Gore Mountain: Christmas Eve, 12/24/2016

It may have been raining down in the lowlands, but Santa showed up a day early at Gore, bringing a couple inches of new snow with him. It didn't matter if you were naughty or nice (we had skiers from both lists in our group), everyone was treated to one of the best early season days so far this winter.

Gore Mountain: 12/17/2016

A nice snowfall arrived with perfect timing Friday night and Saturday morning, setting up one of the best ski days so far this season. We left Saratoga intending to head up to Whiteface, but after being stuck behind snowplows for 10 miles with no sign they were going to pull over, we bailed at Warrensburg and headed up to Gore instead. I guess that's one of the benefits of our dual-mountain ORDA passes.

Whiteface: 12/14/2016

We had the opportunity to enjoy great mid-winter conditions for ORDA's annual Media Day event showcasing Whiteface Mountain on Wednesday. Cloudy skies with on-and-off snow made for difficult picture taking, but I'll happily trade photo ops for ski conditions.

Gore Mountain: 12/10/2016

If you spend any time at all in the lodge, on a chairlift or in line to buy a lift ticket, you can't avoid the conversations comparing the ski season to previous years. It's a topic that comes up most frequently in the early weeks of the season, when every bit of progress is measured against the snowfall and trail counts of winters gone by. Every skier has a slightly different take on how 2016-17 is shaping up, but one thing is unanimous: we're off to a way better start than last year.

Killington, VT: 12/08/2016

I don’t do too many reports from Vermont, but I had the opportunity to ski mid-week at Killington yesterday. I’ve skied at Killington many times over the years, but for some unknown reason it always seemed to be in marginal conditions. This time, thanks to recent natural snowfall plus an expansion of Killington’s already massive snowmaking operations (dividends from last month’s World Cup event), I got to see the mountain at its early season best.

Gore and Whiteface, opening weekend: 11/26 & 11/27/2016

Thanksgiving weekend is the traditional start of the ski season, and after visiting family and stuffing ourselves with turkey on Thursday and Friday, we headed north to our dual home mountains, skiing Gore on Saturday and Whiteface on Sunday.

Lake Bonita, Moreau Lake State Park: 11/13/2016

Ski season is almost here, but we were able to squeeze in another short hike close to home on one of the last really nice days of late fall. Lake Bonita is a recent addition to Moreau Lake State Park, with the official trail being marked just a few months ago.

Cobble Ledge: 11/06/2016

Sunday November 6 was my birthday (39 again!), and while it would have been fun to ski on my birthday, that wasn’t in the cards for this year. Instead, we fit in a quick hike on a new (2014) trail that I’ve been wanting to check out. As a bonus, the cold front that had swept through overnight left behind a nice coating of snow to let us know that winter’s on its way.

2016-17 Ski Season Preview

The start of snowmaking at Gore and Whiteface means that ski season is right around the corner. Here's a link to my annual season preview article in Adirondack Almanack.

Video credit: Gore Mountain

Catamount Mountain: 10/10/2016

Tucked away in an off-the-beaten path corner of the Adirondacks, Catamount Mountain wasn't even on my radar screen until just a few years ago. Now I've got a new favorite hike.

We climbed Catamount on the Monday of Columbus Day weekend and hit the jackpot with a combinaton of crisp temperatures, a cloudless blue sky and peak foliage.

Cobble Hill, Lake Placid: 10/09/2016

We were in Lake Placid over Columbus Day weekend and had a couple hours free Sunday afternoon, so we decided to check out a Cobble Hill, a short hike that's been on my to-do list for a few years. Cobble Hill has long been a favorite quick jaunt of Lake Placid locals, but what caught my attention was its short-lived history as a downhill ski area in the late 1950s (more on that shortly).

Meade and Beckman Mountains: 09/25/2016

Once school starts up it seems we always have trouble finding the time to fit in a family hike. We had a half day available Sunday afternoon, so we made the quick drive up the Northway to do another one of the Chester Challenge hikes: Meade and Beckman Mountains. Like the other hikes we've done in the Chester Challenge, Meade and Beckman Mountains is short and easy but offers up some great views.

Rafting the Hudson Gorge: 09/03/2016

My friends Linc Marsac and Lori Phoebe Benton, chief guides and owners of Square Eddy Expeditions, like to say that they get double the fun out of every snowflake that falls: first skiing the woods and mountains around North Creek and Indian Lake, and then paddling the runoff when it all melts in the spring. We weren't paddling spring runoff on our trip down the Hudson Gorge with Square Eddy over Labor Day weekend, but the double-the-fun rule seemed to be in full effect anyway.

