SKIING CLOUDSPIN IN EARLY DECEMBER AT WHITEFACE!

To make a long story short, I had to be at Whiteface this morning for work so I was there pretty early by my standards for a Friday. I got to the mountain, knocked out my work and then it was time to ski. I met up with Wild Bill for the third time this week and let’s just say it was a bad day to be Cloudspin at Whiteface.

Today was the first day that the Bear Den Learning Center was open, which means it was the first day that the Falcon Flyer and The Notch lifts were spinning. It was a big day! On top of those lifts, they were also spinning the gondola, Summit Quad and the Face Lift.

During the morning hours, Lower Northway was closed for racing. I don’t know if Essex was or not. There was no closed sign at the top, but there was a rope halfway across the run. However, at the Excelsior cut, there was a closed sign. It was kind of confusing, but I assumed it was just closed. They were also racing on Brookside this morning, although the trail was not closed to the public.

Thanks to snow that just seems to keep coming right now, Whiteface was able to open up Cloudspin and Niagara yesterday. Cloudspin was the start of the men’s downhill during the 1980 games and is now a natural-snow only trail. They can’t make snow on the trail as of now, but that could change in the future, I’ve heard. I didn’t ski yesterday so it was the first thing I wanted to ski off the Summit Quad post-work.

Today was supposed to be a cold day on the mountain, but I didn’t find it to be too bad, even on the long ride up to the summit. It probably helped that there wasn't much wind. Cloudspin was open via the Paron’s Cut, which is a marked cut through some trees on Paron’s Run. The snow on Cloudspin was fantastic, but the trail was a bit rocky at times by the time we reached it. I probably hit five or six in my one trip down it. No damage done, though!

Once we exited Cloudspin it was time to ski Niagara. Niagara will have snow made on it later this season, but for now it’s natural snow only. Like Cloudspin, there was plenty of powder on it. Unlike Cloudspin, there were really no rocky areas to worry about. Once we got down Niagara it was time to ski Victoria, which also opened earlier this week. They made snow on Victoria and it’s blended quite well with the natural stuff. All week long skiers left has been full of powder and today was no different. There were people skiing Lower Skyward via Yellow Dot, but I never made it there today myself.

There were some other notable trails on the mountain today as well. Essex was once again loaded with powdery snow, although the top part had some firm spots. I thought Excelsior was excellent both times I went down it. The trail has finally been fully groomed out and the packed powder made for a nice time. The trails to the base of the mountain, below the mid-mountain Legacy Lodge, all skied well today too. You could really just cruise down the mountain today from top to bottom if you wanted to.

Overall, today was a really nice day on the mountain. I’ll be skiing at Smuggler’s Notch in Vermont tomorrow. It will be my first day spent not skiing at Whiteface this season.

Talk to you tomorrow,

-Lincoln