Old Forge, Ny Snow Report

Well we got some snow yesterday and all total we have about 5" on the ground out front. There have been a few sleds running around and you will see on the video one lone sled go by. How are the few getting away with riding? Easy there are a few, so the snow we have isn't getting run right into the ground.

Here's todays video......

Old Forge, NY Snow Report

The cameras are back online thanks to choopa.com as they provide me with the server space to run the webcam network here in Old Forge.

Not much else to report besides it's getting COLD!  13 at 2pm and dropping and it looks like below zero for tonight.  Talk about a roller coaster ride!

Here's todays video......

Cameras

I'm hoping to have the webcam network back up in running very soon.  The server died and a new one is being set up.  I do have two cams running on different servers in the mean time at http://www.oldforgeny.org/ and http://www.oldforgeny.com/web.html  Once the new server is up everything will go back to the same place it has always been.

Cameras are down.....

The server went down on Christmas Eve morning that houses the webcams.  I put in a call about it, but with being the Holiday weekend things are moving as fast as we would like them to sometimes.  Sorry.....

Merry Christmas ! !

Hi everyone.....hope you're all set for the big day......I think I am.  It was two years ago I brought you the trail cam for Christmas.  Well this year I have something new for you again.  Go to http://www.thesnowcam.com/ to see what it is.  Also a heads up on the other cams.  They are down because of a server problem and they are working on it.

Merry Christmas to you and yours,
Steve

Hi,

Is this the first I have seen no snow for Christmas.......No. Many years ago we almost always had snow for Christmas week and great riding conditions. But just like other places in the country the weather has been changing. Last winter we started out like gang buster and we lost the snow just before Christmas week. The lakes are right on the end of freezing over as they started to the other day when we have the single number temps. But with the R we had yesterday they opened back up. We do have some frost in the ground because I noticed yesterday that the R was sitting on top of the ground when I was outside working on some projects. And no it wasn't a matter on standing water because the ground was so wet, you can feel the hardness when you walk around. We aren't the only ones in this boat. There is very limited snow all over the country.

Take a look here

Hold tight it will come ! !

Steve

Two new...........

trails will be open this winter for you to enjoy. Check out the video to find out where they are. Hope you are just about ready for Christmas. As there is only one week left to shop.

Todays video......

It's a Yurt

Yurts are round and this one has a 30’ diameter, providing about 700 square feet of space. The outside walls are eight feet high and come to a 13 foot peak at the top. The structure consists of a wood lattice frame, wrapped in a durable weather tight material. The new yurt at McCauley Mountain will have two doors and three windows with an R14 insulation value.

McCauley Mountain will be hosting the Kandahar races for the next two years. This particular event involves about 200 skiers from around the region, plus their equipment, coaches and families. The space in the yurt would be very helpful, since this number of people would be difficult to accommodate in the existing chalet.





Read more about it at http://www.adirondackexpress.com/08162011_skiclubs

Old Forge on TV Show

SnowTrailsTv was in Old Forge last winter and did part of the show on the area. They also covered other areas in our region. Old Forge is at the end of the video.

Enjoy.....

905 SnowTrailsTV (FSN,MSG) from SnowTrails TV * Video Mike's on Vimeo.

Something new.....

I came across this today by accident and thought some of you might find it interesting. If anything it won't take you by surprise when you see one of them on the roads this winter. It does two and a half lanes in one pass and sand both at the same time. By the videos I saw on Youtube it looks like Pa has some of them.

It's trying......

We had a dusting of the white stuff over night and it feels like winter is in the air.  It won't be staying around as it looks like it will be back in the 40's next week.  But it does get you in the mood for winter and the Holiday Season.

Take a look......

First of the season.......

It was in the 20's when I got up this morning and we had the first frost that I had seen this fall.  Hope everyone had a great summer and it won't be long before the white stuff will be flying. 

Marian up at Stillwater sent me this link of how not to hill climb a sled.  It's worth the watch.....
http://www.zapiks.fr/share/player.swf?file=50284

Here's a pic from this morning.....

Eliminate Trunk Junk

By removing 100 lbs. you will increase gas mileage by 2% thereby saving about 8 cents per gallon.

Something Different !

One of our guests that has stayed with us for years is in this weekend and he showed me something that he makes. It's called a fire piston and its pretty cool. I'm sure some of you know what it is, but I hadn't ever seen one before. Here is a link to his site Wilderness Solutions

Old Forge Boat Show

Hope everyone is having a great summer and enjoying the warmth!

Each year there is a boat show at the lake front and if you are into old wooden boats it is something you don't want to miss. If you aren't it is still alot of fun to go and look at.

