Skiing the Toll Road: an Adirondack Tradition

The Whiteface Mountain toll road has been discussed many times in class as contrary to the idea of the "forever wild" mantra. Built for the tourist industry, the road signifies the process of prioritizing economic gain at the expense of the wilderness character of the Adirondacks. A typical summer day will have hundreds of tourists driving up the road, eating at a restaurant right below the summit, and spending money at a gift shop.

Today I ventured to the toll house at the base of the highway with three fellow Hamilton students for a different purpose: To ascend the winding road to the summit of Whiteface and ski down. Since the road has a gentle grade, uniform surface, and high elevation, it is often among the first skiable areas in the eastern US. It was first skied this year in mid October, and has been skied earlier in the past.

Today, the parking lot was nearly full at the base, with many skiers arriving and scrambling to scrounge out parking spots. People of all ages were out to enjoy the rare opportunity to slide on snow in early November. It was a very unique gathering of people, all brought together by the early season snowfall. Friendly greetings were exchanged, as well as enthusiastic whooping when a descending skier raced by. Old men raced past us on skinny skis while dogs happily chased their owners, frolicking in the snow.

While the slope was gentle and the road wide, the majority of the road had very good snow cover, and provided a great surface to get back into the groove of skiing. While I usually dislike crowds, I thought it was awesome to see so many people out there in November. I really enjoyed chatting with others, and the whole somewhat festive atmosphere. I think I will definitely make skiing the toll road an annual event for myself. I attached some photos from the day: