Snow Ridge: No Bad Days

Last week seems so long ago. It was -10 degrees and across the Northeast snow was falling. In the Tug Hill region of New York, some places got more than 3 feet of lake effect.

I’ve had more powder days at Snow Ridge than any other mountain. When I saw they were running the Snow Pocket lift for the first time this year, I knew we were in for a good time. For his birthday, I bought my friend Alex a lift ticket, and a little bit of Snow Ridge magic.

Much of the drive from Utica to Turin is through the farmland and forest. It’s a sure sign you are getting close when the walls of snow along the road grows taller than your vehicle. The sun was peeking through the clouds as we parked.

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Coming Home to Bristol

My parents are to blame for my snowboarding addiction. They financed it, and in spite of my resistance, they pushed me to take lessons when I was young. So it’s only right that we go skiing on my Dad’s birthday every year at the place it all began, Bristol Mountain.

snowing at Bristol

We made the plans early in the week and we invited friends Jim and Alex along. Sunday morning I woke up in my childhood bedroom on Keuka Lake to a howling wind and heavy snow. A lake effect band had worked its way east into the Finger Lakes delivering a nice 3-inch refresh. Nothing was visible beyond the lower half of the mountain as we pulled into the quickly filling parking lot.

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Gore Mountain: Ground Zero for Harper

Sensible people stock up on supplies and wait out winter storms. Skiers and riders load up their equipment, stock up on snacks and charge head first into the storm. It helps to have an AWD vehicle or better yet, an adventurous friend who has one.

Gore Mountain parking lot

Last week I convinced Conor to drive his Subaru through Winter Storm Harper from Central New York to Gore Mountain. By heading up Saturday night we hoped to improve our chances of actually making it to the mountain. The hour long drive to our lodging — the Red Pines B&B in Speculator — took almost twice that much time, so I think we made the right call.

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