Whiteface

December 14, 2025

After another relaxing breakfast we arrived at the Whiteface toll gate mid-morning and strapped on our skis as a gentle snowfall settled onto our heads. As we slowly plodded up the toll road a woman blasted past us slow pokes. Shortly after I found a lonely toque sitting on the snow in the middle of the track. Given that it looked fairly fresh with little snow on it, I figured it probably belonged to her and pocketed it. At one straight section of road I saw her in the distance as she was stopped for some reason so I picked up the pace to try to catch up. As I approached she started going again and I sprinted a bit and managed to catch up to her and reunite the poor hat to its rightful owner. After a brief friendly chat she was back on her way and I waited up for the other two.

Slogging up the toll road

Bill stated that he was not feeling the summit today and urged John and I to go ahead without him. We sync'd some radios and parted ways, Bill at his own pace, while John and I scooted along a little faster. At the Lake Placid turn the clouds cleared for a brief instant and we caught sight of the summit castle which looks tantalizingly close, but oh-so far away to ski on such a low angle climb.

A brief bit of sunshine shows the summit castle.

At the Willmington turn we met a woman coming up the hiking trail, and she offered to race us to the top. John and I skied the last kilometer to the lower castle and ditched our skis, switching to crampons for the climb up the icy staircase. We arrived at the summit in the fog, observing fresh snowshoe tracks come and gone, with just enough visibility to see our competitive companion disappearing down the trail back into the trees. On the radio we learned that Bill had decided to turn back just after the Lake Placid turn, and he would meet us back at the car.

Traversing the Wilmington turn

The entrance to Moria

Lower castle

Icy staircase of doom

Summit castle

Summit selfie

It started to snow hard so we descended back down to the lower castle to get some shelter for our lunch. It was a quick one as the wind picked up and funnelled through the tunnels we were trying to shelter in. The ski down was a slow going affair with the deep snow. This was probably good as it kept us warm having to actually push along instead of just gliding. Most places we could not get enough speed for decent turns unfortunately. Finally at one point I found some thin snow and got in a turn or two before my skis hit pavement, stopped abruptly, and had me faceplanting embarrassingly in front of another skier coming up. I directed John around this section to avoid a second mishap.

A short while of uneventful coasting had us back at the toll booth, reunited with Bill, and then packed up for the drive home, in time for supper. Only 5 hours for this trip up and down Whiteface. A successful, low-key weekend in the ADK!

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