Greek Peak: A Rock in Central NY

I set three alarms, one for 5 AM, then one for 5:05 and one for 5:10. I only needed the first one and I didn’t even get any guff from Danger Boy when I went to shake him awake. He got dressed and moved to the back Subaru’s back seat where I had a pillow and a pile of fleece blankets waiting for him.

Our bags, skis, a cooler of drinks, snacks and a thermos of hot coffee were already in the car. We were on the road by 5:10. My planning and preparations had paid off. Getting my son up that early was a lot to ask so I let him sleep all the way to Virgil. We made our way out Route 17 in the dark.

We pulled into Greek’s parking lot at 8:30. It was snowing lightly under a gray overcast. My son moved to the front seat to boot up while I went to redeem our Indy Passes.

Continue reading

Magic MLK Weekend 2021

MLK weekend seems to be the point where the season really takes off at Magic. This year was no different. The snow report measured 7-10″ on Saturday and we had at least that much at our house not too far away. Unfortunately, it was mank, but great for base-building. Still, the “hordes” came out for a chance at a face shot. That wasn’t happening on Saturday.

I know my assignment is to give more than a trip report and to try to capture the “essence” of the area. Magic is a place that normally has more essence than most, but this season is far from normal. I will say that the skiers have been thankful for the work the staff has done and they complied with Magic’s operating rules. If somebody let their mask slip off their nose, a staff member was quick to politely ask that they correct it.

Continue reading

Snow Ridge: Lost in Powder

Recently on reddit I saw a comment calling NYSkiBlog the hot toddy of Northeast ski journalism, I guess we are warm and fuzzy. I took it as a compliment. It’s true, I’m generally pretty positive about my riding experience. This year it hasn’t been hard; I’ve had four solid powder days already.

In a year where nothing is normal, for me riding is the place to find normalcy. The vertical doesn’t really matter, for that length of time it takes me to get down the hill, I forget about everything. Each resort is working to find normalcy as well.

After a summer of fundraising for a new patio and jumping on the Indy Pass, Snow Ridge has had a quiet start to the season. It was only a matter of time before the wind started blowing off Lake Ontario, and the Ridge regained epic status.

Continue reading