LAPPING THE T-BAR AT MOUNT PISGAH

The view from the top of Mount Pisgah

To wrap up 2024, I decided to spend the afternoon skiing at Mount Pisgah in Saranac Lake, New York. This small ski hill is owned and operated by the town. It has a T-bar, 15 acres of terrain and 329 feet of vertical. Just like Beartown Ski Area, which is a couple of towns over, near Plattsburgh, what Mount Pisgah lacks in size and height, it makes up for in charm. These small ski areas really are a lot of fun and they’re worth checking out for a day or night.

Map of the ski area at the bottom of the hill

Before we dive in to the ski day, I want to reflect a bit on this year in regard to skiing. I skied 136 days in 2024, which is also how many days I skied in the entirety of last ski season. My last day of last year’s ski season was May 18. My first day of this ski season was October 14. It was my shortest off-season ever. My skiing skills have grown a lot this year, particularly on bumps and in the trees, which I’d never really been into prior to last February. All of this to say, 2024 was an awesome year for me on skis and I’m looking forward to 2025.

View from the lodge of the ski area

Inside the lodge

Now, back to today’s ski day. New Year’s Eve is typically a busy time at ski areas, but we’ve just gone through a warm stretch of weather that included some rain and Mount Pisgah only had one run open, so the place was empty. There were under 10 people skiing while I was there, possibly less than five. The ski area was open 10–4 today. I got there at 2. My ticket was $17.

Riding up the t-bar

Another look at the open terrain today

Looking up at White Stag

The snow was a bit on the firmer side in most areas, but you could still hold an edge. Despite there only being 329 feet of vertical, you can actually get quite a lot of speed on the run that was open, which is named White Stag. Coverage on the open terrain was pretty good, but the ski area could definitely use the snow that’s in the forecast for Thursday.

Tomorrow marks the start of 2025 and I believe I’ll be spending the afternoon skiing in Vermont, most likely at Sugarbush.

Talk to you next year! (Corny, I know.)

- Lincoln