Whiteface - April 4 & 5, 2008

[madskier6]

I spent 2 great days skiing with some great guys at Whiteface this past Friday & Saturday, April 4 & 5. I was supposed to go with Greg but his daughter got sick at the last minute so he had to cancel. Fortunately, everything was in place for me to go anyway despite Greg’s absence. I’m so glad I decided to go on the trip.

I arrived in Lake Placid at about 1:30 a.m. Friday morning & got about 4 hours of sleep before I headed to the mountain to meet up with tjf67 & highpeaksdrifter for a tour of Whiteface. The weather forecast called for some snow changing over to rain late in the morning. Fortunately, it stayed all snow on the mountain until about 3:00 when it changed over to sleet & then rain. As HPD said several times during the day, the weather turned out to be a lot better than we expected.

We started off skiing the Gondola & the runs on Little Whiteface. HPD had skied some runs off the Summit early & reported that conditions were a bit firm up there. Did some great runs off the Gondola: Approach, Excelsior, Essex, Wilderness & Mountain Run to name a few. Some of the primo runs (Empire, Upper MacKenzie, Cloudsplitter Glades, 10th Mountain Division Glades) were roped but we hoped they would open up later as conditions softened. Whiteface is a huge mountain with tons of legit vertical. Several runs there are some of the steepest I’ve ever skied & that includes my experiences skiing out West.




We dabbled in some of the open glades, which were a lot of fun: High Country Glades & Silver Glades. We also ducked into the bumps on Lower MacKenzie. We later headed for the Summit Quad as conditions softened a bit with warmer temps & some soft snow falling from the sky. We did Skyward, Paron’s Run, The Follies & Lower Cloudspin. All very fun runs with lots of steep vertical. Unfortunately the Slides were closed & we could barely even see the terrain in there because the summit was so socked in with snow & clouds.




tjf67 & HPD know a lot of good skiers that are regular Whitefacers. We skied with various people throughout the day which was a lot of fun. Those guys know the mountain well & they know how to rip! I skied quite a bit with their friend Matt (face4me over at SkiADK.com) when we separated at various points during the day. Basically, these guys gave me the grand tour of Whiteface & they told me that I pretty much skied every interesting trail & terrain type that Whiteface has to offer. I really enjoyed it & can see myself going back to Whiteface again in the future. I missed the Slides this trip but I definitely want to experience those on a good day. I found out that they opened the Slides on Saturday afternoon after I left for the day & they were open on Sunday. Bad timing, I guess, but what can you do?




On Friday afternoon, I switched to my powder skis since the snow had softened up somewhat. Good choice. Later we hit some of the more interesting off limit terrain such as Cloudsplitter Glades, 10th Mountain Division Glades & all of Empire. It was great to be able to float over the nice soft snow on those trails. I loved the advanced glades at Whiteface. Very interesting terrain & steep in many places. Empire was also quite an experience as I’m told this is one of Whiteface’s signature runs. We definitely enjoyed it. Here are some pics of Empire:






By the end of the day we were quite wet from being snowed on most of the day & then having it change over to sleet & rain for the last hour. After a long, thoroughly enjoyable day (my quads were burning) we retired to the bar for refreshment & relaxation.



I'll post more later about the sunny Spring day we had on Saturday.

[madskier6]

After a good night's sleep at HPD's house in Wilmington, we headed for the mountain with hopes of another great day. What a difference a day makes. Saturday was mostly sunny with warmer temps, soft corn snow & bluebird skies. We started off on the Gondola again & hit the lower mountain trails off Little Whiteface. Saturday was the day of the Apple Butter Mogul Competition so we also wanted to get some practice runs in on the course. Unfortunately for me, I had to leave the mountain by 1:00 so I could get home for a family commitment.





After lapping the lower mountain & the bump course, I decided I wanted to head for the Summit to get some runs in up there before the end of my day. We had some great conditions & views up there.







We had no problems seeing the Slides today!







Since I skied the upper mountain, I was only able to get in one run in the bump contest while everyone else get to do 2 runs. My loss but I was glad to have skied the upper mountain for my last few runs of the day.

Many thanks go to tjf67, highpeaksdrifter & face4me for showing me around & for being such gracious hosts. It was great to ski with you guys. Thanks again HPD for your hospitality in letting me stay with you Friday night & for the lift ticket on Saturday. I've got to make it up to Whiteface again & try to time it so I can ski the Slides next time.

[madskier6]

And for those of you interested in the bumps at Whiteface, here are some pics.

[2knees]

holy mother of god, those are nice pictures!

[highpeaksdrifter]

Great trip report Jeff. Let me say that Jeff is exactly as Greg described him to me, a great guy and a great skier. Dude can pound some beers after skiing too.

I was sick that you missed the Slides Sat. literally by minutes. I got the call that they where open at 12:45, probably just as you where heading home. They where open early on Sunday. They skied great both days.

You have to come back for a 3 day weekend toward the end of the season next year. A day and a half is just not enough. Besides the Slides there is some other off map stuff I want to get you in that I know you'll like.

[danny p]

awesome trip report and pictures...whiteface just became a lot more interesting to me. looks like at least a trip up next year. thanks!

[Greg]

Great TR and fantastic pics! The photos really give you good perspective on how big the place is. There's no question why it's called "Whiteface". I'm really glad you still took advantage of the opportunity despite me having to cut out last minute, Jeff. I was very close to jumping in the car Friday morning, but I wouldn't have gotten there until after noon. I'm very disappointed I couldn't swing it, but Whiteface still tops the to do list, now more than ever.

[tjf67]

If was fun skiing with you. I was not certain what to expect but I was pleasantly surprised. You can rip!!

Man you missed the slides by minutes. Probably better you would not have gone home.

When i met up with HDP Sat the first thing out of his mouth is Man that guy can drink/rip.

You are more than welcome to ski with me whenever you come up. Friday had to take off on lunch to apply some green wax. Man my skiis worked wonders after that. Glad we caught back up.
Lots more lines in the glades for you to see. Steeper stuff up above where we went in.

[bvibert]

Nice TR Jeff, looks like a real good time! Now I REALLY wish I could have made the trip...

[Warp Daddy]

Nice report and great shots . Once again physical evidence that Whiteface is the REAL DEAL , the Big Kahuna and LP is a world class town !

Even tho we've been there MANY times in the past ,every damn time i get out of the car there and look at it my reaction is ALWAYS the same: "Holy shit this is a REAL mtn"