Jeff's Ski Season Highlights 09-10

In some ways, the 09-10 ski season was “challenged.” We had a late start, an early finish, and a prolonged snow drought in between. But despite those difficulties, I had my best ski season in at least 6 or 8 years. A good deal of that satisfaction came from skiing together as a family for the first time and observing our son’s progress over the winter. And some of that satisfaction came from plain old great skiing. Here are some highlights from a few of those days:

Sagamore, Feb 6

The snow drought delivered a pathetic 12 inches of snowfall to the mountain in January, and not much more in February before the late-season “mega-storm.” During that period, some of the best skiing was found by following the snow making crews around the mountain, and we had some really great days of skiing on trails like Rumor, Lies, Sagamore, and over on the Dark Side. Sure, there was some tree skiing too, but on-piste manmade snow ruled the day.

The photo above is from Saturday, Feb 6: Sagamore had been buried and left ungroomed, with the snow guns still blasting. The skiing was so good that there just didn't seem to be much reason to go anywhere else on the mountain, so we lapped Sagamore for run after run until our legs and lungs were screaming. OK, at least MY legs were screaming…


A Taste of Spring, Feb 22

On the Monday following the February holiday week it seemed like we had the mountain entirely to ourselves. With temperatures approaching 30 and calm, clear skies, we had a bluebird day for our family group of 6, which included my brother, sister and niece from out-of-town. The late February sun softened the surfaces just enough that they transitioned into early season corn. Pictured above is my brother Dave getting an early taste of spring turns as he telemarks his way down a deserted Chatiemac. We didn't know it at the time, but a monster low pressure system was developing to the south that would leave Gore buried by the weekend.

Weekend of Feb 27-28

The obvious “best conditions” weekend of the season was Feb 27-28, just after the mountain got 4 feet of new snow.

Saturday was a family ski day, and we had a fantastic time skiing the glades all over the mountain. I returned on Sunday, and with a little help from my friends, found fresh tracks and sweet lines in off-the-beaten-path locales all over the mountain, including the shot above in the vicinity of the Chatiemac Glades.

Closing Weekend on Rumor

Friday of Gore's closing weekend, April 2nd, was my last day for the season and with 70 degrees and sunshine, a party atmosphere invaded the mountain. We all knew that the season would be over in a few days, and we were out to make the most of it. One of the highlights of that day for me was the all-out skiing pictured above on Rumor's soft spring bumps. It was a great finish to the season.