Wachusett 12/20 Evening

[Nick]

Had a great time, first time out on the slopes this year!



Tracks from Google:


I was there for about 2 hrs and banged out about 12 runs or so. I pretty much stuck to Conifer the entire time, with the exception of one run down Ralph's... I was just enjoying the slightly steeper trails over on Conifer.

Lift lines were great, meaning no lines at all. Just hop on and go.

I didn't get the chance to try out the new Monadnock Express Quad (wasn't interested in the green, really), although based on some other TR's I'll probably hit it next time I go.

Conditions:
Snow conditions were great, definitely better than I expected. A few very, very slightly icy patches, but all in all some loose granular on top and the edges of the trail had some nice slightly fluffier snow. No bare patches anywhere to be seen on the trails themselves. Wachusett has done a great job pumping snow onto the mountain - during the drive up I was getting very skeptical.

Weather was great last night as well, clear skies, about 25 - 28 degrees.

Snowmaking, as others mentioned, was going heavy duty on 10th. Can't wait for them to get that open, I was really hoping to try out some bumps, but it was pretty much groomers and GS turns all night for me. Plenty of piles ready to spread out, I can't imagine it will be long before they open it up. Some natural snow would do wonders...

Most of the rest of the night was just breaking in my legs, getting used to the new boots and gear I'm on. The new Dalbellos Krypton Cross I picked up were killing my feet at first, particularly my left foot. Turns out I just had them too tight, even though they were on the last buckle. I unscrewed them looser and they were OK for the rest of the evening. I was hoping to be "blown away" by the new boots, but I wasn't just yet. I'm thinking that's probably in large part due to the fact that it has been seven months since I have skied and I probably don't remember how crappy I was doing before

Also had the chance to try out my new skis (Atomic Crimson TI's - more on that later in the Gear forum) and get some turns in with my new North Face Enzo pants.

All in all had a great time out there, conditions were great. I'm hoping to get there at least once per week for the entire winter. I met up with Tom Meyers as well (their director or marketing), and he showed me some of the different things around there I hadn't seen before, like the "box seats" overlooking the Polar Express lift. Also gave me a quick tour of their ski shop, which I hadn't been into in a while. Prices in there are more competitive than I remembered; I think I have a built-in stigma about "on-resort" prices.

I talked to Tom about some sort of AZ day or something similar, we will continue talking about it. I'll see if we can wrangle up some fun local get together beyond just hitting the place up regularly. They are doing nice things there.

Oh and of course the smell of waffles is out of control. I can hardly contain myself when I ski by that little waffle house.

I took a bunch of pics but need to load them in later (From my S95). Coming soon.

[Black Phantom]

I'm going tonight. Anyone with me?

<this space reserved for epic trip report>

this

[o3jeff]

Don't forget pictures!

[speden]

Ah, well it should be good tonight! I was out there this morning for my first Wa day this season, so let me get this epic thread rolling with a morning report.

It was low 30's, bluebird, minimal people. They don't have a lot of trails yet, but what they had was pretty good quality. There's a nice hard packed powder base (not ice), and there was a fair amount of loose light sugar on the surface.

I tried out the new Monadnock express, going in thinking what a waste to put a 3 million dollar detach on two beginner trails, but after trying it, I'd say it was a brilliant move. The lift is nice. It's quiet, smooth, and has super slow loading and unloading. Pretty much perfect for beginners. And it's a large area that will soak up a lot of traffic that might otherwise clog up the other lifts.

I found it rather useful for my old man legs to make a couple runs on Conifer, then bounce over to Indian Summer for a couple relaxing runs to rest. With the new high speed lift, this is suddenly feasible. The mellow pitch is perfect for working on drills. Today I was trying to ski a little switch and also tried the "ski on one leg" drill. Skiing switch felt weird, but was doable, but I totally couldn't ski on one leg yet. Need to work on that some more!

Afterwards had a nice lunch at the restaurant there, and washed it down with a couple "Wachusett Winter" beers. Kind of a nice, medium dark brew. Always happy to support the local brewers.

Here's a few pics of the morning conditions:

Plenty of bare grass still visible next to Challenger on the right. Somebody ought to do something about that.


Okay, I don't like to see asphalt roads on the hill. Let's get this covered with white stuff ASAP.


They've built a nice snow bridge across the base area. Some climbing required to get to the Polar Express. That's the new Monadnock Express dead ahead.


Here's the top of Monadnock. Of all the open trails, this one had the worst snow. It was kind of hard packed near the bottom. Should be loosened up by tonight.


Bunch of whales on Tenth, but looks like not quite enough to get it open yet. They probably need one more night of good temps to blow enough to get it open. Seems like they don't have enough pump capacity or something since they should have gotten this done when they blew Conifer and Indian Summer.


The surface on Conifer was pretty smooth with some loose stuff on top, so skied well.


More Conifer


Conifer was a little scraped off in the steeper sections, but still edgeable.

[Nick]

Quick shot from lift (polar express, over 10th mt.)

[Nick]

My TR is up... just gotta grab my pics.

[speden]

Looks like you skipped Challenger. I thought the snow was a little better on Challenger than on Conifer yesterday, but both were pretty good.

What are the box seats overlooking the Polar Express? Does that have someting to do with the towers up top behind the lift? I saw some activity around them yesterday morning, but have no idea what they are for.

[hammer]

Thanks for the reports...hopefully the NCP event today doesn't reduce the trail count for Friday. Have an early season voucher to use...

[wa-loaf]

Looks like you skipped Challenger. I thought the snow was a little better on Challenger than on Conifer yesterday, but both were pretty good.

What are the box seats overlooking the Polar Express? Does that have someting to do with the towers up top behind the lift? I saw some activity around them yesterday morning, but have no idea what they are for.

Not really box seats, they have private rooms above the Granite room wing. You can rent them out for party's, corporate events, and stuff like that.

[The Sneak]

I will be there friday afternoon and sat AM.

Blue patagonia jacket, grey pants, and VIP on swole