Whiteface Mountain

Whiteface is where I learned to ski, so it was kind of cool to return here recently for a day of pre-​season skiing. Only a handful of trails were open, but it was still possible to carve up the blue trails from Little Whiteface Summit.
That gondola is very comfortable and offers the perfect rest of ~10 minutes on the way up. Lines were very reasonable as it was early in the season. It’s a respectable mountain for Northeast skiing, with plenty of terrain for expert skiers, and a decent amount of trails for beginners. Blue trails are not exactly in short supply, but I would not count it among the best «intermediate» mountains.
The lodge, bar, and amenities were all fine. Prices are very steep, but you can get some deals if you look around (I got the online-​only ticket for about half off).

For anyone looking for an amazing, season-​long ski experience for your child, I cannot say enough good things about the Cloudsplitter Club at Whiteface. My daughter participated for two seasons and had a great experience both times. The instructors are top-​notch — both from a skills perspective and in terms of the friendly and fun environment they provide for the kids. This program will teach your kids to be skiers in the true sense of the word — from learning skills to learning mountain etiquette, good sportsmanship and safety. The kids are placed in groups at the beginning of the season based on age and ability, and they ski with their same groups and same instructor throughout the season. The instructors get a really good sense of the individual strengths and weaknesses of each child, and they work on that each week. They all form a great camaraderie within the group. It is a low-​key, non-​competitive program that I highly recommend!

Rode the gondola up and really enjoyed the view, can’t wait to hike this mountain. Get the passport for 35 bucks a pop, free for kids 6 and under and worth it if you go to any of the other Olympic sites.

We love this mountain! There is a trail for everyone at every level.
We had such an amazing experience recently that I thought we should share it. We started SEVEN beginners from the age of 4 to 34 all on the same day. Rental staff, ski school staff and instructors were all fabulous. They were patient, and kind and beyond helpful. The instructor for the little ones rode the bus with them to the kids campus. Eric was so well tuned in to our little ones and so considerate. Even though they were afraid within minutes they were excited and by the end of the day were skiing down the mountain safely. When one of the adults was having great difficulty due to a physical limitation they immediately realized that and brought in another instructor — and this on a very busy day and at no additional expense to us. All SEVEN want to continue skiing which is the mark of a real success.

This mountain is bigger than Tremblant. It’s bigger than Jay’s Peak. How do I know. Going up the Summit Quad lifts tells me so!
This resort is really good. It’s quite big that you don’t feel like you are waiting for lifts too long. The only one with a larger wait time is the gondola that brings you from the base up to The Little Whiteface at 3676′.
A tip for those afraid of heights, the Little Whiteface lift from middle of mountain to the Little Whiteface peak is kinda scary that it has mountain on your right and just drop on the left. There is also this deceiving drop off midway that you think you get off but no! It keeps going up!
When at top of Little Whiteface peak if you want to take Excelsior blue run, you gotta go straight and fast (if on snowboard). If you try to go slow, you will be taking the black run Essex cause that’s just how the mountain slopes.
On the other side is the Wilmington Trail, it’s nice and long but it also has a steep drop on your left and a little narrow straightaway. No worries, it’s still quite fun.
The top of the mountain at Whiteface summit, taller than all those mountains mentioned is at 4867′. The run is quite fun when there isn’t ice at the top.
What’s the best thing of this mountain, it’s the waffle fries at the base lodge or at the Boule’s bistro. Do not slather them in gravy/​cheese (poutine), you get less and it ruins the crispiness of the fries. They are perfect delicious without anything!
So you wanna be an Olympic skier? Try going down Cloudspin (black) to Broadway (black) to Lower Valley (blue) and you’ve just gone down the Men’s 1980 Winter Games Downhill run!
So why the deduction of 1 star? It think it’s a bit expensive for a Canadian at current rate. It’s fun, but to stop at like 330p for $ 100, a bit expensive. I also wish after doing all the blues and greens that there were a few more. Can’t do too much obviously, there are only so many trails. But if you are committed, you can do them all in one day, and we got there late.

