Another Big Mac Wednesday

My season has been a mix of things: handling my transition into retirement, managing the construction of our home and chasing NY lake effect snow. I was at it again last week, rolling over my 401k and scoring a powder day at McCauley.

Good morning

It’s weird being retired. It struck me again early last week when I realized the potential for another Big Mac Wednesday. McCauley is closed on Tuesdays, and if you pay attention, you can score some deep untracked from a two-day snowfall. I thought hell yea, I could be there. On Tuesday I drove to our camp in the Adirondacks, started a fire in the woodstove and skied our woods.

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Titus Mountain: Cold Powder

In 2013, I discovered a valuable life hack: skiing on my birthday is a great way to forget I’m getting older. Ever since that day I’ve made it point to ski Plattekill on the anniversary of my entrance into the world. The joy of skiing drives out any thoughts associated with the inevitable passage of time.

Titus Mountain

In years when my birthday falls on a day when the lifts aren’t spinning at Plattekill, I’ll ski it on the closest operating day. At the same time, I look to one of my other favorite privately owned New York ski areas, to ski on my official date of birth.

I didn’t have a plan to ski Wednesday, and it occurred to me that this tradition/coping mechanism dated back 14 years. I didn’t want to break my streak.

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Riding the Royal Powder Carpet

There are two wolves inside me. One wants to grow snow riding. Add stoke. Support locally owned mountains that are lifebloods in their communities. The other wants to throw all that out the window on a powder day.

first chair

Royal Mountain, overlooked by some, has been getting widespread attention with recent weather events. Royal is less than an hour down the road from me, and I’ve make it a habit to ride there every season. In April 2022 I caught a late spring storm and last year Jake Tennis gave us the scoop on the new trail The Red Carpet.

When I pulled up last Saturday I was hyped to see a great little mountain getting the attention it deserves.

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