d
|
d
Current Cross Country Ski Conditions
Current Cross Country Skiing Conditions:
Database Error: [Microsoft][ODBC Driver Manager] Data source name not found and no default driver specified
General Information on Cross Country Skiing at Garnet Hill in New York
Winter arrives early to the Adirondacks. It is not unusual to be cross country skiing at Garnet Hill by Thanksgiving or earlier. Early season storms quickly transforms the Adirondack wilderness into a beautiful world of white mountain vistas and snowy woodland scenes. The midwinter snowpack can often exceed five feet with double this on the highest elevations.
Come up to the magic world of winter! Discover snowy forest trails and the winter scenery of the New York Adirondack Mountains. Garnet Hill Lodge is a true mountain resort where you can discover all the fun and adventure of cross country skiing. Enjoy miles of scenic groomed trails. Take a ski lesson. Watch your kids ski. Enjoy a backcountry ski journey. At day's end find the warmth of friends and good cheer by your Log House fireplace.
At Garnet Hill, you'll find:
- 2,000-foot elevation, abundant natural snowfall
- 55 KM of groomed trails
2 KM lighted trails for night skiing- Professional Ski Instructors of America certified ski school (PSIA)
- Free ski clinics
- Lessons daily, all abilities
- Kids! Cross Country Ski Program
- Complete ski shop for rentals, sales, and repairs
- Ski rentals include new short skis, skating skis, backcountry and telemark skis, snowshoes, and pulk sleds
- Lodge and restaurant open daily
- Unique 4 mile "ski down, ride back" shuttle bus service, the longest "ski lift" around!
- Spring cross country skiing to our working Sugarhouse
Welcome to Great Cross Country Skiing in New York!
Garnet hill is located in an area of the Adirondack Mountains that receives abundant natural snowfall. Our high elevation (2000 ft.) and North facing trails insures that once the snow arrives - it stays. The past 15 years we have had 100+ day ski seasons, with 125-140 day seasons not unusual. The past three seasons we began skiing before Thanksgiving!
Combining with our great location, our staff of professional skiers and groomers is dedicated to cross country skiing. Daily grooming, state-of-the-art grooming equipment, extensive offseason trail maintenance, and "snow farming" assures quality cross country skiing conditions all winter long. But good skiing is not our only hallmark. A professional ski school, free clinics, kids programs, naturalist tours, and shuttle bus service all help our guests enjoy skiing more.
So - come up to the mountains! Enjoy great snow, a spectacular mountain setting, and one of the finest cross country ski centers in North America.
Garnet Hill has groomed trails for everyone. Novice skiers can enjoy a flat start out on E-Z Way and
Putty Pond. Beginners can progress on to Old Faithful - a 3km long beginner loop with just a few hills. Intermediate skiers will love Trapper, Cougar, and Sugarhouse Trails. These trails have some great downhills and they make up the main route to our shuttle bus pick-up location on Roger’s Road. Advanced skiers will love the rocket ride downhills of Duffany’s, Matt & Jeff, Bobcat, and Joe Pete’s Run. All of the trails are groomed for traditional skiing and ski skating.
And don’t forget the Lake. Thirteenth Lake is a vast wilderness carpet of snow. When conditions are right our groomers prepare miles of set tracks and skating lanes.
"Ski Down - Ride Back" Shuttle Bus
The longest "ski lift" around! Garnet Hill’s shuttle bus service wisks skiers back from the furthest end of the trail system after 4 miles and 500 vertical feet of mostly downhill skiing. The bus runs daily during the ski season with two pickup times. During the weekends and holiday weeks, the shuttle will run as frequently as every 45 minutes! It’s a great way to get in more miles of skiing, and kids love it!
Garnet Hill’s ski school is a member ski school of Professional Ski Instructors of America (PSIA). Our ski school and ski lessons are a great step toward enjoying the sport of cross country skiing more. Improved ski technique improves your fun. We recommend a beginner group lesson for all first time cross country skiers. The ski school is also available for intermediate and advanced lessons including ski skating, telemark and backcountry techniques, and racing techniques.
On weekends we offer free lesson clinics. These have been popular with skiers and they offer a short introduction to ski techniques. Free clinics are usually held at 11:30 AM (downhill survival) and again at 1:30 PM (ski skating).
