# Whiteface & Gore: 04/09 & 04/10



## riverc0il (Apr 12, 2011)

My first time skiing in New York and I couldn't have picked a better weekend!

















*
Full Reportage*


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## Warp Daddy (Apr 12, 2011)

Nicely done Steve -- what were your impressions ?


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## Warp Daddy (Apr 12, 2011)

Oops saw the full reportage --- missed the citation at first glance .


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## Puck it (Apr 12, 2011)

Warp Daddy said:


> Nicely done Steve -- what were your impressions ?



Need to get back there sometime. I have been trying the last couple of years to meet up with my niece's fiancé.  Weather has not helped with the 6 hour drive.  If I do Warp,  we meet up at Titus too.


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## Warp Daddy (Apr 12, 2011)

Puck it said:


> Need to get back there sometime. I have been trying the last couple of years to meet up with my niece's fiancé.  Weather has not helped with the 6 hour drive.  If I do Warp,  we meet up at Titus too.[/QUOT
> 
> 
> 
> Ok  Deal


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## snoseek (Apr 12, 2011)

Your write up are always excellent. It was interesting to get an outsiders point of view of these areas as I know nothing at all about them but have always been curious. One of these days....


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## roark (Apr 12, 2011)

Nice, been meaning to take a few days over that way for awhile now.


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## deadheadskier (Apr 12, 2011)

Nice!

Never knew you tellied.  Just thought you had AT gear to get up hills.  

Totally jealous.  Hope my experience over there someday is equally as fine.  I salivated looking at those mountains all through college at UVM.  Never made the trip.  Perhaps next season.


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## deadheadskier (Apr 12, 2011)

riverc0il said:


>



curious to hear from the locals.  There appears to be a lot of untracked and very cool terrain above where River is skiing here.  Any reason it wasn't skied?  Off limits?  Too much of a pain to hike too?


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## riverc0il (Apr 12, 2011)

deadheadskier said:


> Never knew you tellied.


I don't. Those are pictures I took of Harv.


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## riverc0il (Apr 12, 2011)

deadheadskier said:


> There appears to be a lot of untracked and very cool terrain above where River is skiing here.  Any reason it wasn't skied?  Off limits?  Too much of a pain to hike too?


Not me skiing but there certainly was terrain worth hiking for above the traverse. But... when you have a chairlift providing you laps during a very limited window, why waste two potential runs hiking for a couple extra vertical feet? There were a lot of low knee chopping conifers higher up... a few lines looked good. Again, it just wasn't worth it. They only had the Slides open for a few hours. I'd rather lap as many as possible rather than hike for just one or two long runs.


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## deadheadskier (Apr 12, 2011)

riverc0il said:


> I don't. Those are pictures I took of Harv.





riverc0il said:


> Not me skiing but there certainly was terrain worth hiking for above the traverse. But... when you have a chairlift providing you laps during a very limited window, why waste two potential runs hiking for a couple extra vertical feet? There were a lot of low knee chopping conifers higher up... a few lines looked good. Again, it just wasn't worth it. They only had the Slides open for a few hours. I'd rather lap as many as possible rather than hike for just one or two long runs.



My bad.  Saw the Black Jacket and it looked similar to the one you had at the Loaf.

I totally get wanting to grab laps when you can.  Exact reason why I was skiing Wildcat this Sunday instead of hoofing it up across the street.

I just look at that photo and see some pretty sweet lines.  Just curious if the locals ski it much.


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## tjf67 (Apr 13, 2011)

Your not allowed to hike up when you get off the lift.  If you want to ski the summit you have to come over the top.  

There is quite a bit more skiing off the ghondi.  Below the Bistro you should have dropped down drappers and through the skiercross. Drapers is as steep as mountain run an the skier cross turns the flats into a challenge.

High country glades?  Empire?
Sorry Mr. Whiteface put the beatdown on ya.  Great report.


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## riverc0il (Apr 13, 2011)

I saw guys dropping in from the top. I think I also recalled the no hiking signs. I wasn't sure if that was enforced but it sounds like it is.