Too Cute ! ! !

Having fun behind the motel. Sorry the video isn't better.

4-21-2011 Old Forge Report

Well here it is one month and a day after the first day of spring and it's snowing in Old Forge. But after sitting and thinking about the old days this is nothing to talk about. I can remember riding on the last day of snowmobile season when it was still April 15th. Spring will be here soon and all the fun it has to offer in the north.

See it for yourself.....

3-24-2011 Old Forge Trail Report

I have had alot of people calling wondering what it is like out on the trails. So this morning I took a ride to see what it was like. The first trip I was out for about an hour and a quarter. After looking at the video I took I headed back out as you couldn't see anything besides the inside of my sheild. The second trip I was out for 20 minutes. Between the two rides I put on 52 miles. I have to agree with the town report on fair to good as the trails are the best I have seen them this late in the season in a long time. No you aren't able to street ride but the trails are in good shape and I have heard that the tracks north are good also.

Here's todays video......you'll be surprized on what you see! I posted just about all of the second ride.

3-17-2011 Old Forge Report

I've been getting a few calls on what I think the conditions are like and should they come up riding. It all depends on what you are looking to do and how bad you want to ride. If you are happy with riding the same trail a few times and understand that we are in spring conditions, then there is some riding to be had. But don't think that you are going to be able to go every where you want, as that isn't going to happen. You will be limited to the trails, as I would think the roads are toast.

Here's todays video......

3-15-2011 Old Forge Report

Not much to report. The video says it all. Might try to get out tonight again.

Here's todays video......

3-14-2011 Old Forge Trail Report

We have light snow in the air at 11am, not sure what we will see out of it. SnoFest 2011 had a great turn out and everyone looked like they had a good time. Well it's that time of the year, when you have to be here when the riding conditions are good. As they are going to be changing fast day to day by what I am seeing for a forecast. It's also a sad time of the year when my winter friends/family go away for a short time. But it won't be long and I'll see you all soon again!

Here's todays video......

3-12-2011 Old Forge Trail Report

We dropped back down below freezing and got about an inch of new snow over night. Everyone left this morning and they haven't returned yet. By what everyone said last night when they came back was over all it isn't that bad. No you can't ride the streets but the trails are still ridable and don't forget it's the middle of March so any riding you get in from now on is a bonus. The date and time is off on todays video. It seems when you run the battery low in the camera is changes the setting.

Here's todays video......

3-11-2011 Old Forge Trail Report

The trail and McCauley summit cam are down due to high winds damaging one of the antennas. I went up this morning, but had limited time to spend on fixing it. I'm going to try and get them back on line by the end of the weekend. Had some guests come back and tell me the trails are soft but not in bad shape. The roads are toast, so don't even think about road riding this weekend. All the new snow we got on Monday saved us, as it sucked up the R we got yesterday. The cam is out on the trails now and I hope to have video of them for you tomorrow.

Here's todays video........

3-10-2011 Old Forge Report

Well this morning we had some liquid coming out of the sky and the last I looked at the radar it looks like it should be ending soon....but who knows for sure. Went out riding last night and put on 92 miles. We rode on freshly groomed trails most of the way over and back to Pine Tree Inn. It's that time of the year when the roads aren't anything to talk about unless we just got snow. But if the sun has a chance to come out you can plan on the roads melting down fast. Have two videos for you today again. One of the parking lot and the second is from Billy Boy breaking trail in one to two feet of new snow on Monday.

3-9-2011 Old Forge Trail Report

Sorry about not getting things posted the last few days. It's been crazy around here and I just seem to run out of hours in the day. Ok so what do we have going on. Well as I said and I am sure most of you saw on the cams we got 1 to 2 feet here in Old Forge and some areas got even more from the storm that ended on Monday. The groomers have been out in full force, but it's been slow going with all of this new snow. It's hard to tell where the edge of the trail is and if they get off the edge it's not pretty. Trust me on this one....been there, done that. It's not fun to put the drag off the edge or the entire packer. It's better to go slow than spend hours getting back on the trail. This weekend is SnoFest 2001 and here is a link for it http://www.snofestusa.com/

There are two videos today the first is the pan of the lot and the second is from Chris's cam from yesterday.

3-7-2011 Old Forge Report

The snow stopped mid to late morning and when it was all said and done we got a good foot to two feet. Sorry I didn't get anything up before this but I have been flat out all day between plowing, shoveling and just playing motel. Here is the pan of the parking lot from this afternoon and I'll try my best to get you a better video tomorrow.

