Gore Mountain Conditions

[Ripitz]

From a personal note I was actually surprised how well I did.

Bottom line: I enjoyed my first day.

Nice job, Old Whimpy Skier, rip it!

 

[GoreSkiMom]

Does it feel pathetic to anyone else that Belle is 90% open, WF is 65% open and Gore is 35% open?

 

[tirolski]

Does it feel pathetic to anyone else that Belle is 90% open, WF is 65% open and Gore is 35% open?

ORDA board approved a booster pump system for Gore’s upper elevation today. Supposed to be ready by next season.

From bump’s current web pages: & Maths are mine.
Gore says there's 453 total acres and reports 140 acres open.
WF says 299 total acres * 65% open = 194 acres open
Belle says 171 total acres with 96% of trails with snowmaking and that’s 100% open. = 164 acres open.

Belle has way more skiers living closer so it pays to have the bump all covered early when demand is high.

 

[Kleetus]

Does it feel pathetic to anyone else that Belle is 90% open, WF is 65% open and Gore is 35% open?

I'm skiing WF this weekend for just this reason (plus more natural snow). Did Belle last weekend. Was great. Could have done Stratton this weekend as I have IKON too but WF>Stratton if Cloudspin is open which it supposedly is. Mountain Run is open now too.

Gore just wasn't worth it compared to other offerings which is sad as they should have had at a bare minimum by this weekend open:

Everything they do now
Uncas
Pine Knot
Tannery
Cloud
Headwaters
Maybe Hawkeye

That's not too much to ask I think and given they've blown Uncas, Tannery, and Pine Knot for over a week. With how cold it's been no reason they couldn't have gotten at least a run open from the summit. Or if not that blown Echo and opened wild air or another lower elevation run.

I was really pumped about the early season blowing at Gore but that optimism faded fast after Thanksgiving. I'll be skiing WF, Belle, or Stratton until further notice

 

[Kleetus]

ORDA board approved a booster pump system for Gore’s upper elevation today. Supposed to be ready by next season.

From bump’s current web pages:
Gore says there's 453 total acres and reports 140 acres open.
WF says 299 total acres * 65% open = 194 acres open
Belle says 171 total acres with 96% of trails with snowmaking and that’s 100% open. = 164 acres open.

Belle has way more skiers living closer so it pays to have the bump all covered early when demand is high.

They've blown the summit though in prior seasons without this. I feel this is not a problem with the snowmaking system as much as it is with the staff to run it which was the issue last year. Last season once they brought the head of snowmaking up from Belle they got there S*it together and expanded quickly. Before that it was a disaster

I'm not saying staffing is the issue again this year but we're on a similar trajectory given the stretch of snowmaking weather we've had. So I'm speculating that's the case again this year but full disclosure I have no idea what's actually going on.

 

[capecodbeach]

I am probably not the one to make a true assessment BUT I felt there was no overall positive vibe to Gore today. Yes, It was a positive day for me as explained above. Yet the feeling was one of restraint. No shuttle running gave the feeling they were not expecting to be busy, or ready to be busy. Probably silly, but having no food checkout person made me think I was using a vending machine? Being a weekday the crowd was closer to my age and mostly retired couples. I wonder if having 50 or 75% terrain open would have made a difference? Is Gore have a problem finding staff? Will the Lodge at ski bowl hurt staffing at Gore? When I was at Whiteface last year the staffing was clearly heavily foreign. And certainly Whiteface / Lake Placid can draw staff from a larger pool than Gore. Could that explain Gore's slow ramping up of operations?

 

[snoloco]

What they are dealing with is actually a good problem to have. Let me explain

The Hudson River pumphouse runs at 4800 gpm and either feeds the reservoir or directly to the ski bowl trails. The main pumphouse runs at 6800 gpm and feeds from the reservoir to the rest of the mountain.

If main is at 6800 gpm, and hudson is filling at 4800 gpm, then the 30M gallon reservoir will drain in 10.4 days and have to be refilled. If Hudson is pumping only to the ski bowl and main is still 6800 gpm, then the reservoir will drain in just 3 days. The reservoir can be refilled in 4.5 days.

The trick is that while 4800 gpm is the theoretical maximum of the system's capacity over a long period of time, they can refill the reservoir when it is too warm to make snow. So usually tue best course of action is to run both systems full bore onto the trails, then refill during the warm up, rinse and repeat. However with the lack of warm ups, this goes out the window, as they will start running out of water when temps are still cold. This means they have to significantly throttle back snowmaking while it is refilled.

 

[GoreSkiMom]

What they are dealing with is actually a good problem to have. Let me explain

The Hudson River pumphouse runs at 4800 gpm and either feeds the reservoir or directly to the ski bowl trails. The main pumphouse runs at 6800 gpm and feeds from the reservoir to the rest of the mountain.

If main is at 6800 gpm, and hudson is filling at 4800 gpm, then the 30M gallon reservoir will drain in 10.4 days and have to be refilled. If Hudson is pumping only to the ski bowl and main is still 6800 gpm, then the reservoir will drain in just 3 days. The reservoir can be refilled in 4.5 days.

The trick is that while 4800 gpm is the theoretical maximum of the system's capacity over a long period of time, they can refill the reservoir when it is too warm to make snow. So usually tue best course of action is to run both systems full bore onto the trails, then refill during the warm up, rinse and repeat. However with the lack of warm ups, this goes out the window, as they will start running out of water when temps are still cold. This means they have to significantly throttle back snowmaking while it is refilled.

Sno, you are such an incredible resource and I appreciate this valuable information.

 

[mel]

What they are dealing with is actually a good problem to have. Let me explain

The Hudson River pumphouse runs at 4800 gpm and either feeds the reservoir or directly to the ski bowl trails. The main pumphouse runs at 6800 gpm and feeds from the reservoir to the rest of the mountain.

If main is at 6800 gpm, and hudson is filling at 4800 gpm, then the 30M gallon reservoir will drain in 10.4 days and have to be refilled. If Hudson is pumping only to the ski bowl and main is still 6800 gpm, then the reservoir will drain in just 3 days. The reservoir can be refilled in 4.5 days.

The trick is that while 4800 gpm is the theoretical maximum of the system's capacity over a long period of time, they can refill the reservoir when it is too warm to make snow. So usually tue best course of action is to run both systems full bore onto the trails, then refill during the warm up, rinse and repeat. However with the lack of warm ups, this goes out the window, as they will start running out of water when temps are still cold. This means they have to significantly throttle back snowmaking while it is refilled.

thanks for this.. I've been wondering..

 

[Kleetus]

What they are dealing with is actually a good problem to have. Let me explain

The Hudson River pumphouse runs at 4800 gpm and either feeds the reservoir or directly to the ski bowl trails. The main pumphouse runs at 6800 gpm and feeds from the reservoir to the rest of the mountain.

If main is at 6800 gpm, and hudson is filling at 4800 gpm, then the 30M gallon reservoir will drain in 10.4 days and have to be refilled. If Hudson is pumping only to the ski bowl and main is still 6800 gpm, then the reservoir will drain in just 3 days. The reservoir can be refilled in 4.5 days.

The trick is that while 4800 gpm is the theoretical maximum of the system's capacity over a long period of time, they can refill the reservoir when it is too warm to make snow. So usually tue best course of action is to run both systems full bore onto the trails, then refill during the warm up, rinse and repeat. However with the lack of warm ups, this goes out the window, as they will start running out of water when temps are still cold. This means they have to significantly throttle back snowmaking while it is refilled.

Thanks for the summary and in depth explanation! Totally makes sense