Gore / North Creek Lodging and Amenities

[Campgottagopee]

Doesn't

However many they have paid/booked.

No problemo. If they can make a go of it.
Let em eat cake...and/or pie of their choosing.

Concur

 

[Ripitz]

I get the whole "commuter mountain" for the capitol region and North Creek being a pretty sleepy town but it is a huge swing and miss for the local economy, ORDA and really the state as a whole by not trying to make Gore just a little more destination friendly, not necessarily a "resort". Take for example my experience this past week, down state snowboarder who has purchased a Belleayre only season pass for the past four years. This year, my fiance and I wanted to get away for presidents week but also did not want to diverge from our preference for weekend Catskill skiing and riding at Belleayre. So we bought SKI3 and booked a black Friday deal for four nights in North Creek at the Alpine Lodge. We had a great time on mountain and came prepared with a bag of groceries knowing food options in the area are sparse. Still even with those expectations we were pretty mad that we only ate out one of the three nights we were there. What kinda pizza place closes at 7pm and starts turning people away at 6pm!? The Gem in Bolton Landing was great food but it would have been nice to have had a place in town to choose from for just one of the four nights we stayed. I know the Adirondacks are sparse but I lived in northern Vermont for a while, finding an excellent meal within a half hours drive any night of the week is pretty straight forward in that state. We are likely to cancel our lodging reservations for mid March at Gore because eating uncooked grocery store food in a hotel room with no kitchen kinda takes away from the experience but it sounds like you locals would prefer we don't come back...

Belleayre has the same problem.

 

[timbly]

tirolski, thanks for your reply.
Interested to hear timbly's perspective regarding his post, if so inclined.

The example of hotels & restaurants in Lake George being open wouldn't be the problem (Glens Falls is open year-round, btw), it's that the original poster wanted more of a resort experience. My suggestion is to go to a resort with the preferred amenities. Or to develop somewhere that's already overdeveloped. Maybe skip skiing and go to Lake George for the summer? Gore can probably handle more skiers on the mountain, but parking's already pretty messy. How complicated do you want my response to be--there's a lot to consider between state-run vs. private, economic development inside the blue line, economic stratification, climate change, etc. Overall, I would prefer that my taxes don't contribute to the ADKs getting all guilded-age great-campy again.

Edited to add: you've got ADK right in your username, what's your take/opinion?

 

[ADKSRAOK]

The example of hotels & restaurants in Lake George being open wouldn't be the problem (Glens Falls is open year-round, btw), it's that the original poster wanted more of a resort experience. My suggestion is to go to a resort with the preferred amenities. Or to develop somewhere that's already overdeveloped. Maybe skip skiing and go to Lake George for the summer? Gore can probably handle more skiers on the mountain, but parking's already pretty messy. How complicated do you want my response to be--there's a lot to consider between state-run vs. private, economic development inside the blue line, economic stratification, climate change, etc. Overall, I would prefer that my taxes don't contribute to the ADKs getting all guilded-age great-campy again.

Edited to add: you've got ADK right in your username, what's your take/opinion?

timbly, thanks for your reply and perspective-
I'll provide my perspective as requested -but with disclaimer that it's from afar. I'm not as informed as Gore regulars (hence why I'm here trying to get the big picture)-
Many tax dollars went to the huge expansion to connect to the Ski Bowl -I thought (wrongly?) that the intention, along with expanded terrain, was to develop North Creek as the lodging/amenities access point to the mountain. I've looked there and found choices surprisingly lacking in number and in variety -either $$$ lodges or unappealing rentals -along with the lack of amenities. No idea what's in the works.
Regarding development: With Gore's impressive upgrades and terrain expansion, haven't our taxes already contributed to opening Pandora's Box with all the improvements and acreage cleared for additional terrain? Assumed that the intent of the expansion was to grow the number of skiers, with the expectation that development in North Creek would either parallel or follow that?
I expected a lot of associated development in North Creek: motels/hotels/etc along with restaurants/amenities.
Regarding the park, yes I have had a vested interest my entire life. I see the same vistas from the mountains we climb that I did >50yrs ago, and enjoy marveling at the large expanse of wilderness in the park. IMO, the organizations and people protecting the ADKs have been very successful. Lake Placid/Lake George are very small islands in the large "sea" of the park that I can live with. I can also live with developing another island in North Creek with some motels/hotels/restaurants to support providing a great experience for what should be more Gore skiers seeking to enjoy the improvements. I'd appreciate more options in North Creek, for sure.
I've been following the posts about the apparent failure to improve water supply to support snowmaking on all the expanded terrain. The lack of planning may have included a vision to support more skiers seeking to enjoy the improvements?
Wish I was close enough to follow the ski industry's push and buy a Gore season pass and be a day skier. Overall, cheaper, easier, and I'd ski a lot more! I'm to the west -nothing competes with Gore here -for rare trips to a "big" mountain it's still my best option.

