<B><I>...from the "people should learn how to ski" department...</I></B> <BR> <BR>We (Jeremy, Betsy, Chris) started the day with hopes of a good ski day @ Whiteface. As we were driving, we theorized about the crowd... would there be a lot of people? Would there be few people? Did everybody ski on Sat. because of the Superbowl? <BR> <BR>Yes. No. No. <BR> <BR>We arrived @ Whiteface, with it's looming glory peaked high above us, only to land in an extremely remote parking lot. Apparently, everybody in NY decided to ski Whiteface on Sun. <BR> <BR>So, we dealt with the crowd. Managed to not have any skiis stolen today by using the "cross-confusion" method of storing skiis in the ski racks. That is, swap skiis with all your buddies and then scatter them throughout the racks! Works like a charm. <BR> <BR>After being herded through the lodge and ticket lines, we finally made our first run around 10:00am. It was OK. The trails were a little scraped off, but definetely skiiable. After a few runs like this, things turned for the worse. All of a sudden, we found ourselves playing a nice game of "dodge the beginner" on diamond runs, which in turn caused a rather severe case of "slope rage". <BR> <BR>I think "Dodge the Beginner" is becoming an olympic sport. <BR> <BR>After a number of runs being cut off by people that can't ski, we went on a quest to find places where the masses weren't. We found it. Would you believe it was the beginner area? There was nearly NOBODY skiing in the beginner slopes. Where were all the beginners? Ummm... on the diamonds! <BR> <BR>Well, at the end of a frustrating day, we overheard rumors from mountain staff that they had broken an all-time record for skier visits. Yay. <BR> <BR>I'd like to try Whiteface again, but when the herd isn't around. Perhaps mid-week. <BR> <BR>--chris
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Whiteface, NY 01-28-01
- Thread starter csb
- Start date
Ditto on the above. I'm a believer in the fact that in order to become a better skier, you need to challenge yourself. But, yesterday at Whiteface, it was downright dangerous because of the crowds. I give the ski patrol credit, as I saw numerous ones around the mountain "keeping watch". Aside from the crowds, I think I would really like Whiteface if I were to try it again-MIDWEEK!. Really challenging terrain, lots of vertical, and a good lift system. Their new goldola ("cloudsplitter") was really nice, but I don't really like enclosed ski lifts so I was a little antsy by the time we got to the top! I'm willing to give it another chance. Now Gore on the other hand.......Think Snow!
Well guys, A good guide might have helped. I did get there and actually got "on snow" by 1:20. They wanted me to park up by the highway but I said I had to pick someone up at Kids Kampus. Parked in an open spot three rows from the lodge and walked to the top of the beginners rope tow faster than five people riding it ahead of me and boogied over to the gondi. Got in the singles line and got on in easily less than 10 cabins with the two main corrals totally full. Usually it takes three times as long with one third the people in line to get on the thing. They really stepped up the gondi and the effective packing of eight in each cabin. I tried your cell phone but it gave me the cellular one out of the area disclaimer. I scrutinized diligently every person who might have been dressed as CSB described to no avail. I even had the lifties post a message at the base of Little Whiteface chair saying I would hang in the summit area looking for you all. <BR> My first run, and only run off the Gondola, was Northway to the 10th Mt. glades. They were the best I have found them this year(they have only been open three times when I was there). I finished out lower Empire and did On Ramp to Lower Mckenzie. Lower Mc was slightly bumped and interesting. Snow was a little stiff on the down side of the moguls but I wasn't noticing very much on my new V21's. They are the Ginsu knives of hardpack. I left my message and made my only run up the Little Whiteface double doing Essex with a cut over to Connector via Excelsior and to lower Cloudspin. Lower Cloudspin was being blasted by snow guns and I skied the right side in the guns in deep soft moguls with no ice or scratchy hardpack on the downsides. The last gun was a tad juicy and I came out looking like a popsicle. Oh well, it wasn't very cold and that run got me sweating. On my first run up the summit I did a full run on Skyward in hopes of being visible that one of you might see me or vice-versa. I jumped in under the summit patrol building and stuck the woods until you have to come out and hugged the right side one half down the top, switching to the far left and finding excellent chopped up crud and loose snow, unusual for that part of the trail. I stopped under the lift crossing and watched people going over for a few minutes and then did a shot along the woods edge of that little island where the big elbow shaped bypass of the headwall under the lift swings way to the left. Again, awesome soft loose snow, for Whiteface. Just ran out the bottom under the chair in hopes of seeing you guys. Next run to the summit I did a full length run on Cloudspin. I didn't detect any grooming since last week but somehow the bumps seemed softer and more manageable. I would stop for long times and watch for people and found the slopes to be pretty unpopulated considering the unbelievable amount of cars in the lots. Niagra headwall was pretty sweet considering the amount of slide-skiing it gets from the skidder types. The best bonus of the day came when I ducked into the pole line on the far left of lower cloudspin, also sometimes known as Victoria's. The snow was simply awesome but the hardest part was coordinating ducking under the main phone trunk line that is barely five feet off the ground where all the snow backfills under it. Shift-edgeset-turn-duck, shift-edgeset-turn-duck. Definitely an unusual rhythm. I then did Peron's run sticking the scrub trees on the outside left of the snowmaking pipes and crossed Excelsior to lower Essex and worked through the woods on an "unofficial" crossover trail to lower Northway only to find the glades closed off. Bummer, did the on ramp-lower Mc run again wanting to catch last run up Little Whiteface and got there cleanly by 3:25. The lift had been closed early and about 20-25 people futilely complained but we could not get last run. Headed back to Kids Kampus and got there about 3:40. <BR>Strangely enough, it was the best five consistent runs I think I have had there this year. Even if I didn't have a season pass it would have been worth $20 for the two hours and 20 minutes I got skiing. In the future, stay away from the face runs on Little Whiteface where most of the clueless like to play downhill racer. I probably could have shown you better lines on most trails that would have minimized the skier claustrophobia effect that can occur at times. You definitely picked one of the worst days crowd wise but being local I have picked up tricks to work around that. Nelsap, join the Dugans and Dabolls at Gore this Saturday. Always great to meet up with fellow enthusiasts whenever possible.