Dix Mountain: 08/22/2016

Back in 1987 when I finished my first round of the 46, there were a handful of peaks I swore I’d never repeat. If you’ve climbed Blake, Couchie or Cliff, you know what I’m talking about. Sooner or later though, I’d get dragged out by one hiking partner or another and notch second and third visits to those “never again” peaks. At the other end of the list are the favorites, the ones you return to over and over, even if it’s a decade between visits. Dix is on that list, 6th highest in the Adirondacks and offering some of the best and most interesting views of the 46. A recent two night stay at Elk Lake Lodge provided the perfect opportunity to climb Dix again.

Clear Pond Mountain: 08/20/2016

It’s understandable if you’ve never heard of Clear Pond Mountain. As one of several summits in the privately owned 12,000 acre Elk Lake – Clear Pond Preserve, its trail is open only to guests of Elk Lake Lodge. We got a chance to hike the mountain and enjoy its phenomenal views during a 2-night stay at the lodge last weekend.

Adirondack ski areas by the numbers: 2015-16 season

Most eastern skiers would probably prefer to forget about the winter of 2015-16, also known as The Winter That Wasn't. Besieged by mild temperatures, lack of snowfall and one rain event after another, ski areas throughout the northeast pushed the limits of their snowmaking plants and crews to salvage what they could of the season. But you can fight mother nature only so much, and skiers suffered through limited terrain, event cancellations and a shortened season. Skier visits in the northeast were down a whopping 28% from the previous winter. Whiteface and Gore followed that trend, with significant decreases in both skier visits (down 21% and 44%, respectively) and revenue (down 21% and 37%, respectively). Here are the numbers:

Truro Hills and Ponds: Mountain biking and paddling in the Cape Cod National Seashore

It's not like we've uncovered all the locals' secrets, but in the nearly 10 years that we've been coming to the Outer Cape we've gotten pretty good at finding the off-the-beaten-path spots that most of the tourists miss. My ride the other day took me to some of our favorites along the Truro / Wellfleet border.

Peaked Mountain: 07/17/2016

They say that variety is the spice of life. In my opinion it’s also one of the keys to a successful family hike. My kids are all about the streams, waterfalls, woods, ponds, plants, wildlife, wetlands, cliffs, caves, cabins and fire towers along the way that make the hike interesting. For them, getting to the top of some mountain just for a view is “boring.” Well, you can’t beat the hike to Peaked Mountain Pond and up Peaked Mountain for variety, so off we set this past weekend.

Pole Hill Pond Preserve: 07/04/2016

Picture perfect weather for the holiday weekend meant ideal conditions for family gatherings, cookouts, swimming and fireworks. By the time Monday morning rolled around, we were ready to forego another round of hotdogs for a more active Independence Day, so Beth and I set off to explore one of the Lake George Land Conservancy's lesser known parcels, the Pole Hill Pond Preserve.

Canoe camping, Follensby Clear Pond: 06/26/2016

At 12 and 8, our kids are the perfect age for camping. After some island camping at Lake George last weekend, we headed north to one of my favorite parts of the Adirondacks for some canoe camping this weekend.

Lake George island camping, Fork Island: 06/18/2016

In the 35 years that I've been exploring Lake George I've done a lot of paddling, hiking, motor boating, sailing and water skiing, but I think the best way to really soak up the beauty of the lake is camping on one of the islands. There's nothing like going to sleep at night and waking up in the morning with the lake lapping at your campsite, surrounded by water. No cell phones, no tv, no distractions, just you, the lake and the mountains.

With a perfect weather forecast last weekend, we loaded our family's boat with paddling and camping gear and headed north from Bolton Landing up into the Narrows.

Sleeping Beauty Mt: 06/12/2016

We've done Sleeping Beauty as a family hike in the past, but on a cold (temperatures in the low 50s), blustery mid-June Sunday the kids' enthusiasm level for hiking hovered between 0 and 1 on a ten-point scale. So the kids stayed with the grandparents while Beth and I did the hike. Win - win.

Chapel Pond Slab, Regular Route: 06/04/2016

Back when I first started climbing, my first multi-pitch lead was up Regular Route on the Chapel Pond slabs. With its comfortable belay ledges, exciting but non-intimidating exposure and wonderful views it's a great first lead. It's also a route I've returned to many times for the sheer fun of easy climbing (5.5 on the Yosemite Decimal System) on a long route (6 pitches) in a superbly scenic setting. But Saturday's climb topped them all, when my wife Beth and I led our 12 year old son up Regular Route for his first multi-pitch climb.

Shelving Rock Mtn: 05/21/2016

We've had a bit of difficulty getting our hiking days in this spring. It seems that we've had commitments when the weather's been good, and when we're free the weather's been lousy. I thought we'd finally break that pattern last weekend. Five days out the forecast for Saturday looked stellar. Next thing I know, it's mostly cloudy, chance of showers. Unwilling to keep the hiking boots in the closet any longer, we headed up the east shore of Lake George to hike Shelving Rock Mountain anyway. The gamble paid off with a great hike, beautiful views and tons of spring wildflowers.