Empire was roped but we skied Cloudspliter Glades to 10th Mountain. I passed on High Country glades due to MacKenzie's bumps being ridiculously off the hook. HPD showed us some better lines that were very tasty. There was no beat down except perhaps my gear beating me down. I should have cranked the DIN after the same type of prerelease happened the last three times on prior days.


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## kcyanks1 (Apr 13, 2011)

tjf67 said:


> Your not allowed to hike up when you get off the lift.  If you want to ski the summit you have to come over the top.



Weird.. I think we've discussed this before, but near when they first opened, you _had to_ hike up from the lift about 20 minutes, and you ended up quite close to the top (although not at the actual top).  I don't think it was an option to go straight in.  I admit though I agree with Steve that it's not worth hiking for a couple hundred more vertical and sacrificing a run during the limited window they are open, so the "new" (years old, I guess) setup is probably better.


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## 2knees (Apr 13, 2011)

Its been a few years since i've met him but was your guide HPD?  looks like him, as far as my crappy memory serves.


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## riverc0il (Apr 13, 2011)

2knees said:


> Its been a few years since i've met him but was your guide HPD?  looks like him, as far as my crappy memory serves.


Yes. It was awesome to get the tour from HPD!


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## takeahike46er (Apr 14, 2011)

deadheadskier said:


> curious to hear from the locals.  There appears to be a lot of untracked and very cool terrain above where River is skiing here.  Any reason it wasn't skied?  Off limits?  Too much of a pain to hike too?



Regarding the terrain-- the headwalls get significantly steeper above the ski traverse, with the upper slabs of #3 and #4 being the steepest.   Since the slides don't extend all the way up from the ridgeline, there are significant amounts of spruce underneath all that snow on the upper flanks.  Line options vary greatly from year to year depending on snowpack and windloading.

Access to the summit is relatively easy with the addition of the lookout chair since it was practically built on top of an existing hiking trail to the summit that traverses along the arête above the slides.


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## tjf67 (Apr 14, 2011)

kcyanks1 said:


> Weird.. I think we've discussed this before, but near when they first opened, you _had to_ hike up from the lift about 20 minutes, and you ended up quite close to the top (although not at the actual top).  I don't think it was an option to go straight in.  I admit though I agree with Steve that it's not worth hiking for a couple hundred more vertical and sacrificing a run during the limited window they are open, so the "new" (years old, I guess) setup is probably better.



Its has been the same entrance since I have been skiing them.  Takes about 5 minutes.  It does seem that they r a lot quicker to get to now and I don't know why.   Above the entrance there is another 700 of vert.  It get considerably steeper and not to many people go up there.


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## campgottagopee (Apr 14, 2011)

tjf67 said:


> Sorry Mr. Whiteface put the beatdown on ya.  Great report.



That place always kills me




riverc0il said:


> Yes. It was awesome to get the tour from HPD!



WHen our crew was there we had HPD the first day then TJ and JackThe Ripper our second day. All great guys to ski WF with....if anyone goes to WF and doesn't try and hook up with these guys, well, you're losin' out.

I try to get them to come to Greek but for some reason they're not interested.....can't imagine why.


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## bvibert (Apr 14, 2011)

Great write ups Steve!  Glad you were able to ski through the pain to get an enjoyable day out of Gore.


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## Warp Daddy (Apr 14, 2011)

Great reportage Steve . Enjoyed your impressions of our 2 Biggies up here in the Dack's . Both have a character all their own . I m afraid at my age the Slides are simply out of the question but i  certainly enjoy the photojournalism about them . 

Gore is my new absolute  Fave .   Nine separate sides with lift venues on 4 mountains  coupled  with 19 glades and nice high speed cruisers  and  pretty kewl vibe  plus a dintinctive learner /novice area  makes it a serious contender .

