New York Ski Season Finale 2026

This winter was anything but normal compared to previous years. New York and the rest of the Northeast received a heaping of snow towards the beginning of the season, with of course the Tug Hill and Buffalo regions getting pummeled with lake-enhanced storms.

From the New Year, the snow continued to stack up nicely – with Whiteface reporting well over their seasonal average of 155” — until it all came crashing down as soon as the calendars flipped to March.

Temperatures spiked into the low 70s and smaller resorts suffered from the drastic melt.

Unfortunately, besides a couple squalls here and there as well as a freak late-season lake effect dump at Snow Ridge, it seemed that the beginning of Spring marked the end of the season for most skiers. With backcountry conditions looking dismal at the time, we were able to get one last human-powered outing on Algonquin’s Northeast Bowl the first weekend of April. A couple weeks later, Whiteface would spin its final chair, wrapping up New York’s lift-served ski season. After a momentum-filled start, the season ended in quick succession and it left us wanting more. Well, for a couple guys who don’t mind walking dozens of miles to score a couple half-decent turns, we knew there would be more waiting.

Spring came with endless warm fronts, fortunately for us the second half of the season held below average temperatures for the most part. It’s allowed for some lingering snow patches to cling on to their northeastern-facing slopes, like Skyward at Whiteface or “Danny’s Poopchute”, a line we dubbed near the summit of Algonquin. The most notable patch in the Park, and the one that holds the longest and will probably still have snow by the time this is released to you readers, is Marcy’s Snow Bowl, which lies at roughly 5200’ and just a couple hundred yards from the summit plaque.

Throughout the winter, snow is constantly deposited into this small crevice of the summit cone by westerly winds. At times, when the rest of the state is void of any snow, this bowl will often hold feet of snow. It’s known to be stacked with some of the deepest drifts all winter long, often reaching 20 feet deep.

Last June, we made the 8-mile trek to the snow patch and donned our skis for the finale to our season, and although as tedious as it is to lug heavy packs carrying skis, boots, and other gear, we sought to make it an annual event and make the pilgrimage every June (or July!) and harvest the last turns at the top of New York. This year, since we had such an abrupt melting period, we kept our eyes on online forums and facebook groups to make sure that the patch was still there by the time June rolled around.

Mother Nature has her own way with things; we had planned to head up there within the first couple days of the month, rain and even some snowfall thwarted our plans. The following weekend’s forecast didn’t look promising either, which showed multiple inches of rain and gale-force winds at the mountain’s summit. We knew we had to go before the impending storms as the patch was slowly deteriorating and we wanted to at least be able to make a handful of turns. We planned Thursday, June 4th as our ski or bust date.

Early that morning, my brother and I called in sick from work and made the three-hour drive up to the Loj Road to meet up with a couple ski buddies from the area, Andrew and Oliver. It had been almost 2 months since we were last in the Adirondacks, so our spirits were high and excited. As we parked on South Meadows Road right at the Marcy Dam Truck trailhead, our friends soon pulled up.

It was 8:30 in the morning and the temperature was 51 degrees, perfect for hiking in shorts and a t-shirt. The sun and the bugs were out, so after a short reunion with our friends, we made our way down the trail. With skis and boots attached to our packs, we moved at a relatively moderate pace sharing conversations about the day ahead. Although the Truck Trail is about .5 miles longer than the usual trail from the Loj, it’s a very easy-going pebble-strewn path, wide enough for rescue vehicles to reach Marcy Dam in case of emergencies.

Within 50 minutes, we made it to the Dam and took a quick break to admire the view and take some pictures. The sun made the water glisten on the Angel Slides across the valley. Since we were near water, the flies had almost immediately begun to surround us and attack what skin was exposed, so we continued on the trail towards Marcy.

The crossing over Phelps Brook was easy since the water wasn’t running too fast. At 4 miles in, we came upon the bridge that crossed the same brook, which marked about halfway in our ascent. A snack break ensued since we knew that the next mile of the hike to Indian Falls is a steeper section of trail. I chugged my water without issue since I brought a filter to use later on in the day when we eventually ran out.

By 10:30, we made it to Indian Falls and stepped up to gaze upon the view dominated by the McIntyre Range. Immediately, I noticed a small white spot in the far distance near the summit of Algonquin. I knew this to be the previously mentioned “Danny’s” line, which was our last backcountry endeavor nearly 2 months ago. Now, it was nearly the size of a school bus. Everywhere else was covered in green, a sight for sore eyes. Although I love the quietness of the mountains in the Winter, I think I enjoy the refreshing scenery of Spring even more.

After another short snack break and water fill-up, we carried on towards our destination. The next 2 miles of trail I find a bit boring due to limited views and changes in scenery. We passed a couple different groups of hikers coming down who gave us puzzled looks and even laughed at the sight of 4 guys all carrying skis and boots in June. I bet we looked crazy or stupid or maybe a mix of both, but that’s part of what makes us Adirondack skiers!

