Gore Mountain Glade Guide

After 20 inches of snow from yesterday's storm, Gore's glades will be in the best shape we've seen all season. If you haven't explored the glades yet, now's the perfect time. Here are some tips to help you enjoy skiing Gore’s trees:

Gore's Cave Glade

Glade skiing has seen a tremendous growth in popularity over the past decade, and for good reason. Skiing the trees offers challenge, adventure, diverse terrain and the opportunity to find untracked natural snow in quiet woods away from crowded slopes and trails. Gore Mountain was among the first Eastern ski areas to develop gladed terrain for its skiers, and now boasts two dozen diverse named glades on its trail map.

Stashes

Earlier this summer, Gore announced the addition of four new glades for the 2014-15 ski season. Ordinarily, any terrain expansion is welcome news, but in this case I have to admit that I’ve got mixed feelings. Here’s the announcement from Gore’s website:

Gore is introducing FOUR NEW GLADES! Abenaki Glades, which connect Barkeater Glades on Burnt Ridge Mountain to the Pipeline Traverse; The Narrows, which offer skiers a lively alternative to the Headwaters trail; Birch Bark Alley, which links the Lower Cloud Traverse to the Woodchuck trail and The High Peaks Chair; and MacIntyre Glades, which is loaded with balsams and connects Cloud to Upper Steilhang.

It turns out that 3 out the 4 new glades are locals’ stashes that are being added to the trail map (Abenaki appears to be entirely new).

Gore Mountain: 02/27/2010

This past week's weather rollercoaster deposited unbelievable amounts of snow in the Catskills, and impressive totals in the Adirondacks as well. I was excited, but anxious about the conditions we'd find at Gore this weekend. Gore had dangerously straddled the line between snow and rain for a couple days, and firsthand accounts of actual snow conditions on the mountain were few and far between.

Gore Mountain: 02/16/2013

We had a surprisingly great day at Gore on Saturday. I say surprising because it hasn't been particularly snowy or even particularly cold this past week. But the mountain skied well thanks to snowmaking and grooming. The biggest surprise was how well some of the summit glades skied - a notch better than last weekend in my opinion.

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

Gore Mountain: 02/27/2011

Maybe it’s the couple inches of snow that fell Saturday night. Maybe Gore’s wooded trails hold the snow a little better than Whiteface’s wider, steeper trails. Maybe it’s just being at my home mountain where I know the terrain better. Whatever the reason, the skiing at Gore on Sunday was a notch better than the day before at Whiteface. And for at least the third or fourth time this winter, I‘m declaring Sunday one of the best ski days of the year.

Light crowds, peeks of blue sky, and great snow

Gore Mountain: 01/05 & 01/06/2013

Saturday, January 5, 2013

A guy could get used to conditions like these. The snow that has fallen at Gore since Christmas, combined with seasonably cold temperatures, has put the mountain in prime mid-winter shape with every trail open and every lift spinning.

Oddly, or maybe not so oddly, I’ve spent very little time this season on trails that I count among my go-to favorites. I haven’t even been on Hawkeye or Chatiemac this season, though I’m sure they’re in nice condition. Instead, we’ve focused our skiing attention on Gore’s glades.

Beth in the Mineshaft glade

Gore Mountain: 12/13/2014

This is what winter’s supposed to look like. Winter storm Damon delivered, with snowfall amounts ranging between 1 and 2 feet throughout the Adirondacks. Gore reported 14 inches from the multi-day event, but that measurement surely under-reported the amount that fell in the upper elevations. The snow came in perfect pineapple-upside-down-cake fashion, with dense snow at the onset of the storm followed by increasingly lighter powder. As the snow totals mounted, Gore dropped the ropes on a huge amount of terrain, resulting in the best early season conditions in as many years as I can remember.

Whiteface and Gore: 02/15 & 02/16/2014

Hoyt's High at Whiteface

The Ski Bowl at Gore

Warning: long post. Probably should have split this in two...

Choices. We had wanted to ski Whiteface be in and Lake Placid this weekend for the Olymipcs, but with last week’s new snow we didn’t want to miss out on Gore’s glades either. The solution: we split the weekend with a day at each mountain.

