DAY 1!

After six long months, I clicked into the bindings again and skied today! Despite it being my home mountain, this was actually my first time skiing at Whiteface Ski Area since late last March, due to a number of factors. I spent the end of last season mostly skiing on the weekends at Jay Peak, Bolton Valley and Stowe. However, today was opening day for Whiteface and it was also opening day for me.

Looking up at Whiteface Mountain from the access road today.

Whiteface opened at 10 AM and while it would’ve been nice to be there for first chair, I had some stuff I needed to take care of this morning, so I got there around 11:30. It actually worked out better this way. More on that later.

Like last year, Whiteface opened with all of its skiable terrain being off the Summit Quad. You accessed the Summit Quad via uploading and downloading on the Face Lift. This really isn’t a big deal and I'm glad to see them do it. I’d rather be skiing sooner than later and this allows that to happen. They had eight runs open, which really equated to two ways down. Right off the summit you could take Paron’s Run or The Follies and then, a little ways down, you could take Excelsior or Lower Northway. It was nice to see Excelsior open on opening day. This run gets a lot of use, and by mid-season you've skied it a million times, but it is a fun run nonetheless.

Whiteface drew a big crowd for opening day and I had to park in the dreaded Wilmington Lot, which is a lot up by the main entrance to the ski area. To be honest, I hate parking here. It’s a long walk, there’s a big hill…I could go on. It’s not really that big of a deal. I just hate parking there. Anyway, once I saw the parking situation I knew the mountain was busy.

When I got there, there was no line for the Face Lift and I was able to hop right on and head up to the Summit Quad. As I exited the Face Lift, I met up with Ryan from Vermont, who I skied with on closing day at Jay Peak last year. Our first run or two together, the line for the Summit Quad was pretty long, around 30 minutes. After those first few runs, the mountain started to clear out and it was a short wait for the ride up to 4,386 ft.

For opening day, the coverage was excellent on all of the open terrain. There were some icy areas here and there, but overall, the snow was good as well. I especially enjoyed the bumps at the bottom of Paron’s Run going in to Ilmar’s Alley, which were very soft. Opening day can be interesting, conditions-wise, but I think Whiteface did an amazing job this year. Kudos to everyone who made it happen.

I’m so excited the off-season has come to an end. RIP, you will not be missed. Okay, there were some good moments, but winter is everything. That’s just the truth.

Whiteface is open tomorrow and I do plan to ski, but the weather may be iffy, so we will see how that goes. After tomorrow, they plan to spin the lifts again next Friday. Daily skiing will start on Nov. 28, which means you can expect daily posts here beginning then. For now, posts will be limited to Fridays and the weekends.

Never Quit Skiing,

Lincoln

OPENING DAY OF THE 2025-2026 SKI SEASON AT WHITEFACE

2025-2026 SKI SEASON PLANS