Gore Mountain Conditions

[Harvey]

28 at our place, 35 down at the river, snowing moderately all the way

Rumors of a gondi windhold, confirmed

Gondi back.

Windy and cold, but good skiing.

Really surprising how good. Some ice here and there but lots of rip-able groomers.

 

[tirolski]

Looks like they’re checking the little ratniks.

Thank a snowmaker.

 

[Dmoss]

The Sraightbrook quad was running on the distance all day and you could see the snow guns going full speed on Cloud and Chatiemac. Conditions were pretty hard today, as would be expected, but there we found plenty of good turns, once the wind died down the sun soften things up some. It got much colder as the day went on. We did not feel like doing the traverse and with race training on Echo Twisters Little Sister was closed. We will try to get to Burnt later in the week.

 

[snoloco]

Took a while for things to get going this morning. Gondola started on wind hold, so AE2 was the ONLY open non-beginner lift for like the first hour, and predictably, the line backed up all the way to the lodge. Instead, I opted to start with laps on the Sunway chair. Then, when the report was updated to show Burnt Ridge on "wind hold" (turns out they were actually late in setting up the ramps), I bailed and drove down to the ski bowl. Did several runs down there, and once the Gondola and Burnt Ridge opened, headed back to the other side. It's obvious that Burnt Ridge had been rushed to open, which there really isn't anything wrong with as long as they go back and finish it. Hedges and Cedars were thin ribbons, though snow was being made on both. Most other trails are covered very well and full width. You love to see it, after years of thin to win openings.

Got my first rides on the new Topridge Quad. Definitely not a fan. It needed to be detachable, not an updated version of the cold slow lift that stopped all the time that everyone hated. Also, they put the lift shack in the wrong spot, so now the ramp is an awkward side load configuration, which will almost certainly cause even more stops or require the lift to run even slower. It's time for ORDA to stop being allergic to building detachables that don't start at a base area. Most other major resorts have been doing it for years.

On the North Side, I noticed that snowmaking has been added to the section of Powder Pass below the split with North Star, and that the pipes on North Star and Pete Gay have been replaced. Those had not been used in years. Hope to see it this year.

I went in with low expectations today, and once everything got open, it was pretty good considering the circumstances. it was so great having the Ski Bowl and Burnt Ridge open so early. The Ski Bowl was really the star of the morning, as there were very few people who came down there, and the grooming job was excellent. However the Topridge area was very windswept. Everything else was pretty good.

 

[Ripitz]

I went in with low expectations today, and once everything got open, it was pretty good considering the circumstances.

The secret to happiness is low expectations.

Always love hearing your in-depth reports Sno. Sounds like you had a good day on the slopes. Keep up the good work.

 

[tirolski]

Another nice 1st person assessment snoloco.

Got my first rides on the new Topridge Quad. Definitely not a fan. It needed to be detachable, not an updated version of the cold slow lift that stopped all the time that everyone hated. Also, they put the lift shack in the wrong spot, so now the ramp is an awkward side load configuration, which will almost certainly cause even more stops or require the lift to run even slower. It's time for ORDA to stop being allergic to building detachables that don't start at a base area. Most other major resorts have been doing it for years.

Since ORDA came public with maintenance challenges recently and since detached vs fixed requires more maintenance (costs/parts/labor) and being not as easily maintained as at a base maybe that’s why they stuck with a fixed replacement on Topridge.

Why do ya think the TR lift shack was placed there?
Liftblog hasn’t a hotlink to the new lift yet.

Gore Mountain, NY

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liftblog.com

 

[snoloco]

There is a work road to the bottom of Topridge, and there is another detachable that ends in the same place on Bear Mountain. Other ski resorts have detachables in a lot harder to reach places than Topridge. Some even had entire terminals airlifted into place. There were certainly no technical limitations. Ski resorts should generally be run to provide the best experience to the paying customers, and not to make the job of the paid maintenance staff as easy as possible.

I have no idea why the lift shack is placed in the wrong spot, but it's far from the only lift at Gore that's like that. On the vast majority of lifts at any ski resort, the shack is placed on the same side and directly adjacent to the loading ramp. 5 of Gore's 11 lifts have non-standard configurations.

 

[TheGreatAbyss]

They should at least have put a 3/4 station at the start of the "run up" to make laps faster

 

[Milo Maltbie]

They should at least have put a 3/4 station at the start of the "run up" to make laps faster

That's a good idea. They should put it where Uncas splits off from Topridge.

mm

 

[Milo Maltbie]

There is a work road to the bottom of Topridge, and there is another detachable that ends in the same place on Bear Mountain. Other ski resorts have detachables in a lot harder to reach places than Topridge.

Even Gore has detachables in harder to reach spots. Burnt Ridge and Ski Bowl are further from the maintenance building than Topridge. Even the gondola and the AE2 bases are harder to reach if they have to bring vehicles through skier traffic.

I have no idea why the lift shack is placed in the wrong spot, but it's far from the only lift at Gore that's like that. ... 5 of Gore's 11 lifts have non-standard configurations.

I don't know what "standard configuration" is, but Topridge is the only lift I've ever seen where the liftie shack actually interferes with the loading zone. Anyone who was expecting a faster ride or even shorter lines there is gonna be disappointed.
Topridge is longer than Hudson and carries orders of magnitude more skiers. What were they thinking putting a fixed grip there?

mm