A WARM APRIL DAY SKIING AT WHITEFACE
Today was a warm day at Whiteface. At the base, the temperature was in the 60s, while high up on the mountain it was in the upper 40s. Had it not been a little windy, I think I could’ve got away with wearing shorts. In the end, I settled for leaving all my vents open, my jacket only partly zipped up, and no gloves or face mask. That worked out pretty well for me.
Approach.
Looking up at Mountain Run and Wilderness.
Though it was a warm day, it didn’t necessarily feel like a warm early spring day. It was pretty cloudy, and up high visibility was low. That, plus some wind, meant that this afternoon just didn’t really have that classic spring skiing feel to it that you normally get with temperatures that warm. Nevertheless, it was still fun and spring-ish.
Lower Thruway.
Niagara.
They had seven lifts spinning, including the gondola and the Summit Quad. Lookout Mountain is closed for the season, so the Lookout Mountain Triple wasn’t spinning, and neither were the Little Whiteface Double or the Freeway Lift. There were 62 runs open. The only notable trail closures were The Follies and Paron’s Run off the summit, as that meant that Upper Skyward was the only way down. I’m not sure if those runs were closed due to coverage or surface conditions.
Upper Skyward.
Lower Skyward.
Draper’s Drop.
Patch of blue ice.
While the top layer of snow was soft, with cloudy skies, the secondary layer of snow was surprisingly firm in a lot of places up high, and there were even a couple of patches of blue ice out there. East Coast ice is tough like that. It won’t go down without a fight! As you descended the mountain, the firmness gave way to more typical spring conditions, and at the base there were areas where you were skimming through water to get to the gondola.
Upper Skyward.
The exit from Brookside back to the main base.
The best picture I have of Boreen. You can see the rough area to the left.
The warm temperatures are really starting to eat away at the base in places, but there’s still plenty of snow on a lot of runs around the mountain. Upper Skyward, especially, is in great shape. That said, there were some areas that were pretty rough today, like the exit from Brookside back to the main base, and the left side of Boreen at the very start of the run.
I haven’t decided where i’m skiing tomorrow, but it’ll likely be at Jay Peak or an Ikon resort. However, there are some decent lift ticket deals out there that I might take advantage of. Bolton Valley, for instance, is only $20 if you show a season pass to another mountain. Even with limited terrain, that’s a pretty good deal, so we shall see.
Never Quit Skiing,
Lincoln