Climbing Chapel Pond Pass

The Adirondack Park offers an incredible variety of rock climbing opportunities, all in the spectacular setting of perhaps the east’s greatest wilderness.

View from Bob's Knob

Last weekend I traveled to the High Peaks region to climb for the first time this summer. Climbing Chapel Pond Pass was our goal, a region known for its incredible beauty, easy approaches and lack of blackflies.

With a major rainstorm overnight, our first destination was the Pitchoff Chimney Cliff, a roadside crag that dries quickly, given its south-facing orientation and exposed position above Cascade Lakes.

Continue reading

Gore Mountain Reopens the Hudson Trail

As announced earlier this season on Facebook, Gore Mountain is working this summer to reopen the original Hudson Trail on Town of Johnsburg land at the North Creek Ski Bowl.

Hudson-Trail-Entrance

The reborn trail leaves the current lift line at Tower 13 and makes it’s way down little Gore Mountain roughly parallel to 46er, rejoining the trail at Tower 4. There are will be couple of exits back to the lift at Tower 9 and Tower 7.

It’s a fall line trail with naturally banked turns that will require minimal earth moving to complete. We spoke to Mike Pratt Gore GM about this project in the last few days.

Continue reading

Ending the Regular Season at Gore

The ski season is always a moving target. While many mountains plan to start on Black Friday, mother nature often has different ideas. The end of the season is even harder to pin down.

Cip

The season reminds me of the baseball calendar. Thin cover snowliage skiing is akin to spring training. The regular season begins on opening day and the All-Star break is Valentine’s Day.  But the analogy breaks down because end of the regular season is always a moving target.

Based on what I read on Facebook and in the Forums, last weekend was seen by many as the end. Several mountains called it on Sunday leaving more hills closed than open.

Continue reading