mulva
Member
Whiteface
3/23-3/24 2013
PS: PP
SS: LG
Trip with the family: me, wife, 2 boys (8 & 5). Made a last minute decision to get another ski trip in this season before kids soccer takes over the weekends. Friends were in Lake Placid for their kid's hockey tournament and told us it has been snowing the whole week and they heard Whiteface was skiing great.
Day 1: About 18" of new snow was reported over the past week. Today was cold and very windy. Parked in the uncrowded Kids Kampus lot and dropped the kids at ski school. No lines at the ticket counter or school drop off. From here we could have taken the Bunny Hutch triple and skied down to the main base area but that lift wasn't spinning. No problem. We walked up the side of the magic carpet and took the Home Run trail over to the Gondola. This is a great alternative to the crowded lots and lodge at the main base area.
Decided to start on Little Whiteface. Did a couple warm up runs down Excelsior which had a nice dusting of snow over a packed powder base. Icy patches were visible but easily avoidable. Ended up on Lower Mac both times and it was glorious! Nice soft snow and bumps with good pitch. We took Excelsior down to Lower Mac again but this time opted for the High Country Glades skiers left of Lower Mac. It was a little bony and I got tied up in some saplings trying to avoid rocks and stumps. My wife made it about 2/3 of the way down and ducked out onto L Mac. I took it to the bottom and my bases/edges took a little damage. It needed a little more snow and we needed a little more warm up. Not great conditions in there but definitely skiable. We did one more run down Little Whiteface, this time we took Approach to Wilderness and the snow in there was really nice. Again, Icy spots here and there but visible for the most part and easily avoidable. Stick to the sides of the trails for the good stuff.
Took a quick break to get warm and hydrate. My left knee has on/off days. This day it was bad and on top of that, I had a raging headache. My best skiing was done, over and I skied the rest of the day in survival mode.
Did some Summit Quad. Parron's, Cloudspin, and Skyward were all a bit scraped off up top (it was a very windy day) so they were fast, very fast. The middle portions of these trails had better snow and were much more fun to ski. Parron's and Cloudspin both dump you on to Victoria's which was really scraped off with bumps. I just wish I was feeling more up to the challenge today. There were nice bumps on Lower Skyward but everything in between them was scraped off. Apparently this was my problem because I saw some guy ripping down them hopping like a rabbit from bump to bump with no issue. Ugh, I need a lesson.
Lunchtime! Bread boule of chili hit the spot. Pretty average beef chili. I'll take it. Unfortunately, my wife and I were pretty beat up and our skiing suffered. Ok, a bunch of Belgian Ales after a 6 hour drive and late to bed was a BAD IDEA! At the time it made sense though, go figure.
After lunch we took Facelift to Lookout and did Hoyt's. Cool trail with steep drops and bumps but more alternating great snow with icy portions. Skied back to Little Whiteface and took Approach to Parkway/Thruway. More of the same. Called it a day at 2:45 since we had to get the kids at 3:00 anyway and our skiing was total crap today. Both kids did great at Ski School though!
Day 2: Still cold, but not windy. No new snow. Feeling much better today. We also had our 8 year old with us today which meant a more tame day skiing the blues with the occasional terrain park and easier blacks mixed in.
Started on Facelift and everything except Upper Valley which is a madhouse (everything funnels into this) had nice conditions. Terrain Parks Wolf and Broadway were a hoot! Took the lift up Lookout for the Wilmington trail which skied awesome and had spectacular views. A long winding 2.8 mile trail with few nice short steep drops and a bunch of huckables off to skiers right. Awesome! Back over to the Gondola for Excelsior -> Victoria. Excelsior was nice but Victoria could use some fresh. After lunch we took the Gondola to Excelsior/Victoria and Victoria Shoot which had some fun bumps and thin cover in spots. Over to the Summit Quad for Follies and Parron's which both skied really nice and good snow was easy to find. Again, great views of the Adirondacks! One more time up the Gondola to let the boy try out the black rated Essex (He was skiing very controlled even on the steep, icy Victoria trail). He did really great and is starting to get some hip and butt into his turns. Time to get my 5 year old at ski school. One more time up Lookout and down Wilmington, this time jumpin' and huckin' everything! It's possibly my last run of the season, why not? Oh, because monkey see, monkey do. My 8 year old is now seeking out some of these extracurriculars! Wife gave me an ear-full about that! Ended up on the Bronze terrain park over on Kids Kampus and the boy and I had a blast on it! Picked up my 5 year old who got to ride a chairlift instead of a carpet for the first time and is now linking turns really well. I am so stoked about
that! He loved it! The entire family is hooked on skiing!
Whiteface rocks! I wish they were still blowing snow on it though. Even though I mention a lot of scraped off/icy patches, all the terrain that had good coverage was a blast! Gotta get there right after it gets dumped on.
Side note: Lake Placid Pub and Brewery is highly recommended for dinner/beers. Great BBQ! They even have a kids playroom on the 3rd floor next to a small bar so you can have a beer and look after the kids. Genius!
