Chasing Powder on The Tug

The lake effect storms that normally blow across Ontario and dump feet of champagne powder onto the Tug Hill Plateau have been somewhat lacking this season. Mother Nature has had other plans, sharing the snowfall in the Adirondacks, Western NY, and the Catskills. There have been small and intense bands here and there, but not what we are used to seeing coming off of Ontario in November and December.

This was the case for until just days after Christmas. The National Weather Service of Buffalo released their highly-anticipated Expected Snowfall map. As a Tug Hill local, you could say the map was very exciting. Dry Hill, Snow Ridge, and Woods Valley saw a forecast for 12-18” of new snow.

The band was expected to drop right on Syracuse, which would bode well for Cazenovia Ski Club. Another band was forecasted to dump up to 2’ in the state’s western region, so places like Holiday Valley and Peek’n Peak would get a fair share of the lake’s magic, after already seeing a lot of snowfall in previous storms this season.

This storm system was split into two parts. The first part was forecast to hit CNY on December 29th through New Year’s Eve, while the second part was supposed to hit the southern Tug Hill region — zones in Oswego County — from late New Year’s Day to January 4th.

Some ski areas would see a significant amount of total snowfall once the storm was all done. For someone who enjoys walking with their skis for many hours to ski a handful of fresh lines, it would also help cover what was left of the natural base after the dreaded Christmas Thaw.

When the first band sliced into Central NY, Robert scored the goods at Caz, which — just east of Syracuse — got a good helping. New Year’s day was forecasted to be “the calm between the storms”, where the wind would be low and the sun would be out.

Although Woods Valley had reported around a foot from the first band, we decided to head to Snow Ridge since it was closer and still got a decent 6-8” refresh. I love the steeper chutes and glades at the Ridge, it seemed the new snow on top of their solid base would ski well.

On the first morning of the new year, my brother Bailey and I pulled up to Snow Ridge around 8:30. The conditions report said they got 6” overnight, about what we expected. The sky was blue and the air was a crisp 20 degrees. We met up with an Adirondack local Ben in hopes of showing him some of our favorite wooded lines around the area.

First was North Slope, which was untouched except for a thin stripe of corduroy from the groomer. Within a couple turns, it was obvious that the new snow that had fallen overnight was some of the lightest snow we’ve skied this season so far. Even with just 6”, a decent slash with the skis sent the powder flying up into our faces. It was quite the treat.

After a couple laps, we moved into the woods and skied Amazing Grace down to One Way Out, our favorite trail there. It’s like a steep gully that starts like a reverse funnel, opening up as you descend. With new snow, we had a great time spraying all around and jumping off bumps into the soft landings.

After a couple laps in that area, we traversed farther into the gulf where snowmobilers often cruise. Although some spots are ridiculously steep, there are a couple small lines that are only skiable for maybe a small group before they get too skied off since all the snow sloughs down to the bottom.

One of our favorites is a hidden spot named “Deyle’d In”, a small grown-in slide that’s very steep but fun with the right depth. We went down one at a time so as to not get in each other’s way, then after carefully crossing the creek at the bottom we skated back to the chair lift. The rest of our time was spent lapping Silver Glades and South Slope before we called it a day.

Later that night, the second part of the storm would begin to dump on the Tug Hill, and our next target was in the bullseye.

The following day at work I watched the radar closely to see if the snow was falling where it was forecast. That night our friend Jack made his way across NY to ski a couple local backcountry spots with us. On Saturday, we headed to one of the Plateau’s prominent gulfs in search several feet of snow that had dumped in the previous days.

We arrived at 8:30, bags packed and ready for a demanding day. Once we toured into the gulf, it was obvious that there was more than 4’ of depth in most areas. Unfortunately for us, the creek at the bottom wasn’t frozen all the way through yet, so we couldn’t cross over to the other side and ski the multiple landslides. Fortunately we had an abundance of terrain to explore and shred on our side of the gulf.

Inside of the Tug’s many gulfs, there are very steep, narrow chutes that are shallow streambeds in the summer. With enough snow, they resemble something out of Smuggler’s Notch in Vermont. Some of these chutes can rise up over a couple hundred feet to the top of the ridge, while others end in magnificent icefalls that loom over the line.

