MORE TERRAIN OPENS AT WHITEFACE
The strong start to the season continued today at Whiteface with the opening of Upper Northway. Folks, this run basically never opens before late January and most of the time it’s probably going to open in February. But this year? How about December 3! You love to see it. This run is a better version of its neighbor Essex. Both runs are black diamonds, but I find Upper Northway to hold snow better and I overall just enjoy skiing it more.
Upper Northway.
Last year, the first day that Upper Northway opened, I declared the run to have the greatest artificial snow I’d ever skied. That’s still true to this day. Whatever the snowmakers did last year to get that run open was incredible. This year, while not as great as last year, the snow on Upper Northway was still really great for skiing on its opening day. They were still making snow and the snow was soft, forgiving, deep and great to carve through. Chefs kiss.
Paron’s Run.
Lower Northway.
They were spinning five lifts, including one of the carpets, which all told provided access to 31 runs. Yesterday, that number was 26 runs. It snowed a few inches yesterday, and that powder was today’s packed powder. Conditions were great all around the mountain, except on the left side of Paron’s Run around the Cloudspin entrance. All of that snow must’ve blown off somewhere, and my guess (hope?) is on to Cloudspin. I guess we’ll have to wait and see on that.
Essex.
Victoria.
Upper Valley.
Another run that was a little slick in spots was Victoria, which had its whales pushed last night, but you could still find some decent snow on the edges. Upper Northway was my run of the day, but Essex was also skiing well too. They were making snow on it and, as a result, conditions were very similar. As a side note, the natural part of The Follies was open. I didn’t venture in, though.
Whales on Fox.
As I mentioned, they were making snow in a lot of places around the mountain, including Approach, Essex, Upper Northway, Excelsior, Lower Valley, Fox, Deer and Bear. Lower Valley and Fox have some big whales on them and there were groomers working on them, so I think those will be open soon. They’ve got snow guns staged on Mountain Run, so I’d say that’s where the Whiteface snowmakers are headed next.
Never Quit Skiing,
Lincoln