XC at Lapland Lake: 12/29/2013

These days I don't get the chance to do nearly as much groomed cross-country skiing as I'd like. So when our kids made plans to spend Sunday with the grandparents, Beth and I jumped on the chance to get in a skinny-ski workout. The only hitch, if you hadn't noticed, is the minimal snow cover we're currently experiencing throughout the Adirondacks. Mount Van Ho?... a 1K loop on manmade snow with a "rock ski advisory" for a few more K. Garnet Hill Lodge?... 15K with warnings of "variable conditions and icy patches."

Lapland Lake reported in with good skiing on 34K, just about their entire trail system. I knew from experience that I could rely on Lapland's impeccable grooming and honest reporting, so it didn't take long for us to make our decision and pack the car.

Gore Mountain: 12/28/2013

You could look the skiing today from a glass-half-full / glass-half-empty perspective. On the one hand, there's a respectable amount of terrain open, the mountain absorbed a huge number of holiday skiers with minimal lift lines, and the snow was overall better than the advertised machine groomed loose granular. On the other hand, last weekend's dismal weather dealt a big setback to what had been one of the best early seasons in recent years.

Looking down Hawkeye from the Straightbrook quad

Getting Started

I wrote the following article on getting started in skiing for Adirondack Sports and Fitness last winter.

I don’t know how people get through the winter hibernating indoors. If you’re reading this, chances are pretty good you’re already an active, outdoors-minded individual. Maybe you snowshoe, hike, or even run or bike during the winter. If you’re not a skier, or are considering re-entering the sport after a long absence, the prospect of learning the sport can be intimidating. Here are some tips to get you pointed in the right direction. You’ll be rewarded with a lifetime sport that you can enjoy with your friends and family, sharing the joy of soaring through a beautiful winter landscape.

K-P night patrol

There’s a lot of things I love about skiing, but at the root of it all is the simple joy of being out in the woods, in the snow. The nicer the snow, the bigger my smile. And when the snow is good around home, my favorite thing to do is to head out the back door for a tour of the woods that surround our house on my cross-country skis. But the short daylight hours of mid-winter and my job in Albany make it difficult to get out in the snow as much as I’d like, so when the snow is good I grab my headlamp and go on night patrol.

Gore Mountain: 12/14 & 12/15/2013

With 10 inches of new snow Saturday night, it's no surprise that this weekend presented the best ski conditions of the season so far.

Skiers brave enough to endure Saturday's cold temperatures found that Gore's snowmaking crews had done an amazing job in the past week getting the summit terrain open, with Hawkeye, Chatiemac, Lies, Open Pit, Cloud and Headwaters all coming online. And despite the cold, the summit was the place to be with chalky, edgeable snow on all trails. It was boys' day out for Daniel and me, since Beth and Sylvie had Sylvie's 6th birthday party. With the thermometer at the Straightbrook quad never cracking the zero mark, it was probably just as well that the girls missed out.

Whiteface Mountain Media Day: 12/11/2013

I’ve said before that Whiteface always seems to deliver, and Wednesday was no exception when Beth and I attended Whiteface’s Media Day for a day of skiing with Whiteface and ORDA staff. We’ve been going to this event for 3 years, and this year featured some of the nicest conditions we’ve seen. After opening for the season two weeks ahead of schedule, Whiteface’s snowmaking crews have been able to open terrain at a faster pace than the mountain has seen in several years.

A brief window of visibility in the morning

Gore Mountain: 12/07 & 12/08/2013

Grooming crews did a nice job getting the mountain back in shape after last week's warm temperatures, but the hoped-for summit terrain remains on hold. With the return of cold temperatures over the weekend, snowmaking was in progress on Cloud, Open Pit and Uncas, so it seems very likely that the Straightbrook chairlift and summit terrain will open before next weekend. Even with the set-back of last week's weather Uncas, Pine Knot and Tannery are now open.

Late afternoon view of Gore's summit and the snow guns on Uncas

Gore Mountain: 12/01/2013

Prolonged cold in the wake of last week’s pre-Thanksgiving rain has allowed Gore’s snowmaking crews to expand trail counts and produce excellent early-season conditions. Just about everyone on the hill Sunday was commenting about how good the skiing was for Thanksgiving weekend. Instead of the more typical Thanksgiving offerings of sketchy coverage on a single route, just about all of the East side terrain is now open (Twister being the only notable exception).

Showcase

Gore Mountain: bonus weekend, 11/23/2013

After last weekend's record early openings at Gore and Whiteface, I'm calling this Bonus Weekend #2. It's really great seeing the ski areas getting a strong start to this season after having struggled to get open for Thanksgiving the past few years.

