SKIING WHITEFACE MOUNTAIN IN 2026
Today, for the first time in two weeks, I skied at the East’s greatest vertical ski area. I arrived at Whiteface Mountain in the afternoon, after work, and got several hours of turns in. I’d been away for two weeks due to skiing elsewhere, as well as my pass being blacked out for the holidays. My blackout period ended yesterday, and it was nice to finally return to the mountain. I must say, a lot has changed in two weeks!
View today from Little Whiteface.
With it being January 2, and a Friday, the mountain was fairly busy. The upper mountain lifts had no lines, but the wait for the gondola was a couple of minutes. The horror. Most of the crowd stuck to the blue runs off the gondola and the green and blue runs lower down on the mountain. This meant that you could find some peace and solitude on the expert terrain off the gondola, as well as off the summit and Lookout Mountain.
Mountain Run.
Upper Thruway.
Upper Northway.
Speaking of Lookout Mountain, it opened during my two-week hiatus. This part of Whiteface once took an eternity to open, but times have changed, and in the last two seasons, it’s opened around the holidays, which is awesome! Not only did they get The Wilmington Trail open, but they also got Lookout Below open, though it wasn’t open today, likely due to conditions.
Riding the lift up Lookout Mountain.
The Wilmington Trail.
The Wilmington Trail.
The snow surface this afternoon was mostly packed powder, but certain spots, on some runs, with high traffic, were pretty well scraped. This would include parts of Excelsior, Summit Express and the last hill of Lower Valley. There were also some runs with large icy spots, like the middle of the lower part of Upper Northway. Fortunately, the edges had lots of snow to play in. My run of the day was probably The Wilmington Trail. Normally, this run can be pretty icy in the afternoon, but today it was all packed powder, and it was amazing!
View from the Summit Quad.
Looking down Paron’s Run.
Little Whiteface seen from the bottom of Paron’s Run.
Late in the afternoon, I headed to the summit for a run. I chose to ski The Follies. The run was fine, but the views and lighting were gorgeous. With the Winter Solstice in the rearview mirror, the days are getting longer, which is nice, but I’d be lying if I said I won’t miss skiing off the summit during golden hour in the coming weeks, as the sun sets later and later.
Never Quit Skiing,
Lincoln