VIVA LOS LOOKOUT !

[Snowballs]

Please share your experiences, feelings or observations on the great new ski area - Lookout Mountain !

Thanks Whiteface !

[Face4Me]

Good News ... Bad News ...

First, the Wilmington Trail is spectacular. What an awesome job they did cutting this trail. It's very remniscent of the quintessential New England ski trail, meandering through the forest, winding its way from the top of the mountain down to the bottom. It's definitely unlike any other trail at Whiteface and a great addition to the overall Whiteface experience.

The new lift is also really nice (especially once they got it started). The views from the lift back to the rest of the mountain are great. In addition, as the lift comes to an end, just before the unloading station, the view to the left of the summit of Whiteface is fantastic. It also provides a nice view of ... I think it's Mt. Esther ... to the right just before you unload.

Now the bad news ...

First, the section of the trail that everyone is talking about, with the unprotected drop off on the left side must be dealt with. That section is extremely narrow with the snow making hydrants on the right and the drop off on the left as you come down the hill. I skied it twice in the morning, and we were predicting that it would get really icy in there. Sure enough, when we skied it again at around 2:30, that section of the trail was all boiler plate. I saw a guy go down in the middle of the trail, and sure enough, he slid down the trail, under the rope and then about 15-20 feet down the ravine. Fortunately he wasn't hurt and was able to climb back up the trail. There needs to be some fencing or netting along that side that goes ALL THE WAY TO THE GROUND. The nets that have been put up further down the trail don't go all the way down, and it's not hard to imagine a small child sliding into and right under those nets and then down the side. It's not hard to envision some truly horrible accidents over there if something isn't done very quickly.

Second, towards the end of the trail, on the right side, there are some large rocks that lots of people were dropping off of, back onto the trail. That's going to be another disaster area. I saw one guy drop off one of those rocks without ever checking to see if anyone was coming ... he just missed crashing into my 8 year old son who was skiing by. For what it's worth, this guy was nowhere near good enough to be making that drop. I'm not sure what the solution to this one is, other than blasting those rocks out and grading it all out.

Finally ... that's not an intermediate trail. I'd say about 70% of the trail could qualify as beginner/intermediate level terrain, however, the rest of it definitely is beyond an intermediate rating, particularly if snow conditions are not ideal. Late afternoons on that trail, after everything has been skied off, are going to be a nightmare. I think they need to consider re-rating the trail, OR, post some serious warning at the lift indicating that the Wilmington Trail is for advanced intermediate skiers and beginners should probably not try it ... or something to that effect.

In conclusion, I love the trail, but I definitely believe there are some safety issues related to the intermediate rating. If the trail was rated expert, I suspect there'd be less concern on the assumption that beginners and less experienced intermediates would stay away. With the intermediate rating, I can already see the personal injury attorneys lining up at the junction with Boreen to ride along with the sleds as ski patrol brings them down!

Of course these are only my opinions ... what does anyone else think?

[Harvey44]

Those sound like some pretty well thought out opinions.

I know some of the regulars here are well connected at the mtn.

Can HPD or NPN or somebody connect with the powers to help avoid a tragedy?

[CUskibum]

I agree with Face4Me. There should be some nets or something put up along that section with the dropoff. Something like they did at Gore along Ruby Run.

The Wilmington Trail is great. Its got a little bit of everything. There are some nice views of Lake Champlain and Vermont from the upper half of the trail. It seems like a trail that would be great if it was empty. So hopefully Lookout will be open midweek for most of the season.

It also seemed like they were running the lift at half speed yesterday.

Hoyt's looked like it had decent cover towards the bottom, still a lot of rocks exposed farther up. If there is no snowmaking on it, then it probably won't open for a while. Looked really nice though. Same with Lookout below. That needs even more snow to be able to open.

All in all, it looks really nice, and it skis just as well. I'll give Whiteface a B for the entire expansion project because the lift runs well, and the trails are nicely cut. But they should have put in snowmaking on all trails prior to this season. Having more trails open off of the Lookout triple would mean that no single trail would be overcrowded. I know that WF is using state money for its projects, but snowmaking is an integral part of skiing in the east.

