Another McCauley Surprise

McCauley. I think about it. I look at the webcams, read the snow report and check the NWS point forecast. The place is on my list.

mccauley first chair

At this point, if I’m staying in North River, I’ve got to be solo to even consider McCauley. After driving from the flatlands, the girls aren’t eager to get up at 5am for a 90 minute drive to the hill.

Early last week the forecast called for a lake effect event, so I started to consider options.  I admit I thought that headline snow totals from farther west might give me a great opportunity. After a huge day Saturday at Gore and in our woods, I crawled into bed with the alarm set for 5:30.

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Skiing with Duck

On average, Gore gets less snow than some other mountains. Most Vermont hills claim more than Gore’s official 150 inch average and other mountains in New York get more snow too.

But one thing is sure, we do a lot with the snow we get, at Gore. Over the last week, the mountain reported more than fifteen inches and everyone you met said it was the best skiing in quite a while.

A nice midweek storm dropped over a foot, and in a show of mercy for us weekend warriors, it snowed again on Friday night. It looked like two inches at our place. I assumed that there would be more on the mountain.

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McCauley is the Real Deal

Last weekend I drove to the Southern Adirondacks looking for more magic.  I’m here to report that I did find it, at McCauley Mountain in Old Forge, NY.

Big Chair 1973

From some crazy reason, the mountain has been off my radar. I vaguely remember seeing a sign for McCauley on the drive to Snow Ridge last season. Then last week, the mountain was top of mind with powderhounds in the forum as it was forecast to get a potentially significant lake effect snow.

As it turned out, the intense snow band was tantalizingly close, but just off to the north and only a few inches of snow fell in Old Forge. To me it felt like a low-key and unhurried opportunity to see a new place and expand my understanding of skiing in New York.

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