Face4Me
01-11-2010, 10:46 AM
For starters, let's just get this out of the way first ... it was cold!!!!
Next up ... the Gondola ... there's obviously some kind of problem (mechanical?) with the Gondola. On Saturday, they were only loading six per car, which isn't necessarily a bad thing (at least you don't feel packed in there), but they were loading well beyond the normal loading point, which made things interesting trying to jump in before the doors closed (this is probably why they were only loading six). On Sunday, they appeared to be working on something at the loading point in the morning, and didn't get it open until about 1:00. Once it opened, they were only loading four for a while, then increased to six. On a day as cold as yesterday was and a "super Sunday" to boot, not having the Gondola was kind of a bummer ... but, this is how things used to be, so I guess we should all just learn to suck it up!
Anyway, on to the skiing!
Saturday morning was great ... blue skies and sunshine. Early on, all the trails I hit (in the following order) were in great shape starting first with Essex (which later turned decidedly BAD!!!), Lower Cloudspin/Victoria (which also turned into a nightmare later in the afternoon), the Wilmington Trail, Upper Skyward and Paron's Run. I ventured into the Sugar Valley Glades on my first run up the Wilmington Trail. The bottom line was that more snow is needed in there in order to fully appreciate what this area will be. The layout kind of "funneled down" into a well-worn path after the initial entry. With more snow, there will probably be a lot more options available.
After hitting the summit a few times, I went back up the Wilmington Trail and met up with HPD and a couple of others. The trail wasn't quite as good as it had been earlier in the morning, however, I still think the trail is currently in the best shape I've ever seen it. They've done a really good job piling up the snow on the narrow chute between Hickock Hill and Lookout Below. It's not icing up there later in the day nearly as bad as it has in the past (at least that's been my experience with it).
We ventured back into Sugar Valley Glades and I think we all agreed that more snow is needed. Anyway, after that, we pretty much started doing laps on Upper Skyward for a while. There was a ton of man-made and I think the conditions just kept getting better and better as the day went on. By the end of the day, my legs were rubber!
Sunday, it was even colder than Saturday, and as mentioned above, the Gondola wasn't running. Took the Face Lift up and skied down to the Mountain Run chair. Did a run on Mountain Run, which was in fantastic condition. Next up ... Wilderness. They were pounding it all weekend, presumably in preparation for the upcoming freestyle moguls competition. The snow under the guns was unbelievable! Did two runs and nearly collapsed ... the legs were still worn down from Saturday. Had to go in to warm up for a bit at mid-station. By the time I came back out, the Little Whiteface chair had opened, so took that up to the top of Little Whiteface. The Gondola was still on "wind-hold", and to be fair, when we reached the top of Little Whiteface, the wind was REALLY, REALLY howling, though I still don't think that was the real issue with the Gondola not running. Anyway, headed over to Lookout Mountain to check that out (it was too cold to head up to the summit). Rode up the Lookout Triple, the ride wasn't as bad as I expected, and skied down the Wilmington Trail. It was in great shape, particularly along the left side of the trail by the trees. Got down to the bottom and it was really cold, but I just had to get another run on "the Willie", so I headed back up ... I wasn't sorry!!!
Took a lunch break and then headed back out. The Gondola had just opened, so went down there to try to get out of the cold. Unfortunately, since they were initially only loading four, it took forever to get on. Finally got up to the top of Little Whiteface and decided to hit Mackenzie. The whales on Upper Mackenzie were pretty crazy (it needs to be groomed out). Fortunately, Lower Mackenzie was awesome, with a nice layout of very soft bumps.
At this point, unfortunately my feet were just too cold to stay with it, so I called it a day.
All in all, the cold notwithstanding, it was a great weekend. Looking forward to a repeat performance next weekend!!!
Next up ... the Gondola ... there's obviously some kind of problem (mechanical?) with the Gondola. On Saturday, they were only loading six per car, which isn't necessarily a bad thing (at least you don't feel packed in there), but they were loading well beyond the normal loading point, which made things interesting trying to jump in before the doors closed (this is probably why they were only loading six). On Sunday, they appeared to be working on something at the loading point in the morning, and didn't get it open until about 1:00. Once it opened, they were only loading four for a while, then increased to six. On a day as cold as yesterday was and a "super Sunday" to boot, not having the Gondola was kind of a bummer ... but, this is how things used to be, so I guess we should all just learn to suck it up!
Anyway, on to the skiing!
Saturday morning was great ... blue skies and sunshine. Early on, all the trails I hit (in the following order) were in great shape starting first with Essex (which later turned decidedly BAD!!!), Lower Cloudspin/Victoria (which also turned into a nightmare later in the afternoon), the Wilmington Trail, Upper Skyward and Paron's Run. I ventured into the Sugar Valley Glades on my first run up the Wilmington Trail. The bottom line was that more snow is needed in there in order to fully appreciate what this area will be. The layout kind of "funneled down" into a well-worn path after the initial entry. With more snow, there will probably be a lot more options available.
After hitting the summit a few times, I went back up the Wilmington Trail and met up with HPD and a couple of others. The trail wasn't quite as good as it had been earlier in the morning, however, I still think the trail is currently in the best shape I've ever seen it. They've done a really good job piling up the snow on the narrow chute between Hickock Hill and Lookout Below. It's not icing up there later in the day nearly as bad as it has in the past (at least that's been my experience with it).
We ventured back into Sugar Valley Glades and I think we all agreed that more snow is needed. Anyway, after that, we pretty much started doing laps on Upper Skyward for a while. There was a ton of man-made and I think the conditions just kept getting better and better as the day went on. By the end of the day, my legs were rubber!
Sunday, it was even colder than Saturday, and as mentioned above, the Gondola wasn't running. Took the Face Lift up and skied down to the Mountain Run chair. Did a run on Mountain Run, which was in fantastic condition. Next up ... Wilderness. They were pounding it all weekend, presumably in preparation for the upcoming freestyle moguls competition. The snow under the guns was unbelievable! Did two runs and nearly collapsed ... the legs were still worn down from Saturday. Had to go in to warm up for a bit at mid-station. By the time I came back out, the Little Whiteface chair had opened, so took that up to the top of Little Whiteface. The Gondola was still on "wind-hold", and to be fair, when we reached the top of Little Whiteface, the wind was REALLY, REALLY howling, though I still don't think that was the real issue with the Gondola not running. Anyway, headed over to Lookout Mountain to check that out (it was too cold to head up to the summit). Rode up the Lookout Triple, the ride wasn't as bad as I expected, and skied down the Wilmington Trail. It was in great shape, particularly along the left side of the trail by the trees. Got down to the bottom and it was really cold, but I just had to get another run on "the Willie", so I headed back up ... I wasn't sorry!!!
Took a lunch break and then headed back out. The Gondola had just opened, so went down there to try to get out of the cold. Unfortunately, since they were initially only loading four, it took forever to get on. Finally got up to the top of Little Whiteface and decided to hit Mackenzie. The whales on Upper Mackenzie were pretty crazy (it needs to be groomed out). Fortunately, Lower Mackenzie was awesome, with a nice layout of very soft bumps.
At this point, unfortunately my feet were just too cold to stay with it, so I called it a day.
All in all, the cold notwithstanding, it was a great weekend. Looking forward to a repeat performance next weekend!!!