Hickory Ski Center: Opportunity Knocks

Opportunity is always knocking. The key is to open your eyes and see it.  When I woke in North Creek on Sunday, my plan was to go to Gore Mountain to ski the morning, and then head for home.

Hickory-Fire-Pit

But something happened on the way to the forum. Over coffee, a local religious leader convinced me to remain true to our faith and capture a third consecutive day of untracked pow. I headed south to Hickory Ski Center.

Driving down Route 28, the opposing lane was filled with a stream of cars with roof boxes zoom, zoom, zooming to the biggest hill in the county. I was zigging and it was feeling right.

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The First Storm of The Season

The weekend snow event wasn’t really the first storm of the season. But it was the first in the east that really involved almost everyone. I love that.

Topridge-Closeup

At Gore Mountain we skied truly edgeable hardpack on Saturday, so that when the overnight storm added a foot to snow totals, things were in really good shape.

From what I saw on social media Sunday evening, this was true at ski areas across New York and the east.

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Gore Opening: The White Ribbon of Life

Gore’s official opening was last week, but I’m calling this past Saturday the unofficial opening.  After a big warmup on Friday, a true arctic cold front swept through after midnight, putting a lot of pressure on the groomers.

Wild-Air
Sunday November 24, 2013

Gore waited as long as possible before grooming, not that the snow really “drained” much in a few hours. Still crews pushed it to the last minute and used two Pisten Bullys to get things done just as the Gondi was going off at 8:30.

The crazy thing is — when I was taking these photos — I was pumped.  It was cold with snow in the forecast and guns were going off across the East Side. There had to be something to turn on, in 1500 feet of vert.

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