Pats Peak - 1/17/09

[speden]

Conditions: packed powder

Didn't want to head too far north today with the cold weather, so decided to give Pats Peak a try. It's was looking really cold when we woke up, so took our time and arrived around 10am. By then it wasn't too cold, at about 10 degrees, with little or no wind.

I went with my wife and two boys (ages 11 and 12), and we headed for the ski rental shop. They have a gadget there where you take off your left shoe, remove your cap, pull up your pant leg, and stand on it. It measures your shoe size, weight, and height, and prints it out so they can get your gear. Seems like a good idea, but was kind of slow.

For rentals they have basic and "premium". We went with the basic ones and I have to say the boots seemed pretty cheapo. Guess I should have gone for the premium. The basic boots just have two buckles and it was tough to latch the top one, so I had to do that for the whole family.

Out on the slopes we found the cold weather had scared everyone away, so most of the chairs were empty. Conditions were really pretty good, with packed powder on all the trails, and no ice at all. My wife and I are trying to improve on our technique (skiing technique that is), so we were taking it easy and the wide trails and lack of people was ideal.

We started out on the small area on the right side of the hill, and later switched over to the summit in the afternoon. Some of the trails were good for practicing because they had steep sections followed by flatter sections, so little risk of getting in trouble. I'm sure more experienced skiers would find that annoying.

The lifts all seemed to be fairly slow attached lifts, so that made for some long rides up. The summit triple seemed to stop two or three times on every trip up. Not sure what was tripping people up. On the last run of the day I took the summit double with my wife, and she decided to show me how to make them stop the lift. She tends to panic when the time comes to dismount, and on that lift you dismount early before the lift ends, and need to make a left turn to get out of the way of the chairs. She was sitting on my right, and when we got off she lost it and swerved into a sharp right turn, causing me to swerve right and then to crash into a snow bank, followed by her crashing in after me. As I was going down the chair we'd just got off of caught up to me and gave me a gentle tap on my helmet. Glad I had on a helmet or I'd probably have gotten a nice welt on my head.

They have some kind of special that kicks in a 3pm, so at about 3:30 we noticed it was suddenly becoming crowded. We were getting cold anyway so called it a day. As we got back down to the lodges it seemed like swarms of young kids were pouring into the place, so really glad we hit the place in the morning.

Overall a nice little hill, and they also have some lightly used and very steep looking black trails, but those are way out of my league for now. The lodges were okay, but kind of cramped, and one weird thing is there's no internal stairway that we could find between the food level and the ski rental level where the lockers are, so you have to go outside if you want to go to your locker after eating.

Probably won't go there very often, but had a good day there today.

 

[Angus]

I've never skied at Pats. Drive by it on the way to vermont and/or sunapee and ragged. it's always a land mark as we go up 89. a big fan of crotched which isn't very far south - someday we'll make it there. it's an easy ride from the city.

 

[speden]

I've never skied at Pats. Drive by it on the way to vermont and/or sunapee and ragged. it's always a land mark as we go up 89. a big fan of crotched which isn't very far south - someday we'll make it there. it's an easy ride from the city.

I skied at crotched at the start of the season. Seems like a nice place, but they only had a couple of trails open that day so couldn't really judge too well. I also had a problem with the rental boots there. For some reason they pinched the heck out of my ankles, despite being the right length. I think it's time I broke down and bought my own boots!

I want to try Sunapee one of these days. It's close enough for a day trip for me.

 

[roark]

Pat's is a very well run locals hill, excellent for beginners and intermediates. Reasonable commute from the Boston metro area. Solid pitch on upper FIS and Twister. Almost always have Hurricane set up for the bumpers. Independently owned as well. Great weeknight race program. The chairs are slow but reliable and the hill isn't that big so the ride time difference isn't that significant compared to a HS chair. Can't comment on the rentals but anyone that gets out more than a couple times a year should at least have their own boots anyway.

Saturday is POP night (Pay One Price for tix, rentals, tubing) hence the crowds. Always pretty busy as we arrive for Monday night racing as well (lots of kids).

I don't know where your locker was, but the stairwell that connects the bar level to food level continues down to some lockers.

 

[speden]

... Can't comment on the rentals but anyone that gets out more than a couple times a year should at least have their own boots anyway.

Yeah, I've got this fear of commitment thing about buying boots. Just buying sneakers is hit or miss for me. Would hate to blow a bunch of cash and end up with something too tight or too loose, but I guess to some extent boots can be adjusted. I should just go for it.

 

[roark]

Yeah, I've got this fear of commitment thing about buying boots. Just buying sneakers is hit or miss for me. Would hate to blow a bunch of cash and end up with something too tight or too loose, but I guess to some extent boots can be adjusted. I should just go for it.

well, eventually yes you have to go for it. But try as many boots as you can stand first. Maybe do a few 'performance' rentals. It's expensive, but I highly recommend seeing a bootfitter as well.

One general tip - most buy boots too big thinking its more comfortable. Bootfitters can work with a tight boot to create some space, but filling space is pretty much impossible. Too large a boot compromises performance and can be dangerous (insufficient support leading to ankle sprains or breaks). Generally the right boot tends to be one size smaller than your shoe size. Make sure the shell fit is good. If you don't know what I'm talking about google is your friend.