AZ "Guy's Night" at Nashoba Valley: January 31, 2005

[thetrailboss]

Date(s) Skied: January 31, 2005

Resort or Ski Area: Nashoba Valley Ski Area

Conditions: PP/FRGR

Trip Report: Last week, I noticed the annual "come night skiing at Nashoba" promotion that was in The Boston Herald and The Boston Globe. It turns out that I was not the only one who thought about giving the little area just outside Boston a try--only hours later BobR made mention of the ad and threw out the idea of having an AZ gathering there on a midweek night. I returned to work on Monday AM to find several PM messages..."we're on for tonight," and the excitement began.

Nashoba has 17 trails and 9 lifts, serving 240 feet of vertical. Its lift capacity is over 11,000 per hour to accomodate the masses who come to its slopes to learn the sport that we all love. For those who are not skiers or riders, it has the "largest snowtubing park in New England" at the end of a dirt road that leads away from the base area. It ended up being under 30 miles from my door, just north of Boston.

After grabbing a quick snack and my skis and boots, I headed out the door and braved the traffic to Nashoba. As I pulled into the parking lot I was greeted by tour busses LEAVING the area with kids...the slopes, for the most part, were empty. :P Nashoba resembles a wide meadow with slight variations of the same pitch. Small stands of pine and mixed trees serve as trail dividers.

I bought my ticket, the fifth sold that night, and booted up before meeting fellow AZer's ChileMass and BobR, who were at the bar waiting for me. We got acquainted and then got to the task at hand: some great skiing.

We rode the Wardance Triple to the top and then proceeded to try the blue Nashoba Slope to the bottom. The snow was deep and groomed with some softer patches of "hero snow" as Bob put it. There were no bare spots. We took the Sundance Triple, on the far right of the hill (as you looked at it). On the way up I learned that my fellow AZer's were also Northern New Englanders who had shared similar childhoods. Bob had raced while in elementary and later high school. ChileMass and I reminisced about our town ski hills, which were Titcomb and the Lyndon Outing Club respectively (and we had visited during the 2003-4 season because they STILL operated! ) . After our next run on Sundance and the Nashoba Glades, it was evident to me that both of these gentlemen were very accomplished skiers and that we were going to have a great time skiing. ChileMass was enjoying his shorter skis (his last pair was a set that was over 200 cm long).

From here, we tried War Dance, which is front and center at the hill and featured some bumps in the middle. Bob stayed to skier's right and enjoyed softer snow while ChileMass and I braved the bumps (which were a bit icy) . I shot out into the nice snow that Bob was hitting.

As you look at the trail map, we worked our way to the left...and found some interesting terrain on the periphery including Big Bow (an easy diamond) and the Tomahawk Trail. While on our way down, both Bob and I spotted the lower part of Lobo, which shot out of a stand of trees and was barely a groomer width wide. At the bottom we both looked at each other and on cue asked in unison, "Did you see that trail?" We then sniffed out the small grove of trees on the next run after riding up the Chief Triple and found the entrance actually was on the far left of Big Bow. The entrance, or the Terrain Glade is a bit dark and the run becomes a narrow, old New England style trail with some interesting hairpin turns and some nice pitches and rolls before it dumps out onto Lower Tomahawk Trail. We enjoyed this run , which was a change of pace from its wider siblings.

We then worked our way back to the right of the mountain, hitting Bull Run (after the race was over), Chief, Dog Leg, Indian Run, and the interesting Nashoba Trail. This last trail was probably the most interesting night skiing trail that I have ever seen...it was a half-mile long narrow run with some great hairpin turns (with banks) and some dim lighting! "Is this it?" ChileMass asked as we entered the narrow opening complete with a pink floodlight (moodlighting I guess?). It soon became dark...before taking a turn to the right and crossing the fall line. The run was very entertaining and we were sure to hit it again. Indian Run was also nice and Nashoba Glades featured a small terrain park which provided for some amusement as we rode up the lift (we want to know how one does not hurt themselves or their boards while using the rails Can anyone answer? ).

We skied the hill from 6:30 to about 9pm...taking 60 second runs down and getting back onto the lift with no wait. "You'll be seeing us in about four minutes," ChileMass once joked with a liftie who replied, "OK, great, should I call the ski patrol now?" At 9pm, Bob and ChileMass went in for a bite and I opted to go for a few more runs, four to be exact, in less than fifteen minutes. I went in and we talked some more before the headed home and I took two last "closer runs."

