West Mountain Conditions

Question for Old Timers who remember West from 30 years ago...
Did the OLD Face lift exit higher up the mountain than the current Face lift?
NEW Face lift seems to exit further down the mountain...
Closer to where the merging trail from above comes into the Face.
Not the way I remember it ???
 
I was fortunate to have my first day of Easter break on this bright and sunny post-snowstorm day. I decided this was my chance to get in a good Indy Pass day close to home at West, finally. Good choice! I was out about 30 minutes after opening and enjoyed a great packed powder run down The Cure and through the Race Face. Already, I was glad I came. The groomers and ungroomed areas were great. The warm sun made things heavier but everything was still skiing nicely when I finished up at 2:30. I made about half of my runs on the Northwest trails. They had made a one or two groomer-wide down the middle of Midway and A.O.A., otherwise it was still all natural. It's possible that was my first-ever run down A.O.A. despite having skied West many times over the decades. Lots of fun! The soft bumps on Upper Holy Mackerel and Coy Dog were fun and a bit unexpected. The most challenging run was the ungroomed and tracked up Gnarwall North, with a few rocks poking through.
 
I skied the Lower Mountain Trails at Gore today and was disappointed. I have been in the sunny south for 2 weeks and thought the recent storm would refresh the snow cover on the lower trails. Trails were ribbons with less than ideal snow. Then it warmed up enough that you were polling through sticky snow even on downhill grades. Snow in spots was more brown than white. Why post here? Because on my way home I swung by West... OMG, actual white snow, and plenty of it. Mid afternoon and from what I saw the skiing was excellent. Hopefully the rain on Wednesday will not wreck the conditions! I wish they had extended the hours into the evening at least one night this week. IF you are looking for a no frills ending of the season day of skiing I would definitely consider WEST MT. They clearly got more snow in that last storm and are putting it to good use. Parking lot was maybe 1/4 full so some people did make the correct choice... Wish I had.
 
BTW, I believe all West day tickets are half price. I had Indy so I didn't pay too much attention, but I think people buying 4-hour tickets walkup were paying something like $27. Sounds like it was a pretty bad season at West overall but it's ending strong.
 
They do a great job making snow plus they have lights so both help out a lot. My criticism comes from the 'shrinking' of the mountain. The left side of the face area is set up for racing a lot of the time. Add a terrain park to the right and you take away a lot of the mountain. The lodge is undersized and I always feel bad for the parents of kids learning to ski. The learning hill is so far from the lodge. But I am glad they got one final blast of snow to help pay the bills.
 
Saturday at Gore I took a quick break at the saddle and while peeing the gent to my right announced that West had received 18" and opening the North (?) side, that he and the smart money was headed there the schralp the gnar! I briefly considered it being that it s on the Indy pass but decided to explore Burnt Ridge instead. I have never ski'd West but based on the fun snow in Barkeater and Tahawus trees believe I made the right choice!
 
gorgonzola said:
Saturday at Gore I took a quick break at the saddle and while peeing the gent to my right announced that West had received 18" and opening the North (?) side, that he and the smart money was headed there the schralp the gnar! I briefly considered it being that it s on the Indy pass but decided to explore Burnt Ridge instead. I have never ski'd West but based on the fun snow in Barkeater and Tahawus trees believe I made the right choice!
Click to expand...
I live right there. It was closer to 24".

The only issue with West on a pow day is that other than the Cure to Gnarwal and the Go Go, there's not a lot of sustained pitch if the snow gets deep and/or heavy.

"Voltage Glades" can be fun too. We used to ski that when it was just a bike trail.
 
gorgonzola said:
Saturday at Gore I took a quick break at the saddle and while peeing the gent to my right announced that West had received 18" and opening the North (?) side, that he and the smart money was headed there the schralp the gnar! I briefly considered it being that it s on the Indy pass but decided to explore Burnt Ridge instead. I have never ski'd West but based on the fun snow in Barkeater and Tahawus trees believe I made the right choice!
Click to expand...
Yup. Don’t leave fish to go to fish.
Stay outta there!
 
West was quite heavy and slow snow last week Tuesday. Saw they were closed this week during the potential storm. Massive bummer. They are reopening this weekend April 6-7th for NW fest which will probably be there last week of operating.
 
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