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Big Tupper

VR17

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NEAR TUPPER LAKE
from what i remember Tupper is to far east and north of lake Ontario for steady lake effect. Once in a while if you get a big low pressure center about over Michigan the winds will come out of the southwest and it can get some lake effect, but the conditions have to be just right, and thats rare. Its aslo to far north and west to get any bennefit from Noreasters, VT gets, even Gore benefits. NW Adirondacks just dont get the snows they used to back in the 60's and 70"s. the only place I know of that could really count on natural enough to really ski on would be Snow Ridge or maybe McCauley.
 

Harvey

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Go Bing look at the bird's eye view of it and you can see the upper chair.

Holy cow...I'd never seen Bing Bird's Eye View. That's incredibly detailed. Freaked me out I think I saw my wife in her bikini in our back yard.

Surprised me that you could get that detail for Mt Morris, but not Whiteface or Gore. Also I couldn't figure out how to rotate images the way you can in Google Earth.

VR...I was trying to pinpoint Big Tupper on this map but with county lines so faint I couldn't really do it:

http://harvey44.blogspot.com/2009/09/new-york-state-snowfall-map.html

In relation to the lake though it did seem like it would have to be an odd SW fetch to get lake effect. By the way if anyone has a better NY State average annual snowfall map with county lines - I'd love to see it.
 

Puck it

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So which lift is lift 2?


Lift 2 is the chairlift to the right looking up hill. It is the newer one of the base chairlifts. The other chairlift had wooden slats. Can not remember the type though?
 
Last edited:

VR17

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Big tupper had about 1000 vert total but no more than 800 continuous on the old lift right in front of the lodge. the lift that will be opening only has 600 vert total, no expert terrain. just a few fairly descent pitches on the tops of a few trails then very low angle run out. relying on nat snow is a big gamble this day in the skiing age. I wish them luck but wont be buying any season pass right away. looks like weekends and holiday weeks snow conditions permitting.
 

Puck it

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Here is a pick the older chair to the left looking uphill.
bt2.jpg


Some stats too.

Base elevation: 2,000 ft Summit elevation: 3,136 ft Vertical drop: 1,136 ft Skiable area: 125 acres Annual snowfall: 0 in Snowmaking: 0 % Number of trails: 30 Number of lifts: 5 Types of lifts: 3 Double chairs,
1Rope tows,
1 T-Bars
 

Tin Woodsman

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Holy cow...I'd never seen Bing Bird's Eye View. That's incredibly detailed. Freaked me out I think I saw my wife in her bikini in our back yard.

Surprised me that you could get that detail for Mt Morris, but not Whiteface or Gore. Also I couldn't figure out how to rotate images the way you can in Google Earth.

VR...I was trying to pinpoint Big Tupper on this map but with county lines so faint I couldn't really do it:

http://harvey44.blogspot.com/2009/09/new-york-state-snowfall-map.html

In relation to the lake though it did seem like it would have to be an odd SW fetch to get lake effect. By the way if anyone has a better NY State average annual snowfall map with county lines - I'd love to see it.

Harv -

The map you linked to DOES have county lines. They are hard to see, but they are there. Looks like they have a data point at Tupper Lake (likely in town, not on the mountain) at 105".
 

Harvey

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Harv -

The map you linked to DOES have county lines. They are hard to see, but they are there. Looks like they have a data point at Tupper Lake (likely in town, not on the mountain) at 105".

TW...I knew those county lines were there, I just couldn't really make them out. Or I didn't know that part of the state well enough to know that the 105" reading was Tupper Lake - thanks for that.

I've started to take an interest in the Big Tupper thing, and I love the old ski brochures etc. I set up a link that will automatically direct to all my Big Tupper stuff, and the link should continue to carry new stuff as I add more:

http://harvey44.blogspot.com/search/label/big tupper
 

Tin Woodsman

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TW...I knew those county lines were there, I just couldn't really make them out. Or I didn't know that part of the state well enough to know that the 105" reading was Tupper Lake - thanks for that.

I've started to take an interest in the Big Tupper thing, and I love the old ski brochures etc. I set up a link that will automatically direct to all my Big Tupper stuff, and the link should continue to carry new stuff as I add more:

http://harvey44.blogspot.com/search/label/big tupper

What I do is check what county the closest town is in, then check a map of that county on something like Wikipedia. finally, I cross-reference that info with the blown up version of your map. It's a process, but it took less than a minute to get that data point for Tupper Lake. FWIW, since the mountain is 1500' above town, I wouldn't be surprised if that upper lift gets in the neighborhood of 150" or so. That area would be fun to lap with skins now that there's lift access most of the way there.
 

Warp Daddy

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Luv Tupper skied it many times BUT skiing the TRUE top of the mtn was not that great. It was a PIA and required riding 2 chairs old #1 and #3 and it added very litte vert than the top of old chair #1 .

Franlkly more fun and less time to ride just chairs 1 and 2 . Top of #1 had a nice headwall that was fun and then linked into the the main face shoot which had beaucoup rollers
 

Harvey

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North River, NY
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Big Tupper Site Tour 9/15

Had a chance to get up to Big T and talk to the guys making it happen.

I'm linking the first installment in a multipart Harvey Road piece on Big Tupper.

Part 1 - The Struggle for Survival
Part 2 - Mountain Ops and Lower Mtn Tour
Part 3 - Upper Mountain

Big-Tupper.jpg


More to follow.
 

Harvey

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Lot of support for and skepticism of the viability of BT expressed in the comments from Part 1 which focused on the real estate aspect of the project.

We posted Part 2 of a 3 part piece on Big Tupper today. Pics of the lower mountain, and some info on operations: Big Tupper: Lower Mountain Tour.

TopLift2.jpg
 

Warp Daddy

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Nice report and great flicks Harv . How well i remember all of those views . Frankly tho Lift 3 adds little to the mix . In the old days Lift 1 was the lift of choice with Lift 2 being a nice fun warm up or end of day routine . IMO lift 3 doesn't really add that much vert to Lift 1 and required 2 chair rides to the summit . It was usually a routine that was done once skiing all the trails under Lift 3 then moving back to #1 .

Nice views off all 3 lifts tho

Good luck BT !!!!!!!!!
 
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