Lots of trails broken out

2/10/2020

After the foot or more of snow on Friday, Saturday's cold temperatures did not appear to diminish the desire of skiers to get out and enjoy the new snow. Consequently, all sections of the Jackrabbit Trail between Keene and Saranac Lake have been skied, but no report on the Paul Smiths section. Additionally, Avalanche Pass and the Marcy trail are finally in good shape with much traffic over the weekend on both trails. Hiking trail from ADK Loj now definitely very skiable, but there are good tracks on the truck trail as well. No rocks to avoid on the stretch between Marcy Dam and Avalanche Camp.
Monday through Thursday will see high temperatures above freezing with some light precipitation of various kinds. No significant accumulation or melting expected. Friday will be very cold with highs only in the low single digits, but Saturday warms to near 20 and then again above freezing on Sunday. So the upcoming weekend and the beginning of President's week will see by far the best skiing of the season.

4 Comments

Trail Conditions 101

Trail condition reports are posted frequently during the ski season. The Adirondack backcountry can be a hard place to predict with weather and trail conditions that often change rapidly. We can't offer the same detailed descriptions of trail conditions as groomed nordic centers.

Always plan ahead for your outing, be prepared with proper clothing, equipment, maps and emergency supplies, and check local weather conditions as well before departing on your trip.

Maps - don't leave home with them!

For trails in the High Peaks Wilderness area, we recommend purchasing the High Peaks Adirondack Trail Map from the Adirondack Mountain Club.

For trails outside of the High Peaks area, we recommend purchasing the Lake Placid & Saranac Lake Winter Trails Map from Green Goat Maps, which covers the Jackrabbit Ski Trail and other adjacent ski touring opportunities.

Todd Johnson

2/10/2020 06:23:51 pm

FYI, I tried to get to the Raquette Falls trailhead for the first time on Sunday only to find a fallen tree blocking the entire road past Axton Landing. 4WD also very helpful to have past the landing. Hoping all of that eventually gets cleared for another try this next weekend.

Josh Wilson

2/11/2020 08:20:46 am

Hi Todd,
Thanks for the report on Raquette Falls. We will note the blowdown for other skiers in our reports. BETA does not maintain Raquette Falls trail but we will try to notify DEC of the blowdown situation.
Bon ski,
Josh Wilson
BETA

Bob Brand

2/11/2020 10:30:42 am

We came upon the same tree Sunday late morning but were able to pull it aside enough to get by after breaking off the branches that were embedded in the ground. Then on the RF trail we met another skier who said he cut it up with an ax he had in his car and got it completely off the road. So not an issue.

2/11/2020 12:04:18 pm

Thank you Bob! Fantastic!

Ski Trail Conditions