A ROLLER COASTER OF A SKI WEEK IN THE EAST

This week has been up and down and all around in terms of ski conditions. We’ve had classic Ice Coast days and soft snow days, and yesterday was a powder day. Whatever you want, this week has had it. Today was a return to Ice Coast form at Whiteface. It was slick out there.

The view from Little Whiteface.

Essex.

You may be wondering why it was icy if yesterday was a powder day. Well, it was mild on Wednesday and then we, of course, saw temperatures plunge below freezing Wednesday night into Thursday, allowing the secondary surface to become nice and firm. Then, last night and this morning were extra windy. All that combined means you have firm, windswept slopes. Welcome to the East Coast.

Today, I arrived at the mountain in the afternoon, after work, but I do know a lot of the lifts started the day on wind hold. When I arrived, they had the lower mountain lifts spinning, as well as the gondola and the Lookout Mountain Triple. The summit was closed, as was Approach and all the terrain off that run, including Upper Northway, Mountain Run, and Upper Thruway. At least up high, you really only had a couple of ways down. With a fair amount of terrain closed up high, the open runs felt busy at times, though the mountain itself really wasn’t.

Easy Street.

Taken at the top of Victoria.

As mentioned, it was pretty icy, particularly up high. There were pockets of wind-blown powder on the slopes, as well as packed powder, so it wasn’t all bad. If you hit a patch of ice, you knew there’d be some soft snow coming up to help out. Some runs that were notably icy were Broadway and The Wilmington Trail. Broadway was like a sheet of ice right down the middle and over the humps. The Wilmington Trail wasn’t all bad, but the hill going down into the cliff area (the bowling alley) was super slick.

Looking down Victoria.

Lookout Loop.

The Wilmington Trail.

My runs of the day were probably Excelsior and the left side of Victoria. I didn’t find Excelsior to be very icy, and you could cruise right through it without much thought. Victoria was definitely firm in the middle, but the left side, where all the snow goes when there’s wind, was fun. All the lower mountain runs skied fine, though you could find a firm spot here and there, anywhere with a steeper pitch, like Ladies Bridge and the last hill on Lower Valley.

Tomorrow I’ll be heading to Vermont to ski. I’m not exactly sure where yet, but it’ll most likely be either Jay Peak or Sugarbush. Sugarbush announced today that they’ll be spinning the Slide Brook Express tomorrow, which certainly piques my interest. We shall see.

Never Quit Skiing,

Lincoln