The New Year found great conditions at Laurel. January 1 was a powder day, but not enough to open the whole mountain. If you knew where to find the stash, you had to be there at opening to get fresh tracks. I tried to keep up with my son and his 20/30 year old crew that day, and I kinda did during the early powder binge. Ultimately, I had to turn them loose, but right on cue, my daughter arrived, and we hit the chop on Laurel Run, and I survived Lower Wildcat a couple more times. She said she hit Laurel Run soon after rope drop and caught untracked on the old T-bar line on Upper Wildcat, too. My wife was already done, first day out this season, and nursing some injury. She hit all the groomers at least once, including Lower Wildcat. January 2 was a groomer day with my wife and daughter. By now, the few natural snow spots were roped, no base, just mounds and dirt troughs. We met snowsmith and took several runs together. I must admit, chasing him down Lower was a bit of a chore for me. My legs were letting me know that I'm not yet in midseason form. Snowsmith was killing Lower.

Laurel's mountain ops team is the best. They've expanded coverage to Old Innsbruck and Lincoln Highway. There is no handy snowmaking infrastructure on these trails. So far, the upper loop of Old Innsbruck and Lincoln down to the loop is open. Hopefully, they'll make a huge mound and push out the rest of Lincoln Highway soon. Mountain ops continues to put finishing touches on Lower, widening it out to the trail's tree-lined edge, and soon enabling loading from both sides of the chair and easy access to the new warming hut near the lift. Half the mountain is under snow guns. Here's the thing: when you get off the lift, no matter which trail or route you take, you will be gliding about a mile to the bottom, except on Wildcat due to its steepness.

The other half of Laurel's terrain is natural snow dependent. On January 1, only Laurel Run was opened, but all the trails were mowed off-season, including the unnamed trails on the map; Snow Bowl under the chair and the Kit Cats runs between the lift and Laurel Run, also the Lower Liftline boulder field was roped as if waiting for enough snow to open. When there is a deep fresh coat on the hill, this terrain will transport you back to Laurel's post-WW2 heyday. Dream Highway is aptly named, for most of the time it is only a dream, but when it's open, you find a narrow old-time trail that twists its way to meet The Slot, then on to the infamous Rocky Corner, the last switchback before the rocky washboard runout. When Dream Highway is all natural, it should wear a black diamond. If you're lucky and find it groomed, it is a narrow upper intermediate cruise. All of the natural terrain was last opened on Dec. 14, 2025, after 14 inches fell on an icy base.

More people are discovering Laurel. We talked to a lot of folks who came to check it out because of the Epic Pass. The summit Laurel Lodge, and the parking lot were full on this New Year's holiday. Friends and families with toddlers crowded the lodge. It's great to see the culture return to Laurel on its 85th anniversary. The locals were nostalgic over the empty Laurel that felt like our private club, yet the longest wait I had for the only chairlift, a fixed-grip quad, was under five minutes. The mountain handled the holiday crowd well.

Photo from Mon Valley Ski Club 1/1/26