 Its closer for me  than Tremblant . While some really enjoy the faux french alps village  at Tremblant 
( great for a first visit) there , Gore presents a more laid back and perhaps more authentic  "Dack's flavor". Not knocking Tremblant at all But  9 sides on  4 mtns trumps it , IMO.

But Hey Guys  --    Move along ,nothing to see here --Don't Go  There,   it sux


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## SKidds (Apr 14, 2011)

They do enforce the 'no uphill climbing' rules, so you really shouldn't go above the main traverse.  It is nice up there though.......Last time my brother and I hit the Slides we took what I liked to call the 'high traverse'.  Angle slightly left and up from where the main traverse goes across the top of the Slides and it was relatively easy to gain some additional vertical of untracked.  Some nice lines up that way.  If you look at the picture of the untracked in questions, I'm pretty sure it was that big boulder up and left of photo center that a few guys were hucking.  Musta been a good snow year!  I think I even took some video of the hucks, but never posted it.  Alas, after a couple of "high traverses" my brother got his ticket pulled (fortunately it was the last Slide run of the day, and he probably got nailed cause they were starting the sweep - and further fortunately, by 2:30 in the afternoon they aren't checking tickets on the upper mountain) for having climbed uphill.  They didn't buy the 'high traverse' line of defense I guess......


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## kcyanks1 (Apr 14, 2011)

tjf67 said:


> Its has been the same entrance since I have been skiing them.  Takes about 5 minutes.  It does seem that they r a lot quicker to get to now and I don't know why.   Above the entrance there is another 700 of vert.  It get considerably steeper and not to many people go up there.



I skied them winter of 2000-2001.  There was definitely a real hike up through the woods above the summit quad.  Maybe it was HPD not you who I had the discussion with in the past (on AZ, not in person).


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## SKidds (Apr 14, 2011)

I do recall in the way past, you'd head left off the Quad as you normally do.  Along the ridge and up to the right, there were signs for the Slides where you had to climb up.  I never went in that way, but I can see how it would bring you in further up in the Slides.


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## tjf67 (Apr 14, 2011)

SKidds said:


> I do recall in the way past, you'd head left off the Quad as you normally do.  Along the ridge and up to the right, there were signs for the Slides where you had to climb up.  I never went in that way, but I can see how it would bring you in further up in the Slides.



00-01 the entrance is where it exists now.   Where you are referring to I don't know if you used to go in that way..  It is a much longer slug and you are up higher.

i was talking to a buddy, his wife was skiing with him on Sunday in the slides.  She fell and was whining and then went down and was bragging that they were not that hard.  He said to me "SHe got hurt in slide 4 on a day when 8 year olds were rippin cause the snow was hero".  I got a chuckle out of it.  :flag:


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## riverc0il (Apr 14, 2011)

tjf67 said:


> i was talking to a buddy, his wife was skiing with him on Sunday in the slides.  She fell and was whining and then went down and was bragging that they were not that hard.  He said to me "SHe got hurt in slide 4 on a day when 8 year olds were rippin cause the snow was hero".  I got a chuckle out of it.  :flag:


Slide 4 is the real deal. 3/4 are not slide paths in the traditional sense... lots of trees and the exit to 4 is wild. 8 feet wide, steep, and with an ice bulge. Really cool stuff. I could see someone being disappointed in the lack of difficulty for Slides 1/2 though. 3 is just right, lots of fun but not the complete "who cares" of 1/2.


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## SKidds (Apr 14, 2011)

Slide 2 to where it connects back with Slide 1.....agreed, not very difficult, just like Slide 1 up to the falls.   Those falls, however, if you ski down the them as opposed to going around the side....that's pretty technical stuff.  

Now, if you venture left into the trees as you get down Slide 2, instead of joining back up with Slide 1......that gets you into some pretty technincal trees/steeps, which lead you to the same rock outcroppings you hit at the bottom of Slide 3.  Those trees between 2 and 3 are some nice, fun, difficult skiing.

There is a lot of terrain to play on out there!


