Polarized Views of White Face?

[Talisman]

It seems few mountains in the North East bring such a polarized views as White Face. White Face devotees seem very passionate about the place and equally passionate are the White Face detractors. Personally I have enjoyed skiing there, but haven't been there many times. I liked the big verticle, lots of challenging trails, OB opportunity in the Slides (not open the times I was there), could find a lift with no line and good skiing off of it on the weekends and a great ski town to base operations.

There were some things I didn't like such as trail crowding where multiple trails dumped into one way back to the lifts. I would like to make another trip to White Face this coming season.

What's your view of White Face?

 

[highpeaksdrifter]

Dang, I'm just glad to read a post about it from someone else here in AZ. I love it there, let's start with big vert. Detractors will say there's run out at the bottom, I say so what, must mountains have some in parts and WF's isn't really bad at all. 2500+ feet of vert on Little WF, 3400+ from the top of WF. Yes, I know vert. isn't everything, but I like it.

I agree with some who say they groom too much of the steep terrain, but there's plenty of ungrommed. My favs. our Cloudspin, Empire, MacKenzie, and the Slides have no peer for natural terrain IMO short of Tucks.

Seperate Beginner area with it's own lifts and lodge.

It's never crowded.

The Ice Face thing hasn't been true for years since they upgraded there snowmaking system years ago. The nick name lives on because it has a nice ring to it I guess.

I know different people like different things and if you don't like it there that's cool. Those who havn't tried it in years should give it another shot.

I could go on but I'm not one for long posts. I'd love to have a couple of you AZers who have never been there come up and try it out. I'm a Mountain Host there (Yellow Jacket), we do customer service, speed control, tours, crowd control at races and other compatations and stuff like that. If anyone would like to hook up there I'd like to show you around and have some drinks after. :beer: HPD

 

[sledhaulingmedic]

I've had it on my list for ages and finally got there this season. What I got was a near perfect spring day. I have to say, I really enjoyed the place. The vertical, the variety, the remnats of the olympics, the views. I didn't even get to the good stuff. Maybe next time.

I'd love to get back, but at 5+ hours, I'm not likely to be a regular. Great place though.

 

[riverc0il]

it's on my list of places to go. people's complaints seem to echo that of cannon, a place i love and also owned and operated by state agency, so how bad could it be :lol: the things that keep me away from whiteface are the distance and the price. oh my goodness, the price!

 

[Talisman]

I am a fan of Cannon and White Face is a like a bigger version Cannon. White face has big verticle, but is fairly narrow like Cannon, in that the trails don't sprawl across ridge after ridge like Sunday River or Killington. Like Cannon there is now base development and the surrounding mountain views are awe inspiring.

 

[St. Jerry]

Sorry, but I hate Whiteface almost as much as I hate Okemo.

Whiteface is just about the coldest and windiest (sp?) mountain that you will ever find. The wind is unreal how it turns all of the trails to slick blue ice. Plus, natural snow? Forget about it. They get about 100" yr. at best. My wife says that she would rather stay home than have to ski there again.

I suppose if you enjoy skiing icy cruisers all day, then Whiteface is your place. There is a reason why it's not crowded... because it sucks.

Maybe I'm just spoiled by too many powder days in Utah.

 

[highpeaksdrifter]

Sorry, but I hate Whiteface almost as much as I hate Okemo.

Whiteface is just about the coldest and windiest (sp?) mountain that you will ever find. The wind is unreal how it turns all of the trails to slick blue ice. Plus, natural snow? Forget about it. They get about 100" yr. at best. My wife says that she would rather stay home than have to ski there again.

I suppose if you enjoy skiing icy cruisers all day, then Whiteface is your place. There is a reason why it's not crowded... because it sucks.

Maybe I'm just spoiled by too many powder days in Utah.

We don't get as much snowfall as our friends right across Lake Champlain, but we get a respectable 168".
Check out snowfall for your favorite mountain.
http://travel.yahoo.com/p-ski-525363-u_s_northeast_ski_resorts-i

 

[St. Jerry]

" but we get a respectable 168" "

I've come to beleive that the reason Whiteface fanatics love this mountaing so much is because they have never skied anywhere else but Whiteface and have nothing else to compare it to.

 

[highpeaksdrifter]

" but we get a respectable 168" "

I've come to beleive that the reason Whiteface fanatics love this mountaing so much is because they have never skied anywhere else but Whiteface and have nothing else to compare it to.

I've skied extensively in the Northeast, as well as out West and Europe.

I meant respectable as far as Northeast snowfall averages go.

I guess you've "come to beleive that the reason Whiteface fanatics love this mountain so much is because they have never skied anywhere else but Whiteface" is a result of you interviewing hundreds of them.

 

[Talisman]

Sorry, but I hate Whiteface almost as much as I hate Okemo.

Whiteface is just about the coldest and windiest (sp?) mountain that you will ever find. The wind is unreal how it turns all of the trails to slick blue ice. Plus, natural snow? Forget about it. They get about 100" yr. at best. My wife says that she would rather stay home than have to ski there again.

I suppose if you enjoy skiing icy cruisers all day, then Whiteface is your place. There is a reason why it's not crowded... because it sucks.

Maybe I'm just spoiled by too many powder days in Utah.

Hence my conjecture that your either like or hate Whiteface, with little middle ground.

 

[highpeaksdrifter]

[quote="Talisman]
Hence my conjecture that your either like or hate Whiteface, with little middle ground.[/quote]

You can probably put Hunter and Killington in that catagory too. When I was a pass holder at Hunter it seems like I was always defending it to posers who skied in Vt once or twice a year and thought they knew everything.

