After becoming an Adirondack 46'er in 2012 and hiking many of the High Peaks in the winter months, I always thought that the most fun and fast way down the mountain was to ski down a slide path or ski trail. Instead, I would descend on foot, dreaming of the day I could ski down. Years later, we made the dream happen.
On Saturday April 4th, 2015, my husband Glenn and I, along with friends Debbie and Ivan, decided that we would attempt our first Adirondack backcountry ski on AT (alpine touring) gear. Our selected objective would be Mount Marcy, the highest peak in the Adirondacks at 5344ft/1629m. We could have picked an easier first objective, but Marcy is a classic and we wanted to do it. We parked at the South Meadows parking lot (~2050') and skinned in on the truck trail towards Marcy Dam. We totally lucked out with the day's conditions: FRESH POWDER!!
On Saturday April 4th, 2015, my husband Glenn and I, along with friends Debbie and Ivan, decided that we would attempt our first Adirondack backcountry ski on AT (alpine touring) gear. Our selected objective would be Mount Marcy, the highest peak in the Adirondacks at 5344ft/1629m. We could have picked an easier first objective, but Marcy is a classic and we wanted to do it. We parked at the South Meadows parking lot (~2050') and skinned in on the truck trail towards Marcy Dam. We totally lucked out with the day's conditions: FRESH POWDER!!
Deb and Ivan skinning in on the truck trail
Once at Marcy Dam, the trail ascends gradually, passing the Phelps Mountain trail turn off. Here Ivan and myself attended to some blister hotspots developing on our heels. A few minutes further we crossed a bridge and that's when the real elevation gain begins. We ascended up some steeper slopes, and flipped our heel lifter features on our bindings for an easier climb. Ivan started sliding backwards and struggled up some of the steeper sections, and we became concerned that his 3/4 length skins weren't up to the task. Moving on to the designated ski trail, we began to eagerly anticipate our eventual descent down the 6 inches of fresh powder. Not too much further, Ivan made the decision that neither he or his skins were up for the task of ascending the entire mountain. Both he and Debbie were tired from the 10 hour, 4100ft hike of Dix mountain the day before. They decided to turn around. Lucky them, they had first tracks down the ski trail!
After saying goodbye to our friends, Glenn and I continued up to the top of a steep section of the ski trail and back onto the hiking trail. The trail here mellowed out again, slowly gaining elevation bit by bit. We bumped into some other hikers and skiiers along the way. Some of the hikers we spoke with said that they weren't able to make the summit because of the whiteout conditions and high winds above the treeline. Some were not equipped with the proper footwear or a GPS, and made a smart decision to turn back. There are too many search and rescue missions performed on Marcy because people get disoriented. It was becoming easy to see that tracks up to the summit disappear within minutes, leaving people unable to backtrack. We finally reached the treeline, and were greeted with a few brief glimpses of sunshine.
Just before the harsh summit cone winds hit
As we approached the final 400 feet to the summit the winds really picked up, the trees disappeared, and we found ourselves skinning up ice and rock towards the summit. About 150ft from the top, the winds were gusting so hard that I could barely keep myself upright. We made the decision to take off the skis and bareboot it up to the summit sign, leaning our entire bodies into the 35mph wind. The winds made the visibility poor, and the temperatures plumetted. We had hoped to ski right from the summit down some of the leeward slopes of the summit cone as read in many internet ski accounts. At the time we were there, it seemed pointless to ski down on the rock and ice and risking of becoming disoriented despite creating waypoints on our GPS of the exit points. We also knew that we couldn't take off our skins in the wind and descending with them on compromises your ability to turn and have edge control, which we would need on ice. We arrived at the summit plaque- Glenn's third Marcy summit and my second. We took a selfie with the summit sign when Glenn suddenly noticed a large white patch of frostbite on my right cheek. I took my hand out of my mitten and felt the area. It felt about size and thickness of a fuzzy peach candy. We had only been in the wind for 10 minutes or so and I was shocked that frostbite could happen so quickly, even with having my hood up. I had never had frostbite before, despite being on many windy summits in the past. Somewhat freaked out by the wind and my cheek, I decided I had to descend quickly. Covering up my face with my buff, I practically ran down to our skis, hopping on rocks and punching hard crust snow with my heels and dodging ice. Grabbing my skis and looking at the slope downward off the summit cone, I felt the fastest way to get out of the wind was to run down another 150ft, heel punching the ice coated snow cover. I knew it would be faster than side slipping down on my skis with the skins on, and I knew there was no risk of post holing because the wind had blown off any loose powder. Returning to where the ice crust stopped and the powder started, I stopped at wind break and waited for Glenn, while holding my cheek with my mitten. Glenn had decided that for him, the safest way to descend with skis off was to A-Frame them on his pack whereas I had just dragged mine down.
Our windy summit photo
Glenn descending in the high winds
Back in the trees we still needed to get out of the alpine wind so we transitioned into ski mode and bolted down the gentle slope. The tone of the trip instantly changed when back in the powder, trees, and trail. The temperature throughout the day was dropping from the freezing mark in the morning to cold winter conditions in the afternoon. We stopped to add some layers and don our helmets before heading down steeper terrain. Still concerned about my cheek I kept it covered, but was encouraged by the tingling and thawing that was occuring. We took some breaks to eat and drink and continued down the fun powder to the steepest part of the descent, the designated ski trail. The trail, being only 6 feet wide, bumpy, and as steep as 35 degrees, is tricky for even the most expert skiier. Glenn, weighing 210 pounds with his pack, let gravity assist his rock and roll yet stylish descent and while the GoPro camera recording his every turn. I myself am a more cautious and controlled skiier, combining parallel turns with power snowplows! By now most of the fresh powder had been scraped off by other skiiers but the conditions were still soft and fun. This is the way to descend!
Once off the ski trail, the bridge crossing signals a change of slope angle down to Marcy Dam. The terrain here is super fun and less risky, like riding a kid's rollercoaster. Point your skis downhill and let them run! We rolled into Marcy Dam, catching other skiiers along the way. We slogged out the truck trail to the truck and high-fived each other for another great day in the Adirondacks. Looking at the data for the day, we had covered 27km/17miles, 4500feet of ascent, in 9.5 hours. We did take many breaks throughout the day so this day could have been a lot shorter. Also, my friend Debbie had made it out the truck trail without skins so I will try that next time. The photo on the right is my frostbitten cheek a day later, and below is some video footage of Glenn skiing in the trees below the summit. In hindsight we probably didn't need to ascend past the treeline in the conditions we did as we both had summited before. We did thoroughly enjoy the descent so much that we are already making plans to return and try a different objective. Here's to another adventure in the Adirondacks! :)
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