Gore Mountain: 02/25 & 02/26/2012

* * REVISED TO ADD SUNDAY 2/26 * *

Cave Glade - felt great to be skiing one of our favorites

What a difference a half foot of new snow makes. In addition to re-surfacing the entire mountain, the new snow over the past couple days has allowed Gore to expand the trail count to near 100%, notable exceptions being the Ski Bowl and a few glades. With soft surfaces just about everywhere, a full trail count, and the woods finally fully in play, this weekend was perhaps the nicest of the season to date.

Beth and Daniel in Chatiemac Glade Saturday morning

Mount Van Hoevenberg XC: 02/23/2012

One of the things I’ve missed in this nearly snowless winter has been the ability to grab my XC skis and head out for an hour or two in the woods that surround our house. In recent years, those out-the-back-door tours have made up a significant portion of my nordic skiing, as dragging the kids along for a full day outing to a place like Garnet Hill Lodge or Lapland Lake doesn’t fit our family well – at least not yet.

Whiteface Mountain: 02/20/2012

Whiteface and Gore skiers love to debate which is the “better” mountain: Gore has its glades and the most skiable acres in New York, Whiteface has its Olympic heritage and the biggest vertical drop in the East. The debate will never be settled, and that’s fine with me since a season pass at either mountain gives full access to the other. That interchangeability has been a real bonus for us this season, with Monday being our fourth ski day at The Face.

Bright sun made it a fine day to ride the chairlifts

Gore Mountain: 02/18/2012

Snow - remember?.. it's that white stuff that falls from the sky - made today a bad day for pictures but a good day for skiing. Just an inch or so fell, but it was enough to soften the trails and add a wintery feel that's been missing for much of this snow-starved season.

Gore Mountain Snow Train: 02/11/2012

A dusting of snow at the Saratoga train station Saturday morning

When the Saratoga North Creek Railroad announced that they'd be running Snow Trains from Saratoga Springs to Gore Mountain this winter, we knew we'd have to give it a try. We set our alarm clocks to get up early Saturday morning, and arrived at the Saratoga Springs train station about 15 minutes before the 7am departure.

Coach and dome car at the boarding platform

West Mountain: 02/08/2012

Ski conditions Wednesday night at West were pretty far from ideal: very firm hardpack (it ain’t ice unless there’s fish underneath). About the only soft “snow” on the hill was the sugary loose granular piles along the very edges of some trails. I had been hoping that we might be skiing under the snowmaking guns, but temperatures were just a degree or two below freezing – marginal for snowmaking - when I pulled into the lot around 6pm. I certainly can’t fault West Mountain, they generally do an excellent job with snowmaking and grooming. Ski areas all over the northeast have suffered not only from the lack of snowfall but also from a lack of consistent cold temperatures for snowmaking operations, and I’m thankful that there’s any skiing at all this winter.

Bromley Mountain: 02/05/2012

Bromley's summit view

With a Price Chopper Ski Any 3 coupon book burning a hole in my pocket and a forecast for another day of brilliant blue sky, we decided Sunday would be a good day to head to Bromley, Vermont’s “Sun Mountain.”

Easy logistics: Bromley's unloading area, base lodge and high speed quad chairlift are all located within less than 100 feet of each other.

Gore Mountain: 02/04/2012

It's an interesting sensation to ski through a blizzard with sunny blue skies overhead, but that's exactly what we had today on Gore Mountain's summit trails. Snowmaking guns piled up soft snow on the summit black diamonds, making Hawkeye and Lies the place to be.

Beth and Daniel skiing Hawkeye under the guns

Gore Mountain: 02/02/2012

I don't often get to ski mid-week, but I had the opportunity to connect with a group of friends to ski at Gore Mountain today. When you ski almost exclusively on the weekends, it's easy to forget how nice it is to have the mountain almost entirely to yourself on a weekday. And since the guys I was with are strong, enthusiastic skiers, we packed a lot of skiing into the day.