After last week's snow storm, it was time to check out Whiteface Mountain and ski the toll road. It is a fun ski of five and a half miles each way if you go all the way to the castle at the top. Kendra, Wren, and I headed out on a beautiful day under a cobalt sky and drove to the toll house where the trek begins.
The snow was great, and while plenty of others had skied or snowshoed ahead of us, the conditions were not too packed down or icy. Kendra and Wren started ahead of me, so I played catch up during the initial climb, alternating between following the path of others and cutting my own trail. I became quite warm in the process, and I was soon stripping off layers to avoid overheating, stashing them into my pack. The top of Whiteface is always a lot colder and windier than the bottom, and I didn't want to arrive there wet with sweat.
Perhaps a mile up the road, the snow conditions deteriorated. The winds on Whiteface have the bad habit of blowing snow from the road, and there were several very thin sections where the road was exposed by the wind's work. We were able to skirt the thin spots, and we soon came across view after view as the Adirondack winter stretched out below us. We climbed steadily on with stretches of snow alternating between good (often more sheltered and tree lined areas) to thin, and we noted each place so we could plan our route back down accordingly.
We admired the view at the Lake Placid Turn, and then continued on – the curves are often swept out by the wind and this trip was no different. I even walked up the Wilmington Curve since other skiers were descending on the one lane route which avoided the bare road surface. From there I looked down at the alpine ski center below.
The wind that so easily sweeps the top of the mountain of snow was blowing constantly, and we put on new layers and some dry gloves to help combat the cold. There were a few ravens playing in the breeze at the top – other than several sets of snowshoe hare tracks, they were the only sign of wildlife we found.
Windy as it was, it was beautiful and we took in the view – one of the big reasons to ski Whiteface. Then we started the much easier descent of the mountain, poling through deeper sections, and taking our skis off in a few thin places to walk. Thin snow doesn't give you an option of cutting into turn, and we didn't want to scratch our skis or have an accident. If you are planning a trip up Whiteface soon, you'd be wise to use an old set of skis in case you scrape the ground as you go.
Wren likely welcomed these delays when we had to slow our progress or walk with thin snow. Like us she had to work hard climbing the mountain, but unlike us she had no option to simply cruise back down - she had to run down to keep up with us. She was clearly tired, but having fun as was everyone else on the mountain. We passed several folks who were skiing or snowshoeing part of the way up the mountain and then turning to enjoy the trip down. Many of the snowshoers had plastic sleds for a speedy descent.
We made quick progress down, enjoying the ease of gliding with gravity, and Wren was exhausted by the time we reached the bottom. She sacked out on the ride home with her head resting on our skis. And we all slept well that night.