[Harvey44]

Not sure if its the same situation.

But Gore had plans for snowmaking on both new Burnt Ridge Trails... but they cut the spend on the snowmaking for the sweet new black trail Sagamore. I'm pretty sure it was a budget thing. Maybe that happened to WF too.

FYI - anyone ski Sagamore on 12/20? On all natural snow...it was a hoot (http://harvey44.blogspot.com/2008/12/road-to-shambala-part-2.html).

If they'd had pipes up there...I probably wouldn't have been skiing on all natural that day.

I really like the pure stuff even when the cover is a little less.

Down at Gore...some folks are psyched that 90% of the project got completed, in this environment. I know I am.

I think both projects were just too far along when they started making cuts.

[highpeaksdrifter]

It’s a wild ride for sure. While some of the concerns mentioned here are well founded you guys have to take into account that everything is brand new. The bugs have to be worked out and I’m sure they will.

I really like the trail.

I’m an old feller and back in the day trails had half designations. Like a green circle inside a blue square. The Wilmington Trail is really a black diamond inside a blue from Hitchcock Hill down.

[Face4Me]

It’s a wild ride for sure. While some of the concerns mentioned here are well founded you guys have to take into account that everything is brand new. The bugs have to be worked out and I’m sure they will.
Agreed!!!

[Snowballs]

good tales . sounds like a great trail. lots to rip. the old new england style trails are my fav. winding,twisting, banked turns, a few surprises around the bends makes you feel like you in a race car. so glad it's long and blue/black. when Lookout below opens and Hoyt's High is on line this should be an awesome pod. i too, wish HH had snowmaking, but it's still a great present - thanks Whiteface !

BUT, the lack of safety fence is not right and should never happen. i haven't skied the trail yet, but trust the posts, and it does sound well, negligent. Gore's new Echo has a similar situation. it's on a flat-ish, narrow area and but it's not hard to imagine a kid not paying attention or anybody getting "squeezed" aside, etc and going over the edge and landing on jagged shot rocks that line the small 25 ft cliff. a face first fall would be a disaster. back in the '80's , a guy went off one of these at Seven Springs, landed on a brush pile and a stick went in the lower cheek area and came out the groin area. these situations should never exist in these days. the only thing to say is - FIX IT !

once the safety issues are addressed though, sounds like we have the makings of some fantastic terrain.

anybody else ski this new area yet ? Please share.

[NPN]

The expansion is absolutely amazing.

For anybody used to spending time at Whiteface, you get familiar with the established exposures ( which I still consider the best in the East ), and now you got to look back on it all from a totally new perspective ( and that's just the lift experiense ( the seat cushions are WAY comfy BTW, and that was the first response of every one of my lift mates within the first ten seconds of each ride ( very funny )).

The trail itself strikes me as Twister on steroids with views that I still can't get out of my head.

Yes, IMHO, Whiteface's trails are rated on typical Western standards, but I also think that adds to the appeal of this area.

It's a totally different experience to be at Whiteface, and more than enough marketing, and personal effort is put into a hands on interaction with the public to make this known. I go way out of my way, on every lift ride, to inform those who look unfamiliar with that info.

As HPD said earlier this is a project in progress, and all I can say from my experience over the weekend is that I saw a consistent, and constant effort ( and, more importantly, concern ), from every level of operations to trouble shoot, and repair ALL of these concerns ASAP.

[NPN]

I’m an old feller .

Hey, haven't ya' heard, 50 is the new 30. So lighten up with the OF.

[Snowballs]

The expansion is absolutely amazing.

The trail itself strikes me as Twister on steroids with views that I still can't get out of my head.

i used to pause on the way down lil Whiteface and look across the valley at Lookout and think " that looks like it would be great terrain. wonder if it's in WF boundaries and if they'ld ever put trails there ? ". no longer a dream.