With the recent DEC clearing and marking of the Raymond Brook Trail, it is finally time to tell the story of The Secret Ski.
It’s no coincidence that I posted precise ski data for North Creek just recently. No longer a secret, the route is just another part of the history of Gore Mountain.
I started skiing at Garnet Hill in 1989. Before I came to the Hill, I thought cross country skiing was something that you did in the flats. I had no idea that you could go up hill, down hill or link turns.
Harvey Mountain is in our back yard (front yard really) and we’ve spent a lot of time skiing on her flanks and summit. Zelda had her first winter camping experience up there.
We’ve known for years that from the southeast facing cliffs on Harvey, you can see the faint remains of an old ski area over at the base of South Mountain. It wasn’t until I found NELSAP did I realize that what we were seeing was called the Harvey Mountain Ski Area.
The following is excerpted from the work of Jeremy Davis of NELSAP – the New England Lost Ski Areas Project.
Skis: I’d love to check out something a little stiffer and floatier than my K2 World Piste’s. Those Atomics above – the RT 86 – to me, looks like the next step. I thinking they will be a little harder to handle in the trees, but better on hardpack and in powder. This ski will challenge the intermediate skier that is still left in me.
Measurements are 176 cm in length and cut at 128-86-114. I’m a quiver-of-one kind of guy. I don’t want to have to think about what ski I am taking to the mountain. I want “my skis” to mean that one pair I’ve always got with me. I guess if I go to these RTs, I could run on a quiver of 1.5…bringing out the World Pistes when the trees are still good, but beaten out. Maybe. If I like these new skis, I’ll probably use them all the time.
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