The bottom line is we like where we like for whatever reasons. As long as we're skiing/riding it's good.

 

[smootharc]

As a rambling man kind of skier....who's gotten around....

....and tried to keep an open mind on areas.....I've got to weigh in here. Seems like we're one or two Emoticons away from a flame fest here. People....back away from the Emoticons slowly, surely and....immediately. :lol:

I give kudos to the "ski product" offered by the State of NY at Whiteface (and Gore). On a rough conditions day, Whiteface (and any other area for that matter) can be "not much fun" to those who have come to expect easy, homogenized skiing. It's a challenging area, with challenging terrain. Perhaps it's the Lake Louise of the East. Like LL, Whiteface gets less natural than it's regional neighbors (Sunshine, Fernie, etc.), but it's still a hell of a mountain. It takes a bit of a knack to get into it's rythyms....and many people give up and shop if the conditions are touchy. By reputation, they're already psyched out before they boot up.

Anyways, I've got many area preferences to Whiteface, but respect the mountain and the people. The vert is entry level boggling for ANY area....East, West, beyond....

 

[Tyrolean_skier]

I have not been there in years. The few times I went, I had fun despite the fact that most of the times the upper mountain was closed for one reason or the other. I would like to revisit it but will wait until my kids are a little older so they can enjoy it with me.

 

[skintowin]

Poor Whiteface. It's a great mountain with a fun resort town, but the 'snow' really is about as bad as it gets anywhere. I still have flashbacks of being 12 years old and sliding akimbo down a steep pitch that felt more like polished marble than snow. I could imagine that a powder day there would be spectacular, but I'm not holding my breath.

Maybe some day the global climate will shift in favor of The Olympic Mountain. Until then, it will always be Iceface to me.

If you do go, dress warm, hone your edges, and bring lots of beer money. Real skiers have fun no matter how bad the conditions are.

 

[highpeaksdrifter]

Poor Whiteface. It's a great mountain with a fun resort town, but the 'snow' really is about as bad as it gets anywhere. I still have flashbacks of being 12 years old and sliding akimbo down a steep pitch that felt more like polished marble than snow. I could imagine that a powder day there would be spectacular, but I'm not holding my breath.

Maybe some day the global climate will shift in favor of The Olympic Mountain. Until then, it will always be Iceface to me.

If you do go, dress warm, hone your edges, and bring lots of beer money. Real skiers have fun no matter how bad the conditions are.

Fair enough, you don't like it cause it's icy and too cold. But as Joe Friday use to say "Just the facts, sir, just the facts". Go to this site http://countrystudies.us/united-states/weather/
Get the average temps. for Vermont for Rutland, Warren, and Stowe, then go to New York and compare there averages to New York - Lake Placid.

I'm not saying we get as much snow on average as Killington, Sugarbush and Stowe because we do not. I don't know how old you are Skintowin, but you mentioned when you were 12 it was very icy. Snowmaking has improved greatly there in the last several years.

Where ever you like to ski I hope you have a great season.

 

[riverc0il]

Sorry, but I hate Whiteface almost as much as I hate Okemo.

Whiteface is just about the coldest and windiest (sp?) mountain that you will ever find. The wind is unreal how it turns all of the trails to slick blue ice. Plus, natural snow? Forget about it. They get about 100" yr. at best. My wife says that she would rather stay home than have to ski there again.

I suppose if you enjoy skiing icy cruisers all day, then Whiteface is your place. There is a reason why it's not crowded... because it sucks.

Maybe I'm just spoiled by too many powder days in Utah.

i hear comments like this one all the time regarding cannon and reassures me that whiteface is definitely a mountain that should remain on my to do list. just like cannon, it seems like you have to pick your days there wisely. keep an eye on the wind, snow conditions, and days since the last dump and adjust plans accordingly. i'll admit a place like cannon's summit (for comparison) can be abominable on a windy day. i have seen profile closed due to wind blown scraped conditions numerous times and performed survival skiing on vista and taft often. it's crazy what wind can do to an exposed ski mountain's summit. the solution is if you are concerned about snow conditions, either don't go during suspect weather patterns or avoid parts of the mountain that get wind blown. bear in mind, i am not advocating on whiteface's behalf, but simply drawing comparisons between whiteface and cannon based on what other people have noted about whiteface and my experiences at cannon.

 

[St. Jerry]

As much as I hate Whiteface November-February, there are about 2 weeks in March that are not bad. Also, Lake Placid in August is quite nice, though in May and June it's a hell-hole because of the black flys.

 

[Buckeye Skier 1330]

Went to Whiteface for a couple of days in March 04. The first day was a warm and rainy day. It took about 2 runs down Little Face for me to fall in love with the mountain. It was the most enjoyable day or rain skiing I ever had. The gondi lets you stay dry on the way up. Also I'm a vertical freak, and getting 2400 vert on a high speed lift is right up my alley. Then going up the summit lift looking at the slides really blew me away. The summit was always fogged in and we couldn't see down either of the blacks so we did The Follies and Parron's. The second afternoon the fog lifted a little and I did Upper Skyward a few times. I loved it, wishing I had done it a few more times. I hope to get back there some day. You folks living in the northeast have so many quality places to ski you should check them all out, and Whiteface should be high on the list!

 

[highpeaksdrifter]

All right Buckeye Skier 1330, you one hardcore Mid-West skier. Rain and fog and you're still lovin it. NICE

 

[St. Jerry]

That is hard-core.

Yea, I'm probably just spoiled by too many sunny Colorado days and too many Utah powder days.