The Gore Mountain and Whiteface Mountain ski area have announced a series of improvement and maintenance projects planned for the 2025-2026 season.
At Gore, after last season’s replacement of the Hudson Chair at the North Creek Ski Bowl, this year crews are replacing the Topridge Triple Chairlift. Installed in its place will be a new Fixed Grip Quad lift, following the same footprint as the current lift but increasing total uphill capacity.
Removal of the current Topridge Triple has already begun, and the installation will follow this summer, with the new lift expected to be in operation by the start of the 2025-2026 winter season.
Routine maintenance will also be performed on other lifts, including replacing the haul rope on the Straight Brook Quad.
Upgrades to snowmaking systems are also underway. Aging snowmaking pipes ware being replaced this summer on multiple trails, including Twister, Echo, and both Upper and Lower Sleighride.
The new pipe is expected to provide increased reliability, reduce the need for repairs, and increase water-carrying capacity to boost snow production.
Pending final approvals, an additional parking lot is planned below the current Lot G off the main access road, adding up to 375 new parking spaces.
At the North Creek Ski Bowl, progress continues with the new lodge, with the opening anticipated before the 2025-2026 ski season, plans include expanded seating, a retail shop and a year-round, full-service restaurant and bar.
The construction of a new zip coaster attraction is underway. The attraction combines coaster-like rails with transitions to zipline cables, allowing visitors to travel up and down the mountain. The new zip coaster is expected to be operational by summer 2026.
Gore Mountain, located in North Creek in the southern Adirondacks of New York State, is the largest ski area in New York.
With 108 trails, 14 lifts, and 2,537 feet of vertical, it spans four interconnected peaks and the North Creek Ski Bowl, offering year-round recreation and diverse terrain across seven distinct mountain areas.
Operated by the New York State Olympic Regional Development Authority since 1984, Gore was home to New York’s first gondola.
Whiteface Improvements
The most visible project at Whiteface this summer is the replacement of the Little Whiteface and Mountain Run chair lifts, both originally installed in the 1980s. These lifts provided service from the mid-station’s Legacy Lodge to both the top of Mountain Run and Little Whiteface.
The two fixed grip double chairs ran parallel to one another and played essential roles on busy days, providing access to expert trails without having to return to the Base Lodge. They remained popular lifts even after the Cloudsplitter Gondola was opened in 1999. Due to their age, both lifts’ time has come, and both have been completely removed already this summer.
New towers are now going in, and a new Little Whiteface fixed grip double chairlift will be installed and ready to go for the 2025-26 season. To keep the original flexibility built into the old lift, skiers and riders will still be able to easily exit the lift at the top of Mountain Run or continue on the lift to the top of Little Whiteface.
With new towers all the way up Mountain Run, plus new chairs, new cable and motors, and everything fully replaced, the new Little Whiteface Lift will continue providing reliable service while also maintaining the popular and important option to return to these black diamond trails from mid-station.
This year’s snowmaking upgrades will add 115 additional high efficiency snow guns to trails, including 15 mobile units that can be used anywhere on the mountain as well as the installation of fixed guns on Hoyt’s High.
For the upcoming season, Whiteface has purchased a new Piston Bully 600 Winch Ready snow cat for the grooming fleet there, which includes two other Piston Bully 600s and two Pisten Bully 200 Park Pros. Whiteface also has a Pisten Bully 600 E+ which is a Hybrid Diesel Electric snow cat.
Read more about skiing and snowboarding in New York.
Photo: The new Ski Bowl Lodge under construction.
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