Jackrabbit Ski Trail improved

The new section of the Jackrabbit Ski Trail. Photo by Phil Brown.

This afternoon I took a short walk to check out the new section of the Jackrabbit Ski Trail created recently by the Adirondack Ski Touring Council. Not surprisingly, I ran into Tony Goodwin.

The ASTC executive director, Tony was working with a pick-ax and chainsaw to remove large roots from trail. A helper, Bill Dora, was working farther down the trail.

The council not only maintains the Jackrabbit, but it also works on other trails popular with skiers, such as the Van Hoevenberg Trail to Mount Marcy and the trail to Whiteface Landing.

Hat’s off to Tony and his gang. Given the sorry finances of the state, the Department of Environmental Conservation may need to rely more on volunteers to maintain the extensive network of trails in the Adirondack Park.

The Jackrabbit is a twenty-four-mile ski trail that runs between Saranac Lake and Keene. One of the most popular sections is the six-mile stretch from McKenzie Pond Road outside Saranac Lake to Whiteface Inn Road outside Lake Placid.

In the past, skiers climbed a small hill at the start of this section, passed a softball field, and then descended another hill. The snow cover on the hills was often sparse.

The rerouted trail avoids the hills and will be much better for skiing. It also avoids the ballfield, which makes the softball league that owns the land happy. It also avoids property owned by an adjacent landowner, Bob Scheefer, a Saranac lake contractor.

Scheefer used an earth mover to clear and level the first tenth of a mile of the trail—the part that skirts the hills. Goodwin’s crew then cleared roots and smoothed the trail surface.

The new trail continues for another 0.2 miles through a brushy area and a patch of evergreen forest before rejoining the old trail. This was done to move the trail off Scheefer’s property to the extent possible.

Tony said the council also plans to expand the trailhead parking area this year.

Tony Goodwin battles a large root on the new part of the Jackrabbit.

Skiers hit the highway

Ron Konowitz and Mark Meschinelli on toll road on Sunday. Photo by Phil Brown.

They’re making snow on the one side of Whiteface, and people are skiing the toll road on the other.

I guess it must be winter.

The Whiteface Mountain Ski Area began making snow on November 2, two weeks earlier than last year, and hopes to open on November 26.

But skiers have been hitting the highway on the north side of the mountain for a few weeks already. I went there Sunday for the first time this season and found the road covered in snow (or ice) from the tollbooth all the way to the castle.

I saw more skiers and dogs on the highway than ever before. Some of the cars at the bottom had out-of-state plates. Among the skiers were Ron Konowitz and Mark Meschinelli, two backcountry veterans. Ron has already skied the road more than a dozen times this fall.

Incidentally, I tracked my descent with a GPS watch (a Garmin Forerunner). Here’s the beta:

Distance from the castle to the tollbooth: 5.0 miles on the button.

Distance from the Lake Placid turn to the tollbooth: 3.7 miles.

Minimum elevation: 2,325 feet.

Maximum elevation: 4,566 feet.

Net elevation gain: 2,241 feet.

Top speed: 19.3 mph.

On the way down I used my point-and-shoot camera to take the video below. I held the camera in my hand as I cruised down the mountain. The quality is not great, but you’ll get the idea. The dog at the beginning is a hoot.

Thinking snow again

Whiteface's summit from the Lake Placid Turn. Photo by Phil Brown.

I took advantage of this week’s snowstorm to get in one  last (?) ski. After work Wednesday, I met Ron Konowitz at the Whiteface Mountain toll road, and we skied  up the highway 3.5 miles, as far as the Lake Placid Turn.

Ascending the highway, with summit in distance. Photo by Phil Brown.

We were surprised to see that one side of the road had been plowed by the state. Ron was ticked off not only as a skier, but also as a taxpayer. The road is closed to vehicles this time of year, so why expend time and money plowing it if the snow is going to melt soon anyway?

As it turned out, the plow got only a half-mile or so up the road before turning around. After that, the only tracks we saw were those of a lone skier and an occasional hare. Otherwise, the road was blanketed by a foot or more of fresh, unbroken snow.

