I’ve noticed a pattern among the family-owned independent resorts here in New York. Often I find a female owner running the business behind the ticket desk, while a male owner is off dealing with operations. Royal mountain was no exception last Sunday on opening day. Brooke Tennis was all smiles as she handed me my ticket, telling me she was surprised by the turn out.
The parking lot was filling up fast. I strapped in and pushed down to the Hadley Chair to start the season. I thought I was running late as I saw the first wave of skiers ripping down the mountain. Royal prides itself on tight operations and if they can spin the lift a little early, why not? I rode right on to my first chairlift.
I had one goal for my opening day; don’t get hurt. I know that sounds pretty lame, but coming off a broken foot and being out of shape, that seemed like a reasonable goal. From the top, Royal had three ways down, one green, one blue and one black trail.
I took a few runs down Queen connecting over to Lodge Run. The longer groomer gave me a chance to get the legs loose and feel out my capabilities. Royal had a foot of natural snow from what I could see on the closed trails. That natural snow blended beautifully with the man made snow on the open trails, providing soft groomers.
I spotted Jake Tennis at the lower lift house. We chatted about the opening day excitement. Like Brooke, he was surprised by the turnout. They had a great run of snowmaking and he was proud of what the five-man operations team had accomplished. He said he was very close to opening additional terrain on skiers left, but wanted to make sure there was quality snow so he held off. A line started to form and not content to let that happen, Jake was off to manage the corrals and straighten it out.
I was starting to feel good by mid-morning. The opening day numbness that comes from a stiff boot was wearing off and I finally felt my legs warming up. I headed down the expert-rated Royal, which had loosened up nicely with the traffic. On my next ride up, I met Dan and Billy, a couple of snowboarders who look like rippers. Both locals, Dan manages a local marina and Billy is a Royal Mountain snowmaker.
I was riding alone, without a subject for pictures, so I asked if I could point my camera at them and they obliged. My instinct was right, they rip. I set up for the shot and Dan laid down a nasty Euro-carve for the camera. It was his last run of the day; Dan volunteers as ski patrol at Royal and Oak, and he was headed to Speculator for training.
After a few more laps I linked up with Billy again. His story is a cool one and I think showcases something good about New York skiing. He had been living the ski bum dream, sleeping in a van, traveling all over.
He met a girl and settled down near Royal because of the beauty of the Adirondacks and community at the mountain. That’s what keeps most of us coming back, those familiar faces on the slopes and good times with friends and families. Here’s to more of that this season!
The rest of the story is that our snow sports program had 17 lessons taught on the bunny hill. Bloggers always ignore the efforts to get folks turning to control speed and learn about choosing terrain matching skills. We are also promoting return visits. The Schaefer team has learning programs starting in January modeled after our late mentor Freddie Anderson who passed away at 101+. She started the Schenectady Ski School in 1950 — we ran her Children’s Program during the early 2000s. Imported into Royal a few years ago. All part of the Royal experience.
I love to hear these stories of local bumps doing well. Last time I was at Royal was for a Jr race in the 1960’s. It was fun then and appears to be now also. Well done!
Nice! “Don’t get hurt”. That’s why I skipped the WROD at Bristol this past weekend. Great you have access to some of the smaller midstate areas within a reasonable driving distance. for an easy day trip.
Royal is a great little mountain. Skied an epic Powder Day. Glad to see you are back out riding the snow board. Hopefully get to do some runs later this season.
Royal looks nice. I’ll add it to my list to check out this year.
Robert that one goal sounds good to this old dog. Fortunate to not have gotten seriously hurt in close to 60 years of off and on skiing. Coming off a 3 year sabbatical being out of shape is without question. I hope that “getting back on the bicycle” is easy and the body agrees wit the brain. After a tibia and fibula compound motorcycle accident 46 years ago I’m just happy I have both legs and can still ski.
Michigan conditions have me excited to get back into it. Bohemia pass with reciprocals is in hand.
On my list to get to this year! Let the season begin! ❄️