Whiteface Conditions (2013-2014)

Coach Z wrote

Found those new SV lines and they are nice
When did they get cut?  Definitely not natural glades

definitely not.  

Oh the slides opened today and the word on the mtn is Mike Leblanc was the driving force.  Any one over there sees Mr. Leblanc at Mahogany Ridge be sure to buy the man a beer.  I tell you straight up, it aint an easy thing to open them slides.  

You probably found one of lower lines.  I don't think you could find the other ones, not that you are not smart but they are hidden away.  I think they have been there for a while.  

You guys are Wlc in advance for the nice skied in packed powder base on slides.   And be sure to have all required gear.   Thems the rules.

An interesting day at "The Face" today ...

Conditions were, in a word, variable ... you really had to look for the snow today. Didn't get to ski The Slides, as I don't have a beacon, and for those who often question this, Patrol was definitely checking that you had a beacon before they'd let you in.

Skied Rand's Last Stand for the first time ... the snow in there was good, but there are some very tight lines in there ... found some great snow on Upper Cloud and Niagara, and Wilderness was probably the "trail of the day".

Met up with Gorgonzola for a gondola ride and a run ... If you're reading, I'll keep my eyes open tomorrow and try to meet up with you again for more than just one.

For me, another great day ... sure as hell beats being at work!!!

Thanks for the report.  With the whole mountain open it must have been fun searching out the good snow.  You ski Empire, Cloudsplitter, or Sugar Valley?  

I'm dropping the kids in ski school tomorrow am and I'll be solo.  Tall guy, blue jacket, black pants, Nordica gear.  Give me a shout if you see me and want some company in the woods.  Hoping the Slides will be open again tomorrow, help make my investment in avi gear worth while.

Good ridin with ya F4M. Wifey and i had great time at the face, our rUn of the day was wilderness>fresh tracks across 1900 (!?!?!)>lower Mac Pow bumps in the sun after lunch! Nothing like sweating ouT those beers! will look for ya tomorrow

Skidds wrote

Thanks for the report.  With the whole mountain open it must have been fun searching out the good snow.  You ski Empire, Cloudsplitter, or Sugar Valley?  

I'm dropping the kids in ski school tomorrow am and I'll be solo.  Tall guy, blue jacket, black pants, Nordica gear.  Give me a shout if you see me and want some company in the woods.  Hoping the Slides will be open again tomorrow, help make my investment in avi gear worth while.

As it's been explained to me a couple of times, the conditions report is "anticipated" conditions.

Empire wasn't open, and I don't think CloudSplitter or 10th Mtn were either ... Not sure about Sugar Valley ... never made it down Wilmington Trail today.
Blue jacket ... black pants ... Nordica gear ... sounds like me!!!

This will be as good a place as any for my rant.  And, yes!  Now I'll lay claim to a bit of an entitlement complex.  And, no!  I don't care if I piss anyone off.  Mary and Ubu (sit, Ubu, sit) have conspired to loosen my lips.

Today was a disappointing day.  Primary culprit was the wind hold.  I don't blame the mountain for that.  Shit happens.  High hopes for the day, you roll the dice, sometimes you lose.  I get that.  I accept that.

That said, I still have to call.....BULLSHIT!  As an invested season pass holder I feel I have the right to make that call (ha!, entitlement complex at its' best).

Before I rant and rave, let me acknowledge that I understand that a DAC (daily anticipated conditions) report is just that, anticipated.  Conditions can change, rendering trails un-openable.  I get that.  But I'll be a monkey's e'ffin uncle if that is what happened today.  

Ok, let me get serious for a minute.  Here is what happened.  Arrive at the mountain at 9:15.  Summit quad on wind hold, not enough instructors to accommodate our ski school needs...disappointing, but I get it.  Then the gondola goes down, and that is something that happens.  Would have been nice to have the Mountain Run lift under the circumstances, but no.  And I accept that.  

What I don't accept is that a bazillion trails that could have been skied were roped.  Northway, Cloudsplitter Glades, Empire, Blazer's.  Very frustrating.  No way it was for condition/coverage.  Like ski school with not enough instructors, it was probably not enough patrol.  The conditions haven't changed in days, so don't put trails that won't open on the DAC.

And that's all I have to say about that.

Skidds wrote

What I don't accept is that a bazillion trails that could have been skied were roped.  Northway, Cloudsplitter Glades, Empire, Blazer's.  Very frustrating.  No way it was for condition/coverage.  Like ski school with not enough instructors, it was probably not enough patrol.  The conditions haven't changed in days, so don't put trails that won't open on the DAC.

