Whiteface Mountain twice hosted the downhill events for the Winter Olympics—most recently in 1980. For those who aren't familiar with the mountain, but might like to give it a try sometime, we'll give you a quick tour (refer to the image of Whiteface near the bottom of this page).

As far as skiers are concerned, Whiteface is sometimes referred to as being two mountains—Whiteface (the "upper mountain"), and Little Whiteface. Little Whiteface is the smaller peak (at left in the photo), with Whiteface (the "upper mountain") being the main, and taller peak at right. Taken as a whole, Whiteface has a very broad range of terrain, comprised of all levels of difficulty.

For Beginners........

To the lower right, is "Kids Kampus." This is strictly an area for beginning skiers and snowboarders. It has a small double chairlift, and trails with a gentle grade. It is away from the main slopes so beginners don't have to worry about "fast" skiers crossing their path. It also has it's own lodge which has a childcare facility. The children will love the latest addition, The Magic Carpet.

For Intermediate to Advanced.........

Whiteface's main lodge (base lodge) is located near the bottom left in the photo. It is quite large and has ski rental and ski school departments, a cafeteria, bar, gift shop, and locker rooms. There is a lift near the base lodge that is strictly for beginning-intermediate skiers, and it serves the very lowest part of the mountain. The trails accessible from this lift are the ones on the bottom left in the photo. A large half-pipe is also located on one of these trails (it's the long dark "line" seen in the middle of one of the trails). This is a favorite hangout for snowboarders and skiers alike.

From the base lodge the more experienced skier or snowboarder can either take a high speed detachable quad chairlift (the "Face Lift") about midway up the mountain (to just below the "S" in the photo), or they can take the Cloudsplitter Gondola to the summit of Little Whiteface. In the photo, the gondola is the long straight "line" from the base lodge to the summit of Little Whiteface. From Little Whiteface there is a single "blue" trail (moderate difficulty) that eventually leads back to the base lodge. There are several other trails from the summit of Little Whiteface, but they are either all rated "black diamond" or have sections that are black diamond. There are two other lifts that service trails on Little Whiteface, but they both start at places partway up the mountain.

There is a "mid-station" lodge which has a cafeteria, and is an often used resting and gathering spot. In the photo, it's the black "triangle" in nearly the center of the photo—where several trails converge.

For those seeking more adventure, the "upper mountain" offers some interesting terrain. Access to the chairlift for the upper mountain (the summit quad) is either had by taking the quad chair from the base lodge, or by taking the gondola up, skiing part way down, and ending up at the base of the summit quad. From the top of the summit quad, on a clear day, the views are nothing short of incredible(!). (Note that the summit quad doesn't go all the way to the summit of Whiteface, but ends just a short distance below it). From the "top of mountain" there are essentially 4 trails you can take. Two are rated "blue," the others are black diamond. The two trails you can see on the photo (both to the left of the "S") are black diamonds. The two blue trails (barely shown) run along the ridge line toward Little Whiteface. On rare occasions the management of Whiteface also opens "The Slides." They are just what the name implies—natural slides on the mountain. These show clearly above the "S" in the photo. They are rated double black diamond and have extremely steep and difficult terrain. They are not maintained trails, and depending on avalanche danger and snow conditions, are only opened as conditions allow.

For winter 2008-9, several additional trails have been added, serviced by their own new lifts.

That's just a quick overview of what Whiteface has to offer. Come to The Inn, and give it a try!

 

Whiteface Mountain - Taken January 2003 (by the webmaster of this site). Highly detailed (you can see individual skiers on the slopes!). Actual area of photo 16x24 inches. Available as just the print (rolled in a tube), or mounted to foam core with a white matt (as shown - 20x30 inches overall). Rolled prints can be mailed. Matted prints must be picked up in person

Update: New photos were taken in January 2008, which show the new trails that have been added (roughly in the area where the word "SAMPLE" is seen in the older photo above). This photo is now the one that will be shipped.

For information on how to obtain a copy of this photo, contact:

George Viscome - (518) 523-3030 (Lake Placid, NY)
or click here to inquire by email

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