SKIING THE ‘DACKS: Jesse Williams will take the Ice Coast any day
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Jesse Williams loves landslides. He’s especially fond of skiing “slides” that leave giant scars on the sides of mountains—scars of earth and rock that fill in during winter with ice, and when Old Man Winter is feeling generous, deep powder snow.
“But the best thing about skiing in the Adirondacks,” shares Williams, “is the ice climbing.”
Jesse is one of the very few ski guides in North America that makes his home in the peaks of New York’s Adirondack Mountains. He follows in the tracks of Adirondack legends like Jack “Rabbit” Johannsen, who lived to be 111, and skied extensively throughout the Adirondacks until he was 108, and early twentieth century skiers like Jon Apperson and Irving Langmuir, who were likely the first skiers in North America to climb mountains with the intention of sliding from their summits. In the spirit of these skiing pioneers, Jesse embraces eight mile approaches, endless off trail exploring and remote descents.
“Skiing in the ’Dacks’ is a mountaineering experience,” he continues. “To make the most of skiing here, one has to be able to navigate for great distances, deal with technical rock and ice, manage occasional rappels.”
It’s the opening night of the annual Adirondack Backcountry Ski Festival in New York’s Keene Valley, an event which Jesse helps organize. Jesse turns on the projector. Eyes fixate on images of his skiing and guiding adventures in the North Cascades, the Alaska Range, Quebec’s Gaspe and of course, the rugged, landslide-strewn Adirondacks. The audience is salivating. Food and beer flow freely. In the span of an evening, Jesse has opened his guests’ eyes to a world of skiing possibilities.
Having professionally guided climbers and skiers since the early 90’s, Jesse is now head guide for Adirondack Rock and River, a highly respected guide service and lodge in the heart of the Adirondacks. Although he heads to Alaska every spring to guide adventures on Denali and beyond, it’s the Adirondacks that he craves most.
“I love the rugged terrain here… the great access to old-school trad, ice and mixed climbing, really unique backcountry skiing and mountaineering, and the East’s largest wilderness,” he says.
