SKIING THROUGH LOW VISIBILITY AT WHITEFACE MOUNTAIN
The first real warm up of the season has arrived in the northern reaches of the East. We had an incredible run, with lots of cold and snow to start the season, but all good things must come to an end. At least, that’s what people say. As a result of the warm up, there was a little bit of everything coming out of the sky at Whiteface Mountain today. Up high, visibility was low and there was moisture freezing to my goggles. The low visibility combined with the freezing moisture was pretty annoying, I can’t lie.
Low visibility at the top of Little Whiteface.
Low visibility on Excelsior and Ilmar’s Alley.
Low visibility on Upper Northway.
Snow conditions varied depending on where you were on the mountain. Like yesterday, some runs had some slicks spots, such as Approach and Essex, while other runs had soft and forgiving snow. The snow wasn’t sloppy anywhere today, although that could happen tomorrow or Friday with warmer temperatures and rain expected. With the low visibility up high, I found myself really having to pay attention to the snow surface, especially with the thin layer of ice that kept forming. Fortunately, my gloves have a squeegee on them, but it’s not ideal to have to constantly clear my goggles during a run.
View from the gondola at the base.
Upper Parkway.
There was a risk for wind today, but while I was there all of the six lifts they’d plan to spin were spinning. That’s not to say it wasn’t windy. On a couple of my rides up the gondola, the cabin moved around quite a bit, and there was even one time I was worried my skis may blow out of the holder on the exterior of the door. Fortunately, that didn’t happen.
Victoria.
Some of my favorite runs today were Upper Northway, Victoria and Mountain Run. I skied all of them on the left side and the snow in that area was great on all three. There were whales on some trails today, including Excelsior, Boreen and the bottom of Brookside. These runs all skied fine, but for whatever reason I avoided each after going down them once. I guess I just wasn’t in the mood for whale watching this afternoon.
Never Quit Skiing,
Lincoln