WIND HOLDS GALORE AT WHITEFACE

It was a windy day at Whiteface and basically all of the lifts, except maybe the carpets down low, went on wind hold at one time or another, especially in the morning and early afternoon. I ski after work during the week, which puts me on the mountain in the afternoons, so as I watched the wind holds continue, I contemplated staying home, but in the end I decided to go. As a result, I was rewarded with multiple lifts coming off wind hold before the day was over.

Riding the Face Lift.

Boreen.

When I got there, the only chairlifts spinning were Warhorse, Falcon Flyer and the Freeway Lift. As I walked out on to the snow after getting ready, the Face Lift opened, then shortly after The Notch started spinning, and then a bit later the gondola was up and running. It was nice to get a few laps in on the gondola, because with temperatures in the low single digits at the base, and strong winds, it was a fairly cold day on the mountain.

The view from Little Whiteface.

Terrain roped off for racing.

Lower Thruway.

With some upper mountain lifts not spinning, and part of the runs off Little Whiteface closed, terrain was limited today. Of course the summit and Lookout Mountain weren’t open, and off Little Whiteface, Approach was closed, and while you could access some of the terrain off Approach via the Freeway Lift, multiple runs were closed for racing, including Upper Thruway (Lower Parkway could be accessed via Burton’s Cut), Parkway, and Draper’s Drop. It’s going to stay this way for some time, as these trails are set to be closed for around a week, beginning tomorrow, for racing.

Essex.

Upper Wilderness.

Lower Wilderness.

While I got there in the afternoon, thanks to all of the wind holds, there was ample corduroy waiting for me around the mountain. Overall, the snow was pretty nice, with packed powder conditions, though there were some windswept spots up high, including at the top of Essex, which was particularly icy down the middle. Upper Wilderness was probably the most interesting run today. You could access it from the cut up high on Mountain Run. It was groomed at the very top, and then down the right side a ways. In the middle, there were whales. Halfway down, the groom cut across the whales and it was groomed down on the left side, with whales to the right.

I’m off work next week to ski and I’ve got a really fun week planned. Over the next few days, I'll probably ski around northern New York and Vermont, and then early next week I’ll be hitting the road and heading to New Hampshire and Maine. I’m planning to ski at Wildcat, Sunday River, Sugarloaf and maybe Cannon. I’ve never skied Sugarloaf or Cannon before, so I’m extra excited to visit those.

Never Quit Skiing,

Lincoln