Lift operators are rude when you ask why they are 15 minutes late to open lift today. Other lifts were up and running, but no announcement, explanation or expected delay on the one im waiting for. Called mountain customer service for the detail operator wasnt giving, they were even more rude, offered no explanation and hung up on me when i asked for some kind of compensation.
Still a good mountain, just could be more considerate of the few customers they do have.

To me, despite the 5h30 drive from NYC, it is the best ski resort in all NY state.
i have tried Bellayre, Hunter, WIndham and this one suffers no comparison.
It is high, has many tracks, somewhat new lifts, not too crowded, good apres ski stuff at Lake Placid, pine trees, descent gear to rent, altitude lounge-​restaurant, nice views, bref a lot more than other resorts in the state.
i highly recommend it to whoever has time to drive there,
We have done it over a regular weekend and I will recommend taking at least your friday off to come there. 5h30 of driving is long.
if you choose to do it, you wont be disappointed, it truly feels like you are in a mountain country!

The view at the top of the mountain is amazing!! I love snowboarding and this is an excellent mountain in comparison to the west coast mountains. Trails are long and wide. One issue is that the 1 day adult is $ 89. That is steep for a lift ticket. Unfortunately, this was the place of the Olympics so I guess you can expect those kind of prices. Another thing they don’t advertise are half day tickets. You have to ask them or get it from Orda store. The pricing is the same at both locations so I highly recommend buying your ticket from Orda because the lines at the mountain are long. This place is skier’s heaven so I think boarders are definitely the minority. Just be careful!
In addition to natural snow accumulation, this place also makes manmade snow. The trails were nicely groomed and I personally recommend trying to get as many runs in at the beginning of the day before noon because after that, the snow starts to melt and freeze over. Towards the end of the day, there were many more patches of ice.
There are also tons of other things to do in and around Lake Placid. Only issue is they charge quite a bit for those activities (eg bobsled). I will definitely be coming back here again. My next stop will be to try the Vermont mountains to compare.

**FOR SKIING**
Home of the 1980 Winter Olympics!
Gorgeous view of the Adirondacks.
87 trails and 11 lifts.
Super friendly staff.
New equipment on rentals.
Clean facility.
Nice terrain.
Please refer to the link below for my review of the Parallel from the Start ski school!

Ski Resort: this was our first trip to Whiteface Ski Resort and we were excited to go to an Olympic site. Unfortunately the word of mouth around town about «Iceface» and how the lifts aren’t the best became true for us. We got our lift tickets at 10:30 and were told only the lower trails were opened due to the wind. So we paid for our full price tickets and went up the very, very slow quad chair Facelift. After only 1 run down, Facelift was broken. So we only could ski a tiny trail off Bear lift. At 11:15 we requested for a refund or just a partial refund and were denied. «No refunds. No exceptions». We were offered a voucher good for two years but we don’t think we will ever go back to Whiteface. Fortunately Facelift was operational at 11:20 and we skied for a few hours in the bitter cold, ice, and wind. The reason I don’t want to go back to Whiteface is because they do not own up to their own responsibilities. Also compared to other major ski resorts, the efficiency to get patrons up the mountain is lackluster.

Had an awesome time on the gondola ride up Whiteface Mountain. The view from the top is not to be missed! Visiting in the fall is stunning and the foliage was simply spectacular. Our pics just don’t do it justice.

This review is for the 4×4 Alpine Expedition only.
The Alpine Expedition is 35 dollars per individual and reservations are recommended since there are only three seats available per trek.
This is new for 2014 at Whiteface Mountain.
This is what their website states will happen on the Expedition: «Begin the tour with a trek through a remote forest stand to a secluded section of the Ausable River, offering a view seen by few. As you navigate the rugged terrain of our Olympic mountain, guests will receive information on its vast natural and commercial history, as well as, a firsthand view of the ski trails used in the Slalom, Giant Slalom, and Downhill events during the 1980 Olympic Winter Games. Our tours will be tailored to fit each guest’s comfort level, with lasting memories for all. «
What happened on my tour:
We drove around the slopes and got some information about how they make snow, went past an old scoreboard from the winter Olympics, looked at a map of the slopes, and stopped for a photo from an outlook on the mountain.
We didn’t stop by any river which was mentioned in the description. Make sure if this is something you want to see tell your tour guide this.
I didn’t think this was worth 70 dollars simply because I could have googled snowmaking and hiked the mountain for a picture on an outlook. If you have kids though they will love riding around in the atv on the rocky trails and looking off the side of the mountain with no effort whatsovever. I could imagine this expedition to be even better in the fall when the leaves are changing too.
Make sure you wear bug repellant because there were a ton of them on this journey.