3-5-2011 Old Forge Trail Report

The two guys returned late last night.  The plan was to do an overnight and they packed enough things to do so.  But they where having to much fun and decieded to explore more.  They also had some sled problems and had that to deal with along the way.  This all ended well thank goodness! 

Looks like we are in for another round of crazy weather the next few days.  With R today and back to winter tomorrow.  If we get what they are forecasting we will be back in good shape by Monday morning.

Here's todays video..............

3-4-2011 Old Forge Trail Report

I have a couple of guys in that are starting to worry me. They checked in late on Tuesday night and left to go riding Wednesday around noon. They told me that they like to do long distance riding and had asked about going to Lake Placid from here. Well here it is Friday afternoon and they haven't returned to the motel since they left. I hope I'm just being a worry wort, but it's really odd that they haven't returned yet. I did a google search on the one person to see if I could find a home number for them but came up with nothing. I called the police and they said they would see what they could find out. I'll let you know more as I do.

Quick Update     They returned...I'll fill you in on todays post later.

Here's todays video............

3-3-2011 Old Forge Snowmobile Report

Well it looks like someone turned the clock ahead or back some and messed up the day of the week for the warm up. The last few came at a good time of the week so it didn't mess up the weekend. But this week's looks like it's going to happen on Saturday and that really puts a damper on things. We should be back to winter by Sunday night and riding the beginning of next week again.

Here's todays video.....

3-2-2011 Old Forge Report

It has been snowing all day so far and we have gotten a good 4 to 6 inches. It's hard to tell as the wind has been whipping it around and making white out conditions. I said it in the video but wanted to say it again. If you have the chance to get up in the next few days it will be worth it. We have great trail conditions right now and this time of the year you never know how long they are going to last. Could be days, weeks or even till the close of the season.

Here's todays video......

3-1-2011 Old Forge Report

The warm up is over for now and we are back to winter. The R really didn't hurt the base to much and by around 9pm last night the parking lot was freezing back up. We got a dusting when the cold front went through last night and it looks like snow for tommorrow. Don't throw the towel in just yet as there is still lots of trail riding to be had this season.

Here's todays video............

I knew there was.......

something else I wanted to put in the last post. Sorry about the McCauley summit and trail cams being down. It seems just lately when ever we get R the sigianl is lost to the summit. I have some equipment here that I'm hoping is going to fix it. I just haven't gotten a break to go and install it yet.

2-28-2011 Old Forge Report

Well we woke up this morning to the same thing we did on Friday the 18th....the dreaded R word. It looks like it's going to be the same thing all over again. Warm, R and then back down to well below freezing by tonight. So like always it's wait and see. We are getting into that time of the year when it's a roller coaster ride each week with the weather. March can have some of the best trail riding of the year you just have to pick and choose where you go.

Here's todays video.........

2-26-2011 Old Forge Trail Report

It's 4:30 as I am writing and the temp is 21 yesterday it was 20 at this time. We had snow most of the day today and I'd give it around 4" of new snow. The base in the front yard is back up to the 2' mark again and is hard a rock. I'm starting to see a few people return from their day of riding and they are the ones that left first thing this morning.

In the video I said about last Monday and it was two Mondays ago the we had the short warm up.

Here's todays video.........

2-25-2011 Old Forge Trail Report

At 5:30pm we still have light snow in the air and I'd give it a good half a foot or more for today. All depends on where you are and what you got. Talked with one person from Inlet this afternoon and they said there was close to a foot up there.

We have some fun events coming up in the next few weeks:

Mar. 5 USCC Cross Country Snowmobile Race
Mar. 5 Empire State Snowshoe Racing Association Championship
Mar. 12 & 13 SnoFest 2011

You can find out more about these events at http://www.oldforgeny.com/events.html#February2011

Here's todays video............

Room open for one night Saturday the 26th.

2-24-2011 Old Forge Trail Report

One of the guests had a mishap on the lake today. After last weeks short warm up the lakes are shifting and she went off the side of an ice heave that was the jump side and didn't have a very good end result. But thank goodness she didn't hit it in the other direction as it could on been worse......a solid wall of ice. The sled doesn't look all that great and she is lucky she wasn't hurt more than being stiff.

Here's todays video........

Room open for this weekend 2 - Beds

2-23-2011 Old Forge Trail Report

The sun has been out the last few days. But that looks like it will be coming to an end here very soon and that is a good thing. Calling for snow on Friday and cloudy the rest of the weekend. Cross your fingers and hope its so! This late in the season the sun is really not a welcome thing to have around even though it makes it look very pretty out.

Here's today video............

2-22-2011 Old Forge Snowmobile Report

Everyone left this morning and I haven't seen them come back yet and its 5:00pm. Forecast is looking good and the reports I am hearing are all the same.....good riding. Not much else to tell you.

