I couldn't think of a title for today's post, so I decided on a line from the song Black Water by the Doobie Brothers which I heard while getting on the Straightbrook Quad. They always play great music at that lift and as I was getting on I told the liftie, "Nice tunes man!"
Today was another bluebird day at Gore. The rain last week did have its effect, but the snowmakers were hard at work on Chatty and Lies making for great, soft turns. However, today was highlighted by something that my grandfather noticed a few years ago when Gore installed the Topridge Triple, a slow lift that was previously located at Whiteface. He made the observation that every time NYS makes an improvement to Gore or Whiteface, they do the job 80% (100% would have been to put in a high-speed quad). Once again today, typical NYS issues:
1. Gore added 22 new permanent tower guns on Topridge, one of their signature trails. However, these guns weren't on today and the trail was closed. If the addition of these guns is such a big deal, why is the trail not ready to be skied yet?
2. The Straightbrook Quad was down for maintenance in the morning. The only way to access the summit was on the High Peaks chair after taking Wood In. However, this trail was closed, so the lift was running and nobody could get to it. Myself and another skier pointed this out to the ski patrol nearby who had no idea the Straightbrook Quad was closed. I wonder how long this would have gone on had we not inquired. By the time we got to the summit, the Straightbrook Quad finally opened.
All in all though, a great day at Gore, just that typical 80% effort in some spots, but its still good enough to scratch that itch.
-Steve
"Born On Ice, Perfected In Powder"
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