Help finding eastern US "off piste", please.

[lilcliffy]

I'm in FAR western Maryland, but I don't mind traveling a good distance.

Hey TeleHarry,

I don't know how far you are willing to travel...

I haven't skied in the US since the early 90s- so I can't give you any up-to-date info for south of the border...

There is so much backcountry Nordic skiing opportunity in eastern Canada- hard to know where to begin...

Quebec has the widest range of conditions- due to the highest elevations- endless open hardwood ridges at mid-elevation, to high elevation boreal forest- open alpine tundra above 900m.

New Brunswick would be a close second in terms of topography- without the alpine- max elevations in NB are just over 800m.

Ontario is predominantly gentle terrain- but the snow conditions in Northern Ontario are excellent- with many legendary long distance tours.

Snow conditions on mainland Nova Scotia are typically absolutely terrible- you have to race out to the woods to catch a temporary patch of decent snow.

The skiing in Cape Breton can be excellent- and the terrain in western Cape Breton is predominantly mountainous.

Skiing in western Newfoundland's mountains is exceptional- tons of snow, lots of terrain, spectacular views...wow.

Quebec has the best wilderness park system in Canada. The provincial parks have a predominantly wilderness-focus. Loads of backcountry skiing opportunities- including world-class hut-to-hut multi-day tours in the mountains.

And the entire forested landscape is transected by endless trails and woods roads that are only accessible by ski and snowshoe...you can literally backcountry ski almost anywhere in eastern Canada- once you get far enough away from a major city (not that we have many)- or the megalopolis of southern Ontario.

[MikeK]

OH, and that place between Jay and Wilmington on the south side of 86?

I'm not sure I'm familiar with these hills. Google map photo?

Also I'm pretty sure if there was some open slopes in the Adirondacks that they'd have leaked out by now...

Best place is that place in Newcomb that's free - of course when I was there it was terrible - really crusty and icy. If you caught on a good day it would be great. It's only like 200' but the t-bar makes for quick laps.

[Woodserson]

You can't miss the old place south of 86 between Jay and Wilmington, you can easily see it from the road. It's just on private property... I just checked and did a little research. It was called Paleface and Bassett Mtn, I dropped my yellow google man in there and it says private on the sign. The trails look mowed, and there's a big house up by the summit. ...Sigh...

Whitney, however, is on preserve land and marked for skiing.

[MikeK]

Some more info about Whitney. I had never heard of either of these places before:

http://terkoskier.blogspot.com/2012/07/ ... itney.html

[Woodserson]

Hmmmm, my Nat'l Geo map shows Mt. Whitney with a skier icon on it... recent map too. I'm pretty sure it's skied regularly by locals, skin up ski down. That's how I remember it. It's been a while for me, now. I could be totally wrong or maybe things changed. I thought it was like a Mt. Pisgah, but over on the Lake Placid side and with less infrastructure (none).

[MikeK]

Yeah it's a hidden one. I just looked at the maps. I've been out on Connery pond and in that area and I think I should have been able to see it, but didn't. Honestly I wasn't looking, but I have pictures from the pond looking right in that direction. I'm sure you can see it from Whiteface... if you know what you are looking at

I have to check some other maps because google doesn't show it on public land, but a lot of their stuff is off.

I bet it's still skiable... that grass dies down in the winter. 400' vert seems optimistic by google maps but I'd need to look as the USGS topos to be sure.

Either way seems pretty mellow in the lower portion with maybe a steep section right near the top?

[MikeK]

Shown on this quad:

http://docs.unh.edu/NY/lplc53sw.jpg

Looks like the area where the ski slopes are is maybe a shade over 300'. Actually pretty steep. The google and nat geo maps suck for this, the res is so poor.

Also I wouldn't trust the skier on the nat geo map. There's a lot of errors on those maps.

[MikeK]

Oooh... I did have a picture of it, just never even noticed!



That's Whitney from Connery Pond. You can see the upper part of the slopes on the knob to the right, just below the patch of conifers.