Skiing Whiteface can be a life changing event for some skiers, an inbounds approximate for the terrain in Tuckerman Ravine perhaps. Some of the aura comes from the two Olympics that Whiteface hosted. Seeing the start gates and score boards makes the mountain the ski equivalent to the old Yankee Stadium.
More importantly to me, the Adirondacks have a seemingly infinite wilderness, even from the safety of the manicured slopes of its signature ski resort. If nothing else, on a sunny day the views reinforce the actual meaning of the word awesome. My first pilgrimage to the steeps this year found the mountain in excellent shape, certainly set up for a big spring. After brutal winds shut down the upper mountain on Friday, today seemed earned even if we were only riding the lifts.