Nashoba, in Bob's words, "is what it is," and to us it was an evening of fun and good skiing (just don't expect massive vertical, powder skiing, or steep stuff). I look forward to another outing with these gentlemen and other AZer's.

The "Skinny on Nashoba"


Pros:
# Accessible and easy to get in and out. A great place to meet with ChileMass and Bob R

# FRIENDLY staff and a good value ($20 for 5-10pm ticket with ad).

# Decent terrain...if you want to get in a lot of skiing, midweek the place is dead and you can get some good runs in a short amount of time (my knees are even a bit sore today!)

Cons:

# Short vertical (to be expected) and limited terrain choices...still a fun place to ski (a place every good New England skier needs to try to say that they did )

# Day skiing is crowded with local school groups (I've heard).

# Small general lodge area, so maybe store your stuff in your car?

[ChileMass]

Besides being an excellent skier, thetrailboss has obviously chosen his profession well, too. Anyone who can make 1000 words out of dinky little Nashoba is a talented writer!!

I'm kidding about the hill - Nashoba is tiny but it has a lot going for it and we had a great time last night. Bob R is also an outstanding skier and we cut up all 240' of vertical that Nashoba had to offer. The snow was great (some small stashes of "hero snow" as Bob put it), the schoolkids left in droves just as we got there, we skied right onto the lifts for the most part, the adult ski racing league looked a LOT of fun (except for that one guy that biffed hard as we were riding the lift), and the Outlook Restaurant has tasty burgers, cold beer and a great ambience. (Thanks for the burger, Bob, BTW....)

The 3 Amigos discussed doing a weekly gig at Nashoba basically every week if schedules allow, so anyone who wants to join us is most welcome. Clip the $20 coupon in the Thursday Globe sports/skiing section and come on out. My personal opinion is that Nashoba would make a great weekly clubhouse for Boston-area AZers. Also, we discussed perhaps putting the weekly night out on a rotating basis (Wawa, Pat's, Crotched, Blue Hill, maybe even as far north as Gunstock etc etc). Anyone who wants to come is encouraged, and any feedback or suggestions are welcome. Look for more inf in the Trips/Events folder......

Thanks for being there guys!!!

[thetrailboss]

Originally Posted by ChileMass

Besides being an excellent skier, thetrailboss has obviously chosen his profession well, too. Anyone who can make 1000 words out of dinky little Nashoba is a talented writer!!

Thanks ChileMass! With regards to the writing part, hey, that is what I guess a $120,000 education now-a-days gets you

Seriously, had a great time skiing with you and the invite is open to those who ever want to join me for some runs either here or during my weekly voyages to Pat's. I hope to see you all at Burke in March.

[Bob R]

TheTrail Boss, ChileMass. Lets say great time to start. Trail boss missed something I use a size 9 boot It was fun to actually get out in a group situation and put a name to a face. Biggest point is we are going to try to do this on a regular/weekly basis with a rotating mountain schedule to get more folks involved. Get out together thats what the forum is for, not

I have no idea on any trails we took or lifts we used.Thetraiboss is in charge from now on. The snow was soft and no bare spots. Tthe boys can make turns by the way. Thetrail boss was on a pair of slippers and Chilemass has a solid pair of boards.

It was great for a couple of hours thankx to ChileMass I got out of there much faster than I got in.

The converstion surpassed the conditions and they were fine..

The bar was nice great view of the runs. My burger was good as well as a flavorful Ipa. Lets not do this again

[Greg]

Glad you guys got out. Looking forward to eventually meeting Bob R and thetrailboss, as well as skiing with CM again. BTW, are any of you going to make the Jiminy gathering?

[thetrailboss]

Originally Posted by Bob R

The bar was nice great view of the runs. My burger was good as well as a flavorful Ipa. Lets not do this again

I don't think I follow you...

[Joshua B]

Thanks thetrailboss for the excellent report. Glad the commoradory was as good as the skiing.

You must have hit it on a dead night. I've checked it out on a mid-season Monday night and it seemed there wasn't an empty spot to be had in the lot. I'd say you got lucky!

[hammer]

Thanks for the trip report and comments! Sounds like you timed your arrival well.

[Bob R]

Originally Posted by hammer

Thanks for the trip report and comments! Sounds like you timed your arrival well.

I'm holding you to coming later in the year.

[thetrailboss]

Originally Posted by Bob R

I'm holding you to coming later in the year.

Hammer and Joshua B, please join us! Come to Burke for the AZ gathering on March 5th if you can.