Here's todays video.....

Rooms for this weekend....

Just had someone call and cancel the three rooms he reserved for this weekend. So if your looking for a room we have them open.

2-21-2011 Old Forge Trail Report

Between being Sunday and then Presidents weekend on top of it I ran out of time yesterday and didn't get a chance to put a video together....sorry. What I'm hearing from guests is they are very happy with the conditions and are amazed with how things turned around after the warm up on Friday. Looks like another week of great riding in the north.

Here's todays video.........

2-19-2011 Old Forge Trail Report

Yesterday was a very interesting day in the north....first we had the warm weather and the liquid coming from the sky. Then we returned to winter and by 10:30pm we were sitting in the dark. As the cold front brought very strong winds with it and took down the lines. The power came back on around 6am and the motel was on generator power over night. Today it is back to winter and you will see in the video what I am talking about. Just got back from resetting the rec cam, just a few more to go.

Here's todays video..............

2-18-2011 Old Forge Snowmobile Trail Report

I've seen way to many of a weekend like this one. Liquid on Friday morning and then the temp drops and snow over night. So when everyone wakes up in the morning we are back to a winter wonderland. By everything I have seen that is going to be the case again for this weekend and then it looks like winter all next week for the holiday week. It would of been great if we didn't get the warm up, but it could of been alot worse and lost more snow than we did.


Here's todays video..............

2-17-2011 Old Forge Trail Report

Have a few different groups in and they all left this morning for a day of riding. One group came back and called it a day as they are leaving in the morning after three days of great riding. Another came back and sat out the short period of light R before heading back out and the other group didn't come back at all. So I'll let you know tomorrow how they made out.

Here's todays video............

2-16-2011 Old Forge Report

It's been one of those days and this is the first I have been able to get to the report.....sorry. I have gotten many calls today about what the weather is going to do. Best thing I can tell you to do is put in 13420 on more than one site to see what they are calling for. Just remember it doesn't look like it is going to be a long event and we had the same thing on Monday. Mondays warm up made things better by what I am hearing. Today we stayed right around freezing and had some light snow at one point.

Here's todays video...........

2-15-2011 Old Forge Report

We dropped to 4 below over night and it firmed everything right back up. I would say it made it even better as the parking lot is nice and solid now. You'll see in todays video that there is alot of weight in the last few snows that we have gotten.

Here's todays video...........

2-14-2011 Old Forge Trail Report

Well this morning we woke up to warm air and then light R later in the morning. But it wasn't here long and the temps dropped and the R turned to heavy wet snow and has been snowing since. It's hard to say how much we have gotten today. I'd give it at least a couple of inches and with the warmth this morning everything is going to freeze down nice tonight when it drops below zero.

Here's todays video.......

2-12-2011 Old Forge Trail Report

All good reviews so far today. Yes it's getting beat up some because it's a Saturday. But the trails are holding better than I thought the would of by what everyone is telling me. I made todays video extra long for those of you that couldn't make it up.

Here's todays video...........

2-11-2011 Old Forge Trail Report

This is fun in a way.....not having much to report besides great riding conditions and winter weather in the forecast. Town will be jumping this weekend with the Pink Ribbon Ride and everyone up enjoying the great conditions.

Here's todays video............

All I can say is OMG!

The below video was sent to me in an email as a video clip. I wasn't able to upload the clip, but I did find it on youtube.  After watching it I had to find out more.  I did a search and found out this little girls name is Rhema Marvanne and she is 7 years old.  Here is another link I found http://www.rhemamarvanne.com/ Make sure to watch the video she has on the top of her page.

2-10-2011 Old Forge Trail Report

Well I have found one thing that I don't like about the great trail conditions we have......it's COLD! You're just sitting on the seat and steering, not shifting your weight, standing up or anything and it gets cold fast.

Here's todays video......

2-9-2011 Old Forge Report

Have not had one person say anything bad about the trail conditions. By the video I am seeing they are the best they have been in sometime and I will be going out later on to see for myself. Check out todays video as I think a celebrity might of been in town.

Here's todays video......

2-8-2011 Old Forge Trail Report

We got snow over night and I would give it about 6" of storm snow. So the base is getting deeper and deeper and the conditions are the best I have seen in sometime. Just a word of advice....don't get off the trail or you might be doing some digging to get out. I'm off to shovel the roof on Mrs. Christy's house out back.

Here's todays video.........

2-7-2011 Old Forge Trail Report

I'm having some problems with the camera I use to get video of the trails. I do have a back up but the picture quailty may not be as good. A new cam is ordered and I hope it will be here by the end of the week.

