mulva
Member
2/7 - 2/9 Whiteface
Conditions Packed Powder/Frozen Granular
Went with my wife and kids for a long weekend. There's just something about Whiteface/Lake Placid that I can't get enough of. And it's not ice. The town is amazing and Whiteface Mountain offers some excellent terrain when conditions are what you would call good for Northeast conditions. In this case, I would say that the mountain was in good condition for the Northeast.
I skied with my wife the first 2 days and we add our 9 year old on day 3 (he does the first 2 days in ski school along with our 6 year old who does 3 ski school days).
So the first 2 days were very cold and very windy. My wife is breaking in new boots so this was a bit limiting too. With -25F windchills at the summit, we kept to the gondola both days which gives access to Little Whiteface and 2400 feet of vertical. Excelsior was in very good shape as was Essex (especially lower) which is groomed daily but has a nice steep pitch with good snow along the sides and some woods that you can drop into on the left. Wilderness is my favorite trail on Little Whiteface. It's a run that is ungroomed and gets bumped up but gives a lot of freedom regarding line. The snow was good in here and it was a good challenge for the quads. Mackenzie is basically Wilderness on steroids. Good snow in there too! Mountain Run is Whiteface's Rugulator Johnson if you've been to Snowbird. Groomed daily and great pitch all the way down to Mid-Station. You can get a lot of speed and it's bliss when you have your weight centered, flexing the ankles, tilting the outside ski, quiet upper body and catch continuous "perfect" carves on this run, as with Upper Parkway and Thruway too. Lower Thruway and Upper and Lower Valley and Upper and Lower Boreen had great snow and gave the same carving room with a little less pitch. When we added in our 9 year old, we went up to Lookout Mountain and did The Wilmington Trail. This trail is rated blue but every time I'm on it I see "blue people" struggling big time. This is a must do trail as it offers amazing views of the Adarondacks and some entertaining skiing with nice steeps and extra-ciriculars. We did not do Lookout Below or Hoyt's this year but have had excellent times on these runs last year and they looked in better shape on this trip. Sorry that I cannot comment on the terrain from the summit. We were happy enough to ski all of the other stuff and the first 2 days were too cold and windy.
I feel that Whiteface doesn't get enough props on here but it really should be considered especially for a family. The ski school is excellent and the town is fantastic. My kids have progressed beyond expectations here. Even for the hardcore skier, there is more than enough to keep "him" occupied for a few days. They stop making snow around President's Weekend so if they get dumped on in the next couple weeks, consider Whiteface an option.
Conditions Packed Powder/Frozen Granular
Went with my wife and kids for a long weekend. There's just something about Whiteface/Lake Placid that I can't get enough of. And it's not ice. The town is amazing and Whiteface Mountain offers some excellent terrain when conditions are what you would call good for Northeast conditions. In this case, I would say that the mountain was in good condition for the Northeast.
I skied with my wife the first 2 days and we add our 9 year old on day 3 (he does the first 2 days in ski school along with our 6 year old who does 3 ski school days).
So the first 2 days were very cold and very windy. My wife is breaking in new boots so this was a bit limiting too. With -25F windchills at the summit, we kept to the gondola both days which gives access to Little Whiteface and 2400 feet of vertical. Excelsior was in very good shape as was Essex (especially lower) which is groomed daily but has a nice steep pitch with good snow along the sides and some woods that you can drop into on the left. Wilderness is my favorite trail on Little Whiteface. It's a run that is ungroomed and gets bumped up but gives a lot of freedom regarding line. The snow was good in here and it was a good challenge for the quads. Mackenzie is basically Wilderness on steroids. Good snow in there too! Mountain Run is Whiteface's Rugulator Johnson if you've been to Snowbird. Groomed daily and great pitch all the way down to Mid-Station. You can get a lot of speed and it's bliss when you have your weight centered, flexing the ankles, tilting the outside ski, quiet upper body and catch continuous "perfect" carves on this run, as with Upper Parkway and Thruway too. Lower Thruway and Upper and Lower Valley and Upper and Lower Boreen had great snow and gave the same carving room with a little less pitch. When we added in our 9 year old, we went up to Lookout Mountain and did The Wilmington Trail. This trail is rated blue but every time I'm on it I see "blue people" struggling big time. This is a must do trail as it offers amazing views of the Adarondacks and some entertaining skiing with nice steeps and extra-ciriculars. We did not do Lookout Below or Hoyt's this year but have had excellent times on these runs last year and they looked in better shape on this trip. Sorry that I cannot comment on the terrain from the summit. We were happy enough to ski all of the other stuff and the first 2 days were too cold and windy.
I feel that Whiteface doesn't get enough props on here but it really should be considered especially for a family. The ski school is excellent and the town is fantastic. My kids have progressed beyond expectations here. Even for the hardcore skier, there is more than enough to keep "him" occupied for a few days. They stop making snow around President's Weekend so if they get dumped on in the next couple weeks, consider Whiteface an option.
