, most of our skin track had been covered by windblown snow.



Destination achieved: the top of Sugar Valley Glades. Based on the wind pattern, we predicted that snow would have gathered in the gulley there and stayed relatively fresh.



Tom dug a pit behind a tree where we could pack up our skins and have a snack out of the wind.



Our guess about the snow turned out to be a good one. Consistent knee-deep pow in open trees. Steep pitch at the top, mellower lower down. Deepest snow I've skied in a while. Face shots. We didn't stop to take a ton of pictures. It was still really cold to be taking gloves off. Besides, we were too busy enjoying our turns to be getting the camera out all the time. Here are the couple decent shots we got from the descent.





When we came back in at 2:30pm, the entire place was deserted. Apparently nothing had opened up and everyone went home. We didn't mind.



All in all, a good day.

Now that's what I call "making lemonade." Well done, gentlemen.

Nice report, thanks. Seems like in prior years there was a concerted effort to open Wilmington early. Your report highlights why on many winter days Gore has a big advantage over Whiteface, ie it is open and skiable :)

Looks a hell of a lot more fun than patching the hole in my ceiling.
Wish I could have gone.

My wife and I saw two guys on Wilmington around 12:30 or so...could that have been you?

ADKarver wrote

My wife and I saw two guys on Wilmington around 12:30 or so...could that have been you?

That would most definitely have been us hah.

Nice!

Great way to beat the crowds on Friday with big returns for your efforts!

Gore had record numbers on Friday. Saturday was close. Crazy busy weekend, but Gore has enough terrain it was easy to avoid the crowds. We never had to wait in a lift line except the first gondi ride. All other lifts had no wait. Gore Mountain can handle big crowds once away from the base area...especially with Burnt Ridge and the Ski Bowl connection. There were no crowds on the upper mountain.

That's really good to hear about Gore. Come to think of it, I've never really waited in a line for the Straightbrook quad. We were just worried that it was going to be the most crowded we had ever seen it. The only times I've seen unbearably long lines there are on weekend holidays when only about half the mountain is open. The timing with the snowfall was great for them (and us!).

This TR gets a Zag Award.  The masses zIgged and you zagged. Nice one!

Very nice.  You picked the right day and you earned your turns. Excellent.

Good call!  We were going to do the same yesterday if the winds didnt die down.  Thankfully they did!