It was almost too much snow, really. We expected that it would be slow on the descent, but as we approached the Lake Placid Turn, two snowmobilers passed us. Ordinarily, I don’t like to see snowmobiles when I’m skiing, but this time I didn’t mind: the machines provided a packed trail that would facilitate a swift descent.

By the time we reached the turnaround, the sun was starting to set, and the snowy summit was bathed in a soft, yellow light. It was a gorgeous moment, inadequately captured in the top photograph.

Starting today, the snow will be melting fast. I imagine the snow at the bottom of the road will be gone soon, but if you’re desperate you might be able to find snow at higher elevations this weekend if you’re willing to walk a ways.

And if you can’t make it to the toll road before the snow melts, there’s always next year. Or–who knows?–next week.

Sunset is fast approaching. Photo by Phil Brown.

Between the seasons

Ron Konowitz on Mount Marcy last Friday. Photo by Phil Brown.

You know we’re in between seasons when you go backcountry skiing one day and canoeing the next.

Last Friday, I skied Mount Marcy with Ron Konowitz. It was so warm than I stripped down to my T-shirt on the ascent. On the summit, we met Keith Kogut, a music teacher in Saranac Lake, who was wearing a T-shirt and shorts.

Despite the warm temps, the Van Hoevenberg Trail had plenty of snow, at least above Marcy Dam. A few rocks were starting to show on the section along Phelps Brook.

The view from my canoe on Saturday.

As noted in an earlier post, the high-water bridge across the brook was washed out a few weeks ago. The water was too deep, swift, and cold to wade through, so on the ascent, we bushwhacked for an hour and picked up the trail again high on TR Mountain. On the descent, we found ourselves on the opposite side of the brook (having crossed a mile up on another bridge), so we bushwhacked to the Marcy Dam Truck Trail.

The Van Ho trail was in great shape for skiing. Unfortunately, I heard that post-holers trashed the trail on Saturday. There is no excuse for this. Hikers should know that the regulations still require snowshoes or skis at higher elevations.  There is still plenty of snow up there. Don’t ruin it for others!

On Saturday, I drove to Utica to spend time with my family. On the way, I stopped to canoe South Inlet, following the broad channel from Raquette Lake to the small cascades where the tributary spills out of the woods. It felt like summer, though the bogs that line the inlet were still a drab brown and yellow.

I observed a pair of common mergansers—one male, one female—in one of the side many channels. As I approached for a closer look, they took flight.

Spring is definitely in the air.

Avalanche survivor tells story

One of the survivors of last month’s avalanche has written a dramatic account of his ordeal for Adirondack Almanack. Here’s a taste:

“I don’t remember any pain when the avalanche struck me,” Jamie McNeill says. “The sensation is best described as almost instant acceleration in a river of wet cement. I was suddenly surrounded by this flowing snow bank. I have no idea how fast it was moving and I don’t remember much aside from the dark, the fear, and the thought that I had to try to stay on top of it somehow.”

Click here to read the full account.

Earlier, I posted an  interview with two survivors of an avalanche in the same location that happened in 2000. One skier was killed in that snow slide.

Angel Slides still unsafe

Backcountry skiers who think it’s now safe to ski the Angel Slides on Wright Peak should be aware that an avalanche risk may still exist.

Two skiers were caught in an avalanche on the wider of the two Angel Slides on February 27, but they escaped with minor bruises.

Last Friday, Jesse Williams of Cloudsplitter Mountain Guides dug a test pit on the narrower slide and concluded that the snow pack was unstable. As a result, Williams decided against taking skiers to the slide as part of last weekend’s Adirondack Backcountry Ski Festival.

Below is a video of the avalanche tests.

Skiing Mount Marcy: Phelps Brook section

Alan Wechsler ascends into the clouds on Marcy. Photo by Phil Brown.

Yesterday I skied Mount Marcy with Alan Wechsler, one of the contributors to the Explorer. I had skied Marcy just a few weeks ago, but I never tire of this trip.

We had great weather until we emerged above tree line. The summit was a complete whiteout, and the wind was fierce, with wind chills below zero. Descending the summit bowl, we couldn’t see the bumps in the terrain or any landmarks to gauge our position. “It’s like skiing blind,” Alan remarked.

