A New season - at least for a few days

The cold front that came in on Sunday night has dropped several inches of snow (varies from place to place) above about 2,500 feet in the Adirondacks.  Most importantly for die-hard skiers, however, there is 3-4" of snow on the Whiteface Highway, starting less than 1/2 mile above the Toll House. Photo of tracks laid down by Ron Kon higher up. 

As of tomorrow, Thursday, the sun comes back out. Valley temperatures will climb back to the 60s by Saturday and continue that way into next week.  So, it will be a short season - unless you want to walk a mile or more to get to where the snow has hung on. 

And while this weekend looks to be fairly mild,  those who choose to hike rather than ski should be prepared for snow and ice remaining above 4,000 feet - especially on northern sloped where ice will likely require good traction to avoid the need to walk on the edges of the trail. 

UPDATE, WEDNESDAY 10/16: With just the small amount of sun today, the lower half-mile (or mile depending on your standards) melted. Bare pavement for the first half-mile, slushy snow for the next half-mile, then continuous snow from the pump house with 4" on the road and 6" on the shoulder. There was some snow on the grassy shoulder all the way to the Toll House, but we have to assume these skiers were not using their best skis. Sun tomorrow and through the weekend, so the melting will continue. Snow above the pump house should last through Friday (maybe longer), but there will definitely be a mile or more road walk by the weekend.  Photo of the first  snow/slush at 2,800 feet.

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