The tollhouse.
The Lake Placid turn. The Great Range can be seen in the upper left.
Mirror Lake from the Lake Placid turn.
The ski trails below.
A view from the "castle".
The staircase to the weather observatory and summit.
Summary
December 26th, 2010 - A 10 mile round trip ski up the Whiteface Mountain Veterans Memorial Highway, with a short hike to the summit.Weather
Partly cloudy with a high of 16 degrees.Description
When I arrived at the toll house in the late morning, my car thermometer read 12. I thought briefly, do I really want to get out of my nice warm car and then I quickly jumped out, like ripping a band-aid off a wound. By the time I got my skis on, my hands were aching from the cold. I was worried that perhaps I'd have to turn around if I lost feeling in them but I thought I'd ski a safe distance up the road and then make a decision.
I flapped my fingers with every stride and by the time I had reached the first turn, they were warm and comfortable. Blue sky was starting to peak through the clouds and everything was covered in a beautiful layer of white snow. I caught up with an older man who had started out just before me and we played leapfrog as one or the other would stop to take a picture or catch their breath.
The first hour or so was rather uneventful other than the sound of crunching snow and a creaking ski pole. There was a nice, thick base layer of snow for most of the way. I'd ski for a while, then stop to take a picture and my hands would ache. Then I'd quickly get going again and flap my fingers until they didn't hurt anymore. It's amazing how warm cross country skiing keeps you. I actually had to unzip my armpit vents and take off a layer here or there.
When I got to the Lake Placid turn, the winds started picking up and the windswept road turned to mostly ice. I put up a ski mask and goggles for the last mile or two and the going was a little slower with snow drifts and the wind resistance. It very much felt like a different planet up there. At the Wilmington turn, I got a view of ant sized skiers on the groomed trails.
The "castle" and weather observatory looked very close but the road winded around so that it seemed like it took a long time to reach them. When I did eventually make it up the long, wind swept road and passed a sign marking where the handicapped parking was during the warmer months, I saw 4 pairs of skis. There was a group coming down, and the older man who I saw earlier was on the staircase to the summit.
I took off the skis and slipped on some microspikes and headed for the weather observatory. The stairs were covered in snow but they weren't very slippery. I brought poles but didn't need them, at times I even ran.
Up on the summit, it was freezing. The National Weather Service summit forecast for the next day said that the windchill got to -28 degrees in the afternoon. I took out my camera to take a few pictures and when I went to put it away, my hands were so numb that I couldn't fasten the button on my pocket. Fearing frostbite, I did what any self-respecting man would do. I took off my gloves and put my hands down my pants.
I let my hands warm up to the point that they hurt again and I could move them around, then I headed back down the stairs from the weather observatory. Within minutes my hands were completely warm and no longer numb or tingly so I took a few more pictures and headed back down to the "castle".
I saw the older man one last time at the castle and joked about how cold it was. He said it was well worth the trip and I agreed, then I set off down the mountain. I'm not a very good skier so I was very careful around the bends. But I made very good time and I only made a couple real good face plants. I thought I still had half the highway to ski down when I saw a sign saying the tollhouse was half a mile ahead. I was soon back at my car loading my skis in to my trunk. When I got in, my car thermometer read 8.
