Snow! 1/2/21

It took a while, but we can now look forward to skiing more than just the Whiteface Highway and golf courses.  We have picked up 3" as of Saturday morning, and it is still snowing.  Temperatures are just below freezing, so this is pretty dense stuff - a good base for the periodic snow showers predicted for the coming week.  This snow will make several of the early season favorites skiable.  These include Fish Pond, Hays Brook, Ausable Lake Road, Newcomb Lake Road, and Gulf Brook Road to Boreas Ponds.  Not sure the Marcy Dam Truck Trail can be recommended just yet, but maybe by the time this storm is over it will be - albeit with caution as the rocks will just be "disguised", not covered.  

Updates as we get out and ski or as others report what they've found.

UPDATE 1/3/20 - Decent conditions on the Connery Pond/Whiteface Landing trail as of Saturday night.  Caution needed on downhills with some rocks barely covered, and a few wet spots to negotiate still, but otherwise great snow coverage all the way to Whiteface Landing.  

Some of the smoother sections of the Jackrabbit Trail can be recommended, such as the section between River Road and the Lake Placid Club.  Not enough snow at McKenzie Pond Road trailhead to make that section skiable yet.  Some tracks observed above Whiteface Inn Road on Saturday morning, cover is good at the register here and this section is likely skiable to the lean-to or beyond to the height of land with some caution coming back down the hill, but we can't recommend continuing to McKenzie Pond or Saranac Lake.

More reports coming this afternoon....  

UPDATE 1/3/21:  We've been getting out, and here's what we found in addition to the reports above: 

Ausable Lake Road is in great shape - even under the thick hemlocks at the start.  Dedicated ski track on one edge or another for much of the distance.

Sheep Meadow and Grass Pond in Paul Smiths has 6" at the trailhead and about 10" at the lean-tos at Sheep Meadow.  Great skiing with a nice skied-in track to both destinations. Best news is that the trailhead parking is plowed with over a dozen vehicles parked there.  We'll do what we can to keep this plowing going all season.

​Fish Pond should be just as good and also with broken tracks.

As for the weather, some light snow from Sunday night into Wednesday, then clear with high temperatures in the mid to upper 20s through Saturday. Not much more snow, but so far NO THAW IN SIGHT.