Conditions 4/9/2015

• • • We have picked up 3-4 inches of wet powder on Wednesday night, but we don't expect it to stick around very long as rain is predicted to start later today with temperatures in the 40s Friday and Saturday and then in the high 50s on Sunday.  Before this snow, open areas and south-facing slopes below 2,000 feet are mostly bare, but snow remained everywhere else.  Still over a foot of snow in the woods in the Lake Placid area. 
    • Te rule as stated before will be SPRING CONDITIONS, i.e. potentially hard and icy when temperatures are below freezing and soft and slow when they are above freezing.  Any new snow will, of course, change that equation for a short time, but from now on it's watching the thermometer.  
      
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    • JACKRABBIT TRAIL CONDITIONS:
  •              Base Depth - 0-8" 
                 Surface Conditions - Wet powder and frozen granular
                 Km Open - 50 km - except bare ground along River Rd. in Lake Placid, on the Lake Placid Club golf course, and at the start of the trail off McKenzie Pond Rd.
  •                        Remarks - 
    
    BACKCOUNTRY CONDITIONS:
                  Snow Depth at Lake Colden: 34"
                  Snow Depth at 4,000 feet:  5-6'  
                  Surface Conditions: Wet powder and frozen granular
              Meadow Lane now closed for the winter.  Adds nearly a mile each way on the Marcy Dam Truck Trail.  Skis or snowshoes required in the High Peaks, needed elsewhere.  
  • • All popular routes including Marcy and Wright Peak still have good cover. Approach to Marcy Dam from ADK Loj is hard and fast.  Truck trail is longer but definitely better skiing.
    • Ice on Avalanche Lake and Lake Colden still safe and will remain so at least a week.  Opalescent still crossable in Flowed Lands, but no guarantees at the AllenMt. crossing.  Other lakes also safe for now, but watch for any inlets that might have locally weakened the ice.
    • Whiteface Highway remains skiable from the Toll House. No current report on the upper part that has been icy with bare areas due to the high winds we have experienced this season.
      
    • Keene Valley/Garden Parking to JBL not checked, but likely not continuously skiable. Good cover for skiing beyond JBL.
    • Lake Road to Lower Ausable Lake packed by snowmobiles and skiable.
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