Whiteface Conditions (2016 - 2017)

Looks like some cold nights (low 20's) coming this weekend.  Could there possibly be snowmaking, or maybe a test?

My guess is that they'll do a test but not actually make snow to open.  It's supposed to warm up a after that, although the Accuweather long range forecast shows a cool down around the 10th of November.

It's my first year as a Whiteface regular, so I'll get to know a lot of things about the place that I didn't know earlier.  Hunter was usually very conservative in when they started snowmaking, but once they had a good window they'd go all out.  I believe the ORDA mountains are a bit more aggressive in early season marginal temps, but obviously don't have as much firepower as Hunter.  Sometimes that helps them (like Belleayre opening well before Hunter and Windham last year), but other times it would probably hurt them in the form of all their snowmaking money washing right back down into the river.

Just remember Sno that it takes a lot of snow to cover 2500 Vert from LWF to the base
That is 3 separate runs at small areas
Keep unrealistic expectations in check

Yea Sno, think Black Friday. While millions will be out shopping you'll be sliding down WF.

pray for rain!

Yeh, we need rain before they can make snow!!!!  Rivers are real low.

snoloco wrote

Looks like some cold nights (low 20's) coming this weekend.  Could there possibly be snowmaking, or maybe a test?

Whiteface fait le meilleur de la neige dans le nord-est, peut-être que le monde  

Cire et aiguiser vos skis petit homme !  

Snowballs wrote

Yea Sno, think Black Friday. While millions will be out shopping you'll be sliding down WF.

Personally I'm hoping for 11/19, and they have opened the Saturday before Thanksgiving in 12-13, and two weeks before Thanksgiving in 13-14 and 14-15.  I will be downstate for Thanksgiving weekend and I want to ski before then.  Will likely hit Gore on my way back up to Clarkson the Sunday after Thanksgiving.

Looking at the forecast again, I don't see any snowmaking beyond a test happening next week.

snoloco wrote

Snowballs wrote

Yea Sno, think Black Friday. While millions will be out shopping you'll be sliding down WF.

Personally I'm hoping for 11/19, and they have opened the Saturday before Thanksgiving in 12-13, and two weeks before Thanksgiving in 13-14 and 14-15.  I will be downstate for Thanksgiving weekend and I want to ski before then.  Will likely hit Gore on my way back up to Clarkson the Sunday after Thanksgiving.

Looking at the forecast again, I don't see any snowmaking beyond a test happening next week.

Don't hold your breath.  I've been up in LP for Thanksgiving the last three years.  Regardless of weather, WF opens after turkey day.  Good news is that the additional snowmaking in recent years means they can get open from the top of the gondi even in a tough weather situation like Nov 2015.  Wasn't much open last Thanksgiving weekend, but WF was open.

That is incorrect.

I remember their opening days for the past 4 years.  3 of the 4, they opened before Thanksgiving and 1 year they opened on Thanksgiving.  They will open when snowmaking conditions permit.  They have often closed during the week if they opened before Thanksgiving, so maybe that's what you're observing.

12-13:  11/17
13-14:  11/15
14-15:  11/16
15-16:  11/26

Sno is correct

Wow, Sno you're really itchin to hit it, huh ? You may have to hit Big K first though that would be a looooong drive for you.

I'm totally itchin to hit it.  My season ended early last year because the mountains I went to all closed early.

snoloco wrote

That is incorrect.

I remember their opening days for the past 4 years.  3 of the 4, they opened before Thanksgiving and 1 year they opened on Thanksgiving.  They will open when snowmaking conditions permit.  They have often closed during the week if they opened before Thanksgiving, so maybe that's what you're observing.

12-13:  11/17
13-14:  11/15
14-15:  11/16
15-16:  11/26

So you have been tracking WF.  Certainly hope for a better start than last year.

My travel schedule only put me up in LP by Mon or Tue before Thanksgiving starting in 2013.  So weekend openings before turkey day didn't help.  This year I'll be up in Sunday River Thanksgiving week.  My daughter graduated from North Country School in May (ends in 9th grade) and is in school near Boston now.

I track pretty much all the ski areas that I go to on a semi regular basis.

In tracking Whiteface, I've seen that they almost always open from LWF down, served by the gondola.  Sometimes the Facelift operates too.  If it's an inversion, then only the Facelift will operate, as was done in 12-13.  The snowmakers were simply more productive at lower elevations, so they opened only from Facelift down.  I've never seen them open for the season with gondola downloading, although it has happened if a thaw rots out the lower mountain and they want to stay open to have a continuous operation.

Not sure why they don't try and get two routes down to the LWF chair and run it, since temps are more favorable at higher elevations.  It would keep more skier traffic on the upper mountain where the snow is better.  I remember Z suggested opening with the Summit Quad and downloading of Facelift.  I think using the gondola and LWF chair is more practical, and that section has a more favorable northern aspect (the top of Paron's Run faces south).

Début de saison est tout au sujet de la peau pour gagner petit homme !  

There have been seasons where they opened Essex on that first weekend.  Northway both lower and upper is very rocky and takes a ton of snow to cover properly.

There was one season around 13 or 14 years ago they opened Wilderness first as they had an early season bump event there.  It may of been before the face lift and I remember riding the old lift that stopped at mid up and having to download on it.

I also recall seasons when they opened more recently where we had to ski to the LWF and ride up to the Gondi to download.  Worst start was somewhere around 2001 or 2002 when they only opened the Bear Lift and lower Valley now called Fox.

My wife is asking me if I am going to take my son up the highway this weekend after it snows.  

Facelift was installed in 2002 replacing both the Valley Triple and MidStation Shuttle Lifts.  The Valley Triple ran the full length and the MidStation Shuttle only ran up to the bottom of Mountain Run, providing direct access to the lodge and those lifts.  Facelift doesn't have a mid station because it was too expensive on a detachable so that's why there's no direct access to that lodge anymore.  While direct access to that lodge was lost, direct access to LWF was gained with the gondola.  Good move IMO.

K man wrote

Yeh, we need rain before they can make snow!!!!  Rivers are real low.

Looks like they're getting that now.  Been raining all day in Potsdam and will rain more by the weekend.

Are they not allowed to draw water when the river is low?  They get all their snowmaking water out of there and according to Z, they are permitted to draw significantly more than they currently do.  Same goes for Gore.

Selon Z, Harry Johnson aurait fait un bon président...