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.