Whiteface

A former winter olympics venue. The longest vertical drop on the East Coast. Naturally formed, sidecountry expert terrain. Whiteface has a lot going for it when it comes to selling visitors on its Upstate New York slopes. But when it comes to the resort’s overall package, prospective visitors should recognize a few important caveats.

Despite comprising fewer than 300 acres, Whiteface’s terrain stands out among East Coast resorts. A wide range of visitors will find something to like here.

Whiteface is unique in that it has a truly dedicated beginner area that experienced skiers will likely never enter. The Bear Den area is out of the way from the rest of the resort and comprises almost exclusively green terrain (although some of the glades here are blue). This is really nice for beginners who want to enjoy gentle slopes without dealing with the higher crowds and faster traffic found on some main mountain greens. However, the resort really isn’t for beginners overall, and upper-mountain areas don’t contain any green trails.

On the other hand, upper-mountain areas host the resort’s best blue terrain. Intermediate trails off the Summit Quad enjoy consistent grooming and provide breathtaking views of the surrounding Adirondacks. These trails, along with the lengthy Wilmington Trail off the Lookout lift, provide some of the longest continuous intermediate-terrain vertical drops in the country. It’s worth noting that the blues at Whiteface, in part due to their length, tend to be on the more difficult side compared to other East Coast mountains.

If you’re looking for a challenge, Whiteface offers numerous options across mid- and upper-mountain areas. The best runs in this regard are narrow, steep, and twisty. Some very long trails here require serious endurance, and on a few—most notably Hoyt’s High off the Lookout lift—there’s no easier option to bail to once committed. The resort grooms a number of black diamonds, but plenty of long, mogully runs exist when conditions allow.

At the very top of the resort, you’ll find the Whiteface Slides—extremely challenging slopes with intense natural obstacles such as waterfalls. None of the resort’s other trails come even remotely close in terms of difficulty; in fact, you’ll be hard pressed to find anything of similar caliber at any other East Coast mountain. These naturally-formed lines maintain ferociously steep pitches, require some insanely tight routes, and are riddled with rocks and ice. These trails take a hike or traverse to reach, but it doesn't take any longer than 5-10 minutes for the closest lines.

The Slides tend to be closed more often than not—it usually takes until at least February for these lines to accumulate enough snow to open up. And just because these trails are open doesn’t always mean that anyone can do them—on days with risky conditions, ski patrol may mandate that visitors exploring these runs bring avalanche beacons, probes, and shovels. But when the Slides are accessible, they’re among the most unique in-bounds slopes east of the Rockies.

Whiteface boasts freestyle features across multiple lower-mountain trails. We wouldn’t call these parks the best in the industry, but they offer a range of small to large features including boxes, rails, and jumps.

Whiteface receives decent accumulation for the East Coast, and on good days, powdery conditions can materialize. Like other nearby resorts, snow quality can vary. But when it comes to resort conditions, Whiteface’s achilles' heel is its extraordinary susceptibility to wind problems. Wind holds are very common during the winter months, and the worst situations can cause the whole mountain to shut down. After a bout of wind, snow seems to be blown off every upper mountain trail. In addition, these unrelenting gusts seem to exacerbate the resort’s already cold temperatures.

Lower mountain areas tend to stay wind protected and hold their snow better. However, they don’t get the same quality of snow as upper mountain areas. Conditions at the resort tend to be very icy, even compared to the nearby Vermont resorts that seem to be better known for the trait. Whiteface tends to be relatively generous with leaving their trails open due to ice, but that doesn’t always mean they’re enjoyable to go down.

The resort’s wind susceptibility does result in one notable benefit: the snow quality in the trees. Glades at Whiteface tend to catch much of the windswept snow, and they can turn into unique East Coast powder stashes. But the trees experience the same variable conditions that all East Coast terrain does. Thin cover and ice tend to manifest as well, especially during the first few months of season.

Whiteface does have snowmaking capabilities on the overwhelming majority of its runs. This includes some ungroomed black runs, which helps ferment the development of moguls on the mountain. But the resort can skimp on the practice, and on some trails, it takes weeks for the resort to start blowing snow. Lookout Mountain, which doesn’t host any competitive racing programs, tends to be the lowest priority—it’s not outside the realm of possibility to arrive at the resort months into the season and still find that area closed.

Like many other competing mountains, Whiteface contains a mix of high-speed and slow, fixed-grip lifts. The resort’s two high-speed lifts—the Cloudsplitter Gondola and the Face Lift detachable quad—both start at the main base and serve lower and mid-mountain terrain. Both of these lifts are generally enjoyable to ride, with Face Lift generally seeing little wind exposure and each enclosed gondola cabin enjoying natural insulation from the elements. It’s a different story on upper mountain lifts, however. The Summit Quad and Lookout Mountain Triple are slow and heavily exposed to the elements, making them miserable to ride up on cold or windy days. Mid-mountain helper lifts—most notably the Little Whiteface Double, which provides directly lappable service to most of the interesting terrain that the gondola serves—are slow and somewhat exposed as well. 

Whiteface doesn’t really have any mid-mountain chokepoints. But lines at the base can get really long during peak times, especially to ride the gondola on windy days. Upper mountain lift lines generally remain low, but if any major lifts get put on wind hold, be prepared to wait awhile across the rest of the resort.

Whiteface has a sizable mid-mountain lodge, but from a practicality standpoint, it’s placed too low on the resort. Anyone wanting to return to upper mountain areas will have to deal with first riding up a base lift—or taking the painfully slow mid-mountain Little Whiteface double—to get there.

The outgoing Whiteface Mid-Station Lodge tragically burned down in a November 2019 fire, but was rebuilt as the Legacy Lodge and should be fully operational for the 2021-22 season.

Lodging

Slopeside lodging at Whiteface is nonexistent. However, a number of options exist just a short drive from the resort, and the nearby Ledge Rock hotel is really just a 15-20 minute walk for particularly car-averse visitors. In addition, the resort provides a free shuttle service from many major hotels. The nearby town of Lake Placid, a former olympic town with a unique ski jumping complex, hosts some really cool hotels overlooking the frozen, snow-covered lake.

Aprés-ski

There really isn’t an aprés-ski scene on-site at Whiteface, but a number of enjoyable bars exist in the nearby town of Lake Placid. Some of these joints offer unique happy hour deals or host live music, even on weekdays.

Verdict

Thanks to its especially unique terrain and long vertical drop, Whiteface offers a truly amazing East Coast experience on a good day. However, wind and other problems make for a frustratingly inconsistent experience, and some of the lifts could really use upgrades. Ultimately, the mountain is best enjoyed if you book on short notice with a sense of the expected conditions. If you’re not looking to do that, we recommend booking your trip across several days—ideally in February or March—to make sure you get the full experience in.