We arrived at the mountain mid-morning and endured a half hour of pain picking up our season passes (arrgh!!), but the delay may have worked in our favor as the skiing only improved during the day. Warm temperatures on Friday followed by an overnight freeze locked up the snow surfaces, but skier traffic, a few snowmaking guns and some natural snow mixing in seemed to make each run a little bit nicer than the one before.

Foxlair as snow began to fall

Whiteface Mountain: opening weekend, Sunday 11/17/2013

We decided to take advantage of Whiteface's earliest-ever opening and headed up on Sunday to kick off our 2013-14 ski season two weeks early. While it wasn't much of a day for taking pictures, the skiing turned out to be quite good and the day stayed at least mostly dry.

The drive up from Saratoga wasn't very inspiring: low clouds, occassional mist and temperatures in the mid-40s. But north of the High Peaks the cloud deck lifted, and as we approached Whiteface most of the mountain was visible below the clouds.

2013-2014 Ski Season Preview

The ski season may be here sooner than you expect. Cold temperatures over the past several days have allowed snowmaking crews at Whiteface to get enough of a jump on the season that they may open this weekend (watch their website and Facebook page for updates), nearly two weeks earlier than their target opening date of November 29. Crews at Gore have begun snowmaking operations as well, no word yet as to whether they'll be able to move up their opening date.

Here's a look at what Whiteface, Gore and other Adirondack ski areas have in store for 2013-14. My season preview article appeared in Adirondack Almanack today:

Adirondack Ski Season Preview

All Hallows' Eve mountain bike race: 10/29/2013

The idea of a nighttime bike race through the woods really isn’t quite as crazy as it might sound. After all, the proliferation of relatively inexpensive high lumen bike lights has made night riding commonplace, extending the season right up to winter (much to my wife’s chagrin). A nighttime race is just the logical next step.

Moxham Mountain: 10/20/2013

Our hike up Moxham Mountain on Sunday afternoon had a decidedly autumnal feel with bare trees and a cold, steady wind. But the crisp air, the few remaining colorful leaves, the open woods and wide ranging views left us feeling that fall may indeed be the best season for hiking.

View of Gore Mountain from the first lookout

Whiteface Mountain, circa 1986

A recent conversation with a ski buddy prompted me to dig up these old photos I took of Whiteface more than a quarter century ago. We had been wondering exactly when Skyward (one of the summit black diamond trails) had been straightened and widened. We didn’t nail down an answer, but these photos at least confirm that it was after 1986.

At first glance, Whiteface in 1986 looks pretty much the same as it does today. By contrast, photos of Gore from the same era look dramatically different than today due to the highly visible Old Red Gondola. But comparing the 1986 Whiteface photos closely to the same view today does yield some significant differences.

Essex Chain Lakes deserve Wilderness protection

Dear Governor Cuomo:

It’s an interesting and ironic coincidence that October 1, 2013, the first day of the federal government’s shutdown, also marked the first day of public access to the Essex Chain Lakes. At the same time that our National Parks – America’s best idea – were closed, new lands in the Adirondacks – New York’s best idea – were opened for hiking and paddling.

In the coming weeks, the Adirondack Park Agency is expected to make its recommendation to you on the classification of the former Finch Paper lands surrounding the Essex Chain Lakes. That recommendation will be one of the APA’s most important decisions in years.

Gore Mountain Leaf Cruncher 5K: 09/28/2013

Next time I complain that Cedars – the ski trail from Gore’s main base to the Burnt Ridge chairlift – is flat, remind me of last weekend’s Leaf Cruncher, the trail race that follows ski trails, work roads and single track on a course billed as “the North Country’s toughest 5K.”

Before actually running the race, I chalked up that “toughest” claim to enthusiastic exaggeration, but the course was tough enough that I logged what is probably my slowest-ever 5K result: 27:03, still good enough for 3rd place overall (don’t be too impressed, there were only 20 competitors).

The start of the Leaf Cruncher 5K

Big Tupper: Good news, bad news

ARISE (Adirondack Residents Intent on Saving their Economy), the volunteer group that ran Big Tupper Ski Area for the winters of 2010-11 and 2011-12, recently announced that Big Tupper will be open for the 2013-14 season. The ski area did not operate last winter due to a shortfall of funds and volunteer burnout.

Keeping any ski area open and running is great for the sport. Small, local hills like Big Tupper are vitally important because they provide a lower-cost alternative and they introduce people to skiing. Kudos to the volunteers at Big Tupper for all their efforts over the past few years.

But it’s not all good news. ARISE has bridged the ski area’s funding gap by:

• Selling a groomer (after selling off the snowmaking equipment several years earlier)
• Formerly paid employees will now be volunteers
• Using funds saved by not operating last winter
• Additional community fund-raising
• Raising ticket prices

Obviously that’s not a sustainable model for running a ski area.

