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Whiteface Pictures and Review

CBJ

year old fart
Mar 19, 2002
12,861
4,157
Copenhagen, Denmark
First pictures - I will post review later when I get a good nights sleep.

Ready for the first ride



Base Area



This is how happy you will be just riding the lift



It was "grils ride free" and the wife had tons of fun on the lower trails. The Adirondacks are beautiful.



Ken Woof dropping in on trail 26



CBJ on trail 26 technical



Ken dealing with roots and there are a lot of them



Big rocks and they don't move - Ken eyeing out the approach of the next rock



Easy part of the trail but not if you try to go fast



I am trying to get better shooting with my digital camera (Sony DSC-V1) and using my old external flash. I had forgot to put the camera back on full resolution and all shot were taken in VGA . Its was difficult to point the flash in the right direction, shoot action and time the shots but all in all I am satisfied - what do you think?
 

dfinn

Turbo Monkey
Jul 24, 2003
2,129
0
SL, UT
mtnbrider said:
I think those are really good. It is hard to get a decent action shot with a digital.
that's not really true at all, it may be hard with certain digitals or older ones but I know of many that will take action pictures just fine.

looks like you had a really nice day, I look forward to checking this place out. The few pics you posted make it look alot like jiminy peak in western mass.
 

rpk1988

90210
Dec 6, 2004
2,789
0
Maryland
mtnbrider said:
I think those are really good. It is hard to get a decent action shot with a digital.
I agree. That is where a 35mm comes into play. It might be old, but it still works. And you can always just get that Kodak Picture CD.
 

CBJ

year old fart
Mar 19, 2002
12,861
4,157
Copenhagen, Denmark
Well its still a MX its just my second TLD SE after I broke the first one trying to chase you and Jemery at the US Open weekend.
 

zmtber

Turbo Monkey
Aug 13, 2005
2,435
0
awsome pictures but if you have photoshop there are a couple of affects you can do to make them sweet
 

CBJ

year old fart
Mar 19, 2002
12,861
4,157
Copenhagen, Denmark
zmtber said:
awsome pictures but if you have photoshop there are a couple of affects you can do to make them sweet
I do not have photoshop and I do not know how to use it but would love to get better in stead of using the simple editing programs I have now.
 

downhill mike

Turbo Monkey
Mar 23, 2005
1,286
4
GREAT PICTURES. THANKS.

we [high peaks cyclery staff at whiteface mountain] want to thank everyone that came up this labor day weekend. all of you helped us draw the largest number of riders in a weekend, since they last had the n.o.r.b.a. races back in 1999. it was great meeting and riding with many of you that i have been communicating with on this site for the past few months.
ladies day was a huge success. i think i will be able to continue with the ladies day for the remainder of the season. still unofficial but very likely. it looks like we will stay open 4 days a week too. friday thru monday until october 10th. i will post exact information in the next day or two regarding the ladies day on saturdays.
i want to see if we can have a weekend that canadien money will be accepted at par. maybe during whiteface's octoberfest. if your a biker you already get in for free. that's october 1st and 2nd.
all this is making not only next year looking great . but for downhilling to stay and continue to grow at whiteface for years to come.

thanks again and hope to see ya at the face
downhill mike
whiteface. size does matter!
 

foesrider

Chimp
Aug 30, 2002
74
0
north east mass.
well I rode whiteface this weekend on Sunday and Monday. the trails were great..had to be the longest runs I've ever done.. anywhere..what it lacked in big drops it made up for in length..just one run gave you super fast open slope to twisty turny steep singletrack , some cool slickrock stuff.. and it went on forever..or it seemed that way. one run pretty much took you a half hour and that's with a few stops and when you got to the bottom you were spanked and ready for some more.
the gondola(gangloft) was the best lift ever... carried you to the top in less than twelve minutes. the seats fold up so you can roll your bike right in sit down and enjoy the view.. or whatever..lake placid is a cool town and it was neet to see the ski jumps and the there Olympic suff around the area and they had a great brew pub in town ..lake placid brew pub with good eats and delicious beer.
I'd like to thank downhill mike and the rest of the high peaks cyclery staff for keeping this place open and for making and maintaining some of the coolest and longest trails in the east
 

DIRTWRKS

Monkey
Aug 13, 2003
615
0
Canada EH !
They need to get a race organised there so they can show case the hill etc.

I know a lot of guys up here in Quebec are looking for races now that our regular Quebec Cup series is over, about half dozen of us will be racing at Platekill this weekend.
 

tonyhawk

bikerag.com whore
Sep 21, 2003
512
0
CT
Whiteface sure looks a lot different with no snow. Those trails look really fun! I wish it wasn't so far from CT ... or that I had more vacation time ... or better yet both.
 

CBJ

year old fart
Mar 19, 2002
12,861
4,157
Copenhagen, Denmark
Sorry but I have been super busy but lets get it started:

Getting there:

It’s approx. a 6 hour drive from NYC mostly on 87 and then on a beautiful road through a pass to the mountain.

The base area:

The cleanest base I have ever seen with nice bathrooms, paved parking, food to buy and a nice little bike shop. Its in the shop you will find Mike and he is the nicest guy. He is the one to ask about the trails and its not to difficult to get him to show you some of the trails.

The lift:

The lift was medium speed but the gondola is only 6 years old and huge. You fold up the bench in one side simply slide in the bike next to each. Then you can comfortable sit on the other bench and enjoy the view which alone is worth the trip. The lift takes you to “Mini Whiteface” which is not the top of the mountain but on the right side and below the peak.

