How's the mountain?

[SKIdds]

Anyone know? Most lifts were down today. All day, due to wind, if you go by the snow reports (both web and phone). I've read some nasty reports about conditions at Gore and Mad River. Pretty much mountains of bulletproof due to yesterday's mists/rains and subsequent freeze. Did WF experience the same? Wondering if it was more than just winds that kept the mountain down today.

Hopefully the white stuff keeps up tonight and the weekend shapes up nicely. We're headed up Sunday night to ski Monday/Tuesday.

[Face4Me]

Anyone know? Most lifts were down today. All day, due to wind, if you go by the snow reports (both web and phone). I've read some nasty reports about conditions at Gore and Mad River. Pretty much mountains of bulletproof due to yesterday's mists/rains and subsequent freeze. Did WF experience the same? Wondering if it was more than just winds that kept the mountain down today.

Hopefully the white stuff keeps up tonight and the weekend shapes up nicely. We're headed up Sunday night to ski Monday/Tuesday.
I'm heading up tonight, planning to ski tomorrow and Saturday ... I'll let you know how it goes!

[Denison]

I'll be at the Gore today and Whiteface on Saturday. I'll see how it compares in terms of conditions.
It's a demo day at Gore - can't miss trying so much talked about Nordica's!

[Face4Me]

Lifts down all day due to the winds ... it's really howling out there!!!

Hopefully things will calm down for tomorrow :!:

[Face4Me]

Lifts down all day due to the winds ... it's really howling out there!!!

Hopefully things will calm down for tomorrow :!:
The winds were certainly calmer than yesterday, but it was still pretty breezy. Face Lift and Gondola didn't open until around 10:30. Unfortunately, I never even made it to the main side ... my kids decided they wanted to spend the day at Kids Kampus, though from what I heard, I didn't miss much. Most of the people I talked to said conditions were pretty "firm" and "slick". For what it's worth, the conditions at Kids Kampus were much the same ... pretty firm with a very fine frozen granular surface.

We need some warmer weather now so things soften up a bit.

I'll be heading up again in two weeks ... hoping for a better weekend then!

[Denison]

my March 22 abridged report:



- after skiing Gore on Friday I drove up to Lake Placid Pub and Brewery for Moose Island Ale and chicken wings.

- there were no vacancies in North Pole inn and most motels in Wilmington for Friday night. Looked like it's going to be a busy Saturday at the mountain.

- I stayed at the Green Mountain Inn. 7 AM snowphone call did not give much hope for a day, still I thought to give Whiteface a try. Alternative was to go back to Gore for Saturday skiing.

- at base lodge they announced that Freeway lift was going to be running, so I got the ticket and went for breakfast.


- from Freeway chair I saw Mountain Run running as well. The day was going to be great!

- Mountain Run and Upper Parkway trails were two sheets of ice - 3/4 was ice and there was not many patches of snow to slow down or stop on the upper parts of these trails. From lift I saw patroller struggling with empty sled. It must be the main reason they closed off that part of the mountain - very hard to help in case of injury. Wilderness was in much better shape, but soon access to it was closed as well.

- by noon Little Whiteface, Face Lift and Gondola were running. Freeway was serving racers only. Trails off Little Whiteface were in a great shape. Lower Cloudspin and Skyward did not disappoint either. There was no "Free Hot Dogs" on Lower Skyward though...

- summit quad was not taking skiers, but they run it slowly, removing ice from chairs. Should be running today with great conditions on upper mountain.


I left shortly after 2.

[highpeaksdrifter]

my March 22 abridged report:

after skiing Gore on Friday I drove up to Lake Placid Pub and Brewery for Moose Island Ale and chicken wings.

-.

What skis did you demo at Gore?

[snowman]

thanks for the update, Dennison. I was hoping to ski on Friday, but the wind ended that. I should have headed to Gore! Now I am back in the flatlands for Easter, looking out the window at the sun and looking at the conditions page at all the open lifts. Maybe next weekend!

[SKIdds]

Thanks for the info guys. Sounds like conditions aren't great, but with everything except Empire and the glades open it could be a heck of a lot worse. We head out in a coupe hours and I'll be on the mountain tomorrow.

[NPN]

Yes, Friday was a wash, and Saturday was slow in coming. But, if you knew where to be, there were great turns to be had all day long in brilliant, bluebird conditions.

