Balsam Lake Fire Tower, NY — Backcountry Skiing the Catskills

Hey guys, so today we are in Catskills. I've come here a few years ago. I did hunter Maybe some of you saw the video and basically back then I made a comment That these mountains are a little bit too south and we don't get too much snow and probably backcountry is not a thing Because I couldn't find much information about anything in this region. Well that has changed Somebody recommended that I look at Facebook because I don't use social media and I found I think it's called Catskills Backcountry Alliance and I asked them what would be the best intro Mountains to go to for backcountry skiing. They gave me a list of like seven or nine and Balsam Lake was the one that seemed to be the most fun So that's what we're going to do today. It's about three miles Uphill and I believe only thousand feet of vert So it should be rather easy. It's about 10 degrees outside It's a little bit windy, but it's gonna be half sunny. So it should be a good day let's hope the The mountain spirits give us a friendly passage today So when I was at the beginning of the trail there was a No sign of life I was like, oh no And then I got a little bit in and I looked at how beautiful it is and how full of snow it is I'm like, oh, yeah, I'll have the whole thing to myself and now When I see all these branches Sticking down. I'm like, oh no I'll have to stop every now and then and go into the woods That's a beautiful day so far. I Would almost miss the trail I'm supposed to take. Yeah those things behind me If we look at the two options I got look at this Did I tell you yet how fun this is gonna be to ski this down Just like that So I thought it was gonna be easy one But I'm somewhere on the final stretch like half a mile from the tower The problem is the trail itself has more Branches on it than the woods around it So twice already I got off the trail and had a bit of a hard time Deciding whether I'm still on it. Fortunately, it's not that windy and it's not a whiteout. So I have my skin tracks To follow back if needed. I don't know how much of it is skiable So we're back on the trail Was tiny bit frustrated. It was literally just being bent 90 degrees leaving the trail trying to get through the woods and Find the trail again Well, there is only one thing left to do since picnic table is completely gone. I might just have a lunch up there For those who don't know and want to know there used to be 23 of these fire towers and Catskills They originally served as a place to look over the wooded region spot smoke before It was turned into a wildfire forest fire So they would have to find a dude who wants to live alone on top of a mountain For months at a time and literally what he would be doing is just Sit in the cabin To see something Not too shabby We're gonna take a risk here Because I don't know how soon another flat is coming but At least we can slide This little thing down here. Oh No, oh no bad call I wish I could go into the deep but basically The slope is so mellow that one time in the deep it doesn't want to go So I have to stay where it is fast Everything is organized. Let's keep going Okay We made it to the road This is probably stupid But while I'm at it I'll just ski to the car So I just finished with very mixed feelings overall pretty good day as introduction to Catskills Backcountry. I Don't know If somebody told me that this is going to be a Hike on skis that's gonna be somewhat scenic and beautiful. I'll be like cool six miles. Not a problem But because I came with the vision of Skiing it That part was a little bit disappointing as I was hiking up I was like looking around and imagining how cool it was gonna be to take that line and go through those, you know trees on that side and And then I realized that on the way down it was pretty much impossible I basically had to skin it up and then two-thirds of it. I had to skin down Not bad, let's meet on the next one