Whiteface Conditions

[Moe]

I saw a picture of Skyward today and it looked close to ready. My next question is when are they making a move to The Wilmington Trail.

Think they can groom it out tomorrow for the weekend? We will be there Saturday and Sunday.

 

[chumpomatic]

Skyward looks about ready for sure. Conditions were firm today but very turnable and in some spots very nice. With respect to Wilmington it seems like for at least the last few years the plan has been to have it ready for Presidents' Day.

 

[snoloco]

Everybody knows that they don’t really care about the Wilmington trail, which is outrageous if you ask me. If you’re not gonna blow it, don’t cut it. That’s what I say.

With the snowmaking upgrade you'd think they'd get to it a bit earlier. Also they did install fixed guns on it last year, which makes the initial set up a lot easier. Maybe they'll get it open by the last weekend in January (29th/30th) instead of mid-February like last year, so that would be an improvement. I question whether it makes sense to prioritize Upper Mac over Wilmington, but it's probably a case of having extra water available for that part of the mountain. In my 5 years as a passholder, the earliest they opened it was January 29th in 2020, but that was with skipping Skyward to go to Wilmington first. If they open it next Saturday, with Skyward having opened first, then that's an improvement. From what was posted here earlier, they ran into issues with making snow on Skyward, which delayed it, and they probably didn't want to move to Wilmington until Skyward was done.

Think they can groom it out tomorrow for the weekend? We will be there Saturday and Sunday.

I only saw one picture, so I don't know. They have opened it ungroomed in the past, particularly when they have excellent snowmaking temps so the guns are running dry.

 

[chumpomatic]

They're still blowing snow on Skyward now. I do think they will open it any day now.

 

[D.B. Cooper]

A staff member who, based on apparel, is in the know told me that it would be groomed out and open Monday. There's enough snow on Skyward right now, but Niagara looks a bit thin.

From the Summit lift, there are some nice whalebacks on Ladies' Drop. One slab broke free. Looked like a small avalanche. No snowmaking on or below Glen.

Other than that, firm and fast today. I was surprised that it wasn't softer (not WF's fault). Was warmer than the temp indicated. Not crowded either.

Edit: Sno, I think decisions around Lookout will depend on whether they have the staff.

 

[Tjf1967]

You think all the money the poured into that place in the last ten years would have been better spent on snowmaking? They place should be automated and 100% open in 6 weeks. I bet their skier numbers would triple. Then you build the sprinkles on top.

 

[D.B. Cooper]

Skyward/Niagara open with snowmaking and whalebacks. The Niagara waterfall has blue ice patches underneath but only a limited stretch.
Mt. Run was great this morning. Temps aren't as bad as the Thermo indicates.
Fairly thin crowd for a Saturday. One of the best days of the year.

 

[NorEaster27]

You think all the money the poured into that place in the last ten years would have been better spent on snowmaking? They place should be automated and 100% open in 6 weeks. I bet their skier numbers would triple. Then you build the sprinkles on top.

Earliest summit open ever this year, snowmaking is leaps and bounds better than it’s ever been. Natural snow is severely lacking

 

[JTG]

May have been earliest summit opening…..but that is tempered by this year being one of the later Skyward openings I can remember. Glad they opened it today rather than waiting to groom it. Lots of fun with gun pow and whales! Niagara is a bit rough, bodies gonna take tumbles if people don’t take that slow.

 

[JTG]

Bit disappointing that Skyward isn’t open today. Hard to blame that on anything other than stupid people, is my guess. Perhaps too much carnage on Niagara yesterday? It was rough. Also, people putting themselves on black diamond trails when they really don’t belong there isn’t good for anyone. Upper Mac is open today! That’s good. However, the usual steep curve that is often icy was just that. Couple 15-ish year old girls on rental equipment put themselves at the wrong perch on an icy knoll….and both proceeded to slide 100 feet down a steep, icy pitch into the scrub brush and saplings. They came up laughing, but easily could have come away hurt. I’m a for challenging oneself, but not on a black diamond you don’t know if you are barely an intermediate. As they say, whatever doesn’t kill us makes us stronger, I s’pose!