The Adirondacks Blog

Gore Mountain, NY: Opening Day 2009

Posted on by Harvey

Start of Ski SeasonI wasn’t anticipating Ski Day 1 when I woke up this morning in the flatlands. The plan was to have a relaxed drive. Get some lingering pre-season chores done. I had definitely wanted to stop in at Gore, and even take “a run.” But I wasn’t going to call this opening day. Opening was tomorrow at Whiteface.

On the drive up, it snowed pretty hard at times. I did a successful test of NYSB’s new mobile posting capability when I posted a pic of a squall from the rest area just south of Albany.

I got to the mountain at 2pm. The improvements to the main lodge looked really good. There’s more space, and the bathrooms are all done. So smart to put the Showcase Shop up front. It’s really nice inside, with a deluxe view of the mountain.

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Tagged: Adirondacks, Gore Mountain5 Comments

Harvey Mountain TBar

Posted on by Harvey

There were some who considered this small, family run ski area as competition to Gore and the Skibowl. Total vertical was about 400′ and it was served by a single Tbar:

Harvey Mountain

Harvey Mountain Ski Area was actually on South Mountain in North River – off Barton’s Road, just downhill from the hairpin turn. I first noticed it maybe fifteen years ago. I was skiing and exploring the summit and cliffs of Harvey itself you could faintly see the old runs illuminated by the difference between the newer and the older growth.

I never knew what I was looking at until I connected with Jeremy Davis of NELSAP a few years ago. With Jeremy’s permission I excerpted a piece on Harvey Mountain last fall. There’s more at nelsap.org too.

Tagged: Adirondacks, NELSAP2 Comments

Building a Ski Cabin

Posted on by Harvey

It’s no secret that flexibility is an important ingredient in a great ski season. And there are a bunch of impediments to ski flexibility including but not limited to; distance from the mountains, the cost of skiing, job commitments and the availability of last minute lodging.

ski cabin

Our solution to two of these issues was building NYSkiBlog HQ in the Adirondacks. Our little building helps us keep the cost of skiing down and give us the lodging flexibility to get 30+ skidays each year.

Recently another fanatical snow rider asked me if I would share what I learned doing this project. This piece details some of what we learned building the cabin.

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Tagged: Adirondacks, Ski Life3 Comments