Whiteface Conditions (2016 - 2017)

jealous man! Watching ppl ski that then skiing away on a groomer was hard....

We weren't in Kansas anymore.
Fun day.

Wow, nice!  Slides, officially, on Feb 5....is that a record?  Better snow than Tahoe!

The mixed bag this week....warm, ncp, deep freeze....is letss than ideal, but things look like they are set up well for the rest of the season.

Rain is coming for the east now too.

The mandatory gear rule seems a little dramatic imho

raisingarizona wrote

The mandatory gear rule seems a little dramatic imho

Consider this ...

In many cases, in order to ski back country terrain, one must put forth some considerable effort (hiking) to access said back country terrain. As a general rule, this will tend to ensure that those going into the back country probably have a better understanding of what they're getting themselves into, and they will probably have a reasonably strong set of skills that will be needed in that type of terrain.

Now imagine back country terrain available to ANYONE who could ride a chair lift ...

They really need to extend the safety netting on the Wilmington Trail up to the first section of cliffs.

Both Saturday and Sunday, I saw a few skiers see that drop and literally go into a state of panic wedging or sideslipping the whole thing.  I also saw multiple people walking down the lower section which is steeper than the top.  They really should change that trail to a black.

I think they are going to be putting in funicular lifts on all the steep parts.    It is a intermediate trail.  May be the people that are on it are not intermediate skiers.  I get that is does scare people but there is only so much you can do.  Skiing is inherently dangerous.  

Its an awesome rule. It should always be in effect!!

ScottyJack wrote

Its an awesome rule. It should always be in effect!!

Even though I suffered the anxiety of watching others rip it in the slides on Sunday due to my lack of ownership of these tools...I sort of agree.  I've been in there many times before on a no rules day...not only is it a shitshow along the lift unloading area with ppl asking where to go in there, taking pictures, etc....but I've seen some ppl in the slides who prob needed to change underwear before their next groomer.

Hey I like that trail a lot.  It's kind of like 3 trails in one all having a different character.  The cliff section has some of the best views off a ski trail in the east.  Unfortunately, like some of the other blue rated trails at Whiteface, it's filled with struggling upper beginners because while they might be able to ski a blue at Okemo, they aren't ready for one at Whiteface that's steeper and 3 times as long.

While some people on here like to talk smack about Wilmington, my least favorite trail on the mountain by far is Victoria.  I avoid it like the plague if at all possible.  It has people from Sky, Cloud, and Paron's funneling into it, and some people also cut in from Excelsior.  Most crowded trail on the mountain by far.  Worse than Boreen.  I always take Lower Sky when coming down Skyward and Excelsior when coming from Paron's.  I only take Victoria when coming from Cloud, and even then I'm just tolerating it to get back to the chair.  Next time I want to find a way to cut back to Lower Sky if coming off Cloud.

Don't you talk about sexy Vicki like that. She gets raped most of the day.  Get her in the morning and she will give you a good ride..  As far as getting to lower sky that is whiteface 101.  You have barely scratched the surface.  

The little badtard already found his way into cloud from yellowbrick!  Dont tell him about yellowdot!  

Face4Me wrote

raisingarizona wrote

The mandatory gear rule seems a little dramatic imho

As a general rule, this will tend to ensure that those going into the back country probably have a better understanding of what they're getting themselves into, and they will probably have a reasonably strong set of skills that will be needed in that type of terrain.

Now imagine back country terrain available to ANYONE who could ride a chair lift ...

Solution:  Rename the Slides to Darwin 1, Darwin 2, Darwin 2b.....have would-be skiers correctly answer the question:  "Do you know what natural selection is?"

Get it right, enter.  Get it wrong, download.

snoloco wrote

They really need to extend the safety netting on the Wilmington Trail up to the first section of cliffs.

Both Saturday and Sunday, I saw a few skiers see that drop and literally go into a state of panic wedging or sideslipping the whole thing.  I also saw multiple people walking down the lower section which is steeper than the top.  They really should change that trail to a black.

No fences.  Caveat emptor.



Bethpage Black.  This didn't stop D.B.!

ScottyJack wrote

The little badtard already found his way into cloud from yellowbrick!  Dont tell him about yellowdot!

How can something with a rope across it be considered difficult to "find"?

Not that hard to cut across from the bottom of Cloud to the top of Lower Sky if you hug skiers left at the bottom of Cloud.......

Face4Me wrote

raisingarizona wrote

The mandatory gear rule seems a little dramatic imho

Consider this ...

In many cases, in order to ski back country terrain, one must put forth some considerable effort (hiking) to access said back country terrain. As a general rule, this will tend to ensure that those going into the back country probably have a better understanding of what they're getting themselves into, and they will probably have a reasonably strong set of skills that will be needed in that type of terrain.

Now imagine back country terrain available to ANYONE who could ride a chair lift ...

I get what you are saying. We have 3800 vertical foot runs off our chair that run down to the access road and every time it gets the good the rescue calls keep SARS busy all day long. During that last cycle they basically closed access from the upper mountain chairs to the public, I think right before that decision they had three rescues in a couple of hours. City folk have almost zero mountain awareness. I didn't like the idea of it at first until we skinned up from midway (upper chair was on windhold) and had the whole south side to ourselves. We enjoyed Untracked bottomless Utah like fluff under a cold sunny sky without any competition. It was nuts. The public just f-s it up for the responsible folks. Oh well, it is what it is.

1% avy protection, 99% idiot proofing!  

It has slid in there, so it can happen.....but it's mostly an access issue IMHO.  When the conditions aren't really good in there the typical Gold shit show would be a problem.  I'm glad they have a method in place to let people in there when the Slides are skiable by very strong, committed skiers.

another 4 inches last night at the face out of nothing, just doesn't stop snowing