Monday, March 24, 2014

Gore Mountain: 03/22 & 03/23/2014

Skiers were treated to a mini-whiteout that left a quick inch of snow Saturday morning.

The Saratoga Skier and Hiker, first-hand accounts of adventures in the Adirondacks and beyond, and Gore Mountain ski blog.

The calendar said spring, but conditions at Gore over the weekend were more like mid-winter. Winter storm Vulcan finally established the base we needed for good tree skiing a week and a half ago; continuous cold and additional snow since then have brought conditions to the best we've seen all winter.

With Gore's glades finally in play, we spent the majority of both days skiing the trees, making up for lost time earlier this winter. Trails became the necessary connectors between favorite woods stashes.

Dave in the Cave

Jim in the trees, somewhere on the upper mountain

Darkside Dave

Hopping in

The two days of the weekend kind are kind of blurred together in my mind. On Saturday, Beth had to stay home for a community event, and my brother Dave joined the kids and me. For Sunday, Beth joined in and Dave headed home. On both days we met up with my friend Jim and his three kids - all rippers - so for most of the weekend we skied as a group of 8. We must have been quite the sight: 3 adults with 5 kids whizzing through the woods. You'll notice the kids aren't in many of my photos - that's because they were way out in front of the adults, even the two 6-year-olds.

As much of a group photo as we could get-Jim and 4 of the kids on the way to the Darkside Glades

Fortunately no height requirement for the Mineshaft Glade

Plenty of soft snow in the woods

Dave in the Darkside Glade

Darkside Glade

While Saturday featured some light snow in the morning and temps in the 20s, skies cleared off and temperatures dropped for Sunday. Even though Sunday was cold by March standards, the entire weekend felt practically tropical compared to the single digit temperatures we had for much of the winter.

Crisp blue sky Sunday morning

Uphill to the Cave Glade

Kids - and adults - love the Cave, directly below Sylvie

Sylvie skiing the Cave Glade

We generally stuck to the upper mountain both days, where the snow was the deepest and softest. Although the glades were the highlight of the weekend, we had some nice trail runs too, including Rumor, Lies and Upper Darby. As you would expect, surfaces were packed powder with very little if any ice or hardpack.

Double Barrel, under the Straightbrook quad chair

Cloud trail and the High Peaks

Somewhere in the woods...

Daniel dropping in

Daniel and Zach

Surprisingly, crowds were very light both Saturday and Sunday. I guess people start to lose interest in skiing as we get into March, even though this weekend featured some of the best conditions of the winter. I'd ski year-round if I could.

Jim trying to keep up with the kids

Tahawus Glade at the end of the day

Get it while you can. This weekend felt almost like a gift, making up for a relative lack of snow for much of January and February. Conditions are fantastic right now, but we will inevitably transition to more seasonable spring-like temperatures, perhaps as early as this coming weekend. With a little luck, we'll finish out the season with some nice spring skiing under sunny skies. But if winter sticks around a little while longer, I won't complain.

1 comment:

  1. Just found your blog and I love it! Great little write ups and wonderful photos. I try to do the same over on mine, for ski tours out of the southern Adirondacks. Let me know what you think.
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