Adirondack Birthday Ski 2019

Last Saturday’s NYSB Annual Meeting left me exuberant, and tired. I had a hard time leaving Roxbury and didn’t get home until 11 pm. After that, what else could I want? I wanted what I always want: to ski on my birthday, Tuesday January 8. It’s become a tradition, nay a requirement, started 8 years ago, and I won’t let it die.

Foxlair

It was simple-sounding request until you dig deeper into the logistics added by a gymnastics meet, a blog post and a client meeting Monday at 9am. Somehow I pulled it all off, followed by a drive to the Adirondacks Monday afternoon. I arrived at the cabin at 3pm, looking to grab an hour of skiing in our woods to pick up a cheap Ski Day #10.

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McCauley: Winter Returns for a Moment

I spent the holiday week trying to dodge the rain and find what little of the white stuff that’s left. The search had me riding some mixed conditions at Windham, Hunter and Gore. Fortunately my favorite chairlift partner, Farah, was able to join during her winter break from medical school.

McCauley view

After skiing Gore last Saturday, we drove to the Old Forge Camping Resort where we’d rented a cabin with our friends Conor and Leslie. They had been cross country skiing McCauley that day and said it was slick.

But on cue, snow started to fall and we started to feel better about our chances for the next day. We welcomed winter’s appearance with a big campfire and a drink. You could hear the snowmobilers in other campsites doing the same.

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McCauley Opens Big in 2018

There have been a lot of early and surprise openings across the east this season. This past Saturday McCauley Mountain got in on the action, spinning the lifts for the first time, a week ahead of their planned opening. The website warned of thin cover, but as I suspected, there was a lot of deep and untouched snow.

Conor and I made the hour-long drive from Utica to the hill in Old Forge. At first he questioned the decision, the ground was almost bare in the city and everything was melting. His fears were chilled as we drove into Adirondack Park where it was colder and every tree and patch of ground was covered in beautiful white snow.

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