Mohawk - 1/18

[Greg]

Yep. That's right. Did a little sleeping with the enemy today...

Took my 7 year old up to Mohawk. We arrived to a steadily filling lot at about 10 am. The parking attendants seemed a bit confused on how/where they wanted me to park. almost seemed like they were all arguinig with each other (in a clueless kinda way...)

Anyway, we went in got booted and first rode the short Nutmeg Chair. My daughter wanted to because it was a "pretty blue". Then over to the Deer Run Chair and a cruise down Deer Run. Nice character. We finished that run by dropping into Laurel which, while still a green had some nice pitch. Did another run off that chair and hit Pine T2B. also a green but good pitch. Then we went up to the top via the new Mohawk chair (nice) and skied Ledges - another great green with nice character. We then decided to take lunch at the Pine Lodge a bit after 11 am. I wasn't quite expecting a sit-down type atmosphere, but the food was decent and fairly priced. It was a nice daddy/daughter moment.

After lunch my daughter decided to hit Route 100 right off the bat, her first black diamond trail! Mind you black diamond is relative, but in this case, it's all about her impression. It actually is a nice liftline run. Not steep but good pitch. I was so proud of her and she seemed very proud of herself. We then went back up and hit Pinnacle to lower Route 100. Pinnacle is a really nice trail. Steeper than Ledges and nice and narrow and turny.

All in all, a great daddy/daughter day. Abby still rocks a wide wedge, but is turning pretty consistently now. I have to get here to start unweighting her uphill ski a bit and she should be ripping parallel turns soon. The snow today was perfect. Soft and carveable, but firm enough that it didn't break loose and become overly heavy. Lots of people, but not bad for a MLK Day and we never waited in a lift line for more than a few chairs.

Certainly not the pitch of Sundown, and no bumps or park, but Mohawk really is a nice little hill. Very scenic and some of the trails do have honest to goodness character. The trail designations are whacked though. Lower Route 100 (black) is right next to Pine (green) so they are basically the same pitch. The only difference is width. Really I think they both should be blue.

All in all, an excellent day. Gonna try to get the whole family up together later in the spring. Basically, the same distance as Sundown, about 25-30 minutes.

 

[WJenness]

Sounds like you had a great day out with your daughter.

Good on you.



-w

 

[severine]

LOVE Route 100! Sounds like you and Abby had a great time! Mohawk is actually 2 miles closer to us than Sundown and was my first love when I learned to ski.

 

[zinger3000]

I agree with you about the trail designations at Mohawk. My personal saying is "If I can ski it, it ain't Black Diamond." That being said, only the initial drop off the Boulder Summit Triple (which dumps into Wildwood/Chute/Timber) could possibly be considered black diamond. As for Route 100, the top half is blue, the bottom half definitely green. Not sure how that one's a black diamond.


I've been to Mohawk twice - loved it both times, and plan on going back the weekend of Jan 30-31. I went once on a Saturday, once on a Sunday, both perfect weather days (sunny, 30º-40º) and skied right onto the lifts each time. After leaving each time, I noticed that they had used their overflow parking lot, which absolutely stunned me, as there was never a line for the lifts. I finally figured it out - most ski areas with a veritcal of 640 feet have only 1 or 2 lifts. Mohawk has 4 (I'm not including novice lifts/carpet lifts, etc) - all 4 of which go at least two-thirds of the way to the top. I think having 4 lifts at a ski area with a relatively short vertical helps to keep the lift lines short.

 

[severine]

They definitely do a great job of spreading out the skiers there. I especially liked that most of the green trails were in one area, serviced by its own lift, and you progressed in difficulty as you move from skier's left to skier's right on the mountain. Yes, it's not as difficult as others out there, but it's not a bad little place either.

 

[Warp Daddy]

Sounds like you two had a great day "Making Memories"--good stuff dad !!

 

[powhunter]

Sounds like ya had a great time with the family, and exposing your kids to other mountains is great!!!!!!!!!!!

steveo

 

[bvibert]

Nice TR! Sounds like a great day with your daughter. I think Route 100 has the black rating due to the width and that there are towers in the middle of the trail. I enjoyed skiing that trail the last time I was there with my wife, plus I think it was her first black trail as well.

They do have a nice layout to keep the crowds spread out too.

 

[gmcunni]

I think Route 100 has the black rating due to the width and that there are towers in the middle of the trail. I enjoyed skiing that trail the last time I was there with my wife, plus I think it was her first black trail as well.

when i skied there i loved the very top of rt 100 as long as there was enough snow on it. it was narrow and a lot of fun.

 

[WoodCore]

Glad you had a great day on my winter home away from home Greg!

 

[WoodCore]

when i skied there i loved the very top of rt 100 as long as there was enough snow on it. it was narrow and a lot of fun.

They actually regraded the top of it last year when they put the new chairlift in and have been making snow on it top to bottom ever since. Probably one of my favorite runs at the Hawk along with Chute and Pinnacle>Pine.