Pretty solid first day of the season at Bretton Woods today. They were scheduled to be open from 11-4, but I wish I got there a bit earlier as when I arrived around 10:20 there were people on the chair and skiing down. Quickly ran into Yeggous in the lodge as I dropped off my food donation and collected the free ticket. Very excited atmosphere in the lodge as people booted up.
The very bottom of Range View looked thin and I was fully expecting to have to do some grass skiing, but it held up fine all the way until I called it at 2:30. The bottom was basically one groomer pass wide and the top about three. The first three runs were very good, then it started to get a little crowded and annoying in the choke points between some beginners clogging things up and college aged kids buzzing through and trying to jump off every perceived lip. It may not have bothered most, but the trail was more crowded than I had skied in a couple of years. Headed in for a beer at that point and ran into Yeggous and his wife again. When I got back out things were much improved. The sun had softened the ungroomed area under the chair and there was much more room to spread out on the upper part of the trail. Even the bottom thin area seemed a bit better. Great spring skiing conditions. Not corn, but just creamy soft snow. Towards the end of the day, some mini bumps were forming skiers left on the "head wall", which were fun for a few turns.
Overall, one of the better opening days I've had in recent years. I give Bretton Woods a lot of credit for going for it with limited time to make snow. Not sure if they'll be able to open next weekend as this weeks weather will probably wipe out much of what the snow they made.
The very bottom of Range View looked thin and I was fully expecting to have to do some grass skiing, but it held up fine all the way until I called it at 2:30. The bottom was basically one groomer pass wide and the top about three. The first three runs were very good, then it started to get a little crowded and annoying in the choke points between some beginners clogging things up and college aged kids buzzing through and trying to jump off every perceived lip. It may not have bothered most, but the trail was more crowded than I had skied in a couple of years. Headed in for a beer at that point and ran into Yeggous and his wife again. When I got back out things were much improved. The sun had softened the ungroomed area under the chair and there was much more room to spread out on the upper part of the trail. Even the bottom thin area seemed a bit better. Great spring skiing conditions. Not corn, but just creamy soft snow. Towards the end of the day, some mini bumps were forming skiers left on the "head wall", which were fun for a few turns.
Overall, one of the better opening days I've had in recent years. I give Bretton Woods a lot of credit for going for it with limited time to make snow. Not sure if they'll be able to open next weekend as this weeks weather will probably wipe out much of what the snow they made.
