Windham Mountain, NY: 12/2/12

It’s my goal to ski and report on every ski mountain in New York. Given the demands of work, family, and our property near Gore, that may take a while. Until today, I’d never skied Windham Mountain in NY and it was a big gap in my resume.

Windham Mountain NY

My plan was to ski Windham for the first time last Friday — the mountain’s planned opening day — but work didn’t cooperate. Today the stars finally aligned, and I got my chance.

The forecast called for afternoon showers, so I left the flatlands well before dawn, to make the most of the morning. When I arrived at the mountain around 8:15 it was gray and warm. I grabbed a cubby in the main base lodge area and ordered breakfast. The resort feels very well cared for, and when you’re in the common areas, you do too. After chatting with the chef, I whirled around and somehow my egg sandwich ended up on the floor — it was replaced even before my embarrassment slipped away.

Continue reading

Gore Mountain, NY: 11/24/12

It’s only opening day if you’re there right?  We’d missed Gore’s spring skiing bumpfest yesterday. And as I checked the weather last night, a week of warm inversion, followed by rain, and a cold front…well, I wasn’t expecting much.

Gore Mountain NY

It started spitting frozen precip last night and eventually it turned to a light snow. It actually snowed on and off most of the night and day on the hill, and I’m recording an inch for the top of Bear.  Much of what fell on bare ground vanished, but you could see it was sticking to the trails.

Zelda, Neve and I all made cautious first turns.  While it seemed kind of crazy to get Neve a lesson when she was only likely to get one run in off the Gondola, I was glad that her first turns were handled by Erin, not me.

Continue reading

Gore vs Whiteface, Again.

Once again, the question has been raised in the NYSkiBlog Forums: which mountain is “better” Gore or Whiteface? The question will never be settled: each mountain has a distinct personality that attracts skiers who thrive there. The two mountains, and the skiers they attract, are different.

Gore Mountain Trees
Gore Mountain: Epic NY Tree Skiing

Whiteface skiers thrive on the uninterrupted vertical, awesome High Peaks views, Lake Placid nightlife and of course, the Slides. Gore regulars like the mountain’s width and variety, the trees, and the sheer volume of terrain. If Gore passholders mind the exercise required by flat spots, and if Whiteface diehards are concerned about windholds after big storms, it’s apparently not enough to get them to switch to another mountain.

Continue reading