Mad River Glen, VT: 12/22/09

After skiing 3 days in the brutally windy cold, riding gondolas and high speed lifts, skiing on man-made with no new natural snow, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to venture out another day in the negative wind chills, especially at an old school place like MRG with slow lifts and no snowmaking.

Mad River Glen

My dear old friend Jim, who lives in the MRV and is the GM of The Bridges Resort, a former snowboarder-turned-MRG-pinhead, who can ski any day, took the day off to ski with me at MRG, regardless of the cold and wind. He said it was going to be sunny and nice and the skiing will be good. I told him that if he was skiing, I was skiing, so out we went to the ski area that is just around the corner.

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Gore Mountain, NY: 12/19/09

Saturday and Sunday Pam and I spent skiing with my Adirondack pals at Gore. The skiing was very good there and exceeded our expectations. Even though open trails were limited, what was open was very good. Snowmaking and grooming was commendable. They opened Hawkeye and Chatiemac with ungroomed manmade snow.

The ski patrol warned people of grabby snow, but encouraged us to “ski it in.” So we skied it in, including the Straightbrook Glade, which seemed to have enough cover. We ventured into the woods and found plenty of untracked snow that was was about 10-12″ deep with a breakable wind crust.

Some places were easier to ski than others, but overall, it was a lot of work and we did a lot of picking our way around and over trees and snowmaking pipes that separated the trails from the trees. It was grabby and we all took our share of spills.

What I love about Gore is the community of people whose lives revolve around running the rivers, sailing the lakes and sliding the mountains. There was a potluck dinner at a friend’s cabin, with so much delicious food, banjo strummin, singing and a big bonfire where we all gathered after skiing, really topping off the day. In fact we skied and partied so hard, I didn’t even feel like going to VT. But that exhausted feeling was fueled by more skiing.

Greek Peak, NY: 12/13/09

After a gorgeous sunny and cold Saturday exploring the hills on skinny skis, it was time to slide. Weather was coming in, so I got an early start.

Picked up my friend Peter and we were headed to Virgil, NY home of Greek Peak and the Hope Lake Lodge. Just as we boarded the lift it began to precipitate.

It wasn’t snow, nor was it rain…or was it? As it picked up, it was clear that it was freezing rain AND sleet…at the same time. The snow was groomed nicely and skied well. Eventually the weather got to us.