SKIING THE BIGGEST SKI AREA IN NEW YORK

For the first time in two years, I headed to North Creek, New York, today to ski Gore Mountain, which is the biggest ski area in New York. Gore doesn’t have the most vertical, that would be Whiteface, but it does have the most skiable terrain. I originally had planned to ski Stratton Mountain in Vermont, but I woke up a little too late for that and decided to pivot to Gore. Fortunately, it was a good call, as I had a great time returning to Gore.

*Just a heads up that I don’t know this mountain well, so most pictures don’t have captions.*

Map of the ski area at the base.

The view from near the top of the gondola.

Gore is run by the state of New York, just like Whiteface, which is my home mountain, and they’re actually both on the SKI3 pass. I, however, don’t have a SKI3 pass. I just have a Whiteface limited season pass. However, you can use your buddy tickets for yourself at Gore and Bellayre, which is the other ski area the state runs, so that’s what I did today. The buddy tickets are free, and that makes this a really nice passholder perk! I used to get the SKI3 pass, but since I started buying the Ikon Base Pass, and the Jay Peak pass, I’ve passed on the SKI3 and just went with the Whiteface only pass.

Gore is a pretty wide ski area, and when I ski here I tend to like to ski mostly everything off one lift/pod before moving on. This really helps me ski as much of the mountain as possible in one day, and while I didn’t ski every open run today, I did cover a lot ground. It’s got a pretty good mix of terrain as well, with great green and blue cruisers, glades, and some steeper runs like Rumor, Lies, 46er, and Chatiemac. There’s a bit of something here for everyone, which is nice.

The lodge at the summit contains the top terminal of the old gondola.

It was a very warm day on the mountain. Temperatures were probably in the 50s, and maybe even low 60s. It was so warm that I didn’t really need my jacket, though I still wore it anyways so I could put my pass in it. I did, however, ditch my gloves. The mountain was empty and I felt like I had the place to myself, especially in the Burnt Ridge and Ski Bowl areas.

Riding the new high speed quad in the Ski Bowl.

46er.

Moxham.

Speaking of the Ski bowl, a new high speed quad has opened up in the Ski Bowl since I last visited and that has really changed how this area skis. I think the Ski Bowl is awesome. 46er and Moxham, especially, are great trails, and I’d love to see Gore expand their twilight skiing from the trails off the beginner lift at the bottom, to the entirety of the Ski Bowl.

Unfortunately, it’s been warm for a number of days now, and the trail count has suffered as a result, but there was still a good amount of terrain open. In total, they had 72 runs, out of 108, open, and all of the main lifts were spinning. Most of the closed terrain was actually glades, of which Gore has a lot of. All but one were marked as closed. I wish I’d made the trip earlier in the season so I could ski their glades, but at this point, it may have to wait until next year, unless we get some big storms.

With it being so warm, the snow was soft and kind of slushy everywhere. At times it was sticky, but it wasn’t too bad. Overall, I'd say coverage was good, but there were thin spots on some of the trails. Some of these can be covered up by groomers, while others may be around until we get more snow. Gore does have a few unfortunately placed flat spots that require some skating and traversing. Despite the soft snow, they really weren’t too bad today, though I did try to avoid them as I always do.

Rumor.

My favorite runs were 46er, Rumor, and Showcase. I love 46er, and being able to lap it on the high speed in the Ski Bowl was nice. The trail starts flat, but the middle part of if it is super steep, and then there’s a fast run out. Rumor is one of the steepest runs in the East, and it always offers up a challenge, but today especially so, with big bumps up top and some rock to avoid. Showcase runs under the Adirondack Express II high speed quad, and it was great to cruise down today. Unfortunately, since the mountain wasn’t very busy, there weren’t many people on the lift to witness my amazing carving, but it is what it is.

Never Quit Skiing,

Lincoln