For more Information on times and lesson structure, see our ski school page.Kids! Ski Program & Kids Equipment Trade-up
The Garnet Hill Kids! Ski Program is designed to teach cross country skiing to children through games, skills sessions, and by just having fun on skis. The basic direction of the program is an interaction of children together and with our staff to encourage learning basic cross country ski techniques. These techniques include diagonal stride, turning, stopping, how to fall and get up, and even skating technique. The Kids! Ski Program is taught 10:30AM - 12Noon. Our ski school is also available for private children’s ski lessons by appointment.
We know how those kids can grow! And we know the value of properly sized cross country ski equipment. We stock a wide variety of cross country ski equipment packages for children. As children grow we will exchange their outgrown equipment for proper sized equipment from our stock of rental equipment. The exchange fee is $15 per child per year. Our intent is to keep children in similar valued equipment while they are growing.
Backcountry Skiing in the Adirondacks of New York
The Adirondack region near Garnet Hill offers some of the finest backcountry skiing and ski mountaineering trips found anywhere. The adjacent Siamese Ponds Wilderness Area contains almost 40 miles of mapped and marked trails. These routes offer day ski trips and multiple day winter wilderness adventures. In addition trails can be connected to frozen ponds, streams, and other winter only routes to provide an almost infinite variety of backcountry ski options. See Adirondack Ski Tours by Tony Goodwin for good route descriptions in the area.
Gore To Garnet Hill Backcountry Ski Adventure
For more advanced and adventurous skiers we offer an all day guided backcountry ski tour from Gore Mtn. back to the ski center at Garnet Hill. The trip usually begins with a shuttle bus ride to Gore Mtn., and then a chairlift ride to the saddle area on Gore. Depending on snow and weather conditions the guide will choose from a variety or ski routes - sometimes skiing all day at the higher elevations on Gore and Pete Gay mountains. Usually the trip entails some high elevation skiing with a gradual descent into the lower forests and a wilderness tour through the Vly and William Blake Pond ending at the ski shop.
These guided trips are usually run on the weekends. Rugged backcountry equipment is usually required (available at the ski shop to rent). An additional "what to bring" list is available to participants. In addition skiers should be more than beginner skiers and be comfortable skiing on ungroomed backcountry ski trails. The trip lasts all day with a 9 AM departure and returning by 4:30 - 5:00 PM. Cost is $30/person and includes guide service and shuttle bus.
Return to the top of the pageSnowshoeing has become quite popular in recent years, owing to exciting equipment advances, new trails, and a renewed spirit to get out and discover the outdoors in winter. Snowshoeing has been around for eons, and we have rented snowshoes here at Garnet Hill for over 20 years.
The newest equipment advances give snowshoers a great advantage over the old "woodies". Most new style snowshoes are constructed with a very light weight aluminum or plastic frame with a light weight decking. In addition these newer shoes have a snow and ice "claw" that grips into the snow creating a no slip traction system that’s great for mountain ascents. Improved bindings round out the advances creating a very light easy to use snowshoe. Try ‘em out! The Garnet Hill Ski Shop rents and sells Atlas Snowshoes.
Snowshoers will also find a great new network of trails. Intertwined among our groomed ski trails are snowshoe and mountain bike trails. Combining with the wilderness trails in the area, snowshoers can enjoy a day or a week of winter adventure.
Garnet Hill Lodge Cross Country Ski Center
2000-2001 RatesTrail Passes
1 Day 2 Day 3 Day Addl. Days PM Discount (after 2PM) Adult $13 $23 $33 $10 $10 Youth & Sr. $11 $18 $25 $7 $8 Juniors $6 $10 $14 $3.50 $4.50 Juniors 5-12 years, Youth 13-17 years, Seniors 65+
Afternoon discount after 2PM onlyBook of ten tickets (adult, transferable)……………$110
Rentals includes skis, boots and poles
1 Day 2 Day 3 Day 4 Day 5 Day PM Discount
(after 2PM)Adult & Youth $15 $26 $35 $43 $50 $11 Juniors $10 $15 $20 $24 $28 $7
- Skate or Metal Edge (mountaineering) rentals
Adults $3/day additional Jrs. $10/day additional- Specialty skis for lesson use only…..$6.00
- Skis only: Adult $10/day Juniors $7/day
- Boots only: $2-5/day Poles only $2-5/day
Snowshoe Rentals:
Adults…..$12/day Juniors…..$10/dayPulk Rental:
A pulk is a ski sled used to pull children around on the trails.