Sorry I didn't get time yesterday to do a video. Sundays can be crazy around here sometimes and with the fresh round of snow we got overnight I didn't get time. I'm off to do more of the roofs....Oh Joy!

Here's todays video.......

2-5-2011 Old Forge Trail Report

Got the house part of the roof shoveled yesterday and thanks for offering to help Jenny. Looks like I'll be doing the motel section this week if we get what they are calling for tonight. I didn't look to see if it's going to be storm snow or lake effect. All depends on what type of snow if I'll have to shovel or not.

Here's todays video..........

2-4-11 Old Forge Trail Report

After posting this I am headed out to do one of my favorite things in the world to do......shovel the roof! This last round of snow had a lot of weight to it and it looks like more snow in the next few days. The shoveling of the roof isn't the hard part, it's cleaning it up after you drop it in front of the rooms. Any body want to come help?

Here's todays video.........

2-3-2011 Old Forge Trail Report

Well I reset the 369-SLED line yesterday and it came back online. But for how long I am not sure as it's down again.......sorry. I'll try to reset it again and if it doesn't hold this time, I'll have to check with the higher up on what is wrong with it.

Here's todays video......

2-2-2011 Old Forge Trail Report

The 369-SLED line has been down the last few days. I'll be going up to the system in a short to see if I can get it to restart.....cross your fingers for me that it does.

When I plowed this morning we had about 8" of new fine wet snow and it has continuied to snow all day. My guess is we will at least get the foot they called for, maybe more.

Have to get a plug in here for the motel. If you're looking for a room for this weekend we have some open.

Here's todays video.......

Old Forge Snowmobile Trail Report

If there is anyone out there that hasn't heard.......this could be the big one. But like always till it's on the ground I don't always believe it. He have had a very fine snow falling today so far and it hasn't added up to much yet. But it is a good snow and will pack down very nice on the trails.

Here's todays video.........

Old Forge Trail Report

Well it sure isn't warming up much today. At 10am it was 12, at noon it was 15 and at 1:15pm it's 17. Calling for below zero tonight and cold all week. It looks like it's going to be a quiet week, as I don't have many people coming in this week. If everyone else in town is the same it's going to be a great week for riding.

Here's todays video.......

Sorry..........

About the ChristysMotel.com site being off line. I am out of bandwidth for the month and I have called them twice to up it for the month. I will call them again on Monday.

1-28-11 Old Forge Trail Report

All I can tell you is everyone leaves in the morning and I don't see them till late afternoon or later. So it can't be all that bad out there.

Here's todays video........

1-27-2011 Old Forge Trail Report

Went out riding last night, put on 104 miles and had dinner at Pine Tree. Left at 4 and was back at 9.

Here's todays video......

Salt - Not a Snowmobilers Friend!

Check this out. I couldn't believe how much the salt is getting tracked around town today from State Rt 28. I myself wouldn't mind going back to the days when they just put sand down with just a little salt in it. I know my truck would last alot longer, with out all the salt sticking to it. But that is just my thoughts on this and I am sure there are just as many people out there that like it just the was it is now. One thing that is a saving grace is the trail crew has been making a trail on the shoulder of the road behind the school and on the lake front.

1-26-11 Old Forge Report

I embeded a video By Billy Boy from yesterday below. You'll see the town hauling snow out to trail 1 where it always gets thin just past the bridge. You'll also see the State Troopers doing a spot check. Hope you enjoy his video as he has one of those high end cams that he has mounted to his helmet. You can see more of his videos from yesterday if you go to yestrerdays post and follow the links he put in.

Here's todays video.....



Here's Billy Boy's video......

1-25-11 Old Forge Trail Report

Sorry it's so late!  Got tied up with some other projects today and I'm running behind schedule.  You'll see at the end why I always say "The sun it not our friend in the winter".

Here's todays video.......

Old Forge Snowmobile Trail Report

Well I said it yesterday and I'm going to say it again today.  This could very well be the pick week of the winter with the conditions the way they are and the way the forecast is looking.  Yes there are some trails that still aren't the best, but some of the others are making up for them.  But I could be wrong and things could even get better....wouldn't that be nice!

Here's todays video.......

Old Forge Snowmobile Trail Report

This week looks like it's going to be a good old fashion week in Old Forge.  With below zero temps at night and snow on and off all week.  It could be the pick week of the winter.  But who knows for sure.....

Here's todays video.............

Thanks........

for following the blog to the new location.  For those of you that didn't have the site book marked.  I had to move the blog to a new site location.  From now on you will be able to find the reports here and I will be posting later on today.