McCauley: Winter Returns for a Moment

I spent the holiday week trying to dodge the rain and find what little of the white stuff that’s left. The search had me riding some mixed conditions at Windham, Hunter and Gore. Fortunately my favorite chairlift partner, Farah, was able to join during her winter break from medical school.

McCauley view

After skiing Gore last Saturday, we drove to the Old Forge Camping Resort where we’d rented a cabin with our friends Conor and Leslie. They had been cross country skiing McCauley that day and said it was slick.

But on cue, snow started to fall and we started to feel better about our chances for the next day. We welcomed winter’s appearance with a big campfire and a drink. You could hear the snowmobilers in other campsites doing the same.

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McCauley Opens Big in 2018

There have been a lot of early and surprise openings across the east this season. This past Saturday McCauley Mountain got in on the action, spinning the lifts for the first time, a week ahead of their planned opening. The website warned of thin cover, but as I suspected, there was a lot of deep and untouched snow.

Conor and I made the hour-long drive from Utica to the hill in Old Forge. At first he questioned the decision, the ground was almost bare in the city and everything was melting. His fears were chilled as we drove into Adirondack Park where it was colder and every tree and patch of ground was covered in beautiful white snow.

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Birthday Ski Safari 2018

As a lad, I lamented the proximity of my birthday to Christmas. I felt that the energy for celebration was thin by the time my annual marker came around. But as a post middle-age skier, I find that the timing is perfect, allowing me to create a nice distraction from the march towards old guy.

Now the convenient placement of my birthday, a week after New Years, is hard to deny. By then my girls have had their fill of skiing for a while. It’s a weekend to roam New York, looking for the snow, terrain and vibe that keeps me young.

Plattekill has become an integral part of my strategy for reality denial and/or postponement. Often this is my first trip to Roxbury and I push everyone I know to come out to ski.

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