Powderqueen
New member
The Slides at Whiteface aren't open very often. In 2008 I was lucky enough to ski them for the first time. They didn't open last year and they would not have opened this past week if it wasn't for that big dump we got last week.
The Slides are pretty exciting skiing. They are wild and gnarly and they require skiers to use all their skills.
It was a cold morning so we didn't go for a super early start, though we did get on the snow before 10. We packed up lunch and beer in a backpack, so our first run was down to Wilderness to drop off our sustenance at the mid mountain lodge.
At this point I got a text from Chuck who said they just opened the slides, so up we went.
Our first run was Slide 3, since it was still early and this #3 seems to get the most sun. We climbed up and traversed over and came upon a group of young guys, some skiers, some snowboarders clogging up the entrance of Slide 3. One of them couldn't keep his ski on his ski boot. His friends took off and left him as we watched he and his skis and poles slide down the first narrow chutes into Slide 3. Mark offered to help and noticed his 15+ year old skis were set at a DIN of 5. He said he hadn't had them checked in 10 years (when he was probably a child), and now he weighed 200lbs and 6 feet tall. Mark adjusted them and it enabled him to get down.
Once we got past this guy, Slide 3 opened up nicely
Slide 2 is kind of amorphic and has a lot of small trees and tight squeezes.
Mark at the bottom of Slide 2
Slide 1 is the most wide open and has some nice soft snow
Slide 1 also has a huge waterfall, which was quite tricky to maneuver and required mandatory air.
Slide 4 was our favorite. There's a tricky traverse over slides 1, 2 and 3. Slide 4 starts off pretty open with some soft sweet turns.
Mark dropping into slide 4
Half way down it narrows down considerably.
Mark in the narrows.
We pick our way down though tight trees and blind turns and then we come a horizon line.
Slide 4 waterfall
We did 4 runs in the slides between 10:30-2pm and were ready to crack a beer and eat some lunch at Mid Mountain.
After lunch we decided to head over to Lookout Mountain to check out the new terrain.
Wilmington Trail
Lookout Below had big soft bumps and was a lot of fun
This sign made us very sad since it was 3pm when we got there.
The Sugar Valley glade looked pretty awesome and we were greatly disappointed to have missed it.
The day flew by and the lifts close at an early 3:30. The Cloudspin deck was rockin, but we by-passed the deck party for a tailgate with our own beer, snacks and lawn chairs.
Whiteface is an incredible mountain that has kept me challenged ever since I've been there. My best days there have been in the spring when the sun was shining and the temps were over 32. It can be a tough mountain mid-winter and when it snows, usually the wind blows. I think I will likely continue the Whiteface pilgrimage in the spring for years to come.
The Slides are pretty exciting skiing. They are wild and gnarly and they require skiers to use all their skills.
It was a cold morning so we didn't go for a super early start, though we did get on the snow before 10. We packed up lunch and beer in a backpack, so our first run was down to Wilderness to drop off our sustenance at the mid mountain lodge.
At this point I got a text from Chuck who said they just opened the slides, so up we went.
Our first run was Slide 3, since it was still early and this #3 seems to get the most sun. We climbed up and traversed over and came upon a group of young guys, some skiers, some snowboarders clogging up the entrance of Slide 3. One of them couldn't keep his ski on his ski boot. His friends took off and left him as we watched he and his skis and poles slide down the first narrow chutes into Slide 3. Mark offered to help and noticed his 15+ year old skis were set at a DIN of 5. He said he hadn't had them checked in 10 years (when he was probably a child), and now he weighed 200lbs and 6 feet tall. Mark adjusted them and it enabled him to get down.
Once we got past this guy, Slide 3 opened up nicely
Slide 2 is kind of amorphic and has a lot of small trees and tight squeezes.
Mark at the bottom of Slide 2
Slide 1 is the most wide open and has some nice soft snow
Slide 1 also has a huge waterfall, which was quite tricky to maneuver and required mandatory air.
Slide 4 was our favorite. There's a tricky traverse over slides 1, 2 and 3. Slide 4 starts off pretty open with some soft sweet turns.
Mark dropping into slide 4
Half way down it narrows down considerably.
Mark in the narrows.
We pick our way down though tight trees and blind turns and then we come a horizon line.
Slide 4 waterfall
We did 4 runs in the slides between 10:30-2pm and were ready to crack a beer and eat some lunch at Mid Mountain.
After lunch we decided to head over to Lookout Mountain to check out the new terrain.
Wilmington Trail
Lookout Below had big soft bumps and was a lot of fun
This sign made us very sad since it was 3pm when we got there.
The Sugar Valley glade looked pretty awesome and we were greatly disappointed to have missed it.
The day flew by and the lifts close at an early 3:30. The Cloudspin deck was rockin, but we by-passed the deck party for a tailgate with our own beer, snacks and lawn chairs.
Whiteface is an incredible mountain that has kept me challenged ever since I've been there. My best days there have been in the spring when the sun was shining and the temps were over 32. It can be a tough mountain mid-winter and when it snows, usually the wind blows. I think I will likely continue the Whiteface pilgrimage in the spring for years to come.
:-o 
, hard enough keeping track on how many times out on the boards .
