Wachusett 2/27/2005

[RISkier]

Resort: Wachusett

Date Skied: 02/27/05

Conditions: Mid to upper 20s, cloudless, moderate wind. Groomed packed powder.

Trip Report:
We were planning to head for NH but I was a lazy bum and didn't want to endure a 3+ hour drive each way (we travelled last weekend as well) so we allowed ourselves the luxury of staying in bed a bit later and went to Wachusett instead. Overall, snow conditions were quite good. Some high traffic areas and steeper faces got a bit scrapy late in the day, but nothing that wouldn't be expected. I've been pretty critical of crowds at Wachusett, perhaps I'm mellowing or simply learning strategies to more effectively avoid the crowds but it was much better than I had anticipated. Liftlines were generally not more than about 5 minutes, though I recall one wait of 10+ minutes or so. We usually used the singles lines and had considerably shorter waits. The blues off the summit quad were pretty congested but 10th Mountain and Smith Walton were not too bad. My theory of on slope trail use at Wachusett is that most folks want to go to the summit but are reticent to ski the blacks -- leaving Connifer and a couple of variants which get crowded. Folks riding the Minute Man either want the easiest way down (Ralph's Run) or they want to play in the park. Challenger and Hitchcock had little congestion. Borth are easy blues but good for us to work on technique. We skied through the lunch hours and then had a late lunch upstairs in the Black Diamond Cafe -- food and service were pretty good, much quieter and less frenetic than the cafeteria, and the price is pretty close to what you'd pay in the cafeteria.

Wachusett has the three things most important for a successful enterprise -- location, location, location. It certainly lacks terrain that would attract advanced skiers but yesterday I started thinking that for a hack like me Wachusett serves up a pretty decent product. Now, if we could reduce the crowds by half...