We continued on through some muddier sections of trail and gained a decent amount of vertical feet until coming out onto a small grassy viewpoint, one of my favorites. It gives the hiker a nice view of the summit and reassures them that you’re almost there. From this point, we could barely see the snow in the bowl peaking over a ridgeline, which looked a lot more filled from this spot last year.

At 1pm, after scrambling over the rocky, treeless summit cone, we reached the top. We were the only souls there, so we admired how far we had come and enjoyed the sweeping landscape around us. Our plan was to transition into our boots and skis with haste so that we weren’t sitting ducks for the biting flies, so we hobbled northeast over to the patch. It only took us maybe 30 feet from the trail to reach the snow. We were careful to step onto rocks instead of the fragile alpine vegetation to reach the patch.

Once on it, our suspicions were confirmed: it was much smaller than it was 1 year ago. I would estimate it stretched for roughly 200 feet long and 50 feet at its widest. There were even a couple clumps of rock and vegetation poking out near the top and middle, which were not there last June.

The sun stretched high into the sky and I realized just how much I was sweating. The summit was forecast to be 55 degrees with minimal wind, but the snow reflected the sunlight making it feel much warmer. I took a long chug from my nalgene and realized I was out of water with the closest water source being Indian Falls, which was miles away at this point. For the moment I’d be okay, but too many hiking laps and I figured I would start to become dehydrated. I quickly ate my staple lunch – an Italian footlong sub from Stewart’s, a poptart, and handfuls of trail mix – before beginning my transition from hiker to skier. The others did the same and after lathering on some sunscreen we were ready to go.

Andrew got first dibs since the rest of us were either taking video or photos. He started at the very top and made relaxed turns that wound back and forth all the way to the end. I counted and 6 turns was all it took to go from top to bottom. But hey, we were skiing in June so there was nothing but hoots and hollers from us. I went next and took the same route down the middle. It felt great to finally slide on some snow after a long hiatus. My run felt like it was over in seconds, probably because it was. I set up my camera at the bottom and snapped a couple shots of the other guys coming down, grins as wide as they get.

I couldn’t help but notice a strange sound closeby, so I walked to the very bottom of the patch to get a better look. It was the sound of a flowing stream, except instead of a natural stream it was the immediate runoff from the snow patch. It was melting quick enough that I probably could’ve filtered water straight from it, but I wasn’t too thirsty so I turned around and began to bootpack my way up to the top for another lap.

On my way up, I scanned the sides of the patch to see just how deep the snow was. Most of it never reached over a foot deep, but there was a spot towards the middle that must’ve been around 2 feet. We joked that we would make the trek here again if it held into July, but the pickings were already pretty slim compared to last year.

Once at the top, which only took 3 minutes to reach, I clicked into my bindings and took a different route down, this time going more left and weaving between two exposed rocks. After making it to the bottom, I hiked up about halfway and perched myself on top of a set of boulders for some more shots, this time with Oliver and Bailey both barreling down at the same time. Bailey even balanced himself atop an exposed rock and leaped off it to continue his way down the patch while Oliver skied down switch.

Earning turns is always rewarding, but we were beginning to feel sluggish and exhausted from the day’s work, so we agreed to hike a final lap before calling it. I had one more idea of an interesting angle for a shot of the skiers on the patch, but it was far back down the trail. So, I decided to go down first as I made my final turns of the season: 50 days skied in New York state alone.

Bailey joined me while the others waited. I put my skis back on my bag and hurried down the rocky trail in my boots, which I sorely regret. Within minutes I made it down to a boardwalk spot that has a nice view of the patch. Camera ready, I walkied for the boys to start their final lap as I captured the moment. It was comical from my view; Andrew and Oliver skiing down a small strip of snow surrounded by a summer scene of green and brown.

They then made their way down the trail to me as I put my trailrunners on. The time was 3:00pm, I had been out of water for over an hour now, and we still had another 7 miles back to the car. We regrouped we began our descent down the trail. The only times we stopped was to get water at the Indian Falls crossing and to share some last-minute views of Marcy Dam before the last stretch down the Truck Trail.

At 6:30pm as we came upon the trailhead. Our backs ached from the weight of our bags and we had welts from the biting flies covering our arms and legs. In total, we covered over 17 miles with a 4,100’ elevation gain. To say it was a memorable day would be an understatement. We did what most wouldn’t even consider doing and skied New York in June for another year.

Whether it’s worth it or not is up to debate, but we got it done and made it out safe, and in the backcountry that’s always what matters most. Now, time to finally put the skis away for the summer and enjoy the warm weather because the first snowfall in the High Peaks will be here before you know it!