The Ski Season in Photos #6

Posted on by NYSkiBlog

Finally, in mid-January, we got some significant measurable snow in the mountains of New York.  At HQ in North River, it was barely a foot, and didn’t really get the trees going, but it was snow. Natural snow always improves conditions.

It Finally Snowed.
Tree Dreamin’ • Somewhere in New York • January 14, 2012

Finally, in mid-January, we got some significant measurable snow in the mountains of New York.  At HQ in North River, it was barely a foot, and didn’t really get the trees going, but it was snow. Natural snow always improves conditions.

Reports and photos from Greek Peak were very encouraging. Laszlo Vajtay of Plattekill called the improvement in surfaces “amazing.”

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Tagged: Adirondacks, Catskills, Friday Fantasy Photo, Weather1 Comment

The Botheration Pond Trail

Posted on by Harvey

Since I first started skiing at Garnet Hill in the 1980s, Botheration Pond has captivated my imagination. I’d see it on the map, so close, yet tucked away. It symbolized all the remote spots in the Siamese Ponds Wilderness that were out of my reach.

bridge over the East Branch of the Sacandaga

Together The Vly and Botheration Pond form the headwaters of the East Branch of the Sacandaga. When I studied the map, it seemed that the waterway would offer a long stretch of easy, beautiful and remote marsh skiing. With an intriguing name and no trail accessing it from state land, I was very curious about that pond.

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Tagged: Adirondacks, Backcountry, Hiking, Siamese Ponds Wilderness12 Comments

The Ski Season in Photos #5

Posted on by Harvey
Ski Season Photos
Mattchuck on Kuersteiner • Snow Ridge, NY • January 3, 2012

On New Year’s Day 2012, forecasters were calling for a short but intense blast of arctic air to sweep across the lakes into New York. While it didn’t look like we were actually getting the pattern change everyone was hoping for, some excitement was generated by forecast lake effect snows.  While the actual totals were far less than predicted, For tBatt and Mattchuck, blind faith and determination netted some hard earned natural turns:

“Skiing groomers on manmade snow was getting old, pretty quickly. When I heard that the Tug Hill was forecast to get HAMMERED with 2′-3′ of lake effect, my ears perked up. I kept an eye on the radar and forecast totals.”

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Tagged: Friday Fantasy Photo, Snow Ridge, Tug Hill1 Comment