SKIING OPENING WEEKEND AT WHITEFACE MOUNTAIN

Today was the first Saturday of the new ski season. It was day 2 for Whiteface and day 3 for me. I started my day with a tour of Whiteface’s snowmaking facilities led by Aaron Kellett, general manager of Whiteface Ski Area. My friend Chris and I run a Facebook group called Whiteface Conditions – A group for Whiteface skiers and riders, which, as it sounds, is a group where we discuss conditions on the mountain. Anyway, Chris and I reached out to Kellett in October to see if he’d be interested in hosting a snowmaking tour for members of the group and he agreed. It was an interesting look at the snowmaking operation at Whiteface. About 20 people from the group showed up for the tour and they all seemed to think it was a neat experience, as did I!

Now to the skiing. I’m going to be honest. If you read yesterday’s post, you’ve read today’s post. Not much changed from yesterday to today. It was a beautiful day on the mountain. The sun was out and it wasn’t too cold. We were once again uploading via the Face Lift, skiing off the Summit Quad and then downloading via Face Lift. Today was a little busier than yesterday, because today was a Saturday. Unlike yesterday, which was a season pass holder day, the mountain was open to the public. Tickets are $65 this weekend.

We were skiing the same runs as yesterday: Paron’s Run to Lower Northway and Summit Express. Conditions were once again soft in the sun on Paron’s and firm down low in the shade on Lower Northway. Snowmaking was occurring on the Follies and maybe another spot or two. It’s hard to tell from the entrance and exit of The Follies, but it appears to be coming along quite nicely. Hopefully we can get that in play for next weekend.

I’ll be skiing tomorrow and I suspect it’ll likely be a similar experience. The mountain will close after tomorrow (the 17th) for the week. I assume it’ll re-open next weekend, but, meanwhile, I may go up to Canada to ski mid-week after work.

-Lincoln