At the end of this past week, I did some storm chasing. A big low was slated to ride up the coast and bang into a big mass of fresh cold air from the Arctic.
At the same time, I was plotting my birthday ski at Plattekill.
This situation was problematic as the mother load was actually falling between me and the mountains. With moderate to heavy snows falling in the NY metro area, a state of emergency was declared by the governors of New York and neighboring states.
The weekend snow event wasn’t really the first storm of the season. But it was the first in the east that really involved almost everyone. I love that.
At Gore Mountain we skied truly edgeable hardpack on Saturday, so that when the overnight storm added a foot to snow totals, things were in really good shape.
From what I saw on social media Sunday evening, this was true at ski areas across New York and the east.
Gore’s official opening was last week, but I’m calling this past Saturday the unofficial opening. After a big warmup on Friday, a true arctic cold front swept through after midnight, putting a lot of pressure on the groomers.
Gore waited as long as possible before grooming, not that the snow really “drained” much in a few hours. Still crews pushed it to the last minute and used two Pisten Bullys to get things done just as the Gondi was going off at 8:30.
The crazy thing is — when I was taking these photos — I was pumped. It was cold with snow in the forecast and guns were going off across the East Side. There had to be something to turn on, in 1500 feet of vert.
In The Forums