The Whiteface Blog

Last Friday, after a hard week at work, I walked home, with no plans to ski. None. Saturday morning I made coffee and raked the leaves, which were finally all on the ground. Then I took a walk.

On my walk I started to consider the possibilities. If I could get to the cabin at a “reasonable” hour that night, I could ski Whiteface on Sunday. The forecast wasn’t sunny, but I was optimistic that surfaces would warm up enough to soften.

I arrived at the cabin with a sandwich in hand at 7:30 pm. I ate it, drank some water, checked the forums, took some photos and crashed. I set two alarms: our normal Adk 6am alarm, plus a supplemental alarm 15 minutes earlier at 5:45. Just in case.

Continue reading →

Slowly but surely, ski resorts have been coming online this week like lightbulbs on an aerial map of the northeast. First a flash from central Vermont as Killington kicked off the region’s ski season, then a flicker from Maine as lifts began cranking at Sunday River.

Even Governor Cuomo got into the act, announcing last Friday that Whiteface and Gore were opening for the season. In other words, it was time to get skiing.

The rain blanketing the Hudson Valley on Monday held the promise of snow further north, though with a warming trend that was likely pushing the rain-snow line at least as high as the Killington summit and possibly a good ways up Whiteface as well.

Continue reading →