Whiteface Conditions (2017 - 2018)

snoloco wrote

Why should I waste my time with Whiteface which has about the lowest percentage of terrain open in the east when other mountains I can easily get to are 100% or close to it?

Come up with a reasonable answer to that before faulting me for wanting Lookout open by the often busiest weekend of the year.

Last season the weather leading up to MLK Weekend was not the best, so it's understandable why it wasn't open by then, but this year has been about as close to perfect as it gets in the east.  No excuse for not having it open.

I'm not faulting you for mentioning it at all.  It's rather redundant, though.

That would be cool, however unlikely.

Also, I’m not saying Sno doesn’t have a valid point about improvements the hill should strive for with regard to snowmaking and the opening of trails.

Heck, if he believed in it with conviction and let his wallet (i.e. taking it elsewhere) do the talking I’d at least respect his decision, even if I didn’t agree with it.

However, the whole Chicken Little, tear them a new one, queue the apology thing.....it was somewhat annoying LAST year, and somehow the rhetoric of part deux is worse.

Que my line, Z!

snoloco wrote

Why should I waste my time with Whiteface which has about the lowest percentage of terrain open in the east when other mountains I can easily get to are 100% or close to it?

Who gives a shit about percentages? Do you ski every run? Kids Kampus is open at Whiteface, do I ski that chair? No, but yet it adds to open terrain percentage.  Same applies to any mountain. You won't want be skiing everything I wouldn't think...

Would you rather ski 100% of the runs at a smaller mountain like Belleayre that gets you much less vert per run, or 50% of a big mtn like Whiteface that's still skiing top to bottom off say Skyward.

I think you need to put the whole picture in perspective and not focus on numbers and percentages.  If you are gonna focus on that, at least compare to comparable places i.e. Stowe, sugar Bush, Jay etc.  I'll give you GORE comparison...that's reasonable.

snoloco wrote

Ah "relax and enjoy it".

Exactly what Marketing told me when I called them out for having 30 minute lift lines on Santa day when they chose not to run LWF chair.

More or less, yes. Just for educational purposes, sno, could you describe your interaction with the marketing people? Who did you contact? Do you think they talked to the operations people before answering you? When/how did you communicate with them?

I commented on one of their social media posts saying that the gondola line was ridiculously long and the Little WF lift wasn't open but should have been given how many people showed up.

They replied with some BS statistic that Whiteface had less avg wait time relative to vertical than Vermont and to "relax and enjoy this amazing Adirondack mountain".

So basically they said "we messed up, but don't normally have lines like that so relax and enjoy it and don't bother us with your complaints.

That's not the way to respond to such an obvious mistake.  You own up and take responsibility for it, and then and make sure it never happens again.

You crack me up Sno --- thanks!

Harvey wrote

Hope all is ok and it's not serious.

Thanks. All the doctors in NJ are closed today, so we won't know until she is seen. She is limping around so hopefully it's not too bad.

tom

I had probably my best day skiing Whiteface in years yesterday. Sure, it would have been nice to have lookout open but a great day on the open terrain.

I agree with sno concerning the investment in lookout. It was expensive to add all that terrain and it isn't open much. Doesn't seem like a good use of capital.

tom

It would be one thing if it was not open much, but they at least tried to open it as much as possible with the capacity they have.  But I am not the least bit convinced that they're even doing that.  If they don't get it open by MLK Weekend this year, then it's just never going to open on MLK Weekend without a serious upgrade in snowmaking, new management, or both.

I get the sense that Gore tries the best they can to open their expansions for as many days as possible, but it seems Whiteface just doesn't even care about opening Lookout.  I heard that last year they only made snow there because the gov asked them to.  This year they seem to be sending the snowmakers everywhere but Lookout as if they're trying to find every reason they can to push it off.

I just don't understand the seeming hatred for making snow there among whoever makes those decisions.  It's like Hunter not opening Annapurna for 5 years because the GM just didn't like that trail even when they obviously could.

I don't really understand how a ski areas trail percentage or overall lift status could possibly have such a negative effect on someones enjoyment or skiing experience. If there's some really fun stuff to go shred around on what's the big deal if one lift isn't opened up yet or why would you let that get in the way of your fun?

It sounds like there is plenty to have a good time with at WF right now, certainly more than what we have and I've been having a blast with the three actual runs we have open. This comes down more to your attitude Sno and I doubt Okemo at 100% could deliver the thrills like having 60% of WF open.

I sometimes have those lazy days where my friends and I like to tour around different parts of the mountain, stopping by different watering holes and mindlessly cruising but the best days I've ever had are finding those lines that really WOW me that I keep going back for more and more of. Those days I'll lap the same one or maybe three lines over and over again hitting that one sweet turn or several in a series or a big G-out or floating air or whatever and I could care less about much else. That kind of skiing is like crack and sets off those neuroreceptors into a blissful euphoria that I can't get enough of.

Maybe you should worry more about your skiing for now than lift statuses?

A few reasons.

1.  I like to move around the mountain and explore all the areas.  Rarely do I ski the same run more than 2-3 times in a row.

2.  Not having a large part of the mountain open results in longer lift lines and more trail crowding elsewhere on the mountain, both having a negative effect on the skiing experience.