Whiteface Mtn Uphill Footrace: 09/14/2013

Cool temperatures and a touch of early autumn color made for another memorable Whiteface Mountain Uphill Foot Race on Saturday, with around a hundred runners lining up for the start. As usual, conditions varied widely between the starting line (upper 40s, calm, broken clouds) and the finish (upper 30s, gusty, fog, clouds), adding to the challenge of the 8-mile, 3500’ vertical climb to the summit.

Runners lined up at the start...

To me, the hardest part of the race is covering the first three miles. It’s a public road with traffic, houses, power lines. It’s where you find your pace and confront the reality that you’ve got an unforgiving, unrelenting, hour-plus climb ahead of you. By the time you get to the tollhouse at the 3-mile mark, you’ve settled into a pace, the woods close in and it’s just you and the mountain for the rest of the race.

...and crossing the finish line in the Whiteface Mountain Uphill Footrace

Moreau Lake 15K trail race: 09/08/2013

There are trail races, and there are trail races. At the pre-race meeting Sunday morning, organizers from Green Leaf Racing explained that their idea behind the creation of the Moreau Lake 15K Trail Race was to challenge runners from start to finish on hiking trails with plenty of rocks, roots and vertical. The result is the most technical yet runnable trail race in the Capital District, with well over 2,000 vertical feet of climbing. No carriage roads here!

Course preview video (from 2011):

With Moreau Lake State Park practically in my backyard, the race landed at the top of my must-do list this year. Despite that home course advantage, the race kicked my butt, yet at the same time it was one of the funnest races I’ve done in a long time.

Cat and Thomas Mountains trail run: 09/01/2013

This past Sunday Beth and I did an 8-mile trail run over Cat and Thomas Mountains, ownership of which was recently transferred from the Lake George Land Conservancy to New York State.

Although I’m constantly greeted with skepticism from runners and hikers alike regarding the suitability of rugged trails like Cat and Thomas for running, the combination of roots, rocks and vertical pays dividends in the form of balance, agility and strength. At least that’s what I’m hoping for when I run in the Moreau Lake 15K trail run this weekend and the Whiteface Uphill Footrace the next weekend.

Paddling Lower Saranac Lake: 08/17/2013

Looking across Lower Saranac Lake at Mount Baker and McKenzie Mountain

Without even realizing it, we made the decision to paddle Lower Saranac Lake while we were standing on the summit of Mount Baker earlier in the week. From the summit overlook it’s not necessarily the nearest or even the most prominent body of water, but its appeal for paddling is immediately obvious: numerous islands, miles of undeveloped shoreline, and easy access.

Plus, I’ve got some personal history with the Saranacs. My earliest introduction to the Adirondacks was as a camper (and then counselor) at a Boy Scout camp near Upper Saranac Lake. Canoe trips were a big part of the program, and for 10 summers straight I paddled the Saranacs, the Raquette River and the Saint Regis / Floodwood area on canoe trips up to a week long. So these waters are in my blood, so to speak.

Riding in the shadow of Whiteface: the Barkeater Trails, Lake Placid

When I got back into mountain biking a year or two ago, one of my first questions – like many beginning riders – was “where?” Right away I heard about the Barkeater Trail Alliance (BETA) and their growing network of purpose-built mountain biking trails around Wilmington and Lake Placid. The Barkeater trails immediately rose to the top of my must-ride list. Finally, a family vacation in Lake Placid last week gave me the chance to sample some of the riding.

Bushwood, one of the trails in BETA's Lussi trail network

Climbing with kids: the Beer Walls: 08/15/2013

Unlike last month, when we climbed at Chapel Pond with nearly a dozen in our party, we had a relatively quiet day climbing at the Beer Walls with just our family of four. I emphasize "relatively" quiet, because our kids - any kids I suppose - at times seem quite capable of making as much noise as a party of twelve. Noise level is a real issue to consider when other climbing parties are nearby, as is often the case at a popular crag like the Beer Walls, but was no problem at all for us on Thursday when we pulled up to an empty parking lot at the approach trail head. That's one of the bonuses of climbing mid-week - definitely a consideration when climbing with kids.

Daniel practicing his crack technique on 3.2

Mt. Baker: 08/12/2013

Located just outside the village of Saranac Lake, Mount Baker is one of the shortest and easiest family hikes that we've done. It's so short that we wouldn't have driven all the way to Saranac just for this hike, but we are staying in Lake Placid for the week and Mount Baker fit perfectly for a half-day family hike. Don't let the easy rating fool you: the summit ledges offer excellent view of the mountains and lakes around Saranac Lake as well as the High Peaks beyond. At least two dozen summits are visible.

