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.

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Plattekill: Wide Open in 2020

Plattekill opened last weekend with 100% of terrain on the new snow delivered by one of the most exciting Nor’easters in recent memory. While the storm was notable for its size and southern track, what really struck me was the strong high pressure that brought unrelenting cold air into the mix.

the road to Plattekill

During the storm temperatures at Plattekill hovered around 10 degrees and the snow that fell was very light. Macker, Head of Mountain Ops, said that in all his years at the mountain he’d never seen anything quite like it.

Nor’easters are defined by strong winds, and those winds combined with the light snow left a distinct signature. The headwalls of the front four were blown clean while down below depths exceeded the official 24-inch snow total.

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Snow Ridge: Full Send Plateau

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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