Wachusett 4/10/05

[Zand]

Date(s) Skied: 4/10/05

Resort or Ski Area: Wachusett Mountain, MA

Conditions: Spring

Trip Report:

Well, today was the closing day to Wachusett's season as well as my season. There were many bare spots, slushy spots, puddles, and narrow parts of trails all over the place, but it was good enough for the middle of April. At 11, the temp was 60 at the base and 50 at the summit. At 2, it was 75 at the base and 60 at the summit. At 4, it was 70 at the base and 55 at the summit. I dressed like a hockey player: shorts and long ski socks, also in a T-shirt.

Conifer: From the top to the 1st road it was all slush, and I mean that. There was literally no snow, just slush. From then on, it was fine with mashed potatoes and the usual junk.

10th: There was a huge bare spot near the top that was almost impossible to get over. There was a 3 foot wide patch to get over, but that was mainly slush. After that, it was relatively smooth sailing. All of Salamander was closed.

Smith: The headwall was very bumpy, but the rest was smooth. I took a nice spill at the end right under the lift. I forgot how cold snow was.

Hitchcock: I don't even think it should've beem open, but it was. You had to enter from the road because the top was all melted. In fact, most of the trail was melted, but there was just enough to "open" the trail.

Look Mom: It was hard to get speed for the jumps, so it wasn't that great. The halfpipe was a long quarter pipe as one of the walls was gone. No park pass required today.

Challenger: It was very thin as only half the trail was covered. The mashed potatoes were tough to turn in so it wasn't very good.

Ralph's: Best trail of the day. The top was water-skiing, but after the road, it was awesome. It was completely smooth and pretty fast for the most part.

 

[hammer]

I'm guessing you had a season pass.

Looks like you made good use of it...how many trips did you end up making to Wachusett this season?

The only time I went to Wachusett was during Presidents Day week last year, and the lines were 20 - 30 minutes, which was not good for my then 11 year old son. Because of this experience, since I'm basically a weekend skier, I stayed away from Wachusett this season. In a way, it was a shame, since there seemed to be a decent amount of novice terrain there (which would have been good for my wife and daughter).

In all of your trips there, what times did you find the crowds to be manageable?

 

[Zand]

I only went once this season when the crowds were downright horrible, and that was the day after the blizzard. I go weeknights only and occasionally weekdays on a non-holiday that I get off from school. I don't think I'll ever step foot in that place on a weekend besides very early and late season. During January and February on weeknights, the place gets pretty full due to all of the schools, but the crowds are manageable and the liftlines hardly ever exceed 10 minutes. My best advice is go on a weekday for low crowds. Judging by what you said, you can't really get there on a weekday, so your best best is a weeknight. I find Monday and Friday nights to be the best nights of the week.

 

[hammer]

Thanks for the advice. Now I just have to remember this for the start of next season...

 

[MichaelJ]

I also had a pass, and I agree that the worst crowds were the Monday after the blizzard. Weeknights were fine, especially getting there around 5:30. The day skiers were leaving, the groomers would be finishing, and many of the school groups would be inside eating dinner. The lines would pick up again, then suddenly all the kids would be gone and there'd be no lines at all. This was almost entirely Tuesday nights.

The pass was totally worth it, not only financially but getting out there every single week did wonders for my skiing ability.