View of McKenzie Pond and the High Peaks beyond from Mt. Baker's summit ledges

Solo at SMBA

I really enjoy mountain biking with other riders. It's great for motivation, skill development and camaraderie. But I end up riding solo pretty frequently, mostly because I often have to fit my rides into a fairly narrow time window. While time was a factor Thursday evening, that wasn't the only reason I was on my own. It had rained hard during the afternoon, and just as I was gearing up at the trailhead, Round 2 started. Wet and muddy trails, rain, and nobody else riding. It was great.

Don't let the horses do all the running

I've got a piece on the Times Union's Runners Blog today on how to combine a run through Saratoga Springs with a visit to the track. The run follows a route from eastside residential neighborhoods near the track to the mansions of North Broadway and then through the Skidmore North Woods.

You can read my post here.

Climbing with kids: Chapel Pond, 07/14/2013

What seemed like a weeks-long rain cycle followed by a weeks-long heatwave made it hard to enjoy being outdoors during the first part of the summer, but we managed to squeeze in a day of climbing at Chapel Pond. I was mentally prepared for the worst, expecting mud, damp rock and horrendous mosquitoes. We must have picked the right spot to climb though, because the rock was dry, mud and bugs were nowhere to be found, and a pleasant breeze off Chapel Pond kept us cool all afternoon.

Our plan was to meet up with friends from Vermont and set up a top-rope or two somewhere in the Chapel Pond area. Then our party of 6 nearly doubled in size when by chance we ran into 5 more friends from New Paltz at the Chapel Pond pull-off. So we all headed to the far side of Chapel Pond and took over the Tilman's Arete / Shipton's Arete crag.

Climbing at Tuolomne Meadows, Hobbit Book: 06/27/2013

With its huge granite domes, soaring peaks, and the largest sub-alpine meadow in the Sierra Nevada, the scenery and the climbing at Tuolomne Meadows are world-class and at the same time completely different from Yosemite Valley. There are enough classic climbs at Tuolomne to fill a weeks long road trip, but we had just one more day. So we turned to some climbing friends for route suggestions and settled on Hobbit Book.

Tenaya Peak, Yosemite Nat'l Park: 06/26/2013

I love hiking and I love climbing. But in places like the Sierra Nevada, with relatively easy off-trail travel, my favorite way to experience wilderness may be peak scrambling, a hybrid of hiking and climbing that adds in the challenge of route finding and the rewards of solitude and exploration. So, with a couple of classic Yosemite Valley hikes already ticked off, we consulted our maps and guidebooks for some trailless peak possibilities in the High Sierra surrounding Tuolomne Meadows, and settled on a route that included an ascent of 10,300’ Tenaya Peak.

North Dome, Yosemite Nat'l Park: 06/25/2013

North Dome's straight-on, close-up view of Half Dome

With its unsurpassed view of Half Dome from directly across Tenaya Canyon, North Dome is the perfect complement to hiking Half Dome. This moderately strenuous hike (between 8.8 and 10 miles round trip, depending on whether you believe the map, the guidebook or the trail signs) had long been on my Yosemite must-do list, yet our hike on Tuesday was something of a gamble as a departing storm had yet to fully clear.

Half Dome, Yosemite Nat'l Park: 06/23/2013

Beth and I just got back from a week of hiking, climbing and peak scrambling in Yosemite National Park. This and the next few posts will be from that trip.

With its sheer face rising more than 4,800 vertical feet above Yosemite Valley, Half Dome is an icon that belongs on every hiker’s must-do list. Though it appears inaccessible without technical rock climbing skills, cables up Half Dome’s steep east face provide hikers with a spectacular route up the final 400 vertical feet to the summit. The hike’s popularity, along with a history of fatalities, led the National Park Service to establish a permit system in 2010. When we scored a permit in this year’s pre-season lottery, we planned our Yosemite trip around hiking Half Dome.

Hadley Mountain: 06/15/2013

Lately it's been impossible to string together two days of decent weather, so when last weekend's forecast called for sunny skies on Saturday and rain on Sunday, we scheduled our Fathers' Day hike to take place a day early. The overflowing parking lot at the trailhead confirmed that we weren’t the only ones looking to take advantage of the beautiful weather, and served as a reminder that Hadley is one of the most popular hikes in the southern Adirondacks.

Hadley Mountain and its firetower have an interesting history. The tower was constructed in 1917 and was among the first to be built of steel. Aerial surveillance eventually made the firetower obsolete, and by the 1980s the Hadley tower and dozens like it throughout the Adirondacks were slated for removal as non-conforming structures.

View to the north from Hadley's summit

While many towers were ultimately removed, local grass-roots support groups formed to save some of the firetowers as historic and educational resources. The Hadley Mountain Fire Tower Committee was among the earliest groups to organize, and in the mid- ‘90s the fire tower was restored. In recent summers the fire tower committee has co-sponsored a summit steward with the DEC.