Skiing Trip to Vermont

SUMMARY:
TBD - Converting all the old trip reports into this blog

Mike Bowen, Teena Bowen

Skiing Gore Mountain

Trip Report: Gore Mountain Ski Trip 
Dates: February 11, 2000 - February 13, 2000
Details:

We drove to Gore Mountain on Friday, 2/11/2000. Stayed at the "Inn on Gore Mountain" - approx 1/4 mile from Gore entrance (although the literature says it's 500' - 800') on Friday & Saturday nights. Skied on Saturday, and drove back to Rochester on Sunday morning.  Travel time is approximately 4 hours, including stopping for bio breaks.
We woke up at 6:15 am Sat, drove into town to get breakfast at Marsha's Family Restaurant - it was recommended to us by the Inn owner. We arrived at Gore mountain to ski by 7:50am. Unknown to us, Gore Mountain has free lockers that skiers can throw a padlock onto. Since we got there early enough, Teena grabbed a locker while I went to the ski store to buy a padlock ($9.00!!!). Although expensive, it was less of a hassle to deal with since we would've easily used up 3 of the PUNY lockers they had. Not only that, but we expected to revisit the locker later in the day to change into warmer clothes.
We got on our 1st lift (Gondola) at 8:15am. Official literature claims that the lifts don't start until 9:00am. However, if the mountain's been checked out by ski patrol and cleared, most places will start loading skiers earlier. We took the Gondola to the mountain mid-point, and skied down to the "summit chair" that, incidentally, took us to the summit. During the chair lift ride, the following Adirondack High Peaks were all visible:

• Santononi Range
• Seward Range
• McIntyre Range - Iroquois, Boarder, Algonquin
• Colden
• Marcy & Skylight (& part of Gray)
• Haystack, Sawteeth, Saddleback & Gothics (& part of Armstrong)
• The top of Basin
• Giant & Rocky Peak
• That's just what I could PERSONALLY identify while on the lift! Basically, a person can see the entire High Peaks region from the south side vantage point.

During the day, we did the following:

• 8:15 - 10:30 Skied the summit runs
• 10:30 - 11:00 We both rested at the mid station
• 11:00 - 11:45 Mike Skied 2 runs & rode the Gondola! Teena rested in the mid-station
• 11:45 - 2:15 We both skied
• 2:15 - 3:00 We went to the base lodge (Teena was done, Mike got a beer)
• 3:00 - 4:00 Mike Skied another 5 runs.

I would've skied more runs between 3:00 and 4:00, except that one of the lifts - the North Quad - was ridiculously slow! It also stopped often.

Skiing Highlights:

• Mike skied every black diamond, Teena skied all but three! We did most of them twice.
• Teena & Mike skied 2 double black diamonds (Experts only) - Hullabaloo & Lies!
• Teena had to be cajoled down Hullabaloo & Lies, but
she DIDN'T FALL!
• We primarily skied the mountain summit, ignoring the base area due to large crowds
• Gore Trail Map
• Lift lines at the gondola & other base chairlifts were running almost 1/2 hour during most parts of the day.
• Lift lines at the summit chair were non-existent until 10:30am. Then they were steady, but tolerable (5 min/per ?) until 2:00. During the last hour (maybe two), the lift lines were non-existent again.
• A warming hut and 2 outhouses are located at the summit. The outhouse doors were frozen 25% open - they couldn't be closed! Although certain anatomical parts of us got much colder than necessary, and privacy was somewhat lacking, we agreed that it was much better than skiing down to the mid-station or the base!
• Finally, the weather was AWESOME!!! Dark
BLUE skies, blazing sun! No wind. Base temp reached 25 degrees. Summit was much cooler, but still... What a gorgeous day!

We ate dinner at a new restaurant (Casey's North) ~ 2 miles down Rt. 28, across from Stewart's. It was awesome! It's divided into 3 parts, formal dining, bar, and bar/grill restaurant. We sat in the bar/grill area and watched Warren Miller ski flicks on a projection TV.
We were both pretty dead, so we left the bar around 7:30 pm to go back to the Inn. We watched TV until Teena fell asleep around 8:30, and I fell asleep around 10:00. On Sunday morning, we left to drive back to Rochester at 9:15am, arriving in Rochester at ~1:30 pm. We took Rt. 8 back to the Thruway, but won't make that mistake again. When we got home, we proceeded to CC ski at Mendon Ponds Park. until 6:00pm.

Trip Ratings:

Skiing: Awesome! Good conditions & good weather helped. But the summit runs are great fun! I'd stay away from the base lifts (incl. the gondola) because the lines get wickedly long. I'd also get there & be ready to ski by 8:00am!
Lodging: The Inn on Gore Mountain ($80/night, incl. taxes) is quite rustic. Our room's loud heater kept both of us sleepless for two nights. Additionally, the heater in the bathroom was out of order (BRRRRRRR!), and there was no hot water available for showers (or maybe other guests used it up?). We also got a nice surprise when a big, ugly, hairy black spider (did I mention that it was fast) freaked Teena out by running across our bedding. If rustic travel isn't your preferred style, there are several other places nearby that looked nice - The Valhaus Motel, the Lamplight Inn, and Alynn's Butterfly Inn. If all else fails, there's a Super 8 Motel on Rt. 9, right off the Northway exit, approximately 23 miles from the entrance to Gore Mountain.
Dining: Awesome! We highly recommend Marsha's Diner (on Main St. in North Creek) for breakfast, and Casey's North for dinner. The breakfast we had at Marsha's was excellent, and there was a lot of it! The prices were quite reasonable too (we spent $20 including tip, but we definitely pigged out!). Casey's North is definitely worth the trip for dinner. The avg. entree price was ~$13.00, while burgers & sandwiches went for ~$6.00. My Guinness draft was $4.00, & Teena's White Russian was about the same price. We also liked the fact that we could vegg out on the Warren Miller ski flicks playing on the large screen TV overhead (We especially liked the canoeing and mountain biking down extreme slopes!).
Driving: Unless you have excellent suspension on your vehicle, and you like driving through speed trap towns, I'd stick to the Thruway & the Northway. Take exit 23 off the Northway to Rt. 9. Stay on Rt. 9 for 5 miles until you hit Rt. 28. Then take Rt. 28 for ~16 miles to Peaceful Valley Road. Follow the signs for Gore Mountain.  Route 8 is scenic & beautiful. However, it's also is a wreck. For ~30 or 40 miles, my car was constantly rocked by potholes and repaired potholes. Rt. 8 connects to Rt. 30, & then 30A which hits the Thruway at Fultonville. Although we put fewer miles on the car, it took nearly the same amount of time to travel home as it did to travel up to Gore Mountain when we took the Adirondack Northway (Rt. 87) on Friday night.  And I'm certain the wear and tear on my car was worse!

Overall, the trip was a big success, and we plan to go back!