billski
Active member
I don't need no stinkin' edges! What a day. 2 choices, Wildcat or Black. Called up the wildcat snow phone in the car - windholds. That settle it, Black, here we come baby!
Once I got about 10 miles north of Rochester NH, roadside attractions made it pretty clear it was all POW. So, the snow-rain line is here on rte 16. Roads remained snow packed all the way into North Conway. Snow piles from the plows were taller than my car. A good thing
Groomer does double duty clearing the lot. I would estimate 20-30 cars in the lot (including employees), with a lot of churn midday from the locals.
Looks like they got about 12", it tracked about 10" deep on ungroomed. From the bottom it seemed like they groomed a lot, but when you got up there, more than 2/3 of the terrain was ungroomed fresh pow. Those that liked groomers stayed lower on the Black lift. Got there for the opening bell, but since there was no cattle call, I knew fresh pow awaited me when I was ready. So the Red Lift wasn't running, and I talked with unnamed parties about hiking it to the top. In the end, I did a little hiking off the Black lift early and found this little beauty. By about noon it still only had about five tracks down in, three of those being mine.
The fresh pow was incredible. I could actually make sustained linked turns, just floating through the stuff, getting a rhythm that is very unusual in the northeast. Practice your pow turns. After a few runs, I got back in the groove, it became easier and easier.
It was a sunny bluebird day, temps in the 20s, you would have thought it was spring skiing in New England (or that you were out west), if it wasn't for all the fluff.
I thought I made first tracks on two or three marked trails, but after I got home and started looking at the pics, I realized it was a lot more than that. It was real hard sitting on the lift watching others make first tracks on some of the runs. Most pow skiers and boarders were skiing effortlessly.
Some things about Black just strike me as very retro. This pic could have been taken 30 years ago. Bag the helmet man! Check out the tracks on the hill. Crowded, huh?
One thing that also makes it feel retro is the lack of a board park or halfpipe, the slow lifts with a million coats of paint on them. They do have some broad pastures down low which are fun to scoot across and also give a retro feel. And yes, they still have the horse corral and beautiful ponies right next to the Lodge. About 20 paces from the lodge to the corral.
This was my second time to Black. The first time I was just getting acclimated. This time I went exploring further afield, getting to know the place better. The snow is deeper than it appears. It has filled in all but the most severe warts and you can confidently ski most anywhere. That said, I did manage an encounter with a 3' Mr. Rock in the Lostbo glades, when I mistook it for a 3' powder puff!
Carter Notch Glade
At about 10:30 they opened the (red) lift to the top. There was a short-lived feeding frenzy, me and about 15 other folks hitting up the untracked from the top. Lostbo, Lostbo Glades, Upper Speedwell and White Knuckle were the ROTDs for me, but honestly, there wasn't a bad trail on the mountain.
Mr. Puckerbrush and Ms. Snowsnake conspired to do me in coming out of this glade. I took a forward dive and my face felt like the front of a snowplow blade. As I slid, it got deeper and deeper. I swam for a while, it took almost 10 minutes to get out of the waist deep pow that I had just floated across.
Speaking of falls, I went down several times, all of them pretty anti-climactic. Usually I was slowing or sitting back in the pow, when it just collapsed beneath me. Black seem to have a lot of uncompressed virgin snow. A pleasant but sometimes PITA surprise.
They have some really scary signs. To me (matter of personal perspective) the trail wasn't near as bad as the sign. I want one for my office now.
Lostbo Glades in the afternoon
Blue Groomer
The groomer corduroy was to die for. Silky, creamy. None of that washboard stuff.
The dude working the kitchen is mighty proud of his homemade chili. Claims it's a family recipe that he's jiggered with. Rather spicy and very, very good. check it out.
As I've alluded to in some other messages, the choice to go to Black was dictated not just by wind holds at Wildcat, but the selfish desire to have more of the mountain to myself. You simply can't get this sort of coverage anywhere else. I competed for nothing. It's relaxing, enjoyable, friendly. I skied from 9 to 4. Yep. three breaks thrown in there, but it was just such a pleasure to ski on that I didn't want to stop. My body is getting strong enough this far into the season that I can do it and enjoy it.
As you know, the views are breathtaking. Mt. Cranmore is very clear to the south. I always forget that Black is mostly south-facing (look at the shadows in the photos), so that makes it even nicer, but also explains in part their short season.
On one of the more popular trails from the top, Maple Slalom chute, here's the start of the day:
And here's the Maple Slalom chute sloppy seconds we left for you8)
At 4pm you could not only still make fresh tracks, you could even make first tracks on a trail!
Bye bye Black. See you real soon!