 

[Alfredeneumann]

One of ORDA’s mission is to develop/improve local economies around their facilities, that seems to have happened at Whiteface but not at Gore or Belleayre, although Wilmington is a semi ghost town with the real action in Lake Placid.
A couple of private areas I’m familiar with are at opposite ends of the local impact spectrum. Although many of the lodging/food businesses on Killington Access Road are owned by the mountain and are turnkey operations, many are privately owned. Lots of income flowing into the community. The other extreme is Jiminy Peak, with an inn, hundreds of condo units, several dining options and even a grocery/deli on the mountain. The owner doesn’t seem to want to let the community “wet their beak,” to the point that some local restaurants and mom and pop motels have gone under. I’m surprised he doesn’t have a gas station on the mountain.
I’ve heard locals complain, on these pages and elsewhere, that the ski commuters don’t spend any money in North Creek and the weekenders spend it all in Lake George, which makes plenty of money the rest of the year. I really would love to spend my money in North Creek, but what’s available except for Stewart’s hot dogs?
I have avoided weekends like the plague since long before covid, usually day trip to Gore a couple of weekdays each week. We start early, take a break late morning and knock off around 2, ready for lunch. Our choices are pretty much eat on the mountain (Gore chili?) or Stewart’s. The closest place we’ve found to get a couple of beers and lunch is Old Log Inn north of Lake George.
I’m skiing tomorrow and Mondays are particularly bad. A survey of what’s available near North Creek-
Becks now only open Friday-Sunday.
Izzy’s, Marsha’s, Sarah’s open until 3 so possible to get lunch if we hurry.
Barking Spider, North Creek Lodge, Bar Vino, Basil & Wicks don’t serve food until 4-5 pm. Sorry, I’m almost home by then.
Sorry if I’ve missed your place, some of this information comes from Google.
If you build it they will come and spend money.

 

[Campgottagopee]

IMO, the organizations and people protecting the ADKs have been very successful.

Some, yes.
Some, no.

 

[Alfredeneumann]

Why the hate for Backwoods? It was never billed as a natural trail. It's had snowmaking from day 1, and was graded to be a blue. Are you against making it easier to get to the ski bowl? My only issue with it is that Paradox and Eagle's Nest weren't widened, so it creates a bottleneck.

A blue trail was needed to get to the Ski Bowl, but it wasn’t necessary to build it where and how it was done. It decimated one of the best and longest glades in the East, cutting it into three short segments (do you prefer the over-skied Bar, the less frequently skied, steeper and more difficult Kea, or the seldom-open Ter?). It was blasted and bulldozed into a wide, almost constant pitch, BORING trail. It could have been a Moxham or at least a Tahawus, narrower with changes of pitch and fall line.
The only reason that the rest of the route to Ski Bowl/Burnt Ridge is a bottleneck is that the blue boulevard is dumping way more traffic into it. You don’t have it to yourself anymore. A trail the same width as Paradox and Eagle’s Nest would slow that traffic down and spread it out.

 

[MarzNC]

This discussion about lack of places to eat when not staying in lodging with a kitchen during an overnight ski trip . . . is actually the same as what happened to me and a friend in Davis, WV in Jan 2023. There was literally no restaurant open on a Monday night within 30 miles of Timberline and Canaan Valley, including the Canaan Valley Lodge. CV is part of a WV state park. There were a few years when Timberline was shuttered completely before it was revived by the Perfect family. Several small businesses closed because there was no income during the winter. Staffing was a huge problem because of the pandemic. That has become less of an issue in the last year or so, so the situation is getting better. Meaning there are even a few restaurants open 7 days a week. Timberline/CV are very popular with folks from DC, Pittsburgh, and Northern VA who are willing to drive 2-3 hours for a day trip every so often. The terrain cannot be matched anywhere else in the region for people who like to ski trees and bumps.

The difference between Davis, WV and North Creek, NY seems to be that the situation near Gore hasn't changed that much in terms of private businesses catering to winter guests. I was in Lake George in early Dec once and had a hard time finding a place to eat dinner with a tween that wasn't a bar. Many small businesses were closed for a week or two of vacation because that was the slowest period of the entire year.

When I wanted to check out Gore and Belleayre in 2013-16 (daughter at NCS in Lake Placid), figuring out lodging was harder in the Catskills and southern Adirondacks in general. I wasn't looking for resort lodging, just a mid-level motel room for a night or two with a restaurant close by. It was far easier in Vermont and New Hampshire, which I sampled in 2016-19 (daughter in school near Boston).

 

[Harvey]

Somehow this feels like an offseason convo.

I hope Gore never changes but we know it will...it just takes longer than most of those other areas.

I can relate to this. The "takes a lot longer" part works for skiers like Suds and me. Allow us to adjust.

But IMO many of the changes since 2000 have made Gore better for skiers. I think the "new" gondola, going to the top of Bear is a big improvement. I love both Burnt Ridge and the Ski Bowl. Burnt Ridge was side country that is now largely on the map. (That bummed a lot of people out.) Replacing the old High Peaks double means you can reliably access the summit by lift when the gondi is on wind hold.

I often say "there is no place like Plattekill" and that is true. It's a (+/-) thousand feet of vert and 100% about skiing.

For Gore I'd say... there is no place in the east a big as Gore, that retains that non-resort vibe. Maybe Cannon?

Ski Resort
Ski Area
Hill

Gore is still, barely, a big Ski Area. Personally, I love it.

I'd be extremely bummed if they turned Lot A into condos.

 

[timbly]

I have never been to NYC and been surprised by the lack of good skiing there.