Gore Mountain, 2023-2024 Season

NELSAP

Looking forward to the 2023-2024 season at Gore. Starting the thread now to get things started, as there was a cool shot this morning on the live webcam I noticed, with a deer right in front of the cam.

Treilly

Skied there for the first time in about 15 years last season. After skiing Michigan mile hills I had forgotten just how big and spread out Gore was. I am hoping to get back again this season

ADKskier

NELSAP;d-4029 wroteLooking forward to the 2023-2024 season at Gore. Starting the thread now to get things started, as there was a cool shot this morning on the live webcam I noticed, with a deer right in front of the cam.

So Jer,

What makes Gore your favorite besides you living nearby? You could go to Mount Snow, You could do Stratton, or Bromley which are just a bit further. Gore was my first big mountain experience and Its remained ingrained and my favorite since.

ski_it

I know you said besides, but looks like Gore is an hour closer than MS and under an hour. That’d be a big a factor if it was me. Then you’d probably need one of new fangled mega passes too for a couple of those

ADKskier

ski_it;c-61283 wroteI know you said besides, but Looks like Gore is an hour closer than MS and under an hour. That’d be a big a factor if it was me. Then you’d probably need one of new fangled mega passes too for a couple of those

Yeah true, closest big mountain but I meant what draws him there the most. Gore skis incredibly large and for the most part they took care of the flats that I dealt with as a young kid in the 90s. You can move about the mountain pretty effortlessly now and avoid these areas. I grew up riding the red gondola and doing laps Hawkeye and Lies or after lunch on North Quad and Tahawus and Pete Gay. For me it was the "POD" design Gore has. Im just spitballing here of what I like. I do wish North Creek was more vibrant.

NELSAP

ADKskier;c-61276 wrote
NELSAP;d-4029 wroteLooking forward to the 2023-2024 season at Gore. Starting the thread now to get things started, as there was a cool shot this morning on the live webcam I noticed, with a deer right in front of the cam.

So Jer,

What makes Gore your favorite besides you living nearby? You could go to Mount Snow, You could do Stratton, or Bromley which are just a bit further. Gore was my first big mountain experience and Its remained ingrained and my favorite since.

Hi Rich, a few reasons why it ranks so highly for me - it's easy to get to (I'm 1 min from an exit off Rte 87, and then after Warrensburg it's mostly 55mph). They've done a lot of improvements in the last 5-10 years, the snowmaking/grooming/lodges are so much better than they were. A lot of my friends ski there on weekends, which is when I mostly ski now. The season pass provides summer access to lifts, all included. And, as others have said, the area is just plain huge....some many different lift pods. Finally the views are spectacular, especially towards the High Peaks.

There are also many other mountains that I love as well, and try to hit up as often as I can. Usually, distance is the limiting factor.

NELSAP

The view this morning on their webcam is quite beautiful, just wanted to share it.

ciscokid

Nice picture!

1 minute off 87? How’s the noise?

Treilly

ciscokid;c-62367 wroteNice picture!

1 minute off 87? How’s the noise?

Closer to 40 mins off of I 87. All you hear is other skiers, maybe the lifts and snow guns if they are running.

NELSAP

I think Rich was saying that he lived 1 min off 87. I do as well, 87 is about 800' behind my house, though it's all woods back there. You can hear it, but it's more of a dull roar and we're so accustomed to it that it doesn't even register. The trees help block out the sound. When there is snow on the ground, even better, especially if fresh, in which case it dampens almost all the sound. Living 2 min from the highway exit, yet surrounded by woods is a great benefit to us, easy to get anywhere. And we can walk to Scotty's Diner at Exit 16, if any of you have ever been there.

Treilly

That makes sense. I misunderstood the comment.

ciscokid

Treilly;c-62375 wroteThat makes sense. I misunderstood the comment.

I’m a hard one to understand lol

Makes a big difference if you’re on the east or west side of the road too. Normal west wind “blows” the noise east.
Just turn the fan on high to drown it out.
Nice convenience though.

NELSAP

Gore just announced they are opening this Sat with 40 acres/6 trails and the ADK Express, North Quad, and Gondola in operation.

newpylong

Is it typical to run both the gondy and Adirondack Express for 1 run down the front early on?

z1000307470

It is ORDA - there is nothing typical
from the Gore report:
"For the opening weekend, we plan to offer lift access on the Northwoods Gondola, Adirondack Express, and The North Quad. Intermediate and advanced skiers and riders can hit the Ruby Run, Tahawus, Showcase, Upper Sleighride, 2b, and The Arena."

The only run off the gondola is Ruby Run (green), but no other greens are available. Maybe they are expecting crowds.

NELSAP

The gondola does allow for a few extra options, like z1000307470 said for Ruby Run, which can give skiers 1700' vertical runs to the bottom, or a 950' vertical descent to the bottom of the North Quad, in addition to the 733' North Quad vertical, and 1494' vertical off the Adirondack Express. So at least a few options to mix it up. The long range pattern looks cold so things should expand soon. They also usually open up Quicksilver as one of the first runs but aren't doing that this year. I suspect it's because overuse on that trail leads it be skied off rather quickly in the early season on the sections of the trail that are narrow and have a quick drop.

newpylong

I haven't been in years but the two very odd things I've noticed in the high level following I've had for Gore is the lack of consistently covering both Fairview and Pete Gay. When you essentially only have Ruby Run to get down out of Northwoods to one side and Foxlair on the other side, it would seem critical to me to have another reliable option down off the Gondola, even if it a little steep.

Then on the North Quad side Pete's that is the only Green Run. I seem to remember them moving all of those older HKD SV10s onto that trail a few years back after replacing them with new Impulses somewhere else. Without this they have to rely on natural cover on the entire pod except Sleeping Bear and Tahawus. The pipe on Powder Pass and Northstar was surplus Victaulic from Whiteface and it's never worked from what I was told.

NELSAP

I'm in agreement with Fairview and Pete Gay. Fairview is a lot of fun - feels like a freefall going down its ~200' vertical. Pete Gay is a great trail in its own right and has good snowmaking-it's just never used. Upper Steilhang got a makeover last year and was widened to allow grooming and better snowmaking, which it really never has received. I'm also guessing that last year's focus on the World University Games diverted some attention to snowmaking so maybe this year it will be different.

It was good to see consistent snowmaking/grooming last year on Lower Uncas which is a hidden gem, especially when freshly groomed.

newpylong

I always forget that the Steilhangs have snowmaking, never really used right? I remember reading on the ski blog about creating the new entrance between Upper and Lower to help with this.

NELSAP

I've almost never seen snowmaking on either. The upper one is open on a regular basis with natural snow. It tends to get bumped up, but isn't steep. It is narrow and does have a few tricky sections once skied out. Lower part, I've only been down once in the spring. It would be a great alternate to Hullaballo and Lower Darby. Would love to see North Star and Powder Pass open more often too. Little Dipper is another fun intermediate trail that has snowmaking but I've never seen it made on it. Another change is that last year they made snow on Upper Sleighride for the first time in a long time.