Gore Mountain

[Greg]

Okay, what's the scoop with Gore Mountain? With 2,100' of vert and terrain like this:


...Gore sure looks like a kick-ass hill. Coming from CT, is it worth bypassing some of the Vermont hills to hit Gore? How far north of Albany is it? What type of snowfall do they get?

 

[smootharc]

They've done a darn nice job of....

...revitalizing that hill (NY State, that is.). The terrain is quite nice, and if you get there after a dump, or on a good snow year, then very nice. Crowds up a bit on weekends, with parking lot shuttle misery necessary if you don't get there early.

All in all, very nice. The steeps in the photos are nice, the one on the right being the one that gets the press, but the two thin cuts to the left are both nicer, with the right of those two, imho, the best. There's another two or so lifts of nice stuff, but, like some other areas, accessing all that vert doesn't usually happen in the same run....it not making much sense as the better stuff is up from the base lifts.

All in all, I'd recommend over some of the Southern VT stuff for at least a foray or two for variety. I've always liked showing up at a new area. It would be tough to recommend it over the VT classic areas central and north, again imho.

 

[ski_resort_observer]

Gore was my home mountain when I was a kid. I remember when Gov Rockefellor opened the place with great fanfare...it was also pouring rain.

My days of skiing the North Creek Snow Bowl, Hickory Hill and West Mountain were pretty much over when it opened.

From Albany it's easy to get to. About an hour or so up the Northway(I87) then about 20-30 min from there. Most people get off at Warrensburg and head up from there, I think getting off at the Chestertown exit heading towards Weavertown is good too. The village of North Creek is nice and is a couple of miles away from the access rd.

Great terrain for sure. IMHO the only neg is the weekend crowds. When you get into the parking lot the number of buses is uncountable.

You should do Gore than drive up to Whiteface and have HPD give you the tour.

 

[Brettski]

2 hours north of all bunny

It has been awhile, but is off the beaten path, and there is no "town" to speak of, and there is no lodging on mountain.

That said, it is classic, old time skiing...toe blake..

I wonder if the old bar in the lodge is the same..very rustic if I remember...

Too bad about the summit gondola though...

Also was the coldest place I ever skiied. at -7 w/out windchill and 40 mph winds...it was a tad bit chilly...but the wind was only over the ridge..

On Sunday it was -22 and the lifts froze...

It's a 4 hour run for us from Northern Jersey..just wish they had better deals for the family...

 

[ski_resort_observer]

I wonder if the old bar in the lodge is the same..very rustic if I remember...

Too bad about the summit gondola though...

Also was the coldest place I ever skiied. at -7 w/out windchill and 40 mph winds...it was a tad bit chilly...but the wind was only over the ridge..

On Sunday it was -22 and the lifts froze...

..

:lol: That's funny. We used to get served in that bar when we were 16, thought the place was very modern, course this was in 1967.

It is cold especially when the wind kicks up. They used to give everone there big wool ponchos and you just huddled underneath it until the end. At the time lift(went above Showcase) was the longest chairlift(around 7,800 feet?) in the US. Killington beat that the next year.

 

[Charlie Schuessler]

I've only been there on weekends and found the crowds are in the bar after lunch and not on the slopes...

 

[kcyanks1]

Okay, what's the scoop with Gore Mountain? With 2,100' of vert and terrain like this:


...Gore sure looks like a kick-ass hill. Coming from CT, is it worth bypassing some of the Vermont hills to hit Gore? How far north of Albany is it? What type of snowfall do they get?

I grew up skiing there, and it can be a fun mountain, but it's also pretty limited except in big snow years or after storms. The big trail to the right in your picture (Rumor) has a headwall as steep as anything I've skied in the east, but the steep portion is fairly short. All of those trails in your pictures go to the same lift (Straightbrook Quad) which is only about 800' vertical, so the runs are short, and the expert runs don't even take up all of that vertical (you generally end up on an intermediate trail called "Headwaters" which takes you to the lift). While that lift rarely has a line, you end up taking very short runs, which can grow tiring if not everything is open. Unfortuntately, NY ski areas get less snow than VT, so even peak-season there is not a guarantee that all of the glades and natural snow trails will be open--this makes a huge difference in enjoying Gore, at least for someone who has skied there numerous times - if it is your first time it wouldn't matter nearly as much. The two thin strips in your picture (Double Barrell), for example, are a lot of fun, but they are natural snow trails that are not open frequently. Gore also has a tendency to overgroom the popular expert trails, including both of the wide trails in your picture.

One thing I should note--despite having skied at Gore since I started skiing, I am not really familiar with the off-the-map trails and have not skied the on-map "backcountry" trails (to be distinguished from the glades, which I have skied). The marked glades are good, when there is snow, and I figure the unmarked ones that I haven't skied, if you can find them or have someone show you, are also good. But again you need to have enough snow for that, and the ski area does not have an official boundary-to-boundary policy, so you might risk losing your ticket (someone else might be able to comment on this).

