SKIING THE GREATEST ARTIFICIAL SNOW EVER
Looking down Upper Northway.
I think I skied the greatest artificial snow ever this afternoon at Whiteface. The snow was found on Upper Northway, which opened for the season today with whales on it. They were still making snow on the trail so it was constantly being refilled. The snow quality was extremely high, particularly from halfway down the run to the merger with Lower Northway. If you’d told me it was deep natural powder I would’ve believed you.
The view from Little Whiteface today.
The view from the top of Upper Skyward.
All of the main lifts were spinning and the mountain wasn’t too busy for a Friday. They had around 70 runs open. Upper Thruway, Upper Parkway and Draper’s Drop were all closed for racing. While it was cold, it wasn’t as cold today as it’s been this week and there was once again no wind. The sun was out at times and visibility was good.
A snow gun running at the top of Upper Northway.
River Run.
Essex.
I skied with Wild Bill and we hit Upper Northway four or five times total. In hindsight, we probably should’ve skied it all afternoon, but we decided to check out some other runs. Upper Northway’s neighbor Essex was in a similar state, though the snow quality wasn’t quite as good. Upper and Lower Skyward were both pretty firm when I skied them, but there were pockets of wind blown powder all around the trail to help give you some grip. Yellow Dot is open and coverage is good. The exit has some snowmaking pipe showing, but it’s avoidable. The Wilmington Trail was slick. There’s not much else to say about that.
Whales at the base of the mountain.
There were snow guns running all over the mountain and the whales associated with them were massive in some instances. Sometimes artificial snow can be quite sticky to ski through, but that wasn’t the case today. The snow was very dry and you could just cruise right through it.
The view on the Wilmington Trail today.
This weekend I’m heading east to ski in New Hampshire and Maine. I've never skied in either state so this weekend will be full of new ski experiences. I’m looking forward to it! As of now, I’m planning to ski Sunday River in Maine. I’m still not settled on where to ski in New Hampshire. I’d really like to visit Wildcat, because the weather is supposed to be great on Saturday, but their trail count is low compared to other mountains in the region.
-Lincoln