PA Ridge Racer
New member
Whiteface Mountain
March 7th and March 8th 2009
Conditions: Frozen and Loose Granular
Saturday: We hopped on the lake Placid shuttle at 8:30am. By the time we got to the Mt., picked up out tickets and booted up it was around 9:00. We first boarded the Cloudsplitter Gondola to little Whiteface and I made my first run down Excelsior to the base via Upper / Lower Boreen and again on Easy Street to Boreen with a run or two on Brookside as well. We did that a few times before moving on to the Summit which at the time had considerable cloud cover. The snow at peak of little WF was firm but it loosened up greatly on the lower Mt. It was warm (high hit 50 degrees or so) and there was some considerable snow melt happening but nothing too bad (other than Ladies Bridge which was more bridge than snow). Anyway, it was onto the Summit quad for a scenic ride to up to ski Skyward. The cloud has since lifted and visibility was pretty good. I must say, I've been to the Grand Canyon (twice) and the scenery up there is on par with that (High peaks to the right, Lake Champlain / VT. to the left...wow) I then jumped onto skyward. The snow was soft yet packed down nicely, great for carving. Skyward is steep and long and the legs started to burn by the time I got to Lower Skyward. I stopped Mid Mt. and met up with the people I was with and had lunch at Boule's Bistro before making my way down via Boreen (I believe).
From there, I saw numerous people on Lookout below and decided that my legs were ready. I made my way over to the Lookout Triple for a ride to the summit of Lookout Mt at 4000 feet. It was clear and Lake Champlain and Mt. Mansfield were easily visible. I took the Wilmington Trail which is a great, long cruising run to Lookout below. They had a thin cover sign at the entrance of LB which really didn't phase me. I hopped in anyway for FABULOUS spring bumps that were knee to thigh high. Lookout below (for those who haven't skied it) is on a really steep pitch and it's pretty narrow.If I had to guess I would say it's steeper, definitely narrower than Outer Limits, not as long though, but close maybe 900 to 1000 vert. After Lookout Below it was back to the base then back to the summit again. Things softened up a bit more and bumps were forming on Skyward and big time on Lower Cloudspin. I did another run on Skyward, through some trees in between Skyward and Cloudspin, back onto the trail and down to Lower Cloudspin to the base via Upper and Lower Valley for the full 3100k + vert. I timed it and it took me approximately 15 minutes for mostly fall line skiing which was awesome. I finished up with a few runs off of the Gondola and Little WF. This time I took Approach to Upper and Lower Mackenzie for some more nicely pitched runs. Empire was closed unfortunately (as was upper Cloudspin). We left a little after 2 and my legs had had enough.
Sunday: We got to the Mt. a little earlier today. We were probably on the snow around 8:30. We started out on the Face Lift. The cloud cover at the summit and little WF was pretty thick. We did a run down Easy Street to Boreen and Brookside. I then boarded the Gondola. Again the peak of little WF was in a think fog and the wind was blowing at a good clip. Approach was closed (At least it was at that time) so I hit Excelsior and cut over to Essex to Lower Northway. The loose granular froze overnight and it all became frozen granular which you could carve but was still kinda sketchy. It got softer as you continued on down though. I did that 3 times and saw people boarding the Summit quad, so I did the same. The fog grew thicker the higher you went up. At the summit there was maybe 15 feet of visibility. I (along with many others) stood atop Skyward debating whether to ski it or take Rive Ridge etc..down. I worked up the nerve and dropped into Skyward very cautiously ended up enjoying every second of it..more frozen gran here plus the fog added an extra element.. I stopped mid Mt. by Boule's and boarded the Little WF lift but got off at Mt. Run and skied Mt. Run / River Run to Lower Valley to the base. My legs were shot and we went back to LP for Lunch. On our way back to PA from LP we stopped at the Mt. again and I booted up for a few more. I took face lift straight to the Summit for another run down skyward, to crossover loop, to lower skyward straight to the Lookout Mt. triple. Then back up to the Wilmington trail which was very hard and icy up top but softened as you made your way down the ridge. I stopped mid-way and skied Lookout Below on legs that didn't have much left. I survived another awesome spring bump run on LB. Then it was over to Boreen to the base and I was done.
I finally knocked this place off my list of places to ski. My overall impressions are: 1) It's bigger than I had thought. 2) Lookout Below destined to be one of the great trails in the East. 3) The whole experience of skiing from the summit (the views and the classic Upper Skyward) is worth the price of admission. 4) The slides look sick from the summit quad. WF rocks. I'll be back....many, many times!!