As for comparing Gore to southern VT areas, it has more challenge than Okemo and Stratton (based on my one time at Stratton). While Rumor's headwall is probably steeper than anything at Killington, Killington has more overall challenge, and despite the criticism of Killington's vertical being broken up and misleading, you ski more vert per run at Killington than at Gore. The areas to the north of Killington (Sugarbush, MRG, Stowe, Jay) are better of course, but then you wouldn't exactly be by-passing those on your way to Gore

So after this long, rambling post, I'd say it's worth going if you haven't been there, particularly on a good snow day. But I wouldn't recommend spending more than a couple days.

 

[Brettski]

Those things are true of Gore....in the Past...to ski Gore, you needed a good snowy winter. That was because of the limited Access to Water.

The state finally relented, and allowed them Access to the Hudson River.

There's a press release in here, but the way the render their pages, the url doesn't show.

http://www.goremountain.com/

They also discuss the expanded trail system.

And yes while certain section don't ski top to bottom, I'll bet there are som trails that after 1000 vert, you'll want a rest.

I'm very suprised to hear people say that Gore was crowded.

I guess it's all relative. Got to Hunta on the weekend or Mountain Creek or Camelback....

Crowded? You don't know what crowds are.

I think it was President's week at Wybdham one year in 94 I believe...OMG, they had just installed the new quad, and had no clue what they were doing.

 

[Greg]

The state finally relented, and allowed them Access to the Hudson River.

There's a press release in here, but the way the render their pages, the url doesn't show.

http://www.goremountain.com/

They also discuss the expanded trail system.

http://www.goremountain.com/mountain/press/more_info.cfm?id=10

 

[smootharc]

Re: Minor nitpick re: NY Snowfall...

Unfortuntately, NY ski areas get less snow than VT...

...one mustn't forget Snow Ridge in Turin, NY with regard to snowfall. Due East of Lake Ontario, for 55+ years since the lifts started spinning, they've had goods in terms of the white stuff (though vertically challenged at 550'....but the terrain digression is another discussion....some great, challenging stuff to be sniffed out there). The highest recorded MONTHLY snowfall in the area was 182 inches (January 1978), and the highest recorded YEARLY snowfall total was 467 inches ('76-77). Ah....my formative powder years. Testosterone, high school girlfriends, and powder at The Ridge. Brings me back. One year we were snowed in at the farm B&B in Turin, and couldn't get home for two days. We got to the area, about a half mile away, but they couldn't open. So we hiked and got the goods....

Learned to powder ski there....and I've never lost my sweet tooth for the deep....

 

[kcyanks1]

Those things are true of Gore....in the Past...to ski Gore, you needed a good snowy winter. That was because of the limited Access to Water.

The state finally relented, and allowed them Access to the Hudson River.

There's a press release in here, but the way the render their pages, the url doesn't show.

http://www.goremountain.com/

They also discuss the expanded trail system.

And yes while certain section don't ski top to bottom, I'll bet there are som trails that after 1000 vert, you'll want a rest.

I'm very suprised to hear people say that Gore was crowded.

I guess it's all relative. Got to Hunta on the weekend or Mountain Creek or Camelback....

Crowded? You don't know what crowds are.

I think it was President's week at Wybdham one year in 94 I believe...OMG, they had just installed the new quad, and had no clue what they were doing.

It's true that Gore has improved a lot over recent years. I actually don't recall skiing there last year (only time in the past 20-or-so years since I started skiing), so I can't comment on the changes for last season, but they had made snow-making improvements in prior years as well. I don't recall when they got things open last year, but in the past Rumor was never open by New Years, and IIRC, not even always by President's Weekend (maybe I'm wrong on that last one). Rumor does have a ton of rocks that need to be covered, but the problem is that Gore is so reliant on snowmaking in order to get the terrain open. Though it's happened, it's rare that they get an early season dump where they can get a good amount of terrain open having never made snow on it. When they have the snow, though, there is a lot more to choose from and the mountain is a lot more fun.

About the vert, you mention wanting a rest after 1000' vert - but the problem is, many of Gore's expert trails are less than even 1000' vert. The Straightbrook chair, which services Hawkeye, Rumor, Lies, Double Barrell, Chatiemac, Chatiemac Glads, and the Straightbrook glades is 900' (I was wrong about the 800' in my other post). Some of the runs go into Headwaters, so they are less than '900. They improved this a few years back by opening up the Straightbrook Liftline from the middle of Hawkeye down to the bottom, though, when there is enough snow. That makes a big difference, and when the glades are open off of Chatiemac, the runs seem longer. But when you take runs on Lies, Rumor, and Hawkeye to Headwaters, the trails, IMO, seem remarkably short. Lies especially, since it has the lowest starting point and highest ending point of the three. The Topridge triple breaks 1000 vert. I haven't been there where the lift line has been open--I figure that would be a nice challenge, but the other trails off of it (Uncas and Topridge), while of a better length than the Straightbrook chair, aren't as steep and are often groomed removing much of the challenge.

