Wachusett 2/15/05

[Zand]

Date(s) Skied: 2/15/05

Resort or Ski Area: Wachusett Mountain, MA

Conditions: Loose Granular, Wet Snow, Slush

Trip Report:

It's amazing how small mountains seem to look after skiing a real mountain for 2 days. The weather was very nice today. 50 at the base and 45 at the summit with bluebird skies before the sun went down. It was a good day for the park and moguls and it seemed to be pretty fast skiing for the snow conditions today.


Balance Rock / Conifer: Balance Rock is getting really thin and it's end is near unless we get some good snow fast. It was slushy with a few ice patches. Conifer was nice the whole way with loose wet stuff. Lower Balance Rock has better coverage than upper, but it still desperatly needs snow. There was some great air on the last hump of 10th.

10th / Salamander: I went down 10th numerous times today, hitting the bumps every time. They were soft with some scratchy spots. They were set up pretty good, but they need some re-construction. Upper Salamander was open right into the night, so skiing it in the pitch black was odd. I watched the ski patrol go by several times, but they never shut it down and it was still open past 6:30. It was smooth, so there wasn't much to worry about. Lower Salamander was fast with some nice air on the final chute at the bottom.

Smith: Not bad today. Upper had tons of puddles at the top. The headwall was a tad bumpy to the left, but the rest was flat and quick. Lower was slower than normal, but still quick for the condtions. NOTE: No afternoon grooming on any trails today.

Hitchcock Park: The 3 jumps were all I hit and they were all in good shape. The first 2 were excellent for getting height and the landing was easily reachable. The third was more of a distance jump, but the landing was still reachable with decent speed. Everything remains in the same order as last week.

Look Mom Park: The park got reconfigured somewhat with the C-Rail firther down the trail and a new jump where it was. There are also 2 new rails after that new jump. The pipe was much better than last week so I'm happy to see they are continuing to work on it.

I was only there for about 3 hours, but that was good enough. I'll be at Sunapee next Tuesday and Wawa next Friday, 2/25 for the 25 hour Skiathon. It was a great night as there were barely any lines and the weather was nice. We need snow badly down here though. Maybe Sunday I hear?