Looking Down Upper Skyward from the Summit
Looking down the steep Lookout Below
Another looking down Lookout Below
The slides from the quad
From near the base area
March 7th and March 8th 2009
Conditions: Frozen and Loose Granular
Saturday: We hopped on the lake Placid shuttle at 8:30am. By the time we got to the Mt., picked up out tickets and booted up it was around 9:00. We first boarded the Cloudsplitter Gondola to little Whiteface and I made my first run down Excelsior to the base via Upper / Lower Boreen and again on Easy Street to Boreen with a run or two on Brookside as well. We did that a few times before moving on to the Summit which at the time had considerable cloud cover. The snow at peak of little WF was firm but it loosened up greatly on the lower Mt. It was warm (high hit 50 degrees or so) and there was some considerable snow melt happening but nothing too bad (other than Ladies Bridge which was more bridge than snow). Anyway, it was onto the Summit quad for a scenic ride to up to ski Skyward. The cloud has since lifted and visibility was pretty good. I must say, I've been to the Grand Canyon (twice) and the scenery up there is on par with that (High peaks to the right, Lake Champlain / VT. to the left...wow) I then jumped onto skyward. The snow was soft yet packed down nicely, great for carving. Skyward is steep and long and the legs started to burn by the time I got to Lower Skyward. I stopped Mid Mt. and met up with the people I was with and had lunch at Boule's Bistro before making my way down via Boreen (I believe).
From there, I saw numerous people on Lookout below and decided that my legs were ready. I made my way over to the Lookout Triple for a ride to the summit of Lookout Mt at 4000 feet. It was clear and Lake Champlain and Mt. Mansfield were easily visible. I took the Wilmington Trail which is a great, long cruising run to Lookout below. They had a thin cover sign at the entrance of LB which really didn't phase me. I hopped in anyway for FABULOUS spring bumps that were knee to thigh high. Lookout below (for those who haven't skied it) is on a really steep pitch and it's pretty narrow.If I had to guess I would say it's steeper, definitely narrower than Outer Limits, not as long though, but close maybe 900 to 1000 vert. After Lookout Below it was back to the base then back to the summit again. Things softened up a bit more and bumps were forming on Skyward and big time on Lower Cloudspin. I did another run on Skyward, through some trees in between Skyward and Cloudspin, back onto the trail and down to Lower Cloudspin to the base via Upper and Lower Valley for the full 3100k + vert. I timed it and it took me approximately 15 minutes for mostly fall line skiing which was awesome. I finished up with a few runs off of the Gondola and Little WF. This time I took Approach to Upper and Lower Mackenzie for some more nicely pitched runs. Empire was closed unfortunately (as was upper Cloudspin). We left a little after 2 and my legs had had enough.
Sunday: We got to the Mt. a little earlier today. We were probably on the snow around 8:30. We started out on the Face Lift. The cloud cover at the summit and little WF was pretty thick. We did a run down Easy Street to Boreen and Brookside. I then boarded the Gondola. Again the peak of little WF was in a think fog and the wind was blowing at a good clip. Approach was closed (At least it was at that time) so I hit Excelsior and cut over to Essex to Lower Northway. The loose granular froze overnight and it all became frozen granular which you could carve but was still kinda sketchy. It got softer as you continued on down though. I did that 3 times and saw people boarding the Summit quad, so I did the same. The fog grew thicker the higher you went up. At the summit there was maybe 15 feet of visibility. I (along with many others) stood atop Skyward debating whether to ski it or take Rive Ridge etc..down. I worked up the nerve and dropped into Skyward very cautiously ended up enjoying every second of it..more frozen gran here plus the fog added an extra element.. I stopped mid Mt. by Boule's and boarded the Little WF lift but got off at Mt. Run and skied Mt. Run / River Run to Lower Valley to the base. My legs were shot and we went back to LP for Lunch. On our way back to PA from LP we stopped at the Mt. again and I booted up for a few more. I took face lift straight to the Summit for another run down skyward, to crossover loop, to lower skyward straight to the Lookout Mt. triple. Then back up to the Wilmington trail which was very hard and icy up top but softened as you made your way down the ridge. I stopped mid-way and skied Lookout Below on legs that didn't have much left. I survived another awesome spring bump run on LB. Then it was over to Boreen to the base and I was done.
I finally knocked this place off my list of places to ski. My overall impressions are: 1) It's bigger than I had thought. 2) Lookout Below destined to be one of the great trails in the East. 3) The whole experience of skiing from the summit (the views and the classic Upper Skyward) is worth the price of admission. 4) The slides look sick from the summit quad. WF rocks. I'll be back....many, many times!!
Looking Down Upper Skyward from the Summit
Looking down the steep Lookout Below
Another looking down Lookout Below
The slides from the quad
From near the base area
