The clipper I’d hoped would provide some fresh snow for Sunday got underway too late to do me any good. When I got up this morning it was snowing lightly, but had only amounted to a dusting at the cabin. As it turned out, the mountain reported 2 inches for the whole day.

When I arrived this morning the crowd was very light.  Snow was falling at a semi-reasonable clip and it continued all morning. Visibility was nil.

I had some breakfast and got on the Gondi line around 8am. Folks were chatting and wondering if the days of early openings were over, at least for now. Someone mentioned that ski patrol is no longer allowed to punch in before 8am to eliminate any overtime. Again the dreaded budget cuts.

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It was cold this morning, for December. The cabin’s weather station is out of commission, but the CRV has an exterior temp gauge that showed 13 degrees F when I started the car at 7:15 am. It’s usually reads a few degrees warm, so let’s say it was 10F. Down in the river valley at 1000′ it was even colder, I’m estimating about 5F. When I got to the mountain at 7:45 there were maybe 50 cars in the lot. The Gondi started loading “on time” at 8:30.

The trail report showed 4 lifts and 14 trails. Basically there were 4 or 5 distinct runs depending on how you count. Since last weekend, Foxlair had been added.

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Ski Day 2 was an improvement vs opening day with even shorter lift lines, no opening delays and no drama. Also missing was the addition of any new terrain. Anyone who’s skied Gore for a few years knows that early season snowmaking tends to be less aggressive than serious skiers would like.

They were blowing on Wildair overnight. Foxlair and Sleighride during the day. Sleighride? Come on. Sleighride should probably be the last trail to get snowmaking resources. Still first tracks were primo. We hit it up top. Corduroy on Topridge and Pine Knot was early season excellent.

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