Big Red (NELSAP hill) MA 12/20/09

8" champagne pow (blown down to as little as ~4" and up to boot-deep) and I had this defunct ski area all to myself. Quite an enjoyable outing. Here's a couple pix for now; a more complete report later.

One of the old rope tow poles


Pow turns

very nice

sweet.

Nicely done!!! :beer:

Great to see folks getting out and laying tracks down on what once was.

Looks interesting, but is it really worth hiking for turns when conditions are so good on lift served stuff this Dec.? Temps have been so good for snowmaking this month and so far the lift served hasn't been crowded at all (at least not that I've encountered so far).

speden said:

Looks interesting, but is it really worth hiking for turns when conditions are so good on lift served stuff this Dec.? Temps have been so good for snowmaking this month and so far the lift served hasn't been crowded at all (at least not that I've encountered so far).

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Was that sarcasm? The dude scored powder nearly in his back yard!

speden said:

Looks interesting, but is it really worth hiking for turns when conditions are so good on lift served stuff this Dec.?

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Yes.

As riv suggests, this was a 5-minute drive from home. Also: I had the place entirely to myself - first tracks, last tracks and everything in between were all mine; it was all natural blower powder (I'm fine with machine-made to help enable early-season skiing but much prefer natural); it cost me nothing; it was good exercise; and it was a mild adventure.

The only "downside" was paltry vert and not a lot of pitch, though enough to link turns. The positives far outweighed that. Plus, I've had a good amount of lift-served already and am sure to get plenty more.

Looks nice!

As the NELSAP writeup notes, Big Red was an "upside-down" ski area - you parked at the top, skied down and took a rope tow back up. (So these days I suppose if you were taking only one run it wouldn't be "earning your turns" but "earning your way home so you don't freeze to death down by the Indian River." :-o ) The hill is in back of an elementary school and when I arrived the back parking lot was being plowed so I parked out front, geared up and hiked to a trail I thought would connect me to the old ski area.

After starting down that trail I saw there was an old barbed wire fence running alongside - I believe the hill was used as a cow pasture for a while - and that prevented me from traversing to Big Red. From a trip here last year (on snowshoes) I was pretty sure I'd be able to make the traverse toward the bottom of the hill, so I clicked into my skis and headed down the trail (which for most of its length was, oh, about 190 cm wide ;-) ). Sure enough, the fence ended and I was able to head to the main part of the hill.

From the bottom of that first run:


I clicked out of the skis and started across the hill. Soon I saw incontrovertible evidence that I was in the old ski area:


From the same spot but looking downhill, you might be able to pick out another rope tow pole - albeit not very skiable terrain ...


Nearby the woods opened up a bit - low angle but looks potentially fun.


I felt the cover was a tad too thin to try the woods though.

Next I came to an open slope, which I booted up. (I had skins with me but wound up not using them - the snow wasn't so deep and the hikes were short enough that booting seemed the quickest way to get around.) Here's the view from the top (Merrimack River valley in the background):


Another view reveals this to be the elementary school's septic leach field ...


but hey, I got linked turns out of it :lol:


I hiked up this trail (the leach field is in the distance) but again didn't ski it because of thin cover and I know it to be rocky:


You don't get a good view of it in that shot but there are more open woods to skier's left of that trail - definitely worth hitting when the snow is a bit deeper.

Next I reached peak elevation for my tour, summiting a manmade mound around the outside of a ballfield. I skied a narrow and steep (and yea, short) chute through some weeds ...


and then down one of the main trails of old Big Red:


I booted back up to the top. Here's the old platform for the rope tow engine:


and the top pole of the rope tow


It was wild trying to imagine the place as a busy little ski area ... and then skiing pow there with not another soul in sight.

I took a run down another of the main slopes. This ended in a large clot of brambles, which have grown in about halfway down the hillside. Seek alternate routes to hit the nice trees below.


I took a couple more runs down this part of the hill (have to watch for occasional brambles higher up, too - one hit me in my chin and drew a little blood). Dusk was approaching and it was time to head home - but not before getting last tracks on the final stretch to the parking lot:


Edit to add vital stats via UNH historical topo map: Top elevation ~190' ASL; elev at bottom of old ski slopes maybe 30' ASL. On this trip my max vert on any run was probably 80' or so but with enough snow a top-to-bottom route likely is viable to skiers' far left - not sure if this was part of the old ski area though.

I get sentimental when I see things like this. You can only imagine how many good memories and other memories were captured there.

speden said:

Looks interesting, but is it really worth hiking for turns when conditions are so good on lift served stuff this Dec.? Temps have been so good for snowmaking this month and so far the lift served hasn't been crowded at all (at least not that I've encountered so far).

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If you have to ask, then the answer (for you) is no.

billski said:

I get sentimental when I see things like this. You can only imagine how many good memories and other memories were captured there.

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And haw many people learned to ski at home town hills like this.

riverc0il said:

Was that sarcasm? The dude scored powder nearly in his back yard!

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No I was genuinely curious. I didn't know it was right next door to where he lives. I'm just a lowly frontside skier.

Great Job going after it!!

Awesome TR. I agree with Bill...probably lots of good memories from a place like that.

speden said:

No I was genuinely curious. I didn't know it was right next door to where he lives. I'm just a lowly frontside skier.

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And I wouldn't suggest this was worth driving hours to hit. In fact, I'd strongly encourage everyone to leave it all for me

polski said:

And I wouldn't suggest this was worth driving hours to hit. In fact, I'd strongly encourage everyone to leave it all for me

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polski, I like your new blogsite!

Thanks Bill. Pretty primitive at this point but at least I've been remembering to update it every once in a while :lol:

Nice, polski. If you need company on your next NELSAP excursion, PM me. I'm always down for these.

I'd like to find and hit this place up: http://www.nelsap.org/ma/jericho.html