Whiteface Conditions (2013-2014)

no thx

Bloody Marys?  Skan......no, keepin' it PG, sorry.

ScottyJack wrote

no thx

TJ doesn't drink anymore any_A_ways

Let beer be a euphemism for whatever it is one wants, or would like to partake in.

Looks like next week could be some perfect corn cooking weather....

I go to BTV about once a week.  Grand Island a Ferry is the way to go.  Essex ferry only runs once an hour.  The GI ferry runs every 10 mins

Skied with my son today.  We were on the Gondi by 8:35

Our first thought was to hit Empire but the wind was blowing up it and it did not look good.  We chose Mac and it was not good.  It must gave rained below 2500 feet and it was cement.  They were just grooming Valley /Fox and we skied ra safe distance behind the groomer to the bottom.  Headed to the summit and hit skyward which was variable good and blown off.  Blazers was really nice though.  Cloud was roped but I'm not sure why.

The best skiing was off Lookout chair.  Hoyt's, Wilmington trail, LBO, SVG all super fun.  SVG had that thicker rained on snow at the bottom.

My son lead me on my 1st run thru Rands.  That is a really nice glade.  Nice lines and very skiable glade for how tight it looks.   Much longer than I thought it would be.  A little stumpy but it's only going to get better.

It is freakin amazing how good WF is skiing right now. I have to keep reminding my brain that it is almost April cause my eyes are telling it something different. Skio De Mayo baby. It will happen.

+1000

Yeah, WF was pretty good over the weekend. Saturday was okay (Skyward to Victoria was a nice run in the afternoon), but Sunday was great. Wet pow, trees open, and nice bump lines by the afternoon.

I also hit Mac early and found it "interesting". Ice bumps under wet pow is not what I was expecting, but it wasn't horrible, and the trees next to it were great. Couldn't believe a mountain could get that much wet snow and still be icy, but Essex and Mountain Run still had shiny headwalls (better down below). The trees were nice all day, though. I also took a run down Rand's. Nice, tight lines. It needs one more summer of stump cutting and it will be good to go.

Sunday Fun day at the WF!

SJ, you fall on your head??

I don't know why the pix get rotated when I post from a blackberry.....  

Headed up yesterday after we skunked here in North Creek with all rain on Saturday night. It was well worth the trip! I don't get up to WF much in season, mostly skiing there when Gore closes mid week in the spring, so usually the their glades are closed for the season, and my time is spent enjoying the soft corn off the top and the Mt Run chair. So, I was blown away yesterday with the quality of their glades
We started with Rand's Last Stand and lapped that 3 times (I agree with MC2's assessment, one more season of cleaning and that will be great). We then moved over High Country Glade and had a blast rippin through the wide spaced trees. Then we found Cloudsplitter Glades and the game was on! Lap after lap of Cloudsplitter to HCG and the fun meter was off the chart 
The thing about yesterday that was very surprising was that we didn't get out on the hill to about 11ish and we ripped it up till about 3 and we still were getting freshies on the last run, on a Sunday!
Bottom Line: Great Day, Great Friends, Great Snow, and Great Glades!!!

It's my brother's turn to rant.  Ok, I'll do it for him.  Had the day off, grabbed the gear, and headed up for what he hoped would be a nice day of spring skiing, and hopefully a couple laps in the Slides.  Isn't happening so far.

Wind is a culprit in this story, and nobody (my brother included) blames WF for that.  That said, wind is not the only problem in this story.  Mountain management has apparently decided it's easier/cheaper to just not open things at this point in the season, and would rather do that than provide a quality experience to the paying spring customers they have.  What I am about to relate is not speculation or second hand info.  Already this morning my brother has spoken to the lift ops manager, as well as others.  I think my brother, and the other guests he has banded together today, have a right to be pissed.

So here's the story.  Gondola and Summit Quad on wind hold.  Unfortunate, but it happens.  Face Lift and Mixing Bowl only open lifts.  With very little available terrain to ski, and many lifts such as Freeway, Mountain Run, Little Whiteface, and Lookout not running, my brother sought out management to ask some questions.  The answers he got were not satisfactory.  This is what he was told.  Lookout is not running, as a cost saving measure, and they only anticipate running it on weekends from now on.  The mountain has no intention of running the Mountain Run lift again this season.  There was no explanation about the Little Whiteface lift, but after my brother and others complained they were going to see what that could do about getting it open.  My brother didn't ask about Freeway, but I'm sure he would have gotten the 'weekend only here on out', or maybe even 'no intention to run' response had he asked.

He calls BS, and I'm inclined to agree.  As to the wind holds, they happen.  However...when they do happen I think management has a responsibility to do whatever they can to make sure they provide the best experience they can to their paying customers.  Even if you want to save money by not staffing/running Lookout/Freeway/Mountain Run/Little Whiteface.....when you can't run two of the four lifts you intended to run, adapt!  Move the staff from the Summit Quad and Gondola to other lifts, and run them.  Now to paying customers.....well you have to treat them with respect.  If you are going to limit operations for the sake of economy, and not run lifts at all, or mid week, you owe it to your customer base to make that known, and let people make an informed decision about whether to spend their hard earned money at your mountain.  Heck, it's not like they are offering a discounted midweek ticket to reflect the fact that they have no intention of providing a full mountain experience.

I'm disappointed in WF.  I've frequently avoided Gore for their history of midweek closures/lack of service...and that's not something I recall ever being a problem at WF.  Now I need to think twice about how much spring skiing I'll do there.  I was thinking of upgrading my WF only non-holiday season pass to a Ski3.  Instead of doing that, I'm kind of regretting giving them my $459.

Nice!   Sunday funday!

MC2--I was up Sunday as well---had an absolute blast! May be one of my best Whiteface days.

Rand's was fun, but it did get me wondering....why does it seem all of the WF glades are double fall line? I always feel like I'm traversing over to stay on the length of the run. Is it just me? Gore's pretty much always follow the natural fall line with the exception of Chatty and Cirque.

Sunny spring conditions, everything that is open is skiing nicely....that's my brother's report from the hill.  Mountain Run chair came on line about 12:30.  Gondi came off wind hold shortly after.

Really shouldn't take 4 hours to get an alternate lift or two on line when your main planned lifts are on hold.  I still think keeping something like Lookout closed to save a buck is wrong if you aren't going to make sure people are aware that is likely to be the case.  

Anyway, glad things have improved a little for today.....

In the distant and recent past I never seem to have encountered the midweek lift-service meltdown at WF. Every skiable terrain was accessible (one way or the other), Lookout included. Clearly distinguishing operating pattern from Gore. Too bad if they start doing that, as I plan to have a few midweek day trips there this week and next. Not being able to ski, e.g., Lookout Mtn., would be sad given the nice coverage it still has. I hope this was only a fluke response to weather/wind-related inadequate staff reshuffling.