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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Lake Effect Opens Snow Ridge

On Wednesday I was in class at Saint Lawrence when my professor mentioned that his wife was driving up Interstate 81 on her way to Canton. He was concerned about the heavy snow in the area.

untouched powder at Snow Ridge

I thought back to reports from last year and my focus drifted away from literature towards skiing at Snow Ridge.

Back in my room after class, I poured over the NOAA forecasts and snowfall predictions for the evening and the checked  snow reports on the Snow Ridge website.

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