The Adirondacks Blog

Oak Mountain: 70 Years of Smiles

Posted on by Robert

There might be something in the water over in Lake Pleasant, NY. At Oak Mountain, overlooking the lake, it seems everyone is smiling and kids are laughing.

Oak Mountain groomer

Oak was off my radar — until this year — when I started to hear good things. They had more than a foot of snow during the week, and a lot of it remaining untouched. My friend Alex the Skier said he wanted to try something new. With 2-for-1 tickets from Warren Miller, we headed up Saturday morning.

We arrived around 9am. The first thing I noticed were out of state plates, from New Jersey, Connecticut and Massachusetts. Oak’s snow quality and uncrowded slopes attract locals and tourists alike.

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Tagged: Adirondacks, Oak Mountain9 Comments

I Never Made It To The Top

Posted on by Harvey

In New York this season, the snow has been piling up. Still, many of our weather events have been close calls. Last Wednesday a storm brought snow and sleet to much of the east, but this time it was all snow at Gore. My first shot at it was Friday, with a forecast of mountain snow and valley rain.

The North Creek Ski Bowl

On the road from the flatlands before 3am, I arrived the cabin at 7am, unloaded the car and turned on the heat. Back down into town, I had breakfast at Sarah’s and then headed over to the Ski Bowl Yurt to boot up for first chair.

I’ve been busy at work, and I neglected to find a ski partner in advance.  Still the ski gods smiled down and sent master trailbuilder Steve Ovitt and his friend Rick to meet me, as I waited for the Hudson Chair to spin. A stroke of great luck.

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Tagged: Adirondacks, Gore Mountain, North Creek Ski Bowl9 Comments

Gore Mountain: Ground Zero for Harper

Posted on by Robert

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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Tagged: Adirondacks, Gore Mountain, Powder11 Comments