TR: bc and dead slope in harriman state park

[Airsatz]

Seriously core on the double-up!

Anyone know conditions in South Mountain?

[nihiles]

i told nihiles where the jump is, but my directions to get him there were pretty bad.

i am going to shut up about dumb shit in NY now.

youre directions put me alot closer than my internet hunting was doing. i was looking in the south end of the park!
and i dont think there is anything dumb about it, so tell me more shit. the only thing i think is dumb is driving past all this shit to go to snowless vermont.

Anyone know conditions in South Mountain?

idk about south mountain but the drainage cut that comes down garrett mountain to route 80 was a bit too thin to be worth the hike (and leaving my truck under the highway in p-town!)
but you might want to PM ORANGE GONDOLA, pretty sure he hit west essex or somewhere over there last week.

[alto]

Reading an east coast TR is like volunteering at a homeless shelter.

[nihiles]

Reading an east coast TR is like volunteering at a homeless shelter.

not quite sure how you mean that but if it makes you feel good inside then im glad you enjoyed it. but if you mean it another way then im pretty sure you can go fuck yourself.

either way you need to work on your spread eagles cause your legs aint straight.

[buckethead]

either way you need to work on your spread eagles cause your legs aint straight.

fixed it - i think you forgot an emoticon there?

[nihiles]

nope. def didnt intend a finger mustache. his legs are bent and it makes the eagle sloppy.

[bendtheski]

Reading an east coast TR is like volunteering at a homeless shelter.

10 or so miles from the Jersey border no less. The best reason to drive past this shit is liking your skis. 17" on top of rocks and fallen trees doesn't sound like all that much fun. Not to mention the 45-50 degree daytime temps turning it all to a pasty mixture of snow and mulch. Probably really good right after the dump. A few days later, not so much. ...till the next dump.
Hiking for turns in Harriman on dirt still sounds more fun than a weekend at Huntah!

[gravitylover]

We haven't seen 45 degrees for a daytime temp here since mid Dec. and there has been a solid snowpack in that part of the park since Dec. 19th. Think (or research) before you speak genius.

[ex-powderbroker]

Your stoke=HUDGE

THAT'S WHAT SHE SAID

anyway nihiles, let's get out this week and explore some shit.

[fool]

I thought I recognized the name Harriman State Park...I just didn't imagine the BC skiing was that great there.

Awesome. You slayed my childhood backyard. Go find the schunemunk ski jump next dump that hits the southrern part of ny.

My brother and I were reminiscing about bushwacking, kicker building, and core shots in the hudson valley the other day.

Anothe r great one would be a conquest of mt. Beacon.

One more, storm king or roundtop.

Damn!!!!

I've actually heard there's some pretty good - or at least decent - ice climbing from the train tracks to the top of storm king.

cool. I road bike by there a lot in warm weather, and always said I should do what you did. If you do a car shuttle, it may be easier to hike in from the top of the road along the ridge and ski down, left turn out of the parking lot facing the road. I'm pretty sure, at that point, you're on the Appalachian trail.

Crazy too, because I've raced in some college bike races in Harriman (road race and time trial). Nice area.

Great TR: nice job getting after it. Thanks!

[bendtheski]

We haven't seen 45 degrees for a daytime temp here since mid Dec. and there has been a solid snowpack in that part of the park since Dec. 19th. Think (or research) before you speak genius.

OK, I reasearched and apparently your thermometer's broken. (ex. 59 degrees on 1/26, plus another 10 or 15 days above 45 and that was in Newburgh, another 20 miles north) I lived in that area (North Jersey/Southern NY State) for some 30 odd years so I've got a pretty good idea of how temps and snowpack typically run; high and low respectively. Of course I'm not there to measure in person (thank GOD!) but the pictures posted tell the story pretty well too. 12-18" on top of rocks and logs. Yay!
Here's a little tune I used to like to play over and over on the 4 hour drive to Killington to ski in the rain... Enjoy!
http://cowbell.fm/track/94469-uncle-...eart-of-jersey

[gravitylover]

Sorry I didn't mean to come off like an ass. We've had a few days where the downslope torched the valleys and the NWS station in Newburgh is at the airport which is right above the river and the wind screams off the Catskills over there. They end up with a lot of days during the winter where, similar to a chinook in Denver, they end up 15 or more degrees higher than the "high country." Even though it was above freezing a few days the area where those photos were taken faces almost due north and with the low sun angle at the end of January they held onto their snowpack pretty well up there.

