Search and Rescue on Gore Mtn: 2/28/10

Search Rescue Gore Mountain

This NCPR Story is an interview with Steve Ovitt, ranger for the Siamese Ponds Wilderness. He discusses Sunday’s rescue of six skiers who went out-of-bounds off the Chatiemac side of Gore.

Darkside Shaman is not a member of Gore Patrol, or Search and Rescue. He’s an accomplished and fit backcountry skier, who owns a pair of fat skis and climbing skins, and was in position to help:

“Six people, a 17 yr old, 2 twenty-somethings, and the Father and 2 kids all went in ABOVE the s-turns on Chatiemac, roughly parallel with the Rumor goat path over on Hawkeye.

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Camelback, PA: 3/1/10

Living where I do, 30 minutes directly west of NYC, there are two choices for “local” skiing: Mountain Creek, NJ or Camelback, PA. Both hills are the skiing equivalent of going to the gym — places to get out in the fresh air and work on on-piste technique.

Camelback PA

Mountain Creek is only 15 minutes from my office and would be a perfect choice for after-work skiing, but since they transformed the only halfway entertaining terrain there (South and Bear Peak) into a huge park for boarders, no thanks. It’s that unpleasant.

Camelback is 55 minutes from my house and a much better alternative IMHO. Two HSQs cover the 850 verts and I must have made close to 30 runs in the 3+ hours I was there last night. Not a bad deal for $27.