The Powder Blog

Chasing Powder on The Tug

Posted on by ThatNYSkier

The lake effect storms that normally blow across Ontario and dump feet of champagne powder onto the Tug Hill Plateau have been somewhat lacking this season. Mother Nature has had other plans, sharing the snowfall in the Adirondacks, Western NY, and the Catskills. There have been small and intense bands here and there, but not what we are used to seeing coming off of Ontario in November and December.

North Slope
Snow Ridge

This was the case for until just days after Christmas. The National Weather Service of Buffalo released their highly-anticipated Expected Snowfall map. As a Tug Hill local, you could say the map was very exciting. Dry Hill, Snow Ridge, and Woods Valley saw a forecast for 12-18” of new snow.

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Tagged: Indy Pass, Lake Effect, Powder, Snow Ridge, Tug Hill6 Comments

Cazenovia: Hitting the Club

Posted on by Robert

There’s nothing better than hitting the club on New Years Eve. The club I favor has an old Hall T-Bar and this year featured 16 inches of new lake effect snow. When Evan, Tiff and I pulled into the lot and looked up the hill, we knew it was going to be all-time. Untouched snow as far as we could see.

Riding the Tbar

We geared up and headed to the new lift ticket window in the Wax Hut. I saw friend and member Jeff getting the outdoor fire going. He came over and chatted while we redeemed our Indy Passes. It sounds like the pass has been successful at Caz, allowing the members to share their little slice of heaven. There were more than a few Indy Pass redemptions that day as word spread locally about the snow totals.

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Tagged: Cazenovia Ski Club, Central NY, Indy Pass, Powder10 Comments

Holiday Valley: Miles to Powder

Posted on by Evan

In Western New York, I earn my miles. Between work during the week and recreation on the weekends, a lot of life happens on rural roads. My car has been incredibly reliable, carrying me to countless trailheads and ski areas over the years. On the way to Holiday Valley, I hit a milestone as the odometer rolled over to 333,333 miles. Triple threes, on a ski day, headed into the hills? That felt like a good omen.

Morningstar

For the second year in a row, Holiday Valley was the first resort to open in WNY, thanks again to heavy lake-effect snow. Last year, a storm dropped roughly 40 inches before opening day. This season, they’d already been open for a week with snowfall totals topping 50 inches.

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Tagged: Holiday Valley, Powder, Western NY5 Comments