The Fifth Season

Some label bug season the Fifth Season. In my mind, the Fifth Season comes after fall and before winter. Maybe hunters think this way too.

Days like today defy categorization. It’s November. As a skier, you want it to be cold. You can’t call it Indian Summer — while it’s way above the average temps for this time of year, it’s still cool. If it has to be 55 degrees, in November, in the mountains — I’ll just have to enjoy it. Today challenged my ideas about this time of year.

The Mountains Less Traveled: Le Massif, QC

For this feature, we’re going back to January 2005 for Jamesdeluxe’s first-ever visit to Quebec’s scenic Le Massif. He’s mentioned several times offline that most photos do an inadequate job of conveying the views there. Maybe I don’t get out enough, but they work for me.

Le Massif will be getting more face time in The Magazine in the near future, when we publish a new piece on a recent ski safari that covered five different mountains along the northern Saint Lawrence River.

Big Tupper: Lift 3 Approved

On Tuesday, inspectors from the New York State Department of Labor performed required load tests on Big Tupper’s Lift 3. The lift, crucial to Big Tupper’s operation this winter, passed every test performed.

Big Tupper Ski Lift 3

To load test the uphill side, inspectors placed 20 x 20 x 20-inch cardboard boxes on each chair, and fit each box with a plastic liner. The boxes were then filled with water. The volume of water in two boxes weighs approximately 400 pounds to simulate the weight of two people. With each container filled, the lift was operated through a full circuit. Hard stops were used to test cable strength and braking distance.

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