Author: Harvey

Skier, Blogger, Ski Blogger. Editor-in-chief NYSkiBlog.

What is an Expert Skier?

Posted on by Harvey

I started alpine skiing in 1999 at age 40 and early on I wanted to be an expert. I wasn’t sure what defined an expert other than a vague idea about being able to “ski anything.” What is an expert skier?

expert skier

I recently skied with my six-year-old for the first time on a black rated trail. Gore’s Sagamore is essentially a long blue trail with two black pitches. Skiing it doesn’t make my daughter an expert. She’s an advanced beginner who skied expert terrain. Expert status is about how you get down not what you get down.

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Tagged: Ski Life16 Comments

Skiing The Mad River Valley… With Help

Posted on by Harvey

I don’t really know much about skiing in Vermont. I know that the Green Mountain spine produces magic snow out of thin air, and the farther north you go, the greater the magic. But my ability to find the best skiing anywhere outside of New York is limited.

Champlain Bridge

That’s not to say that I haven’t had some great times skiing on the other side of Lake Champlain. It seems every time I’ve made the trip, the combination of magic snow and great guides have made my ski days great.

My most recent trip into Vermont was into the Mad River Valley — over the lake, across the farmland and through the gauntlet — the App Gap. 

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Tagged: Mad River Glen, Sugarbush, VT5 Comments

New York Powder Weekend

Posted on by Harvey

The weekend started with lot of promise and some pre-game hype. A clipper that was going to transfer energy to the coast formed a little late to REALLY dump on New York. But the original low hung on longer than expected and both Cats and Daks did score some of the coastal love.

NY Storm

It started snowing early Friday morning and at Gore, the opening bell cord was covered in 1-to-2 inches of new snow. It’s my tradition to hit Sunway first, to harvest the cord, while making big sweeping turns. It was beautiful and quiet and snowy.

I took that first lap of the Gondola solo and on my second run I connected EDeO, Chuck, Bobbie and Dean. We headed off to the summit. We skied everything. The trails were incredible and the woods were thin. We skied all open aspects except Topridge.

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Tagged: Adirondacks, Gore Mountain, North Creek Ski Bowl, Powder9 Comments