The trails:

With 2500 of vertical feet you get a lot of different kind of trails. The trails can best be described as old school trail with no fancy berms, ladders or build tables. There are bigger rocks but no large rock gardens like other places on the East Coast. Of the riding I have done No Joke on the Garbanzo lift in Whistler reminds me the most of the trails or like some of the trails on the freeride side of Snowshoe just way long of course than Snowshoe.

The upper part of the mountain is the most advanced trails but most of it is not too technical to ride and most people who have fun on the trails. There are a lot of roots and soil and it was loamy when we were there so the root were a challenge as my Michelin 24.1 caked up and I think a Michelin 16 would have been a better front tire. All of the trails have great flow except a couple of difficult sections with very large rocks and a technical rock drop which you can see Ken doing on the pictures above but not only is the drop technical the part after is difficult too.

One of the things I loved when I rode the Les Gets in the French Alps was the crazy speed you could get there and Whiteface offers some of the same especially on the road from the lift that takes you to the beginning of the first two major trails – trail 26 & 27. Blast that trail was super fun especially the more you learn the tail. Our favorite trail was 26 where the pictures above are from which just has great flow but enough difficulty make it difficult and fun all the way down.

The lower part of the mountain is different with more easy trails and there is a shuttle bus that will take you to the easy trails only. This was great for me as I could bring the wife who had tons of fun on the trails equipped with my Kona Chute which some of the XC riders told her looked burly. As Mike explained the lower trails you can blast through because they are less steep and technical which was a good variation to the upper trails where you hang on the breaks a lot because they are steep.

A run with the lift up and back down to the lift is approx. 40 min.
 

downhill mike

Turbo Monkey
Mar 23, 2005
1,286
4
we will try to have races next year.
when we sign the contract at the end of this year. i want to have races for next year, permission to use volunteers to help build up the mountain, ladies day every saturday, help with advertising, open 7 days a week and a 4 wheeler to access the trails for trail maintenance [it's a big mountain to walk up and down].

we had a great year at whiteface in the year that almost wasn't. so all the above that we will be asking for is very likely.

see ya at the face
downhill mike
whiteface. size does matter!
 

downhill mike

Turbo Monkey
Mar 23, 2005
1,286
4
no doubt. i learned a lot of necessary stuff to have all that happen for next year. i think we can have some local races by 2006 and maybe n.o.r.b.a. race again by 2007. and thanks again for the pictures they look great. as soon as the leaves start changing a bit more i must get some more pics up.
 

dogwonder

Nitro
May 3, 2005
1,849
0
Walking the Earth
Hey CBJ & Mike, I was there this past Saturday as well with my brother, I think we saw you in the shop.

I just wanted to add that we had a rockin time as well. Some sweet, sweet singletrack. I personally liked the small drop off the lower part of 27...I can't believe more people haven't discovered this place. 2500 vertical is a lot of freaking mountain. I made it half way through the 10 run challenge and was spent. My brother didn't even make it that far.

Thanks again, and let's get even more mountain open next year!
 

downhill mike

Turbo Monkey
Mar 23, 2005
1,286
4
yeah. the potential is so huge. i'm finding some boulder fields that we may be able to connect some trails to. berms, new "connecting" trails, ladders and big drops are the plan. could you imagine having a few different spots on your way down that would have new stunts. runs would probably be 45 minutes to an hour each.
 

woof

Monkey
May 17, 2005
426
0
K, I know you've all been waiting for my review so here it goes.. Go read CBJ's again.. ;)

But just to add and reiterate a few things, we had a blast. The top of the mtn. is sooooo dam fast. You can pin it for a full minute or so. Trail 26 (the Ledges I think) was also my favorite as CBJ mentioned. The roots, rocks, drops and steeps made the run so challenging. Mid and lower mtn. only get better. With the scenery, high speed stream crossing and tacky dirt make for some super fun riding. Here and there you wind up on some loose rock fireroads that connect trails. I personally liked them (yea, yea I know it's a broken collar bone waiting to happen). It was something different and I got to push myself trying to figure out how the hell to ride em'.

Out of the 8 or so runs we took (prob. less) we came accross maybe 10 people. The base area was always busy with tourists and such but there was no traffic on the hill. The gondola was fast and comfy and keeping CBJ's hand off my knee was the only drawback!!

A review of Downhill Mike - You will not find anyone, anywhere as excited about the DH scene as Mike. Not only will he give you donuts, he will take you by the hand and make sure you find what your looking for. He gave us a personal tour and showed us a bunch of the hidden treasures that we would have missed. He's also a great rider which made it even better. We ALL owe it to this guy to support Whiteface. I can't wait to get back........

All in all this place is super duper fun. It's not like the riding most of us are used to. Think of it as a place to hone all those skills you may have forgot about, like endurance, speed, flat turns, techy rock sections on steeps and blah, blah, blah.. You get the picture. It sounds like many improvments are on the slate for next year so fun as hell will only get funner then hell!!!! Cya, Ken
 

downhill mike

Turbo Monkey
Mar 23, 2005
1,286
4
i'd like to stay open 4 days a week until we close on 10-10.
we had no customers on this last friday the 9th.
we will try next weekend 10-16 thru 10-19 on our 4 day schedule.

i may have to go to weekends only if no one shows on next friday or the following monday. i hate to lose 6 days of our riding season, and it would be nice to be one of the few places open 7 days a week next year too. so come on up and enjoy some of the best eweather in the country this month.

the weather up here in september and october can be spectacular. it sure was this weekend. high's in the upper 60's to low 70's and lows in the upper 30's. tree's have just started changing.

on saturday the 17th. we will have our last ladies day of the season, and the lifts will also run for 1 extra hour. until 5:00pm. live music and other non biking festivities are planned for whiteface on that day too.

whiteface. size does matter!
downhill mike