2015-16 ski season wrap-up and highlights

Ask just about any avid east coast skier and they’ll likely tell you the best thing about the winter of 2015-16 is that it’s over. I’m not going to disagree with that, but instead of complaining about the limited terrain, the lack of snowfall, discouragingly warm temperatures and repeated rain events that characterized the season, I want to send out a big THANK YOU to the snowmakers and groomers at Gore and Whiteface. Without their hard work, we wouldn’t have had a ski season at all. So…. THANKS!!

Kipp Mountain: 04/17/2016

With an early end to the winter that wasn't and beautiful weather on tap for the weekend, we jumped on the opportunity to break out our hiking boots for an easy, close to home outing. Kipp Mountain is one of several small peaks in the Chestertown area that are part of the Chester Challenge: complete 6 out of the 10 hikes and you're awarded a pin and certificate. You can read more about the Chester Challenge in this blog post that I wrote last Fall.

JayPeak, VT: 03/27/2016

Each year we try to make it up to northern Vermont for at least a day or two of late season skiing. We almost didn't make it this year, but at the last minute pulled off an overnighter to Jay Peak over Easter weekend.

Whiteface and Gore: 03/25 and 03/26/2016

Looking to get a few more days on our passes before the season's over, the kids and I headed up to Whiteface on Friday and Gore on Saturday.

Gray skies and a socked-in summit up at Whiteface made Friday a lousy day for taking pictures, but we enjoyed mild temperatures and hero snow anyway. Getting one more chance to ski favorites like Mountain Run and Skyward in the final few days of the season somehow brings at least a measure of redemption to a disappointing season.

Gore Mountain: 03/12/2016

One thing you can count on, even in a lousy winter like we've had this year, is spring skiing. The trick is to catch a sunny day with warm temperatures that turn the slopes into the next best thing to powder: spring corn. This weekend delivered the blue skies and warm temps in spades.

Gore Mountain: 03/05/2016

You've really got to hand it to the snowmaking and grooming crews this season for doing everything they can to give skiers the most terrain and the best possible conditions. Here we are in early March and the snowmaking crews are still at it, 3 to 4 weeks after the traditional end to snowmaking in early to mid-February.

Whiteface Mtn: 02/27/2016

At this point in the season a skier’s got to pick his days. You’re going to want new snow or warm temps and spring conditions. Saturday at Whiteface was neither. We had a great day anyway.

Mont Tremblant, Quebec: 02/15 - 02/19/2016

Sometimes you get lucky. As lousy as this winter’s been, we scored a week of stellar conditions over the February break. Of course it wasn’t pure luck. We stacked the odds in our favor by heading 5 hours north to Mont Tremblant, in the Laurentian mountains of Quebec.

Ironically, the locals apologized for low snow conditions upon our arrival. Apologize, for what? With 30 inches of snow on the ground and the mountain 100% open including glades and natural snow trails, it seemed like we had stepped out of late November right into mid-winter.

Gore Mountain: 02/06/2016

A quick update from skiing Gore last weekend.

There’s no sugarcoating the fact that warm temperatures and rain during the January 30 – February 3 period were a significant setback in what has been a tenuous winter all along. Snowmaking and grooming crews were focusing their efforts over the weekend on repairing and re-surfacing the open trails, and by sticking to the trails that had received the most attention we were able to put together a respectable day of skiing, all things considered.

Park City and The Canyons: 01/31 - 02/02/2016

I’ve loved every one of the western ski trips I’ve gone on over the last several years, but with the east locked in a snow drought this winter, our trip to Park City, Utah was a godsend. As if on cue, the storm cycle that started the day before our arrival deposited 22 inches of fluff during our stay. And that came on top of what’s already been an excellent snow year in Utah.

Whiteface Mtn: 01/23/2016

Looking out over the Adirondacks from the top of Whiteface’s summit lift, you never would have known that a blizzard was raging 250 miles south. While it would have been nice if winter storm Jonas sent some of its snow our way, we sure weren’t complaining. With blue skies, cold air and some of the best snow conditions this winter, we had one of our best ski day so far this season.

Gore Mountain: 01/16 & 01/17/2016

News flash: It’s been a lousy winter for skiers. No significant natural snow and record warmth in December. Thin cover and limited terrain have been the name of the game Day 1. Temperatures have gotten closer to seasonal norms since the first of the year, but we’ve still had thaws and rain on what seems like a weekly basis. But finally we’ve officially crossed over from “early season” to “mid-winter” with the opening of much of Gore’s summit terrain, opening the door to the best skiing so far this year.

Gore Mountain: 01/09/2016

After a three week absence, it was great to be back at Gore with nice snow conditions and some new terrain options.

Whiteface Mtn: 12/31/2015 and 01/01/2016

Crowded, frozen granular, overcast. On the surface, pretty crappy conditions. Somehow we managed to have a great time.