½ day…….$12 Full day……..$17Season Passes
Purchase
before 7/1 7/1-11/25 after 11/25 Adults $85 $90 $100 Youth & Senior $75 $80 $95 Junior $45 $45 $60 Family $195 $210 $230
Book of ten tickets (adult, transferable)……….$110
Ski School
All Ages and all abilities including beginner lessons, telemark and ski skating lessons.
Group beginner lessons daily at 10AM and 2PM
Group lesson………..$15/person
Semi-Private Lesson………..$25/person
Private Lesson………..$35/person
Kids! Ski Program 10:30AM-Noon………$15/child
Specials!
Rentals, Trail Fee, & Group Lesson
Adult ……..$35 Youth and Senior…..$30 Juniors……..$25
Rental and Trail Fee
Adult…..$25 Youth/Senior…….$22.50 Juniors ……$15
Kids under 5 Free skiing and Free Rentals!!
Ski Equipment & Rental Information
Garnet Hill offers a wide selection of cross country ski equipment, clothing and accessories. In the ski department we feature skis by Fischer, Atomic, Asnes, and Karhu. We carry a number of boot-binding systems including Alpina boots and Rotefella NNN -II bindings, and NNN-BC boots and bindings. In addition we sell Salomon Profil system boots and bindings, and the tried and true 75mm boots and bindings.
Today cross country ski equipment comes in many sizes and shapes. Each class of cross country ski equipment fills a particular skiing "niche." Light weight racing skis for competition, light touring equipment for groomed and packed trails, touring width skis for off trail, and metal edged skis for backcountry and telemark skiing. The latest advances in ski equipment are in the new "compact" ski designs - skis are shorter, lighter, and easier to use. (Many designs will fit in the trunk of the car!). Most of the equipment we sell is available to rent and "Try before you buy". We will deduct up to two days rental fees from the price of new equipment.
Look in our Buyer’s Guide for more complete descriptions and pricing of the cross country ski equipment and accessories we sell.
Cross Country Ski Areas Association
Cross Country Skiing at Garnet Hill Lodge An Essay
The discerning skier at Garnet Hill Lodge will be rewarded with a rich variety of landscapes and terrain that will reveal the historic, environmental, and skiing character of our own special area of the Adirondacks.
The Log House at Garnet Hill was built in 1936, soon after the Hooper garnet mine closed. Today the ski center at Garnet Hill lies within the old mining community and the trail system crosses, traces, and is otherwise entwined in the past. Putty Pond, a water impoundment from the mining days has long since been filled by the sediments of sand and time. Today it is a summer meadow and an outstanding beginner skiing area - wide open double track-set with acres of skating lanes and views of the Hooper Mine. For the curious, just 100 yards off the trail, a beaver meadow waits to be explored.
During the mining era, a blind horse was employed to deliver countless loads of processed ore, after the garnet was removed to create a location which skiers will discover as the Tailings. The Tailings are a multi level open area sculpted with hills, open slopes, flat areas, and beautiful mountain vistas. A gentle descent offers access to Skullbuster Hill which thrills advanced skiers as it winds through white birches. A short ski uphill is rewarded with views of the Adirondack High Peaks, including Mt. Marcy, the state’s highest. The now inactive Hooper Mine has reverted to state ownership and is incorporated into the 100,000 acre Siamese Ponds Wilderness Area. It can be reached by skis or snowshoes and forms a backcountry ski loop with the trail to William Blake Pond.
A skier suddenly and imaginatively transported to Harvey’s Tailings, might conclude that they were standing at the edge of an Alaskan river delta. If by the same method of conveyance, they were to be relocated to the shore of Thirteenth Lake, they might guess it to be a Norwegian fiord. Still another imaginary geographic possibility on the Garnet Hill trail system is a Vermont look alike - Mountain View trail to the Sugarhouse. Skiers pass through pastures of the old Harvey farm while catching glimpses of the High Peaks and nearby Gore Mountain, before skiing through the maple orchard and arriving at the sugarhouse. Here, skiers can be wood stove warmed in the depths of winter or delighted at the sugaring-off time in the Spring.
The "Adirondack Ruby" is a phrase referring to garnets. It can also refer to The Log House at Garnet Hill Lodge, for it is a gem of hospitality and graciousness in its own Adirondack style. With a commanding view of Thirteenth Lake, and a great stone fireplace it becomes the social center for overnight guests and a refuge of warmth. Great food, and good cheer for day skiers and visitors.
Mark Lacek, 1996