[bendtheski]

Ah yes. This forum can bring out the ass in all of us from time to time.
Know what you mean about temperature variations in close proximity. I ski Loveland most of the time and live/work in Georgetown, only 12 miles away. What it's doing here has little or no bearing on what it's doing there; snowing, blowing, cold, warm, sunny, cloudy, etc. I'd imagine Harriman is in about the same shape it was in the winter of '97 (I think). Good solid snowpack for at least 6 weeks, especially in the valleys and northern exposures. I lived in Southfields and could XC right out the front door and across Rt. 17 into the park. Even skied across the frozen Lake Stahahe a few times and attempted some steeper trails without much success. Pitch on XC touring skis can be a handful! It was fun for a while until the inevitable warm up, but I just kept right on skiing and connecting the patches till it was all gone. Eventually scrapped the fishscales right off my skis! Then ran it, then mountain biked it.
Made the most of the terrain and conditions as did the guys that started this thread. Kept me in shape for weekends at K-mart which I had house shares and season passes to for nine years! All that travel took its toll on my finances and my cars so I finally wised up and moved west.
The Uncle Floyd parody song brings it all back home, and while the area has some up sides I can't say I miss it all that much.
"On Rt. 17 the traffic's real mean. Deep in the heart of Jersey"... I frequently liken weekend traffic on I-70 to weekend shore traffic on the Garden State Parkway or Long Island Expressway; The world's two largest parking lots.

[ex-powderbroker]

Here's the thing about the High Country compared to NYC:

I routinely leave Brooklyn at 45 degrees and in the cats it's 20-25, and there's actually snow on the ground!

...Like how Loveland is 96 percent open whereas A-Basin is 50 percent, a few miles and the topography just matters.

[nihiles]

BENDTHESKI: your transplanted ass has obviously spoiled out west, please stay tuned for my parking lot at the rt 4 home depot TR later today. it made my day more than this harriman trip.

be thankful for what you have and get after what youve got cause everyday that you dont you die a little more.

[steve]

^^ Running = bad
Riding = GOOD

They should allow mtn biking at Harriman. Hikers seem to think that trails are only for them, and they should only be for walking. They wouldn't even allow running on trails if they had their way (and sometimes they do have their way.)

-steve

[gravitylover]

Just give the hikers a whomp in the back of the head with some carbon knuckled full finger gloves as you blow by their pussy asses on the bike. Knock 'em flat and they won't be able to whine

Actually I do think there is more than enough room in Harriman/Bear Mt for all of us except the horsey folks but with all the state budget cutbacks coming this year I don't expect any progressive thinking to even have a chance to prevail. Did you see the list of parks that will be closing or get severe cutbacks this year? It's overwhelming! Almost everything here in the Hudson Valley is affected in one way or another. Every pool at the State Parks is closed this summer in the southern end of the state except one at Jones Beach and two of the parks in Putnam Cty are closing altogether.

[nihiles]

Just give the hikers a whomp in the back of the head with some carbon knuckled full finger gloves as you blow by their pussy asses on the bike.

Did you see the list of parks that will be closing or get severe cutbacks this year? It's overwhelming!

its like ken burns awesome series did nothing to spark public want. which, however can be a good thing cause sometimes you go to the parks and cant find a place to park. also, less people in the park means less chance of getting caught pedaling.

and barefoot trail running will always be more badass than carbon knuckles.

[mtl_ripper]

Way to play. Core shots on the rock boards are no problem! =)

[nihiles]

rock boards? this was like day 7 on my coombas. i dont really believe in rock boards.

you sound like this guy.

The best reason to drive past this shit is liking your skis.

but unlike him [ame="http://www.tetongravity.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2725075&postcount=9"]i love my skis to death[/ame].

[bendtheski]

Just give the hikers a whomp in the back of the head with some carbon knuckled full finger gloves as you blow by their pussy asses on the bike. Knock 'em flat and they won't be able to whine

Actually I do think there is more than enough room in Harriman/Bear Mt for all of us except the horsey folks but with all the state budget cutbacks coming this year I don't expect any progressive thinking to even have a chance to prevail. Did you see the list of parks that will be closing or get severe cutbacks this year? It's overwhelming! Almost everything here in the Hudson Valley is affected in one way or another. Every pool at the State Parks is closed this summer in the southern end of the state except one at Jones Beach and two of the parks in Putnam Cty are closing altogether.

I used to poach Harriman on the mountain bike daily. The only time you have to be careful is going into and coming out a trailhead. Ranger Rick almost never actually gets out of his vehicle to patrol the trail! I did have an occasional helpful hiker inform me that mountain bikes weren't allowed in the park to which I cleverly responded "fuck off, it's my park"! I mean what else are you supposed to say?
nihiles, It doesn't look like the parking lot of Rt. 4 Home Depot did your bases any favors. You may love your skis, but your shop is going to love your business even more!

[nihiles]

nihiles, It doesn't look like the parking lot of Rt. 4 Home Depot did your bases any favors. You may love your skis, but your shop is going to love your business even more!

my bases and edges get more abuse on any lift served slope at any time of the year than a few hours in the parking lot.

[gravitylover]

Yo Steve, what's up? Haven't seen you here in just about forever, maybe this will draw you out of hiding. Whaddaya think, Silvermine good to go right now or too crusty? I'm thinking of taking the kids sledding there this weekend and gonna bring a pair of beater stix with and go wreck 'em. Worth the effort?

[Vt-Freeheel]

Good to see you are out having fun, isn't that what it's all about?


Edit/ should have looked at the date first

[mtnbiker/boarder]

Well played Nihiles.....better to be in the snow and outside rather than at work or worse yet sitting in front of a TV on sat and sundays.....way to get after it .....just watch out for any small holes like last year...........