Fortunately for all of us, Ziggy talked me into a neighborhood reconnaissance ski yesterday. The temperature had warmed to minus three (-3); with such balmy conditions beckoning, I couldn’t resist. After rain and then stupid cold temperatures, I did not hold much hope for backcountry ski conditions, but I was very pleasantly surprised. I am calling it — skiing will be fine in the Adirondacks this weekend! In the interest of full disclosure, if it is winter and I am in the Adirondacks, I can usually find ‘fine’ skiing.

The bits of snow that fell during the bitter cold — so much for ‘too cold to snow’ — provided a few inches of turning snow on very hard ice. All commercial ski properties, Nordic and alpine, are open and skiing is good to excellent. The backcountry will be skiable, but typical boney spots will be in full display. The NYSDEC report said there is 19 inches of snow at the station at Lake Colden.

As you can see in the featured photo, there is not a great deal of snow at 2,300 feet near Lake Placid, but one can ski. There is also a fair amount of blow-down, note the big tree behind Ziggy, so keep an eye out on the downhills.

If you are interested in Adirondack backcountry conditions, remember, there is always a link on the right side of this page that takes you to the most current conditions in the Adirondacks.