The Lake Effect Blog

Snow Ridge: Full Send Plateau

Posted on by Robert

This past weekend may well have been the best of the season in the east. A storm that dropped 8-12 inches across most of the region, favored Stowe, Whiteface and Snow Ridge on Tug Hill with significantly more than that. Evan and I had the same thought: first chair at Snow Ridge on Saturday.

Friday, I took the afternoon off to ski McCauley, a taste of what was to come. After close that day, the lake effect band settled over Turin NY. Overnight another 6-8 inches fell, bringing the storm total for Snow Ridge to 29 inches.

One thing I was pretty sure of, it would be more work for us to grab first chair at Stowe or Whiteface on Saturday. At Snow Ridge it’s pretty easy. We arrived 45 minutes before opening, and parked next to the three other cars that were there.

Evan

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Tagged: Lake Effect, Powder, Snow Ridge, Tug Hill14 Comments

Snow Ridge: No Bad Days

Posted on by Robert

Last week seems so long ago. It was -10 degrees and across the Northeast snow was falling. In the Tug Hill region of New York, some places got more than 3 feet of lake effect.

I’ve had more powder days at Snow Ridge than any other mountain. When I saw they were running the Snow Pocket lift for the first time this year, I knew we were in for a good time. For his birthday, I bought my friend Alex a lift ticket, and a little bit of Snow Ridge magic.

Much of the drive from Utica to Turin is through the farmland and forest. It’s a sure sign you are getting close when the walls of snow along the road grows taller than your vehicle. The sun was peeking through the clouds as we parked.

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Tagged: Lake Effect, Snow Ridge, Tug Hill11 Comments

The Holiday Valley Effect

Posted on by Robert

I follow the lake effect snow in central and northern New York at this time of year. Sometimes it takes a little more work. Last week Holiday Valley came up big reporting 19 inches from Wednesday through Thursday night.

After work on Friday I linked up with my friend Alex in Rochester to plan our swing into Western New York. On Saturday we headed to Holiday Valley. Another friend, Katie met us at the Yodeler Lodge just as the lifts started spinning.

I’d taken trips to Holiday Valley as a kid, but Katie grew up skiing there. Even better we were joined by her father John, aka Wiz. John spent the last 27 years on patrol at Holiday Valley and his family has a deep ski heritage in western NY.

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Tagged: Holiday Valley, Lake Effect, Western NY15 Comments