Whiteface Conditions (2012-2013)

CMR wrote

Given the upcoming temperature predictions, do you think that WF has a good chance of actually getting a trail from little WF to the bottom open?  I really hope so.  A half day of skiing at WF followed by lunch at the Brown Dog or Saranac Sourdough in Lake Placid?  Sounds good to me!

There is no doubt in my mind that WF will have top2bottom skiing.  Bet the house on it.

L&S in Lake Placid is another great place to eat!  Wicked good!  

going to be open sat.  day two will be in the books

11/16/12

great snow conditions yesterday from top(well top of facelift) to bottom.  even in a bright sun the snow stayed cold.  overall a very carvable machine packed with some stretches of marbles.  Early is better.  This time of year the sun sets quick.

Guns were blowing as we left the cloudsplitter lodge.  Expected a velvet carpet.    

ORDA press release this afternoon:
Whiteface Mountain, in Wilmington, N.Y. is slated to re-open for the 2012-’13 season Friday, Nov. 23, with three trails (Upper Valley, Lower Valley and Fox) and one lift, the Facelift quad.

Sounds like the gondi and Excelsior are off the table, at least for Friday.

Conditions on the meager side but will improve.  Snowmaking to finish up from turn 2 to summit today.  Great shot for excelsior 2morrow.

For today - expect things to be a "bit" firm....  

i thought the word "firm" was banned after last year. also very depressed to see the word firm used this first weekend.

The first weekend was last week and it was not firm then

It rained a little bit yesterday late afternoon and then things froze so it was really the first firm day of the year.  Let's face it that firm and fast is going to be a condition we deal with at Whiteface.  Its all good so lets embrace it.

One note on the weather - there has been inversions all week.  They had to turn the guns off for a while up top around 10 am because it was too warm to blow.  This pattern has been with us all week but appears to be finally going away.  It was also snowing pretty strongly at times today and the skiing got better as the day went on.  Ops is doing the best that they can.

Scotty Jack it was nice to meet you today.

ScottyJack wrote

There is no doubt in my mind that WF will have top2bottom skiing.  Bet the house on it.

SJ gets to keep his house.  Whiteface opened the Gondi right around noon today.  Cover up high was better then I expected but was it tough to see in the afternoon when the light got flat.

Much better overall skiing today with the guns going all day.  Forecast calls for excelent snow making temps thru next Saturday so we should see more trails open by next weekend.

We were there on Friday.  And while only the Facelift was open, we had a great time.  Wish we could have been there today for the Gondi...

Coach Z wrote

SJ gets to keep his house.  

THANK GOD!  I like our house!  Excelsior was fun!

Snow surfaces vastly improved from Saturday.  Guns are ablazing!  Conditions will be sweet all week and next weekend should be excellent!

Nice to meet you coachZ!!

ScottyJack wrote

Coach Z wrote

SJ gets to keep his house.  

THANK GOD!  I like our house!  Excelsior was fun!

Snow surfaces vastly improved from Saturday.  Guns are ablazing!  Conditions will be sweet all week and next weekend should be excellent!

Nice to meet you coachZ!!

Yes, Sunday was a hugh improvement. It was great having the gondi spinning again.

I was at Gore on Saturday and Whiteface on Sunday. Whiteface was 1,000 times better. Less crowds, more options, Excelsior (although I despise what that trail has become), better scenery, a lot more snow, and even some nice bump lines. I really had a good time, especially in the early afternoon when there were even less people on the mountain.

Also, I have to agree that the bar at Whiteface is better than the bar at Gore, especially because the redesign of the Gore bar is... Ummm... Less than optimal. Deck at Gore is still better, though.

Blah blah blah thats all those wf people need to hear. Now they're going to be impossible to deal with

I considered that. But I have to give credit where credit is do. Sunday, it was the better place to be.

As for the rest of the season . . . . I guess we'll see.

Matt

What don't you like about Excelsior?

The more options thing just started on Sunday.  Before that is was one way down.

I really like our bar deck so I'll have to make a point of checking yours out in the spring.

11/28/12

Essex and Lower Northway now open!

mattchuck2 wrote

I was at Gore on Saturday and Whiteface on Sunday. I really had a good time, especially in the early afternoon when there were even less people on the mountain.

Awesome!  Glad you had a good time.  

freeheeln wrote

Blah blah blah thats all those wf people need to hear. Now they're going to be impossible to deal with

I laughed

It used to be a narrow, twisting trail that existed on its own as a classic New England-type run. Way back, before even Paron's Run came into the top, it was one of my favorite trails. After Paron's, and especially after the Gondola was installed, it became a superhighway for borderline intermediates (most of whom, while they may be intermediate at other mountains, should probably stick to the Kids Kampus at WF until they develop their skills a little more).

With the trail widening came an increase in the number of trails that go into Excelsior and out of Excelsior (along with an increase in people using every one of these arteries, desperately trying to find an easier trail because they have gotten themselves in over their heads). As more people used these "bail out" trails, they had to be widened to accommodate the groups of people. So, what used to be a classic, skinnier, winding trail became an overpopulated, over widened, over interrupted, soulless trail that seems to be mainly used as a catchment for poor skiers.

I never ski it when the rest of the mountain is open. It's almost too annoying to use as a way to get from Point A to Point B - in fact, if the bumps on the skier's left of Lower Cloudspin (or whatever you WF guys call it) are no good, there are plenty of other ways to get to the summit lift from WF that are more enjoyable (usually with less crowds and better snow conditions).

I don't know. Maybe my opinion is overly harsh because my memory is clouded with nostalgia. But when I was a kid, I begged my parents to let me do Excelsior again and again. The trail that's called "excelsior" now doesn't inspire the same feeling.