More photos: http://forums.alpinezone.com/48113-black-nh-1-29-09-a-2.html#post384345
Once I got about 10 miles north of Rochester NH, roadside attractions made it pretty clear it was all POW. So, the snow-rain line is here on rte 16. Roads remained snow packed all the way into North Conway. Snow piles from the plows were taller than my car. A good thing
Groomer does double duty clearing the lot. I would estimate 20-30 cars in the lot (including employees), with a lot of churn midday from the locals.
Looks like they got about 12", it tracked about 10" deep on ungroomed. From the bottom it seemed like they groomed a lot, but when you got up there, more than 2/3 of the terrain was ungroomed fresh pow. Those that liked groomers stayed lower on the Black lift. Got there for the opening bell, but since there was no cattle call, I knew fresh pow awaited me when I was ready. So the Red Lift wasn't running, and I talked with unnamed parties about hiking it to the top. In the end, I did a little hiking off the Black lift early and found this little beauty. By about noon it still only had about five tracks down in, three of those being mine.
The fresh pow was incredible. I could actually make sustained linked turns, just floating through the stuff, getting a rhythm that is very unusual in the northeast. Practice your pow turns. After a few runs, I got back in the groove, it became easier and easier.
It was a sunny bluebird day, temps in the 20s, you would have thought it was spring skiing in New England (or that you were out west), if it wasn't for all the fluff.
I thought I made first tracks on two or three marked trails, but after I got home and started looking at the pics, I realized it was a lot more than that. It was real hard sitting on the lift watching others make first tracks on some of the runs. Most pow skiers and boarders were skiing effortlessly.
Some things about Black just strike me as very retro. This pic could have been taken 30 years ago. Bag the helmet man! Check out the tracks on the hill. Crowded, huh?
One thing that also makes it feel retro is the lack of a board park or halfpipe, the slow lifts with a million coats of paint on them. They do have some broad pastures down low which are fun to scoot across and also give a retro feel. And yes, they still have the horse corral and beautiful ponies right next to the Lodge. About 20 paces from the lodge to the corral.
This was my second time to Black. The first time I was just getting acclimated. This time I went exploring further afield, getting to know the place better. The snow is deeper than it appears. It has filled in all but the most severe warts and you can confidently ski most anywhere. That said, I did manage an encounter with a 3' Mr. Rock in the Lostbo glades, when I mistook it for a 3' powder puff!
Carter Notch Glade
At about 10:30 they opened the (red) lift to the top. There was a short-lived feeding frenzy, me and about 15 other folks hitting up the untracked from the top. Lostbo, Lostbo Glades, Upper Speedwell and White Knuckle were the ROTDs for me, but honestly, there wasn't a bad trail on the mountain.
Mr. Puckerbrush and Ms. Snowsnake conspired to do me in coming out of this glade. I took a forward dive and my face felt like the front of a snowplow blade. As I slid, it got deeper and deeper. I swam for a while, it took almost 10 minutes to get out of the waist deep pow that I had just floated across.
Speaking of falls, I went down several times, all of them pretty anti-climactic. Usually I was slowing or sitting back in the pow, when it just collapsed beneath me. Black seem to have a lot of uncompressed virgin snow. A pleasant but sometimes PITA surprise.
They have some really scary signs. To me (matter of personal perspective) the trail wasn't near as bad as the sign. I want one for my office now.
Lostbo Glades in the afternoon
Blue Groomer
The groomer corduroy was to die for. Silky, creamy. None of that washboard stuff.
The dude working the kitchen is mighty proud of his homemade chili. Claims it's a family recipe that he's jiggered with. Rather spicy and very, very good. check it out.
As I've alluded to in some other messages, the choice to go to Black was dictated not just by wind holds at Wildcat, but the selfish desire to have more of the mountain to myself. You simply can't get this sort of coverage anywhere else. I competed for nothing. It's relaxing, enjoyable, friendly. I skied from 9 to 4. Yep. three breaks thrown in there, but it was just such a pleasure to ski on that I didn't want to stop. My body is getting strong enough this far into the season that I can do it and enjoy it.
As you know, the views are breathtaking. Mt. Cranmore is very clear to the south. I always forget that Black is mostly south-facing (look at the shadows in the photos), so that makes it even nicer, but also explains in part their short season.
On one of the more popular trails from the top, Maple Slalom chute, here's the start of the day:
And here's the Maple Slalom chute sloppy seconds we left for you8)
At 4pm you could not only still make fresh tracks, you could even make first tracks on a trail!
Bye bye Black. See you real soon!
More photos: http://forums.alpinezone.com/48113-black-nh-1-29-09-a-2.html#post384345
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