Gore Mountain: 02/09 & 02/10/2013

It wasn’t the 2 – 3 feet of snow that fell on coastal New England, but winter storm Nemo brought just enough snow to the southern Adirondacks to provide a nice weekend of powder and packed powder conditions and even put some of the glades back in play.

Gore Mountain: 12/29/2012

One thing is for certain: this is not last winter. Snow all day today (six inches?) after well over a foot on Thursday and more snow before that has put Gore into the best conditions we've seen in probably two years. We weren't the only ones excited about all the snow: apparently Gore logged back-to-back record or near-record days both yesterday and today.

2014-2015 Ski Season Preview

If you’re a skier or snowboarder, the best time of year is almost here. With overnight temperatures dipping below freezing, ski areas around the region have begun firing up their snowmaking equipment to prepare for the start of the 2014-15 ski season. Crews have been busy with projects all summer and fall, here’s a look at what they’ve been up to.

At Gore, the big news for this season is the replacement of the Adirondack Express triple chairlift with a new, state-of-the-art, high-speed quad. The Adirondack Express II will feature padded seats and eight fewer towers, providing skiers with a quicker, more comfortable ride than its predecessor. Just as importantly, the new AE2 will operate more reliably than the 30-year old lift it replaces. Mike Pratt, Gore’s general manager, explains: “The original Adirondack Express was the oldest high-speed lift in North America. While it served Gore skiers and riders well for many years, the cost of maintenance finally reached a point where it made more sense to replace it.” Final steps are being completed in the AE2’s installation, and Gore expects the lift to debut shortly after the mountain opens for the season.

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: 03/16/2013

Sometimes "surprise snow" is the best. I must have been too busy celebrating pre-Saint Patrick's Day Friday night to pay attention to the weather radar because Gore's conditions report caught me off guard Saturday morning with its report of 8 inches of new snow.

Mid-winter conditions at Gore this weekend

Gore Mountain: 12/30/2017

You know it's been cold when a 10 degree day is considered a heat wave. No complaints from the Saratoga Skier crew though. We got in a prime day at Gore in some of the best Christmas Week conditions we've seen since 2012. Between the sun, calm winds and some great skiing it was easy to forget we were right in the middle of a Polar Vortex.

Gore Mountain: 03/08/2014

Maybe it was the 5 inches of surprise snow earlier in the week, maybe it was the brief taste of spring while the sun was out for a couple runs, but the skiing at Gore on Saturday seemed a whole lot nicer than a week ago.

Strong sun and blue skies in the morning seemed to promise epic early spring conditions. While the sun was out, the lower mountain surfaces softened to a beautiful dampish packed powder, the kind of snow that peels off under the edges of your skis like the layers of an onion. But by 11am the clouds had moved back in and that was that.

A perfect morning for riding the triple

Gore Mountain: 03/08/2011

I don't usually have the flexibility in my schedule to take a spur-of-the-moment, mid-week powder day, but I needed a day like today. Last weekend was my first non-skiing weekend since before Thanksgiving, with family committments on Saturday and a soaking rain in ski country on Sunday that made staying home - beleive it or not - a better option.

Gore Mountain: 02/10/2018

With something like 18 inches of new snow in the preceding week, we knew skiers would be out in force on Saturday. Sure enough, we had hardly left the house before we started getting text messages from friends who had arrived before us that the lots were full and the lodge mobbed. Our strategy on days like this: head for the Ski Bowl.

Gore Mountain: 02/05/2011

Interesting day. First, the weather: bluebird skies all morning, then dumping snow an inch an hour by early afternoon. Second: got my first taste of the Ski Bowl and its interconnect with the main mountain. More on that later. But best of all, superb snow conditions on the trails and in the woods that made today perhaps my best day on the mountain so far this season.

Beautiful morning, looking up at Rumor.

2013-14 ski season wrap-up and highlights

The winter of 2013-14 will likely be long remembered by both skiers and non-skiers for its persistent cold weather. Monthly average temperatures for the entire November - March period registered several degrees below the long-term average, and the term “Polar Vortex” seemed to filter into everyday conversation. The emduring cold gave skiers a season spanning six calendar months, with Gore and Whiteface logging their earliest-ever openings in mid-November. Gore closed last Sunday, April 20, but Whiteface may hang in for a record late closing in May. Stay tuned.

Early season packed powder with a view of the High Peaks. Gore, January 4: