legalskier
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Temp on arrival: 22 (Sat); -1 (Sun). Blue bird skies.
Conditions: powder, pp, machine groomed, some ice amid large bump fields
After digging out at home early Saturday morning I managed to make it there by noon to a see a gorgeous 8” blanket of freshies. I skied the afternoon on my own and got plenty of laps in, as liftlines were nonexistent. Temps stayed in the low 20s. Sunday brought some friends and their kids so I acted as mountain guide. I expected the mountain to be mobbed with people who couldn’t make it the day before but things were very manageable (5 min max at Superchief, 2-3 at others). The day started much colder than Sat but warmed up to about 30.
The new cover bolstered an already excellent on-piste base- enough to open natural snow trails like Cathedral Brook, Esopus and Cayuga. Except for Chippewa the glades were 'officially' closed, though there were lots of tracks there. My new skis and role as guide prevented me from going too far off trail but the uphill sides of Deer Run, Onandaga & Roaring Brook had plenty of features to huck off of. Some of the steeps had ice on the downhill bump side but plenty of pow in between to sink an edge into.
A few unexpected features were the lack of grooming on Dot Nebel- they let the pow get sliced up into crud and baby bumps, lots of fun (usually Dot is groomed so I’ve never seen it like that). Same for lower Winisook, Tongora, Peekamoose & Pepacton. Algonquin and Tongora had huge snowmaking whales across them, also a very enjoyable change. Area 51 has some large jumps where the freestyle team was practicing- we stopped to watch the show. Just below Overlook Lodge they built a mini terrain park for lower mountain skiers, which has an elevated base to separate it from the adjoining trail. Obviously the snowmaking crew’s been very busy all over the mountain. I even skied the lower area for a change- all the trails were in great shape there. Another unexpected surprise was that the Sunset (summit) Lodge now has a crew cooking up some really tasty food (they said they aren’t connected to the food service at the other lodges). It costs a few bucks more but it’s worth it imho- no wonder that lodge has gone from a ghost town to bustling restaurant. Looks like ORDA is leaving its imprint everywhere- including ticket scanners at the lift entrances (one told me ORDA is tracking traffic this season). No problem, they didn’t slow me down at all.
All in all a great weekend with the best conditions of the season.
Heading up on Sat- clear roads & snowy mountains
Lower mountain trail with a fresh blanket of pow. (This was the only pic I managed to take without kids or parents in it, lol.)
Conditions: powder, pp, machine groomed, some ice amid large bump fields
After digging out at home early Saturday morning I managed to make it there by noon to a see a gorgeous 8” blanket of freshies. I skied the afternoon on my own and got plenty of laps in, as liftlines were nonexistent. Temps stayed in the low 20s. Sunday brought some friends and their kids so I acted as mountain guide. I expected the mountain to be mobbed with people who couldn’t make it the day before but things were very manageable (5 min max at Superchief, 2-3 at others). The day started much colder than Sat but warmed up to about 30.
The new cover bolstered an already excellent on-piste base- enough to open natural snow trails like Cathedral Brook, Esopus and Cayuga. Except for Chippewa the glades were 'officially' closed, though there were lots of tracks there. My new skis and role as guide prevented me from going too far off trail but the uphill sides of Deer Run, Onandaga & Roaring Brook had plenty of features to huck off of. Some of the steeps had ice on the downhill bump side but plenty of pow in between to sink an edge into.
A few unexpected features were the lack of grooming on Dot Nebel- they let the pow get sliced up into crud and baby bumps, lots of fun (usually Dot is groomed so I’ve never seen it like that). Same for lower Winisook, Tongora, Peekamoose & Pepacton. Algonquin and Tongora had huge snowmaking whales across them, also a very enjoyable change. Area 51 has some large jumps where the freestyle team was practicing- we stopped to watch the show. Just below Overlook Lodge they built a mini terrain park for lower mountain skiers, which has an elevated base to separate it from the adjoining trail. Obviously the snowmaking crew’s been very busy all over the mountain. I even skied the lower area for a change- all the trails were in great shape there. Another unexpected surprise was that the Sunset (summit) Lodge now has a crew cooking up some really tasty food (they said they aren’t connected to the food service at the other lodges). It costs a few bucks more but it’s worth it imho- no wonder that lodge has gone from a ghost town to bustling restaurant. Looks like ORDA is leaving its imprint everywhere- including ticket scanners at the lift entrances (one told me ORDA is tracking traffic this season). No problem, they didn’t slow me down at all.
All in all a great weekend with the best conditions of the season.
Heading up on Sat- clear roads & snowy mountains
Lower mountain trail with a fresh blanket of pow. (This was the only pic I managed to take without kids or parents in it, lol.)
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