Thanks for reading,
Tom
3/23-3/24 2013
PS: PP
SS: LG
Trip with the family: me, wife, 2 boys (8 & 5). Made a last minute decision to get another ski trip in this season before kids soccer takes over the weekends. Friends were in Lake Placid for their kid's hockey tournament and told us it has been snowing the whole week and they heard Whiteface was skiing great.
Day 1: About 18" of new snow was reported over the past week. Today was cold and very windy. Parked in the uncrowded Kids Kampus lot and dropped the kids at ski school. No lines at the ticket counter or school drop off. From here we could have taken the Bunny Hutch triple and skied down to the main base area but that lift wasn't spinning. No problem. We walked up the side of the magic carpet and took the Home Run trail over to the Gondola. This is a great alternative to the crowded lots and lodge at the main base area.
Decided to start on Little Whiteface. Did a couple warm up runs down Excelsior which had a nice dusting of snow over a packed powder base. Icy patches were visible but easily avoidable. Ended up on Lower Mac both times and it was glorious! Nice soft snow and bumps with good pitch. We took Excelsior down to Lower Mac again but this time opted for the High Country Glades skiers left of Lower Mac. It was a little bony and I got tied up in some saplings trying to avoid rocks and stumps. My wife made it about 2/3 of the way down and ducked out onto L Mac. I took it to the bottom and my bases/edges took a little damage. It needed a little more snow and we needed a little more warm up. Not great conditions in there but definitely skiable. We did one more run down Little Whiteface, this time we took Approach to Wilderness and the snow in there was really nice. Again, Icy spots here and there but visible for the most part and easily avoidable. Stick to the sides of the trails for the good stuff.
Took a quick break to get warm and hydrate. My left knee has on/off days. This day it was bad and on top of that, I had a raging headache. My best skiing was done, over and I skied the rest of the day in survival mode.
Did some Summit Quad. Parron's, Cloudspin, and Skyward were all a bit scraped off up top (it was a very windy day) so they were fast, very fast. The middle portions of these trails had better snow and were much more fun to ski. Parron's and Cloudspin both dump you on to Victoria's which was really scraped off with bumps. I just wish I was feeling more up to the challenge today. There were nice bumps on Lower Skyward but everything in between them was scraped off. Apparently this was my problem because I saw some guy ripping down them hopping like a rabbit from bump to bump with no issue. Ugh, I need a lesson.
Lunchtime! Bread boule of chili hit the spot. Pretty average beef chili. I'll take it. Unfortunately, my wife and I were pretty beat up and our skiing suffered. Ok, a bunch of Belgian Ales after a 6 hour drive and late to bed was a BAD IDEA! At the time it made sense though, go figure.
After lunch we took Facelift to Lookout and did Hoyt's. Cool trail with steep drops and bumps but more alternating great snow with icy portions. Skied back to Little Whiteface and took Approach to Parkway/Thruway. More of the same. Called it a day at 2:45 since we had to get the kids at 3:00 anyway and our skiing was total crap today. Both kids did great at Ski School though!
Day 2: Still cold, but not windy. No new snow. Feeling much better today. We also had our 8 year old with us today which meant a more tame day skiing the blues with the occasional terrain park and easier blacks mixed in.
Started on Facelift and everything except Upper Valley which is a madhouse (everything funnels into this) had nice conditions. Terrain Parks Wolf and Broadway were a hoot! Took the lift up Lookout for the Wilmington trail which skied awesome and had spectacular views. A long winding 2.8 mile trail with few nice short steep drops and a bunch of huckables off to skiers right. Awesome! Back over to the Gondola for Excelsior -> Victoria. Excelsior was nice but Victoria could use some fresh. After lunch we took the Gondola to Excelsior/Victoria and Victoria Shoot which had some fun bumps and thin cover in spots. Over to the Summit Quad for Follies and Parron's which both skied really nice and good snow was easy to find. Again, great views of the Adirondacks! One more time up the Gondola to let the boy try out the black rated Essex (He was skiing very controlled even on the steep, icy Victoria trail). He did really great and is starting to get some hip and butt into his turns. Time to get my 5 year old at ski school. One more time up Lookout and down Wilmington, this time jumpin' and huckin' everything! It's possibly my last run of the season, why not? Oh, because monkey see, monkey do. My 8 year old is now seeking out some of these extracurriculars! Wife gave me an ear-full about that! Ended up on the Bronze terrain park over on Kids Kampus and the boy and I had a blast on it! Picked up my 5 year old who got to ride a chairlift instead of a carpet for the first time and is now linking turns really well. I am so stoked about
that! He loved it! The entire family is hooked on skiing!
Whiteface rocks! I wish they were still blowing snow on it though. Even though I mention a lot of scraped off/icy patches, all the terrain that had good coverage was a blast! Gotta get there right after it gets dumped on.
Side note: Lake Placid Pub and Brewery is highly recommended for dinner/beers. Great BBQ! They even have a kids playroom on the 3rd floor next to a small bar so you can have a beer and look after the kids. Genius!
Thanks for reading,
Tom
