Snow Ridge: Diamonds on the Soles of Her Boots

It was late in the evening, and Snow Ridge NY was touting a storm capable of producing five feet of snow. I convinced my girlfriend to take Saturday off and come with me to Tug Hill.

Snow-Pocket

The stoke was high, for skiing and adventure in general. I am filled with a profound gratitude to have found a partner so ready to abscond on long and snowy journeys at every hour. A few podcasts and some Paul Simon helped to keep me awake.

The ride went pretty quickly even as Amy slept. At 7:30 am, Siri was able to bring up the snow report. A foot had fallen and maybe more was on the way. We decided to bypass the Adirondacks and head West.

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Snow Ridge, NY: Opening Day 2014

The recent monster lake effect event in New York created real friction for hundreds of thousands of people in western part of the state. At the same time, two NY State ski areas were “grazed” by the storm. Holiday Valley reported 23 inches and Snow Ridge pulled in 35 inches of snow.

Snow Ridge NY

In our forum, skiers were focused on Snow Ridge NY. I was no exception. The idea of November powder… I’d never skied it before. I did actually ski October pow once.

I was up before dawn on Friday headed to Gore. I made record time and was booting up at 11:30. I skied the afternoon, starting out on cambered skis then moving to rocker. The snow was good with guns blowing nearly top to bottom. The goal was really to get Day 1 in, before heading to Snow Ridge, for the pow opening on Saturday.

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Snow Ridge Ski Area, Turin NY

I love the cool smaller ski areas of New York and I want to ski them all. This weekend I got my first day at Snow Ridge Ski Area in Turin; a small mountain gem that skis bigger than expected.

Snow Ridge Ski Resort view from The Lodge

My first trip to Tug Hill began at 5:45 am in North River.  At first glance, Turin NY didn’t seem that far, but with the frost heaves running rampant this year, the drive took every bit of Google Maps predicted two hours and 15 minutes.

As you come through Turin, you can see the wide east-facing trails, North and South Slope, from a distance. They rise above the surrounding terrain and dominate the view from the lodge. But its what you can’t see that makes the Ridge so much fun.

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