SKIING HUGE WHALES AT WHITEFACE MOUNTAIN
It’s January 5 and both Upper Skyward and The Wilmington Trail are open at Whiteface. That’s pretty darn impressive. It used to take the mountain until the end of January to get Skyward open, and then another week or so in February to get The Wilmington Trail open. But not this year. It’s a testament to the mountain’s recent investment in snowmaking, as well as how good of a start to the winter we’ve had here in northern New York, with persistent cold and snow.
Speaking of cold and snow, it was another cold day on the mountain, but there wasn’t much in the way of wind, so I actually didn’t find it to be too bad. Snow started to fall around the time I got to the mountain, and it looks like they’ll probably pick up several inches overnight. Tomorrow should be really nice.
Sign at the summit before entering Upper Skyward.
Upper Skyward.
Looking up Upper Skyward.
Upper Skyward.
Upper Skyward actually opened for the season yesterday, but I was skiing elsewhere, so today was my first day on it. Upper Skyward was used for the women’s downhill during the 1980 games. It’s steep, long and, for some reason, extremely wide. It’s practically a boulevard. I’d say most would agree that it’s the premiere groomed run at Whiteface. If someone asks me when they should go to Whiteface during the season, I'll usually tell them they’ll want to be there when Skyward is open.
Niagara.
Victoria.
Whale on Victoria.
Whale on Victoria.
The lower part of Skyward was not open today, so the route for the trail was Upper Skyward to Niagara, and then down Victoria and back to the main connector trails for the mountain. All three of those runs were covered in whales, and they were still making snow on Upper Skyward and Niagara. The whales on Victoria were notably tall, and it was awesome to ski on and around them. Upper Skyward and Niagara weren't really bumped up too much, but the left side of Victoria was. As for Lower Skyward, it’s actually already been open a bit with natural snow this season, but there are whales on it and they were making snow on it this afternoon.
Essex.
Upper Northway.
Upper Northway.
While skiing Skyward was fun, I actually thought the best snow today was off Little Whiteface, on Essex and Upper Northway. Both of these had some pockets of powder, though there were firm spots here and there, as was the case around the mountain. Other runs I thought skied well were The Wilmington Trail and Draper’s Drop.
Never Quit Skiing,
Lincoln