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## tjf67 (Apr 14, 2011)

riverc0il said:


> Slide 4 is the real deal. 3/4 are not slide paths in the traditional sense... lots of trees and the exit to 4 is wild. 8 feet wide, steep, and with an ice bulge. Really cool stuff. I could see someone being disappointed in the lack of difficulty for Slides 1/2 though. 3 is just right, lots of fun but not the complete "who cares" of 1/2.



I have the most fun on slide one.  Probably cause I have been in them for years and 4 does not many options. 1 you can do it so many ways. Going down through the water falls is just fun as heck.  I agree that they r not as steep as the chutes out west without a hike up to the top.  In the East though I don't think anything else compares.
You getting hurt made you trip to Gore a bore.  Gore has some very fun terrain. I am sure you could see some of it under the lifts.

you got around the mountain pretty good. Most people could not have covered the terrain you did.


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## kcyanks1 (Apr 14, 2011)

tjf67 said:


> 00-01 the entrance is where it exists now.   Where you are referring to I don't know if you used to go in that way..  It is a much longer slug and you are up higher.



I do think I remember seeing a sign lower down but it was closed, at least the time I was there.  You had to hike.


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## riverc0il (Apr 14, 2011)

tjf67 said:


> You getting hurt made you trip to Gore a bore.  Gore has some very fun terrain. I am sure you could see some of it under the lifts..


Me thinks you need to read all of my Gore report and not just the first two or three paragraphs. :lol: My tour guide showed me most of the trees available from the open lifts and we skied the the steeper lines such as Double Barrel et al. The day was anything but a bore!


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## Harvey (Apr 14, 2011)

The ski days I had with River were highlights of my year. 

River, Jay Peak, Whiteface and Gore. All were the real deal.

It's very cool showing someone your mountain. Makes you realize how much you know about it, and how much you like it.

While I don't know as much about Gore as he does about Jay, we were able to connect with the Gore teletribe, and we hit a big percentage of the important stuff at the summit. 

It was actually funny - at one point Riv was the only guy in our group on fixed heels. Gore is an equalizer in that way. With shorter runs and pods, tele and alpine skiers mix well together.

I don't get to meet too many guys who love to ski as much as you do River. That's one thing we have in common.

:beer:

My pics are here:

*Whiteface, NY: 4/9/11*

*Gore Mtn, NY: 4/10/11*


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## campgottagopee (Apr 15, 2011)

Nice to see NY's big 2 gettin' some love


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## Warp Daddy (Apr 15, 2011)

campgottagopee said:


> Nice to see NY's big 2 gettin' some love



True!!

More of our New England Bro's  need to make the trip and check 'em out . They're worth the effort and provide a nice change of venue . LP has the goods for a fun time and LG near Gore does ok too and North Creek village is coming along with several decent restaurants , watering holes and some decent lodging .

Y'all come on over  !


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## Magog Fishy (Apr 15, 2011)

Warp Daddy said:


> True!!
> 
> More of our New England Bro's  need to make the trip and check 'em out . They're worth the effort and provide a nice change of venue . LP has the goods for a fun time and LG near Gore does ok too and North Creek village is coming along with several decent restaurants , watering holes and some decent lodging .
> 
> Y'all come on over  !



IMHO, I find Lake Placid and Stowe to be the two nicest winter sports towns in the Northeast US – we had a great time in LP; variety of activities, amenities, and restaurants.

The problem with Lake Placid for a lot of New Englanders is that it is very hard to get to – from Boston I drove all the way out to Albany; I think Sugarloaf/Saddleback are even closer; be curious to know if anyone knows of a quicker way from Boston.

Unfortunately I have only skied Whiteface during the 2009 New Year’s ice fest -- think it was 09, might have been 08.   I was very wary that some out of control NYC hot shot was going to take out my knees – I don’t think Lookout Mountain was open; we just lapped the Summit Quad to avoid the lower mountain and Little Whiteface zoo. Would love to get back to Whiteface at some point to experience the Slides.


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## highpeaksdrifter (Apr 15, 2011)

Great spring conditions today. There is still alot of snow on WF.


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