Whiteface Mid-season Update ’25/26

Could 2024/25 be repeated at Whiteface? After what was a consensus “best season in over a decade,” there was little talk of a repeat. That kind of thing just doesn’t happen. Or does it?

First, though, there was some excitement in the off season about the new Little Whiteface Chair. The new double chair re-used the towers north of its mid-station unloading, with new towers below.

The realignment of towers was needed because its previous “double double” configuration (two double chairlifts sharing the same towers) were not in alignment with the upper towers. The new towers make it appear that skier’s right of Mountain Run was widened.

The new chair is a welcome from a reliability point of view. Often, on warmer and busier days, upload capability of the previous chair had to be limited to loading every other chair.

Management’s justification to replace with another double rather than a triple (or larger) was based on uphill capacity. Specifically, not inundating the peak of Little Whiteface where the gondola and Little Whiteface unloading areas are found.

Probably the biggest story this season has been the number and size of snowmaking whales. The much ballyhooed snowmaking system has been flexing its collective muscle this season, with mounds of snow reaching the peak of the tower guns, or about 30’, and allowed the summit to be opened before Christmas.

While the piles of snowmaking are often left for a few days afterward, allowing excess water to be drained and creating a better quality product, some of the whales have been left upward of a week.

As far as weather goes, there were two brief warm stretches, one mid-December and the other in early January. Temperatures have been on the colder side, though, with the mercury registering minus double digits at times. These colder days have resulted in some lifts not opening, or closing earlier to help offset the extra costs for residential customers.

Sometimes, though, that colder air sits in the valley of Whiteface and can result in a “temperature inversion,” a phenomenon that results in warmer temperatures at the summit. A temperature inversion also means that the cloud layer sits lower while visibility and views at the summit can be extraordinary.

Another atmospheric phenomenon with colder temperatures is the appearance of sun dogs. These are halos around the sun that tend to appear when the sun is closest to the horizon. This unique lighting is caused by refraction of the sunlight by ice crystals suspended in the air.

This year also saw the return of downhill racing. As part of the Nor-Am circuit, downhill and super G races were held at the base of the Approach trail, just above Little Whiteface’s mid station.

Nor-Am is the step below the FIS World Cup racing – think of Triple-A baseball compared to the major leagues. All told, there was a week’s worth of some of the best racers you’ll ever see.

With excellent grooming, this week’s rare opening of Slide .5, the deep snow pack, and new snow falling today we’re being set up for some good spring skiing.