Whiteface Mountain Ski Center — Local services in Town of Wilmington

We visited Whiteface for a long weekend in January, we planned to get in a couple days of snowboarding and enjoy the Lake Placid scene at night.

I would separate our experience at the mountain into two parts, the slopes/lifts/conditions and the staff/dining experience.

The ticket lines and lift lines were not bad, well managed by staff which allowed us to get on the slopes quick and enjoy a great day of riding. Conditions were a little icey in some parts but snow blowing was underway (I suspect to patch up those areas).

The second part of our experience was not the greatest, it was a challenge getting a drink at the bar (one day it appeared overstaffed but the bartenders didn’t seem thrilled to be there), the other day they appeared understaffed and they were scrambling with a large crowd). The waiter who served us when we sat for a small appetizer was a notch above the bar tenders on the friendly meter, but still didn’t seem enthused about his job. I try to rate my experiences on individual visits, but I had a similar experience with dining staff the year before.

All in all we had a good experience, the snowboarding was great, crowds were managed well at the lifts and in the lots. Our expectations are always tempered when it comes to food services at ski mountains, so not a deal breaker, we’ll be back to enjoy the unique terrain and...

The breathtaking view from the top of the mountain on a clear day gets 5 stars…The ski lifts and slopes not that much… this resort needs to be brought out of 80’s into modern days, make it snowboarding-friendly and separate the crowds that ride down the bottom half by skill levels. Right now the advanced rides and beginners are sharing a long narrow slope: lower valley + fox just to reach the gondola and bottom lifts. Also right half of the mountain has been permanently closed for years - not showing this on the map is deceiving. From the left side of the mountain, served by gondola and Summit Quad lift (my favorite!) most of the black rides were closed, on some days all of them, making the beginners and advanced riders share some narrow slopes. Not cool and very unsafe. We tried snowboarding for 5 day, paid $120/day for a few poorly maintained slopes, sharing them mostly with novice and intermediate level skiers mostly. It is too bad there is no green ride coming from the top of the mountain to separate the beginners. At the same time the black rides were closed down, along with many blue rides channeling everyone on one blue ride... There are ski lifts that have the unloading ramp so steep that makes unloading on snowboard impossible. This mountain is not for advanced skiers and not friendly for...

The view at the top of the mountain is amazing!!I love snowboarding and this is an excellent mountain in comparison to the west coast mountains. Trails are long and wide. One issue is that the 1 day adult is $89. That is steep for a lift ticket. Unfortunately, this was the place of the Olympics so I guess you can expect those kind of prices. Another thing they don't advertise are half day tickets. You have to ask them or get it from Orda store. The pricing is the same at both locations so I highly recommend buying your ticket from Orda because the lines at the mountain are long. This place is skier's heaven so I think boarders are definitely the minority. Just be careful!!

In addition to natural snow accumulation, this place also makes manmade snow. The trails were nicely groomed and I personally recommend trying to get as many runs in at the beginning of the day before noon because after that, the snow starts to melt and freeze over. Towards the end of the day, there were many more patches of ice.

There are also tons of other things to do in and around Lake Placid. Only issue is they charge quite a bit for those activities (eg bobsled). I will definitely be coming back here again. My next stop will be to try the Vermont...