It took us a while in this ghostly atmosphere to reconnect with the hiking trail. Once we got below the clouds, we could see again, and the skiing was terrific.

One of my favorite stretches of the Marcy trail is along Phelps Brook. By the time skiers arrive at the brook, they have descended all the steep, difficult sections. Now they can relax while cruising the 1.2 miles between the two brook crossings.

I took a video of Alan skiing this part of the trail. I was right behind him until he took a small spill toward the end. The camera was strapped to my chest.

Adirondack Backcountry Ski Festival

A backcountry skier descends a birch glade in the High Peaks. Photo by Susan Bibeau.

The Adirondack Backcountry Ski Festival is back this weekend, and though most of the guided ski trips are booked, there are a number of cool events open to the public.

For starters, you can test skis and boots at Otis Mountain, a private hill with a rope tow south of Elizabethtown, and enroll in telemark and skinning lessons, taught by Ron Konowitz, and avalanche clinics, taught by Mike Kazmierczak, a representative of Dynafit and Mammut. It’s all free.

The clinics and demonstrations are on Saturday, starting at 10 a.m. A schedule can be found on the website of the Mountaineer, the festival’s host. Otis Mountain is on Lobdell Road off Route 9N (the turn is to the east).

At 6 p.m. Saturday, Backcountry magazine will host a dinner at Keene Valley Lodge, located a few doors from the Mountaineer.  Price is $20. After dinner, starting at 7:30 p.m., Backcountry will show two ski movies at the Mountaineer: The Freeheel Life and The Fine Line. Admission is $10.

As of today (Wednesday), all of the ski trips were booked except the Karhu Traverse, an intermediate tour through Avalanche Pass that starts in Tahawus and ends at Adirondak Loj. Karhu demo skis are available for this trip.

The Mountaineer will donate proceeds from the festival to the Adirondack Ski Touring Council and the New York Ski Educational Foundation.

Call the Mountaineer (518-576-2281) or check the store’s website for more information.

Interview with avalanche survivors

In light of Saturday’s avalanche on Wright Peak, I thought it’d be instructive to post an in-depth interview with two survivors of the avalanche that occurred in the same spot in February 2000.  Four skiers were swept up in the earlier avalanche, and one died.

The interview with Ron Konowitz and his then-wife, Lauren, appeared in the Explorer in 2003. Although usually reluctant to talk about the avalanche, they agreed to the interview in part to correct the record and in part to warn others of the avalanche danger in the Adirondacks.

 What emerged was the most detailed story of the disaster ever published and a frightening account of what it’s like to be caught up (and buried, in Lauren’s case) in an avalanche.

To read the interview, click the PDF files below.

Page 1, Page 2, Page 3

Skiers caught in avalanche

Two backcountry skiers were partially buried in an avalanche over the weekend on the Angel Slides on Wright Peak—the location of a fatal avalanche in February 2000.

The Angel Slides on Wright Peak.

David Winchell, a spokesman for the state Department of Environmental Conservation, said one man was pinned against a stump and buried up to his chest. The second was carried more than six hundred feet and buried up to his chest. Both men were able to dig themselves out and leave the area.

The Adirondack Daily Enterprise identified the skiers as Ian Measeck of Glens Falls and Jamie McNeill of Vergennes, Vt.

The skiers had dug a pit to test the snow before heading up the slope about noon on Saturday. While ascending, they heard “woofing” noises in the fresh snow—a sign of an unstable snow pack—and chose to backtrack. As they turned around, however, the snow gave way and carried them both down the slope.

Visible from Marcy Dam, the Angel Slides are bedrock slabs (one wide, one narrow) that were stripped of vegetation during a 1999 rainstorm. In winter, they are often skied. In 2000, an avalanche on the wide slab swept up four skiers. One of them, twenty-seven-year-old Toma Vracarich, was killed. Saturday’s avalanche also was on the wide slab. Winchell said the entire slab–300 feet wide by 1,200 feet long–avalanched.

A few weeks ago, I wrote a post for Adirondack Almanack on the 2000 disaster and other avalanches in the Adirondacks.

On Monday, DEC issued a news release warning that recent snowfalls have increased the avalanche danger in the Adirondacks. Click on the link below to read it.

Avalanche news release PDF