This is a strange winter for sure. No snow to speak of in the lower elevations of the Northeast or actually most of the country. We have just enough cover to cross country ski on, but forget snowshoeing - you won't need them, which could be good or bad. Good if all you care about is hiking. Bad if you really wanted to try snowshoeing. Whether you have snowshoes or not doesn't matter as long as you can get where you want to go if you're just hiking (snowshoes are a hinderance IMHO). Crampons, micro-spikes or YakTraks seem to be enough for hiking in most area. However, there's enough snow for enjoying just about every other activity we offer, including alpine skiing at Whiteface. Really.

Lower Cloudspin
Lower Cloudspin

I just returned from taking a couple of runs and snapping some pictures of the day at Whiteface for our social media sites (I know, it's a tough job, but somebody's got to do it). We are indeed lucky that the Whiteface Ski Center upgrades can produce an amazing amount of snow in a short period of time, because man-made snow is what it's all about this year. There's some patchy brown countryside surrounding Whiteface, but the skiing is, in a word, excellent right now. The sun was shining and when I left the mountain at 10:30 the temperature at the base was 31 degrees. It's what I call a "bluebird" day. On a very busy day when the snow gets skied off later in the afternoon, yes, there may well be some ice underneath all that great snow. We can't mislead - after all it has rained several times this season. But by and large the conditions are about as good as they get before lunch or when the crowds are light.

We know many of you think if you don't have snow in YOUR backyard, we couldn't possibly have any. We do! While we certainly can't promise a typical "winter wonderland" at the moment, rest assured that there is enough snow in which to play - something we've been doing around here for over a hundred years. After all, we are America's First Winter Resort. What the news media doesn't report are the couple of inches at a time we have been getting every few days - it isn't newsworthy, but it does add up and it's enough to play in. A few inches are actually predicted for tonight!

February 9, 2012 - ice on Lake Champlain in Port Henry
Feb. 9, 2012 - Perfect ice on Lake Champlain in Port Henry
An added bonus is that our lakes are frozen quite thick with ice. Without deep snow on top of the ice the lakes and ponds are awesome skating rinks right now. The last thaw and refreezing left the ice surfaces amazingly smooth for skating. The photo to the left is in Port Henry on Lake Champlain. This is something one can very seldom enjoy during a typical winter. You can skate for miles and miles on the big lakes now.

The sun has been a constant companion this winter, which is very much atypical, but another added bonus. There isn't much SAD (seasonal affective disorder due to lack of sunshine) going on here this winter either! We're all happy as can be up here in the sunny mountains. Naturally we'd be happy with more snow, but trust us when we say that there is still enough snow for most of our outdoor activities. Come on up and see for yourself.

Here's a list of activities you can still easily participate in:

Ice skating, pond hockey, dogsledding, tobogganing, hiking, cross-country skiing, alpine skiing, sledding, ice climbing, mountain climbing, viewing the mountain-scapes in awe, making a snow angel, ice croquet - use your imagination and do it!