Whiteface Conditions
- Thread starter NYSkiBlog
- Start date
D.B. Cooper
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jul 22, 2020
Given that it's the only trail on the report with snowmaking, and that making snow on W takes all the power they have, I would think they are serious. I can't tell by looking from the road.
Yukon Cornelius
Well-known member
- Joined
- Sep 21, 2020
Trusting the snow report can be dicey. Appreciate the input, fellas.
Cork
Wylie Veteran
- Joined
- Jul 22, 2020
They had started blowing lower Wilmington a week ago Sunday, and they were still blowing this past Sunday. With the current weather, I would say it "should be" open this weekend.
I hear ya. I never trust that trails they list as open on the snow report will actually be open. However, when it comes to indicating where it is they are making snow I think it’s pretty accurate. They’ve also done a good job in the narrative discussing where the snowmaking efforts have been focused, which has been accurate. Hoping Wilmington is open this weekend!
Face4Me
Well-known member
- Joined
- Sep 12, 2020
As has been explained to me several times, the snow report provides "Anticipated Conditions" ...
With regard to indicating snowmaking, I often find, that they sometimes mislead with that, especially in the early part of the season. For example, they may say that they're making snow on a trail, however, when you go to the mountain, you find that the reality is that there's one or two guns, pointed at a trail, as opposed to snowmaking on the entire trail.
They do the same sort of thing on their Facebook page ... They'll put up a post saying what a great day it is, when in reality, the lifts aren't running due to wind, mechanical failure or whatever ... they've been getting beat up pretty bad on the Facebook page this year with that sort of thing ... HONESTY goes a long way with customers! I'm not a marketing person, but I've got to believe that when you say things that are clearly not in touch with reality, you damage your relationship with your customers.
As for the Wilmington Trail, I'd be REALLY surprised if it isn't open this weekend. They've been blowing snow on it for about a week now, and with the natural snow in addition to that, I've got to believe it will be ready for the weekend. The bigger question is Hoyt's High ... I assume they will not be blowing snow on it this year, but is there enough natural snow on it to open it for a day or two? I did see one track on it as I passed by on Sunday afternoon ... from what I could see, it looked pretty good!!! I'm guessing that won't happen, but there's always hope!
As for conditions overall ... This past weekend was very good. On Sunday, I didn't actually get out until after 1:00. I wasn't even planning to go, but I heard from some friends that conditions were still good, even at lunchtime, so I decided to give it a shot. I couldn't believe how good conditions were, all the way up until 4:00. There was definitely good skiing to be found.
"Middle" Parkway was awesome ... The snowmaking on that section of the trail hasn't worked for years, so it's not open very often, but it was this weekend. It's amazing how much different it is to ski on all natural snow versus man-made. By the time I had gotten over there, the race they were running on Upper Thruway and Drapers had ended, so I was able to take the Little Whiteface chair to the mid, ski the top of Mountain Run or Upper Parkway to "middle" Parkway, and then cut across Thruway to Calamity Lane and back to the lift ... breathe ... repeat!
They had also opened Upper McKenzie, which was also really good for the most part. The headwall was a little thin, but you could certainly find a way through it. Unfortunately, Lower Mac wasn't quite as good ... there were some huge moguls on it, but it was down to the base in between them. Upper & Lower Skyward were also really good. I was really surprised that I could get so much good skiing in on a Sunday afternoon from 1:00 - 4:00!!!
ADKmike
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jul 22, 2020
I skied Sunday afternoon as well after a morning tour - got there around 12:30 and skied until 3:30...excellent conditions all the way to the end. Snow showers all weekend made for great conditions in my opinion. 10th Mt Glades/Upper Mac/"middle parkway" all great
Yukon Cornelius
Well-known member
- Joined
- Sep 21, 2020
Glad to hear it. We're headed up for Prez Week.
SudsNBumps
Well-known member
- Joined
- Aug 21, 2020
I had to go back to see who posted it...Q Jones...I skied Whiteface today and was disappointed. Not having the little whiteface lift running makes no sense. It ran yesterday and was told it is amazing what one day will do. Freeway just doesn't cut it. Although my pick of the day was Parkway, because I ended up lapping it instead of exploring ?. I did some exploring and there was some good snow and some ice that was unedgeable. I just wish I could have skied upper empire, upper cloudsplitter glades, upper mac...I skied down at lunch time thinking I would suck it up and get one from the top of little whiteface before I had to go to work, but saw both lines and left.
Face4Me
Well-known member
- Joined
- Sep 12, 2020
I couldn't agree more ... I understand that from a staffing and economics point of view, they don't want to run both the Gondola and the Little Whiteface chair during the week. That said, run Little Whiteface ... it is SO much more efficient than the Gondola right now.
I was talking to a couple of people in the lift line this weekend, and they were complaining that they had been at the mountain earlier in the week and only the Little Whiteface chair was running. When I pointed out that the Gondola is not very efficient because they're loading it at somewhere between 30 - 40% capacity, they were like "wow ... I never thought of that", and were less annoyed about it.