Not to defend, but, if you had skied Upper Northway yesterday, you would have understood why it was closed today. Quite frankly, it was glacial.

Cloudsplitter Glades ... I agree, not sure why they had that roped from the Approach entrance ... that seemed unnecessary.

Empire ... from what I had heard, and since it wasn't possible to verify first hand, the middle parts of the trail had a LOT of nasty business going on.

Blazer's ... it was open ... from the "ladies tee". There was a rope around the upper entrance and the side, but the lower entrance was NOT roped, and there were PLENTY of people skiing it. In fact, quite a few were also ducking the rope and entering from the top.

All that said, I agree with you that the D.A.C. is ... in a word ... BS, and they absolutely should do a better job of "truth in advertising". They're definitely not doing themselves any favors when they report one thing, and the first hand experience is entirely different.

Before noon I'm pretty sure I was one of few people who took the Yellow Brook Road over to lower Sky.  Lapped it twice, and it looked like the rope was all the way across Blazer's at that time.  I'm actually not a fan right now of being a season pass holder....made me think twice about ducking ropes I'd normally duck.  

Empire, middle parts, nasty business....BS.  Let us be big boys.  As someone local on the lift today said, patrol was just being #%^holes.  A lot was skiable today that they just didn't open.  If you don't want to open shit, fine....just don't advertise BS 100%.

Skidds wrote

Empire, middle parts, nasty business....BS.  Let us be big boys.  

Why you so bent on skiing trails that probably sucked

Because I'm pretty sure it didn't suck.  Something like Essex, which looked horrible icy, I get it.  Can't say the same about things like Cloudsplitter and Empire. The other point is, if Empire was so bony as to be unskiable, it didn't get that way overnight.  Why was it on the DAC?  Probably because it had coverage and could have opened, then whoever was responsible for dropping the rope was overly conservative.

Skidds wrote

 then whoever was responsible for dropping the rope was overly conservative.

Meaning it probably still sucked. What did you expect to find after 2 days of high winds?

In  that other thread I said Empire was my favorite at Whiteface, but I've only had 2 or 3 runs on it.

My first time was an awesome spring day. Soft enough that you could really control speed by making turns in that tight space. I was teleing and about halfway down there was a big rock right in the middle.  The only exposed rock the whole way down.

It totally surprised me and I did a kind of split to get around it. MadPat got it on film somewhere and named it "spinarama." It's funny.

I know this doesn't totally relate except that the middle section of Empire seems to need more snow then the rest to get covered.

skimore wrote

Skidds wrote

 then whoever was responsible for dropping the rope was overly conservative.

Meaning it probably still sucked. What did you expect to find after 2 days of high winds?

Didn't suck.  What did I expect to find after 2 days of high wind?  Exactly what I know I'll always find, great snow with some thin cover in spots.  Empire isn't like Essex, exposed.  Snow doesn't get blown off Empire.  Yes, there was a couple inches of snow overnight, but that didn't change conditions.  Yesterday Northway and Empire were roped, no change in condition overnight, today they weren't roped.  90+% of the time I'll give patrol the benefit of the doubt, but sometimes you just gotta call BS.  I'm a good boy, for the most part I follow the rules and don't duck ropes.  Once and a while I just gotta bitch about it, sorry.

Not sure you are aware of this but you can (and should) book lessons ahead of time to prevent getting shut out especially this time of the year.

I knew there was going to be one of these rants about Saturday and it figures it was jump turn guy.  Go check out the Hitler rants about WF wind holds on the off topic forum section.

Great day to ski the slides

Went out with my carving skis and had a few nice runs on skyward first thing.  Checked with patrol and they said the slides were going to be good to go at 10 so I shot flown to get my fatter rock skis and pack with my Avy gear.  It's funny that as many times I've skied the slides in the past they still make me a little nervous.  I found a partner a nice guy from down state that could ski and had the gear.  We hit 2b.  Super fun and it's now my fav slide.  No line finding or tight spots just lots of turns.  There is a sketchy spot just below the cliff band with lots of ice over rock but otherwise it's creamy crud.  Also got runs in 3 and 2 and then cutting over to 2b thru the woods.

Slide 1 did not look at all inviting and I avoided it.  Had to go to nysef award lunch so I had a 2 hour chunk of my day taken.  Got one more after lunch and just missed last call before the sweep.  Great day.  Lots of people may be complaining about the silver equipment requirement but it definitely is keeping them from getting skied out and either a few inches of snow is keeping them nice.  Good job to patrol.  If you want to ski them go buy some gear it's worth it