Taking the Pineridge Plunge

Turning off of I-90, I headed east on state highway 43. Albany suburbs fell away swiftly to more rural scenery. The road began to climb and twist, and snow swirled in the air as I headed towards Petersburg NY.

Stoney Brook Trail

Being an essential worker in the retail booze business these days, my weekend consists of Wednesday and Thursday. With Vermont’s travel restrictions, Prospect Mountain, my go-to day trip destination, isn’t on the table this winter. Unfortunately, Bearpen, is only open on weekends. North Creek is too far for a day trip. Then I remembered Pineridge.

When I was putting together NYSkiBlog’s nordic directory, I ran across Pineridge, but I’d never been there. My goal is to get to at least one new ski trail each winter, so here we go.

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Kickstart My Heart: New Trails at Mt Van Ho

Part 1: New Years

On New Year’s Eve, I drove to Lake Placid with the child for a short, socially distanced ski break. Lake Placid had only been brushed by the storm that dumped 30 inches elsewhere in the northeast. When we arrived Mt van Hoevenberg was operating on machine made snow on the new trail system designed in advance of the World University Games.

Biathlon Range

Everything at MVH is different this winter, and not just for the reasons you’d expect. I parked and walked to the towering new lodge. Part of the building is open, and construction is still underway. I collected my season pass and headed out.

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Last Call: Hero Snow at Mount Van Ho

When I saw the weather reports for the north country predicting a big snowfall in the last week of February, I made plans to go to Lake Placid on the night of Friday the 28th February.

It was the storm that kept on giving: on Saturday morning, I brushed an inch of fresh snow off my car, and drove to Mount van Ho. It was a frosty 8 degrees when I arrived.

I corked four layers of kick wax into my skis, put on all the warm clothes I owned, and set out for a tour. Since I had to head home Sunday afternoon, I decided to flip my workout routine: Saturday would be easy long distance, and Sunday would be intensity.

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