Snow Ridge Opens 2015

Snow Ridge plays a unique role in the life of a hardcore NY skier. In a far corner of the state, the small ski area stands as a beacon of hope during the early season or times when powder is scarce.

Nick-at-Snow-Ridge-opening-2015

Because no matter how the season has gone to date, or what the current weather pattern, there are, almost always, a few months when cold air blows across the unfrozen waters of Lake Ontario and delivers powder on the Tug Hill Plateau.

In fact, consistently bad ski weather in the form of warm temperatures, can actually increase the chances that the magic will happen. And that’s exactly how it came down last week.

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Up, Up and Away: Whiteface

Last Friday, after a hard week at work, I walked home, with no plans to ski. None. Saturday morning I made coffee and raked the leaves, which were finally all on the ground. Then I took a walk.

Santa-skis
Santa at Whiteface

On my walk I started to consider the possibilities. If I could get to the cabin at a “reasonable” hour that night, I could ski Whiteface on Sunday. The forecast wasn’t sunny, but I was optimistic that surfaces would warm up enough to soften.

I arrived at the cabin with a sandwich in hand at 7:30 pm. I ate it, drank some water, checked the forums, took some photos and crashed. I set two alarms: our normal Adk 6am alarm, plus a supplemental alarm 15 minutes earlier at 5:45. Just in case.

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Belleayre Opens 2015

While I’m certainly not “there” yet, I’m starting to get more organized. For the first time ever I’d say, the basement at HQ South, is really set up as a ski adventure staging area.

groomers

It’s possible that the general lack of cold and snow has actually created an opportunity, giving us time to improve our capability to capitalize on cold and snow. Now, all we need, is cold and snow.

At the same time, somewhat quietly, Belleayre had gone all out, on one trail, t2b: Onteora. The mountain opened last Friday for the season, and after I completed the Saturday Chore Olympics, I was sprung, for a run to the Belle on Sunday.

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