Gore is a Great Big Mountain

At our house, to reduce the impact of the bottle water we drink, we’ve invested in a system where the 5-gallon plastic bottles are reused. We’re trying to remember to bring our own grocery bags to the store. Small steps.

View from the Park + Ride

Of course, the elephant in the room is the impact of my skiing. There’s no question it’s costly, especially the driving. I’ve long thought about this, but never enacted any solutions. And, as I’ve become more addicted to our sport, I find myself driving farther for good snow.

For New Years I’ve resolved to carpool as much as I can. It’s not a new or novel idea, but it should make a difference. Sharing a ride saves energy and engine wear, and it fits with my desire to ski with partners.

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First Tracks at Mt Van Hoevenberg

Who needs West Yellowstone when you’ve got early season skiing nearby? After Thanksgiving dinner, I set out up the Thruway for Lake Placid. Gusting wind pushed my new used VW shooting brake around, treating the ski box as a spinnaker.

Mount van Hoevenberg skiers

Rain washed away the snow Mount van Ho had the previous weekend, leaving only the 500-meter loop of machine made snow, courtesy of the Snow Factory. After a leisurely Friday morning breakfast, I clipped into skate skis. The Snow Factory loop had held up through the warming trend, still 18” deep.

After a couple laps around the loop, I ran in to Duncan Douglas. We shot the breeze, he intended to ski the Porter Mountain trail. But he’s a larger than life two-time Olympian, and I’m just a guy from Jersey. I opted to stay on the mini loop.

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Gore Mountain: A New Home

Balancing work and leisure is not easy for a skier from Northeastern PA. Living a rural life often means a long commute to work and an even longer drive to enjoy good early-season skiing. Most seasons pre-Thanksgiving turns are out of reach for my family. But this year’s early cold and aggressive snowmaking had us traveling north before the holiday.

I’m a job supervisor for an electrical contractor who had a tough summer. A knee replacement and a reconstruction of my wrist left me with four unpaid months at home. Desperate for projects to manage, my only option was to drive long distances for work. In the back of my mind, I wondered how this would affect my weekend ski commutes.

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