Ski Butternut - 1/18/04

Date(s) Skied: 1/18/04, 9:45 AM - 1:30 PM

Resort or Ski Area: Ski Butternut, Great Barrington, MA

Conditions: Machine-made Packed powder, icey in spots

Trip Report: Started the morning on the Highline double as the Quad was already packed and we were itching to just ski. Took the first run down Main Street which was closed on our last outing. Conditions were good; very firm manmade packed powder. Took the double up again for a run down Fiddler and Lower Downspout towards the Overbrook Triple. Conditions on some of the trails that have been open for a while varied from packed powder to packed powder on hardpack or ice. Took Downspout for the next run with skier's right in decent shape and it proved to be consistent all day with some nice powder/packed powder. The center of this trail the whole way was very slick. Did two runs on Downspout and then on to the Quad.

Waited in line for the Top Flight for 20+ minutes. Hey, it's the Sunday during MLK weekend, one of B'Nut's busiest days, so we weren't surprised. The lift attendents kept thing moving pretty well. After close to 40 minutes between the liftline and the ride, we were anxious to get going again. Took a run down Upper and Lower Applejack which just opened. Conditions were great with lots of manmade powder and packed powder. Run of the day. I love Upper AJ anyway so I was glad I got on it.

We then headed to Granny's Double to avoid the quad line. The line for this lift extended all the way around to the bottom of the terrain park so there was a 10+ minute wait there. The vertical gained from this lift wasn't worth the wait. Took the run down Lower AJ back to the quad. Waiting for another 20 mins and took a run down Whip (good shape - they blow alot on this run) and West Way which was newly opened as well and with new manmade. Made our way back to the Triple and took three more runs; Fiddler/Lower Downspout, Twist/West Way, and Downspout.

We wrapped it up around 1:30. All in all a good day despite the liftlines. Again, we weren't surprised being MLK weekend.

Off to Jiminy Peak tomorrow...

I am glad you had a good time. I remember those lift lines over the MLK weekend and decided to go up north.

Speaking of lliftlines. There was some great organization at the Overbrook Triple at B'Nut on Sunday. The guy pointed at this kid in the singles line and said, "Single?" and waved him on to join two other people. The kid hesitated and the guy said, "you're in the singles line, so you're a single. Don't play that game with me...". Turns out his buddy was right behind him in the Singles line and they wanted to ride togather. The guy wouldn't have it.

Another time, he gave this father/son paring a hard time. He tells the father, "well, you were in the singles line so your son will be a few chairs behind you. Don't try to pull that with me". I laughed. I thought it was great. Bravo to the guy for snagging the singles line poachers!

:beer:

Hah, what a great liftie. They should all do that. Make sure to break up the singles.

Greg,

That is the first time I have heard of that happen at Butternut....how Stratton like! That is the one thing I do like about Stratton is how they scan your ticket and get six people together to ride the lift.

When I was at Crotched they actually checked for a lift ticket and then punched it. They were aggressively checking for lift tickets, which is a good thing. I have not seen that happen in long time with the exception of Stratton.

skijay said:

That is the first time I have heard of that happen at Butternut....how Stratton like! That is the one thing I do like about Stratton is how they scan your ticket and get six people together to ride the lift.

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It's amazing how a good attendent can keep things moving so much better. The Overbrook Triple was a huge Cluster-F (you know what I mean) before that guy got there. And on the quad they had attendents filling the chair all day. Of course it seemes like the thing stopped every 5 chairs or so, but again being MLK, it's par for the course.