Sunday was good to go from start to finish, but still required a good sense of the mountain's wind patterns. Essex, Lower Cloud, U/L Wildeerness. Afternoon surprise of the day found us in 8"-12" of windpacked powder from upper switchback to junction of Upper Cloud/Skyward on left side.

Obviously, the down side was the wind scour which caused an almost record number of serious sleds. It wasn't a good day to be a novice taking that first trip to Whiteface. You had to know the ropes, and be ready for a slip out on yards, and yards of bombproof plate.

All things considered though, a lot of fun to be had this weekend in the bright sunshine ( that full moon didn't suck either ), and "Glass Half Full" state of mind has to dictate that this hardpack deep, deep, deep base will result in some epic, hero corn when, and if Spring temps ever arrive.

[DUST BLASTER]

trails of the day on Sunday afternoon had to be drapers after the racers left and parkway no one was sking them and the untuched grooming marks were easy to get a edge in. the wind calmed down in the afternoon and it was great!

[highpeaksdrifter]

trails of the day on Sunday afternoon had to be drapers after the racers left and parkway no one was sking them and the untuched grooming marks were easy to get a edge in. the wind calmed down in the afternoon and it was great!

Dang, I wish I could have been there. Those winds where tuff while they lasted.

I heard you and NPN where stealing Easter Eggs from the kids. :wink:

[tjf67]

Sat did not get to the hill unitl 11 or so. When I came out everything was starting to turn. The yellow dot over to lower sky was the trail. Skiers rt was deep and soft. For most of the day we were the only one skiing it till it caught on. There were some great lines through the trees as well. Breaking trails in places I have never been was a blast.

Sunday spent the whole day at the top of the hill. Dropped in from the yellow brick road and had wind blown powder all day. There were four of us that just kept lapping it. WE felt we were doing our public service busting up all the powder for everyone. Had to go slow(relatively speaking) and steer with a heavy foot but it would break through and it was soft powder below. Skiers left was the place to be. The plump house chute held some good snow in there and Niagria over on skiers right corned up nice. Sky down to the crossover was big loose frozen granular that you could push up over into the ices slabs and listen to it slide down in there. Pretty cool.

[highpeaksdrifter]

Sat did not get to the hill unitl 11 or so. When I came out everything was starting to turn. The yellow dot over to lower sky was the trail. Skiers rt was deep and soft. For most of the day we were the only one skiing it till it caught on. There were some great lines through the trees as well. Breaking trails in places I have never been was a blast.

Sunday spent the whole day at the top of the hill. Dropped in from the yellow brick road and had wind blown powder all day. There were four of us that just kept lapping it. WE felt we were doing our public service busting up all the powder for everyone. Had to go slow(relatively speaking) and steer with a heavy foot but it would break through and it was soft powder below. Skiers left was the place to be. The plump house chute held some good snow in there and Niagria over on skiers right corned up nice. Sky down to the crossover was big loose frozen granular that you could push up over into the ices slabs and listen to it slide down in there. Pretty cool.

Sounds like you found the goods.

[DUST BLASTER]

HPD, we got run over by the kids. We did our best Easter Bunny impression.

[Denison]

What skis did you demo at Gore?

I've arrived at the Gore later then anticipated, being booted and ready to go by 11.

Demoed 2 skis, both 178sm: Nordica Afterburner (http://www.nordica.com/dynamic/ski.php?idColl=21&idCat=258&idP=351) and Salomon Tornado (http://www.salomonski.com/us/products/XW-Tornado-1-1-1-788919.html)
Nordica's felt very good in all tests. Salomon skis were behaving funky at speeds above 90mph 8)

Either of them are way better then my current skis, so I've made my decision to get a new pair for next season.
I'm still debating whether I need 186 or 178 skis, leaning to 178 now after demoing.


When I'm looking at "Hot Rod" lineup (keeping Hellcat and Overdrive aside) I see 2 pairs with identical dimensions:
Jet Fuel XBS ALU Afterburner XBS: 126-84-112 and Top Fuel XBS ALU & Nitrous XBS: 123-78-108

Does anyone how the Jet Fuel/Afterburner or Top Fuel/Nitrous difference translates to skiing experience?

[highpeaksdrifter]

What skis did you demo at Gore?

I've arrived at the Gore later then anticipated, being booted and ready to go by 11.

