Sliding off the Kilburn Slide

The March/April issue of the Explorer contains an article about skiing the Kilburn Slide outside Lake Placid. I went with Josh Wilson, a backcountry snowboarder, shortly after a big snowfall that prompted an avalanche warning for the region. One purpose of the trip was to test the avalanche conditions on the slide.

The greater purpose, though, was to ski (or snowboard) the thing. Josh went down in superb fashion, carving big curves in the snow and at one point gliding off a small cliff. I skied badly, however. I’m just not used to skiing slides. Most of my backcountry skiing is on trails or in powder-filled glades.

I returned to Kilburn yesterday to try to redeem myself. No one had been on the slide since our last big snowfall last week. I turned around a little short of the top and looked back at a white slope broken only by my ascent track.

Starting down, I fell almost at once, but I got my act together and made it down the rest of the slide without any trouble. The powder was heavier than earlier in the month, but it was still powder, and the setting was wild and beautiful.

Then I came to the top of the sixty-foot wall at the base of the slide. On our earlier trip, Josh snowboarded off the wall. He angled halfway down, made one turn, and glided to the base in a slough of snow. Click here to watch a video of Josh.

On my solo trip, I thought I’d traverse across the face and then try to side-slip down or do a kick turn and ski down to the base. Although there was maybe a foot of snow on the face, ice lurked underneath. In the video below, you can hear my edges scraping the ice as I step into position for the traverse. Watch the video to find out what happened.

The joys and perils of backcountry skiing

On Sunday, I skied the Marcy trail from Adirondak Loj with Mike Lynch and Chris Knight, two reporters from the Adirondack Daily Enterprise. We followed snowshoe tracks nearly to Indian Falls and then broke trail as far as the junction with the Hopkins Trail, 1.2 miles from the summit. We turned around there.

Nate Jeffrey needs a big pack to carry all his essentials. Photo by Phil Brown.

The 6.2-mile ski back to the Loj was fantastic. The week’s snowfalls had left plenty of powder on the sides of our skin tracks—so much that I felt comfortable bombing the Corkscrew, the steep, twisty descent from a ridge. During our descent, we saw only one party of snowshoers between the Hopkins Trail and Marcy Dam. Apparently, the High Peaks don’t get as much use on Super Bowl Sunday.

When we reached the dam, we encountered Nate Jeffrey, one of the caretakers at the forest ranger’s cabin on Lake Colden. The Explorer ran a profile of Nate in its November/December 2009 issue. On Sunday, Nate was on his way back to civilization after spending six nights at the cabin. He was skiing with a huge backpack that contained, among other essentials, his dog (see photo to the right).

Nate mentioned that the night before two skiers had to bivouac in the Dix Mountain Wilderness after getting lost the woods. Mike and Chris, being reporters, immediately recognized this as a good story. Sure enough, you can read about it in today’s Enterprise. Click here to see the online version.

Ski video: Powder to the people

More than a foot of snow fell in Saranac Lake. Photo by Phil Brown.

I shoveled my driveway four times in twenty-four hours, and I am a happy man. If you’re a backcountry skier, you understand.

Saranac Lake got more than a foot of snow in this week’s storm—enough, I imagine, to render skiable most of the backcountry trails in the area. Yesterday, my son and some friends skied a part of the Jackrabbit Trail west of Lake Placid, which includes a mile-long downhill, and found the trail in great shape.

Before work today, I climbed most of the way up a small mountain and skied down through the woods. The conditions were superb, with powder bunching up to my knees during the descent.

I shot the video below with a point-and-shoot camera strapped to my chest. I apologize for the abrupt ending. Not sure why the camera turned off.

Be aware that conditions can vary throughout the Adirondack Park. The photographer Carl Heilman II told me he got about ten inches in Brant Lake, but because there was no base before this storm, he thinks skiing in his area could be dicey.

Click here for updates on ski conditions in the Lake Placid region.

Holiday ski tours

Martha Brown at the outlet of St. Regis Pond. Photo by Phil Brown.

I’ve done several ski trips in the Saranac Lake region with my daughter Martha over the past week. Conditions are excellent if you choose the right trail.

Two that I can recommend are the Hays Brook Truck Trail in the Debar Mountain Wild Forest and the Fish Pond Truck Trail in the St. Regis Canoe Area. Despite a few hills, both are suitable for novice skiers.

Martha and I skied the Hays Brook trail the day after Christmas. I also did this trip earlier in the month for an Explorer story, which will be posted online next week. I’m happy to report that the blowdown we encountered on the first trip has since been cleared. (Click here for a related blog on the use of chain saws in the Forest Preserve.)

We skied the Fish Pond Truck Trail a few days before Christmas, going as far as the outlet of St. Regis Pond (the start of the West Branch of the St. Regis River). The cover was excellent except for a thin patch on the hill before the pond.

On Christmas, we skied a loop at John Brown’s Farm in North Elba, just outside Lake Placid. Most of these trails are flat, but there is one trail that climbs through the woods behind the farm that requires intermediate skills on the descent. All of the trails were in good shape.

We also skied the Bloomingdale Bog Trail outside Saranac Lake one evening by the light of our headlamps. This trail requires very little snow. Be aware, though, that it is used by snowmobiles.

I haven’t tried the backcountry routes that require more cover, such as the Avalanche Pass Ski Trail, but Tony Goodwin of the Adirondack Ski Touring Council recommends skiers stick to gentler terrain until we get more snow.

Unfortunately, there isn’t much snow in the forecast this week. In fact, we may get rain on New Year’s Day. So get out while the getting’s good. If you’re looking for other suggestions for early-season ski trips, click here.

Ski for a good cause

Skiers on the route of the Camel's Hump Challenge.

Backcountry skiers can contribute to a good cause by participating in the Camel’s Hump Challenge in Vermont on February 13.

At 4,083 feet, Camel’s Hump is one of the highest mountains in Vermont. In the annual Camel’s Hump Challenge, participants ski around the mountain on trails not normally open to the public.

Each skier must raise at least $125 from sponsors to take part in the event. The money will be donated to the Vermont Alzheimer’s Association. Fund-raising can be done online. Check the website for details.

The challenge is not a race. Rather, it’s a demanding backcountry tour through beautiful forests and glades, with elevations ranging from 2,500 to 3,500 feet. The fifteen-mile loop usually takes five to eight hours to complete.

I took part in this worthy event a few years ago and can attest that it is indeed a challenge, though an exhilarating one.

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.