I very much agree about the your comments about the crowds. I rarely have seen crowds there in recent years, maybe even going back to when they replaced the Straightbrook chair with a quad (8 or 9 years ago?).

 

[Brettski]

There must be some reason you keep going back?

Lifetime Lift Ticket?

Let's just say, that I'd rather ski Gore, than say, Mt. Snow or Stratton, or Ascutney.

And from what I remember, it was a more family oriented Mountain.

I gotta start another thread about top to bottom vert, don't want to hijack this one, but I gotta see if I can get a family package deal...

 

[Brettski]

That's pretty funny...

http://skiing.alpinezone.com/resorts/lodging.htm?resort=gore

 

[kcyanks1]

There must be some reason you keep going back?

Lifetime Lift Ticket?

Let's just say, that I'd rather ski Gore, than say, Mt. Snow or Stratton, or Ascutney.

And from what I remember, it was a more family oriented Mountain.

I gotta start another thread about top to bottom vert, don't want to hijack this one, but I gotta see if I can get a family package deal...

I started skiing there when I was around 3 or 4 with my family. We had a place in the Lake George area and would often go there for weekends, and Gore was easily the closest drive. A couple times a season we might drive to Whiteface, Sugarbush, or Killington as day trips, but I skied Gore more often than not. In recent years as I've gone away for weekends with my family less often (and we also starting this year don't have the vacation place anymore), I've skied at Gore less often. To be honest, I would like to try some of the lift lines that they now have opened up, but it'd be tough for me at this point to go there for a weekend over places in central to northern VT, given that I only ski about a dozen times a year.

I've never been to Mt. Snow or Ascutney, so I can't compare those. Been to Stratton only once, and Gore's terrain is better than Stratton from my limited experience. I don't want to sound overly critical of Gore, and I admit my viewpoint can be skewed since I've skied there so often relative to other places, and except for some of the very newly-opened terrain, skied everything so many times. Particularly before the recent changes over the past few years, except for on exception snow days, I would ski the same trails over and over again. Doing 10 runs just on Hawkeye might not have been uncommon, and that type of think can skew one's perception of a ski area, as much fun as the one trail might be when it's just one of many options.

 

[highpeaksdrifter]

You should do Gore than drive up to Whiteface and have HPD give you the tour.

Great idea and it would be a pleasure to show any AZer around & first round apres is on me. :beer:

How about you comin across the pond SRO?

 

[ChileMass]

My family had the NY State season pass (Gore, Whiteface, Bellayre) for years back in the 70s/80s. NY State kept Gore and all of the state-run hills very no-frills back then, and the other posts have pretty much captured the scene. We always called it Bore Mt or Big Bore because everything there was pretty basic. The lifts were poky and old, the lodge was beat up, and there was little if any snowmaking. The grooming was sparse, and when the wind blew, so did the skiing. We went to Gore because it was "free" (thanks, Dad), had a lot of vertical, and it was only 45 minutes away. Back in the day, I knew every inch of that hill.

I haven't skied Gore since the mid-80s and although I hear the recent improvements are really great, if I'm going to go up that way, screw Gore - I'm going to Lake Placid to ski Whiteface (hope it's sunny!!) and hang out downtown afterhours. Lots of fun to be had in Lake Placid and there's NOTHING in North Creek.

My $.02. Ka-ching......

 

[highpeaksdrifter]

The only thing I can add to these great reviews above is that when Gore is dependent on man made it's OK, but when you hit it after a dump it's a great place because of their liftlines and glades.

 

[St. Jerry]

Gore sucks, especially after a snow storm. Stay away. Far away.

 

[Brettski]

Gore sucks, especially after a snow storm. Stay away. Far away.

That's the kind of insightful, thought provoking posts we've come to expect here at the AZ...

Want to quantify that, just a little.

 

[St. Jerry]

Yes, stay away because Gore is over-priced, over-crowded, and most of all over-hyped. NY state markets the heck out of the place and as a result it gets very crowded, even on weekdays! Hunter and Mt. Snow are empty compared to Gore.

I would avoid Gore at all costs, especially on snowy days. I hear that it's a hell-hole to get to or get out of after it's snowed.

The so called "glades" are really nothing but a tree or two surrounded by ice and rocks. I strongly suggest that everyone stay out of their glades.