It’s almost time to throw in the towel. Open ski resorts in the east have been dropping like flies. On the second weekend in April, in New York, my options were down to the ORDA hills and West Mountain in Queensbury. West is on the Indy Pass, it was an easy call to go check it out.
Getting to West is easy, it’s right off of the Thruway. Their spring hours were 10 AM to 4 PM so we weren’t required to get up early.
We took our time, stopped at a Stewart’s for breakfast on the way, and arrived at their Northwest Lodge around 9:50 AM. There were just a handful of cars ahead of us.
As is appropriate for this late in the season, they were working on a skeleton crew. That’s why we were at the Northwest Lodge instead of the main base area. That whole area — including the ticket window — was closed but I was able to find the right person to process our Indy passes from the cash register at the bar. Junior and I got our rock skis out of the roof box and booted up at the car, just a short walk from the lift. We didn’t get first chair on the Apex Triple but we were close enough.
We could tell right away that West’s snowmakers had done a great job this year. They view from the lift revealed wall-to-wall coverage on Midway. There were about six different ways down. We started out on A.O.A. — the black diamond to skiers left — and it was a great first run. Then we worked our way from left to right on the map and checked out Midway, Mach and the various combinations of Frolic, Alley and Bannister, over to skiers’ right. Just about everything that was open.
It made sense to me that West was running the Apex Lift instead on the detachable at the main base area. We could ski almost the whole hill from it. Right from the start, the snow was soft. The sun came in and out all day but it was pretty warm so the corn harvest commenced without delay. There were a few rocky spots on Bannister but over coverage was good overall. We had a great morning, skiing until about noon and then stopped to get lunch. We ordered burgers and drinks and sat down.
I had brought along my ON3P Billy Goats. Technically they are my powder skis but I bust them out for corn snow too. Junior had never skied on anything that wide (116 underfoot) so I figured it would be fun for him to try them out. I grabbed them from my car while we waited for our food. Just then, Robert and Farah found us. We had discussed West as one of a number of options on our most recent Doublechair podcast episode but for some reason, I figured they would end up back at Whiteface or Gore again.
It was game on from there. We skied all afternoon with Robert and Farrah, alternating trails just as we had all morning. Junior tried out the Billy Goats and had fun with them for a few runs before handing them over to me. We kept going, almost until closing time.
Some time after three, the two patrollers who were on duty started sweeping and closing trails early, starting on skiers’ left and working their way over. Junior and I agreed that their decisions made sense. Closing everything with just two people was a time consuming operation.
We kept skiing what was left open. We noticed where the various trails on skiers right all merge together into Bannister, the coverage started to get a little thin later in the day. There were some rocky spots, some mud, some grassy spots. It turned into good old fashioned patch skiing. It was a fun end to a good day.
Once done, we took our time getting our boots off, hung out in the parking lot for a little while chatting with other die-hards. I want to say again that I think West Mountain did a great job. They didn’t have to open up.
All the other independent and privately owned ski areas in the state were already closed but West stuck it out for another week. I think it indicates a certain level of gratitude for their customers and I appreciate that.
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Well done West Mountain, coverage looks great!
I always have respect for mountains that push the limit of the season for their customers. Sierra-at-Tahoe is great example of this in Tahoe. I mean they literally moved mountains to stay open as long as they did…
That part of I-87 isn’t the Thruway, it’s the Northway. The Thruway hangs a left in Albany onto I-90. It’s a bit of a sore point for Upstaters.
I didn’t make it there late season, but from what I saw, West did a great job on snowmaking this year.
Great idea to make the trip to West. It looked like a quintessential spring skiing day and those are some nice action shots of the skiing/riding. I’m impressed that West made the effort to keep the season going a little bit longer.
Looks like a great day! Nice to see multiple ski hills extending their seasons.
Thank you for coming and the nice write up ❤️ See you next season ⛷️❄️ Sara, Spencer & Team West Mountain
Thanks for stopping by I remember seeing you guys in the morning (we actually spoke briefly). We love our mountain and always enjoy meeting new visitors. We were so grateful to get an extra week at West this year. The owners told us they couldn’t pass up giving us pass holders another week given the huge pile of snow left. It was a great last week! Come back soon!
It was a killer day to end the season.
I was there with my buddy. We have West season passes. I concur it was such a treat to their regulars that they decided to open the additional week West did a super job with snow making this season. Thanks West crew and to nyskiblog for giving kudos to our home mountain. See y’all next season.
I was down in Q’town after closing last week and there was significantly better coverage at West vs Gore. A ~1000 feet lower, color me impressed.
Respect!
Thanks everybody – especially the Montgomerys and the whole team at West. You all did a great job and we appreciate it. And of course MNIAW is correct as usual. I should have said Northway or Rt 87. Thanks
Good on you for stopping at the mountain we all have driven by Mr Brown. And thanks for the write-up.