Conditions 4/5-4/7

INTRODUCTORY REMARKS:  Cold weather has returned, but it will still be above freezing every day and cold at night.  Thus we'll see "spring surfaces" prevailing - a bit "crispy" each morning until it warms up. It never went that far above freezing, so little melting this week.  Still 4-6 inches of snow in wooded areas around Lake Placid, but open areas are mostly bare. Warming to about 50 under sunny skies on Saturday, then a chance of snow Saturday night, changing to rain as a warm front moves in on Sunday with temperatures in the 50s under cloudy skies. Daytime temperatures next week will be in the 50s, with a chance of rain most days through the middle of the week.  All cross-country centers are closed for the season, but Van Hoevenberg still has good cover on most trails - ski at your own risk.

       JACKRABBIT TRAIL CONDITIONS:

•      Base Depth - 0-10 inches

              Surface Conditions - spring surfaces           
              Km Open - 30

        Remarks - Old Mountain Road section and Whiteface Inn Lane to the top of the pass still in good shape.  No report on the hill down to McKenzie Pond, but probably not skiable all the way to the pond.  Thin and with too many bare spots starting in from McKenzie Pond Rd.  

BACKCOUNTRY CONDITIONS:
              Snow Depth at Lake Colden: 36" 
              Snow Depth at 4,000 feet: 4-1/2 - 5 feet 
              Surface Conditions:  spring surfaces 
              Remarks:  Last week we were reporting mid-winter conditions, but they were just barely "mid-winter", so the approaches to the backcountry have deteriorated over the past weekend.  Little melting this week, so still good cover and definitely still winter once one is past Marcy Dam. The Marcy trail is still a bit rough for the 1.2 mi. above Marcy Dam.   Hiking trail from ADK Loj now definitely not skiable, but truck trail remains skiable. Calamity Brook approach is skiable, and tracks lead to the one good crossing of the Opalescent River in Flowed Lands.  

     *  Skis and snowshoes still required in the High Peaks Wilderness Area and needed elsewhere.   

• •      *  Meadow Lane has been blocked off for the winter, adding 3/4 mile to approach of Marcy Dam.
  •      *  Lake ice on Colden and Avalanche Lake remains solid, but no other lake should be assumed to be safe. .
  •      *  Of the other popular tours including Connery Pond, Hays Brook, Fish Pond, Newcomb Lake, and Moose Pond, still have cover that should last through the coming weekend.   
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