3.  My favorite trail on the mountain is Hoyt's and you need Wilmington open first to get to that.

4.  With the weather they've had and will be having had I know they could've gotten it open by the critical MLK Weekend if not earlier, but they make up every single excuse to not get it done and keep pushing it back for seemingly no reason.

Apples to oranges to compare this to what you've got open in Arizona because we've had favorable weather and you guy's haven't had anything close to favorable, so it makes sense that you're just glad that they're open to begin with.  Don't want to rub anything in but that's just the way the weather has been this season.  I know Whiteface is capable of better than what they have now, and I expect better, and until they get their act together I'll be skiing elsewhere.

I'm totally happy and satisfied with what we have right now. After last winter I feel very content and I'm just stoked to be out with my daughter.

I guess we like different experiences though. I'm more after sensation and sometimes I can't achieve my highest level until I hit a line 2 or three or more times. Moving from one thing to the next all day isn't generally going to get me there unless it's all fresh lines that I already know really well.

Try this next time you go skiing, find something that you feel is creative and thrilling then go back again and again trying to perfect it, try to go as fast and smooth as you can pushing it a little more and more each time. Go find your limits man. That right there imho is where skiing becomes something that's indescribable and where all of that other stuff becomes insignificant.

Maybe it's a little different when you are a nordic skier.  3000 feet of vertical in a day is big day (for me) when you ski without lifts. More than that I never thought (or think) about vert.  Where could I go in the woods?  Will it be beautiful? How is the snow? Can I get into a nice repetitive groove that will really make me happy?

When you start with that background it's different.  When there is a warm and rainy start to the season and Gore has the Sunway chair open to midstation on opening day (280 vert), I'm like... cool! I can make 1000 turns.

Maybe this is what RA is saying... if I find a set of bumps or a pitch that I can groove, I just keep going back to it.  Burnt Ridge does that for me at Gore.  2 or 3 runs that allow me to get in my zone.

Exactly!

Throw in some good company and fun lift ride conversations and how could you possibly have a bad day?

As I said, I like being able to move around the entire mountain.  It feels like you're going somewhere while also skiing.

I also have a special hatred for lift lines, especially when other lifts aren't running for reasons totally within management's control, and when they are disorganised with seats going up empty.

Whiteface handles crowds pretty well when all lifts are running but not at all when lifts aren't running.  They hardly ever run the Little Whiteface lift anymore and force everyone to ride the gondola.  Then people start moving to the summit not because they necessarily like or can ski the terrain, but to avoid the six flags style gondola line.  Once that lift lines up you try and go to Lookout but oh no it's closed because they chose not to make snow up there despite perfect weather.  You finally end up lapping Mountain Run off the Freeway lift because everything else off the same lift is closed for racing.  Or end up stuck on the lower mountain riding the Facelift.

raisingarizona wrote

I'm just stoked to be out with my daughter.

Try this next time you go skiing, find something that you feel is creative and thrilling then go back again and again trying to perfect it, try to go as fast and smooth as you can pushing it a little more and more each time. Go find your limits man. That right there imho is where skiing becomes something that's indescribable and where all of that other stuff becomes insignificant.

Hell, yeah.  Well put.

Damn, you spend a shitload of time talking about a resort you aren’t going to ski!

snoloco wrote

.........to avoid the six flags style gondola line.

Really, it’s this kind of hyperbole that causes very few people to take you seriously, despite you being an intelligent kid.  The worst thing is that you don’t view it as hyperbole, you believe the words you put on the screen.  Last year we could chalk it up to you talking out your ass not having any actual ski experience at Whiteface.  Now you do have that experience yet you persist!  I’m glad you finished up high school, now it’s time to temper and mature your opinions, and college should do that for you, hopefully.

I’ve skied Whiteface a shit ton more than you.  I’ve done it mostly holiday weekends, with Lookout both open and closed/non-existent. While Whiteface is no different than any other mountain in that they may occasionally experience circumstances (mechanical/weather) beyond their control that negatively impact lift lines, I have NEVER experienced a “Six Flags style” gondola line, nor have a ever seen a Summit Quad line longer than maybe 10 minutes, nor have I experienced a ski day ever like the one you describe at the end of your post.  Heck, YOU may have had a day like that one, but nobody else ever has.  You are clearly doing something wrong, and need to adjust both your attitude and your approach to skiing the mountain.

But, wait, I forgot that won’t be necessary because you won’t be skiing there!

JTG4eva! wrote

But, wait, I forgot that won’t be necessary because you won’t be skiing there!

His real satisfaction doesn't necessarily come from skiing; it's having people like you respond to his forum posts over and over.

Signal-to-noise ratio: You (I) may not agree with what some of what sno says but 90% of what he posts is signal.

D.B. Cooper wrote

raisingarizona wrote

I'm just stoked to be out with my daughter.

Try this next time you go skiing, find something that you feel is creative and thrilling then go back again and again trying to perfect it, try to go as fast and smooth as you can pushing it a little more and more each time. Go find your limits man. That right there imho is where skiing becomes something that's indescribable and where all of that other stuff becomes insignificant.

Hell, yeah.  Well put.

I concur with this ^^^^^

I still remain hopeful that our lil buddy Sno becomes happy with what he has instead of bitch and moan over what he doesn't have. In other words that he finds the soul of skiing.

Sno --- it wasn't that long ago Lookout didn't even exist. Nah mean?