Demoed 2 skis, both 178sm: Nordica Afterburner (http://www.nordica.com/dynamic/ski.php?idColl=21&idCat=258&idP=351) and Salomon Tornado (http://www.salomonski.com/us/products/XW-Tornado-1-1-1-788919.html)
Nordica's felt very good in all tests. Salomon skis were behaving funky at speeds above 90mph 8)

Either of them are way better then my current skis, so I've made my decision to get a new pair for next season.
I'm still debating whether I need 186 or 178 skis, leaning to 178 now after demoing.


When I'm looking at "Hot Rod" lineup (keeping Hellcat and Overdrive aside) I see 2 pairs with identical dimensions:
Jet Fuel XBS ALU Afterburner XBS: 126-84-112 and Top Fuel XBS ALU & Nitrous XBS: 123-78-108

Does anyone how the Jet Fuel/Afterburner or Top Fuel/Nitrous difference translates to skiing experience?

The difference is the Jet Fuel and Top Fuel have two sheets of technal and the Afterburner and Nitrous are carbon. The technal makes those skis stiffer, more ridged, and faster. You have to work them harder at slower speeds, but the pay back is at speed they're very stable.

I havn't seen you ski, but you are one big dude. If you go Jet Fuel or Top Fuel I'd put you on 178's, Afterburner 186 and I would not put you on the Nitrous at all. The Nitrous are great skis, I had a pair myelf for part of the season, but a guy your size might over power the ski when you're pushing it.

[NPN]

I heard you and NPN where stealing Easter Eggs from the kids. :wink:

I only stole the ones with the miniature bottles of Ubu inside. It was kind of a public service. You know, curbing underaged drinking, and all. Just another part ( and payoff ) of my SA responsibilities.

[Denison]

If you go Jet Fuel or Top Fuel I'd put you on 178's, Afterburner 186 and I would not put you on the Nitrous at all. The Nitrous are great skis, I had a pair myelf for part of the season, but a guy your size might over power the ski when you're pushing it.

Thanks for the explanation. That really helps me to narrow my choices. What does exactly "over power the ski" mean?

[highpeaksdrifter]

If you go Jet Fuel or Top Fuel I'd put you on 178's, Afterburner 186 and I would not put you on the Nitrous at all. The Nitrous are great skis, I had a pair myelf for part of the season, but a guy your size might over power the ski when you're pushing it.

Thanks for the explanation. That really helps me to narrow my choices. What does exactly "over power the ski" mean?

The ski may not be rigid enough at speed or making hard turns for a person of your size and strength.

[Denison]

my new skis are on the way !


...Thank you for shopping with Sierrasnowboard.com. The details of your internet order are listed below
Items Ordered: Nordica Hot Rod Jet Fuel SYSTEM ...

[snowman]

nice -good time to buy, except the seasons pass bill is coming, too! Keep us posted on how these work.
You'll have to do some hiking to use them now!

[highpeaksdrifter]

my new skis are on the way !


...Thank you for shopping with Sierrasnowboard.com. The details of your internet order are listed below
Items Ordered: Nordica Hot Rod Jet Fuel SYSTEM ...

Nice, best of luck with them.

[Denison]

Having demoed Afterburners, I think I made a right choice.

I'm sure I'll be paranoid first few weekends about my new skies being stolen, how common is ski theft at Whiteface?

[NPN]

Having demoed Afterburners, I think I made a right choice.

I'm sure I'll be paranoid first few weekends about my new skies being stolen, how common is ski theft at Whiteface?

Surprisingly ( to me anyway ), in all of my years at Whiteface, I've only heard stories of skis being stolen from mid-station, and never at the base. And even then I can count that number on less than one hand.

[Adirondackskier]

From what I hear, it doesn't happen that often. Many times it is a case of mistaken identity with folks grabbing someone elses skis by accident. I remember one person at the top of Little Whiteface last year freaking out because his binding was set completely wrong. I looked and you could immediately tell he was in someone elses skis. He took the gondola back down and sure enough his skis were at lost and found with the owner of the missing skis. It was worked out.

I have to admit I almost took a pair of Vokyl's that looked exactly like mine same size. The only thing that made me stop was the binding. For some reason I don't have as much bling on my bindings. Anyway I took my skis home and completely macked them out with stickers and paint pen art so there wouldn't be the same mistake twice.