Author: ThatNYSkier

Closing Weekend at Whiteface

Posted on by ThatNYSkier

Closing weekend at your favorite resort is like a bad break up: it’s sudden, messy, and keeps you wondering if it could have lasted longer. Once the news was shared that Gore and Belleayre were closing in mid-April, it wouldn’t be long after until Whiteface too would call it quits for the 2024-2025 season.

Whiteface

As good as this winter was, with 189 total inches reported at the Face, spring came early at the mountain, receiving less than a foot of fresh snow in March and nothing more than a dusting in April. At least spring skiing can almost guarantee a good corn harvest.

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Tagged: Adirondacks, Whiteface7 Comments

Chasing Winter at The Top

Posted on by ThatNYSkier

Powder skiing in New York came to an abrupt halt in early March. Without a season saving storm in sight, the mountains have been losing snowpack. Even at higher elevations, temperatures above freezing during the day and below freezing overnight, brought on an early spring.

Marcy Dam

Spring isn’t bad. Longer days, light crowds and of course, t-shirt weather. Corn snow is a blast when time and temperature align. Early in the day, it can be a nightmare of frozen crud, and in the afternoon it can become mashed mush. Combine all of it together, and you have a springtime backcountry tour in the High Peaks.

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Tagged: Adirondacks, Backcountry, Earning Turns, High Peaks9 Comments

ORDA’s Ski3 Opens Early

Posted on by ThatNYSkier

Opening weekend in New York is always a special time. After months of summer heat we anticipate autumn’s first frost. Skiers often get a first glimpse of the winter season once the resorts fire up their snow guns.

Whiteface view from the base

In a typical year, Whiteface works to open on Black Friday. While this fall hasn’t been exactly cold, the temperatures and humidity aligned this past week to allow each of the Ski3 mountains to start making snow on limited terrain.

Whiteface, the tallest of the three, opened up 1.3 miles of trail with 1,840’ of vertical that ran from the top of the Summit Quad from Riva Ridge down through Paron’s Run, over to Lower Northway and finally exiting off of Summit Express.

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Tagged: Adirondacks, Gore Mountain, Whiteface5 Comments