The Royal Mountain Refill

Posted on by Robert

After all that sweet midweek vacation day powder, I had to work the weekend and rain was in the forecast. My best shot at keeping the stoke alive was grabbing a few laps Saturday morning before work.

I wanted to go somewhere new and uncharted. Early Saturday, I headed east on the Thruway and in an hour I was pulling into Royal Mountain.

If you’ve know of Royal Mountain, then you may also know of Jim Blaise. The hardworking owner of Royal, he kept the mountain alive and adapted however he could. Now 50 years later he’s handed the reins over to his protege Jake Tennis. The Tennis family, by all accounts, will be great owners.

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Tagged: Adirondacks, Royal Mountain7 Comments

Willard Mountain: Rising Up

Posted on by Stu

Willard emerges abruptly, erupting out of the flats as you approach on NY Route 40, a prominence amid the meandering farmlands 30 miles north of Albany. The suddenness of it is stunning, delivering the sort of skiing-where-no-skiing-should-be sensation common to approaches to the Midwest ski hills from my youth.

Willard Mountain view

It’s a busy place. Even on a Friday and half an hour before the lifts opened, I followed a bunched line of cars edging along the network of narrow backroads accessing the ski area. In the lodge I waited in a line for my ticket, the first time since Hunter’s opening day. It’s also a friendly place, the woman at the counter thanking me profusely for “coming out and joining us” as she handed me a pair of sticky wicket tickets.

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Tagged: Adirondacks, Kids14 Comments

Greek: Another Peak Weekend

Posted on by Robert

Last weekend Central NY was the place to be for skiing and riding. Lake effect snow made its way south over Skaneateles Lake to the I81 corridor where it deposited over a foot of snow in some places. It was clear I should head south of Syracuse.

I called my Dad and we made a plan to hit Greek Peak on Saturday. It was a sweet day of packed powder groomers, ski on lifts and steady snowfall. It was so good that I called Alex and we made plans to go back to Greek the next day.

Greek reported an additional 8″ on Sunday morning. The lot was filling as I pulled in but I managed to get a spot just a few rows deep. Alex wasn’t far behind and soon enough we were headed up the lift.

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Tagged: Central NY, Greek Peak, Lake Effect, Powder16 Comments