DECEMBER IS OFF TO A GREAT START FOR SKIING AT WHITEFACE
Conditions today at Whiteface were phenomenal. It was truly a great day of early season skiing. That’s not me trying to be positive, it’s the truth. Everything above mid-mountain skied well and some runs were incredible.
I got to the mountain this morning at 9:45 and met up with Pro Skier Darren White, AKA “The Monster” and “The East’s Most Decorated Skier,” for a day of skiing. He had intentionally waited until today to ski at Whiteface, hoping for fewer crowds and better conditions and I think he got just that. We rode up the gondola to start the day and spent most of our day high up on the mountain.
There was a lot of terrain that opened today, including Essex in full, as well as a bunch of runs down low on the mountain, allowing us to ski top to bottom. Essex was a surprise. When we got off the lift, Pro Skier Darren White said, “Wait, is Essex open?!” and, sure enough, it was.
Essex is a black diamond run right off the top of Excelsior at the top of Little Whiteface. While it’s generally nothing to get excited about mid-winter, early season it’s something different and, today, it was fantastic. The snow was great from the top to the bottom, with soft spots here and there. As soon as we reached the bottom of the run, we both said it was a must-do again.
They were spinning the gondola, Face Lift, Little Whiteface Lift and the Summit Quad today. For the first time this season, you did not have to download; you could ski to the base. However, the snow guns were running on the freshly opened trails from the mid-mountain Legacy Lodge to the base. As a result, the snow was a little sticky both in terms of skiing and your goggles. For that reason, we only skied down once to check it out and then again at the end of the day. The open trails to get from mid-mountain to the base were Boreen, Bobcat and Porcupine Pass. The Notch lift did not spin today.
All of the good skiable terrain was really off the Summit Quad, as has been the case all season. With the addition of Excelsior yesterday, Essex today and some connector trails at the bottom of Lower Northway and Excelsior, there’s starting to be more options for runs and it was great! As mentioned, everything above mid-mountain skied well, so I won’t get into specifics on any runs. Just know that Pro Skier Darren White and I had smiles on our face all day.
Lastly, they were making snow in a variety of places on the mountain, including on Easy Street, around the Legacy Lode, Boreen, Bobcat, Porcupine Pass and Brookside. It’s likely that snow was being made on other trails too, particularly in the Bear Den Learning Center area.
Talk to you tomorrow!
- Lincoln