** Hiking review only! **
Whiteface’s most popular hiking trail starts in Wilmington just off route 86 and runs 10.4 miles roundtrip. It took us about 5 hours. The big plus with this trail is that you can take the road down, saving you tons of time if you’re mentally done by the time you get to the top. The fifth highest high peak, if you hike this you’ll feel a great sense of satisfaction as you watch people driving up in their cars or preparing for a gondola ride. Invest in this hike and it will reward you greatly!
Moderate most of the way and moderate-​hard in other places, you have to be in good shape to take on this hike and I wouldn’t recommend the full thing for kids under 13. I think the distance of it requires stamina and also an attention span that even I struggled with during the hike. There are still plenty of straightaways to catch your breath as you slowly ascend, and it’s magical to feel the air turn from warm to cool as the evergreens grow taller and taller.
The views are unparalleled and the rock climb at the end will have your heart racing. On a clear day it’s completely astounding and spiritual. A good high peak to tackle in one day.

I’m an experienced snowboarder and was slightly disappointed by Whiteface. Not to say it’s a bad mountain, because it’s not, but I had really high hopes before riding it. Maybe my expectations were a little overblown, I dunno. Anyway, I got a house and did a weekend there with a bunch of friends, all different levels of riders. Trails were a lot of fun and had a lot to offer. Mornings were fantastic. Awesome in fact.
After lunch though, it was a totally different story. Everything was skied out. Wind and ice like whoa. I felt any time I got to a really steep part I just had to ride it out because carving was pretty impossible on the ice. Intermediate riders are really going to find it quite treacherous. The ice even makes getting off the lifts turn into a gong show, people falling left and right and it just gets frustrating having to avoid human landmines every time getting off the lift.
But in the end, we all made the best of it and still had fun because it is a pretty solid mountain. It’s a 3.5 and if the conditions were better when I was there I would have been more satisfied.

I really enjoyed my trip to Whiteface. Friendly service, varied terrain, Excellent services.
We plan a trip to a ski resort every year. It is always a local trip (Driving distance). We look for good skiing and things to do after we ski. For a long time I heard about Whiteface and decided to go this year. We booked a hotel in Lake Placid (10 miles away).
The mountain was fun. Lots of advanced terrain at the top of the mountain. It was a little icy the first day (but what do you expect in the northeast). It snowed that night and the day after. The ice was less of a pain then.
When we were riding the lifts up everyone keeps raving about the glades. I personally don’t ski glades but it looked incredible from the lift.
The people working here were super friendly. From the people getting us lift tickets to checking our skis.
Lift tickets were not that expensive compared to other large ski resorts. For three days it was $ 140 on liftopia I believe.
There was tons of snow, even natural snow in the spring. Windy at the top, and cold but that is good when it comes to sating snowy.
The apre-​ski in Lake Placid was awesome. IT reminded me of saratoga a little. Small shops great restaurants, bars etc. Everything within walking distance. There were even non-​ski activities. We saw a hockey game in the olympic arena. You could take tours of the Olympic areas. dog sled rides, tubing etc.
Even though Killington is bigger, this was a better overall experience. Activities for everyone.
I am going back next year. Thx ORDA!