These chutes are so steep and narrow, only 1-2 people can ski the same one, so we took our turns bootpacking up multiple lines. As the photographer of the group, I stayed back a couple times to take some shots of the blower powder and unique landscape.

The snow skied great for the most part, except for the time when I made one turn at the top of a chute and the snow crumbled beneath me revealing a steep wall of ice and shale. It pulled me down and yanked my ski off. Luckily, I only slid maybe 20 feet and was able to self-arrest in the large pile of debris. After about 10 minutes of digging around, I found my ski and continued on down, enjoying my last run in the gulf.

Once at the bottom, sunlight was starting to fade and it was just past sunset, so we made the decision to bootpack back up the chute I just descended and ski along the ridge until we were out.

I felt it was safer than skinning out from the bottom along the creek, especially in the dark. By the time we were at the top of the gulf, it was dark so we donned our headlamps and threw on our skins. An hour later we were out, exhausted yet thrilled to have skied so many new lines. We recuperated over a big dinner and an early bedtime.

The next day, we headed into the heart of the storm. Oswego County was getting nuked with snowfall, with rates above 3” per hour. Although there isn’t much vertical in the area, there are a couple spots that are skiable with enough snow. I’ve known of a “bowl” for a couple years, but have never skied it. In recent years lake effect bands have missed it. This time, the storms aligned and dumped right on the spot, and it was a day of exploration for us all.

While driving through the towns, it was clear that they easily got the 4-6 feet that was forecast. The snowbanks were as high as some roofs, towering over our Subaru as we made our way to the bowl. Once nearby, we parked on the side of a road and met up with our friend, Tug Hill local Kyle.

After sharing excitement for the day ahead, we skinned in a short way through powder-filled trees until reaching the top of the bowl. The bowl-like terrain was lined with cliffs at the top, some ranging 5 to 20 feet. At the bottom, it shortened in width and funneled into a gully that was choked up with debris and vegetation. Although the runs would be small in size, the snow would be phenomenally deep, enough to drop some of the larger cliffs.

Jack began scoping out one of the larger drops, at least 15 feet to the bowl’s floor. I didn’t want to miss a chance at a sweet photo opportunity, so I found a much smaller ledge and dropped into the bowl. As I set up for the shot, Jack began to get ready while Bailey and Kyle were looking for their own lines down.

Once we were both set up and good to go, Jack signaled a “3..2..1.. dropping” by walkie talkie. He plunged down over the edge to the bottomless powder below. Surprisingly, he nailed the landing and continued to make deep turns down the slope towards the bottom. Following his drop, Bailey and then Kyle both leaped from their ledges in anticipation for the blower turns ahead.

After grouping up at the bottom, we donned the skins and headed back up along the side of the bowl to each get in a few more lines. Since the area was small, it took 5 minutes to reach the top again and then transition back into downhill mode. On one of my drops, I scouted out a natural lip from above made from an upturned log and a heaping mound of snow.

After thinking about the motion in my head, I dropped in and attempted to backflip off of the lip, and landed straight on my head. The snow on the log was just that – a pile of snow. It had collapsed under my weight and instead of sending me in the air, sent me on my helmet. Luckily, 5 feet of snow is a nice cushion, so I was able to get up and continue down the slope.

We each skied until there was no more fresh snow to track. Then, we began to tour the surrounding woods. Much of it was thick, and the glades that were open were pretty flat and not worth the hike back up. With my drone, I had spotted a small slide nearby, so we decided to make the 15 minute trek and drop in. Although very short and overgrown, it made for some nice turns for the final descent of the day.

Now at the bottom of the gorge we had skied into, we had to skin along a river for a good 30 minutes before reaching timid glades that we then kickturned up and reached our old tracks near the top of the bowl. The time was only 3:00 in the afternoon, so it ended up being a much easier day than the previous one.

A short hike out brought us back to our cars. Snow was still coming down so hard that our tracks from 6 hours ago were covered. I feel very grateful to have skied such good conditions so early on in the season. Let’s hope that Old Man Winter kicks us back into gear real soon!

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