I Never Made It To The Top

In New York this season, the snow has been piling up. Still, many of our weather events have been close calls. Last Wednesday a storm brought snow and sleet to much of the east, but this time it was all snow at Gore. My first shot at it was Friday, with a forecast of mountain snow and valley rain.

The North Creek Ski Bowl

On the road from the flatlands before 3am, I arrived the cabin at 7am, unloaded the car and turned on the heat. Back down into town, I had breakfast at Sarah’s and then headed over to the Ski Bowl Yurt to boot up for first chair.

I’ve been busy at work, and I neglected to find a ski partner in advance.  Still the ski gods smiled down and sent master trailbuilder Steve Ovitt and his friend Rick to meet me, as I waited for the Hudson Chair to spin. A stroke of great luck.

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Plattekill MLK Weekend 2019

File this one under the best-laid plans. At the end of last week, forecasters were calling for more than a foot and a half of snow at both Gore and Plattekill by Sunday. I only felt certain about one thing: driving in the storm early on Sunday morning wasn’t wise. I weighed the pros and cons of my choices.

storm track
If Only

Option #1: We’ve got a small cabin near Gore, about five hours away. It provides us with a good deal of flexibility at a low cost. Still, time is precious on a one-night trip to ski country and it takes a few hours to get our building warm. The drive to the mountain is 10 miles that should be driven with care in a storm.

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Adirondack Birthday Ski 2019

Last Saturday’s NYSB Annual Meeting left me exuberant, and tired. I had a hard time leaving Roxbury and didn’t get home until 11 pm. After that, what else could I want? I wanted what I always want: to ski on my birthday, Tuesday January 8. It’s become a tradition, nay a requirement, started 8 years ago, and I won’t let it die.

Foxlair

It was simple-sounding request until you dig deeper into the logistics added by a gymnastics meet, a blog post and a client meeting Monday at 9am. Somehow I pulled it all off, followed by a drive to the Adirondacks Monday afternoon. I arrived at the cabin at 3pm, looking to grab an hour of skiing in our woods to pick up a cheap Ski Day #10.

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