The mountain itself is great (when they have snow) The terrain is varied and fun to ride. They are prone to ice (it is New England) and the winds can make the mountain feel FREEZING. All in all, still a great place to ride when the conditions are nice. To me, the down side of this mountain are the services. The lodge at the base is not built for the size crowds that they get. We stopped in the bar for lunch on a regular Saturday and was told that it was an hour wait to get any food out of the kitchen… Really? An hour to get fries? We tried the lodge at mid mountain the next day and they don’t have bar service, just overpriced and small selection of bottled beer. Great runs, but go somewhere else to get your food and drink fix.

This review is for the gondola ride in the summer. We came here on 4^th of July.
Overall, a good experience but the $ 20 per person that we paid to get to the top was met with some slight disappointment.
The gondola ride itself to the top took about 10 minutes. The gondola takes you up to the mini summit of Whiteface (NOT the peak of Whiteface) It presented us with a gorgeous view of the Adirondacks. However, when we got to the top, we found the immediate area to be under construction. There is one viewing deck to see Lake Placid out in the distance but that was about it. We walked around a bit taking in the views but unless you have a mountain bike or a pack of hiking supplies with you, you’re just going standing around snapping pictures for no more than a half an hour. Unlike in the winter, the trails are not maintained and its dangerous to attempt hiking back down to the base. We would probably not do this again if we came back.

I grew up skiing Whiteface on old straight skiis, bombing down it’s wonderful, icy double black diamonds. Yes, it’s icy! And bistering cold at the top. Even our instructors called it «Iceface.» But ice shouldn’t phase an experienced Eastern skier.
If you’re afraid of ice, or you want to have a spa at the base station, you’re pretty much SOL in the Northeast anyway. Just go to Vail or any number of places out West where there’s powder, and you can ski for an hour then spend the rest of the day by a cozy fire in your Uggs.
Really it’s a fantastic mountain. The best in the East… in my experience. Further, its far enough off the beaten path that it’s never outrageously crowded. Nearby Lake Placid is just wonderful, quiet… picturesque… with lodging options ranging from budget to places which lack nothing in terms of elegance.

Whiteface is one of the few ski resorts that every eastern skier must visit. It boasts the biggest vertical drop east of the Rockies, and what is, in my opinion the greatest ski town in the east (sorry Stowe). Nice little restaurants, gorgeous mountain views, a beautiful glacial cut lake, quaint shopping, and even (this is critical) a microbrew pub.
The caveat is that you need to hit Whiteface right, meaning of course, when they have solid snow conditions. The pejorative moniker «Iceface», is not completely without merit, the conditions here can be, well, crappy if the area has gone a while without a storm. High winds can scour the mountain, reducing it to veritable sheets of ice.
But with nice snow, you are in for a treat at Whiteface, great moguls runs, PLENTY of steepness, solid trail variety, and the only «western-​like» on-​map, chute-​style skiing in the east (aka The Slides). And if all that wasn’t enough, how many ski resorts can boast that they’ve hosted an Olympic downhill.
FYI, it you want to pretend you’re in the Olympics, the exact Men’s downhill course can be «replicated» by taking: Cloudspin to Niagara to Victoria to Broadway to Lower Valley. Ladies? The Women’s Olympic downhill can be replicated by taking: Skyward to Easy Street then Upper Boreen to Ladies Bridge to Lower Valley. Have fun, and dont forget to wave to your adoring pretend crowd when you win the gold.
THE STATS THAT MATTER
Summit Elevation: 4,650 feet
Vertical Drop: 3,430 feet
Skiable Area: 283 acres
Longest Run:11,120 feet
Annual Snowfall: 247 inches
Snowmaking: 98%
Uphill Capacity: 10,385 per hour

Hard to rate this one without taking the weather and conditions into consideration so let’s remove them from the rating, as much as I can at least.
First I have to say i went on a Saturday.
Bus from parking came very quick. There was a tiny ticket line so I was helped in under 2 mins.
Ticket was $ 79.00 all day for an adult till about 4:00.
The Gondola line was less then 5 mins long, shorter then anywhere I have ever been on a Saturday.
Conditions were icy, i read it has been the 4^th warmest winter on record in NY so far so I don’t blame them too much. Some runs were better than others. Base is mostly man made.