billski
Active member
Whaleback, Whaleback, Whaleback. What can I say? I arrived about 6pm from the Skiway, pretty dark and uncrowded. Very ominous looking from the road. I've passed by this hill at least 100 times, this is the first time I've stopped.
Last stop on the tour.
First lesson, 7 hours in single digit temps has a way of dragging you down. by the time I arrived, this was beginning to feel more like a job and less like the sport I love.
Even the sign looked cold.
Second it's much bigger than it looks. Wachusett-sized. There are many trails along the side and back that are unseen from the road.
The lift is what did me in. About every other chair had a seat pad. I got the chairs that didn't. Wooden slats, cool nighttime breeze, I was toast, no frozen waffles, after two runs.
Third lesson - it's a small operation, but it has everything you need. The rental center has a very good inventory. The Downstairs of the lodge, well, that's the nerve center of the operation. The food service has about a dozen items, most for the asking. The food service cashier sells the lift tickets, food and other merchandise. The cashier, well, she runs everything. They give you a ticket and using a marker to record the date.
Fourth lesson - Affirmation of the assertion I'm not big on night skiing. It's not the light, it's the cold-thing, I get very cold after the sun goes down.
Fifth - taking photos at night when its 5F is a major PITA. So apologies for the terrible shots.
The fella with the "mountain operations" parka, well, he does everything from grooming, to lift loading , to plowing the lot. Prolly fixes the lift when it breaks. Not a job I would want.
Grooming. I complemented mountain ops. Much better crunching was done by him than the Dartmouth operation. No death cookies here.
I was so tired, so cold that I took two runs and called it quits.
Again, the snow they had on the trails open was groomed to death and definitely ski-able. It looks like a real hard operation to manage. I saw one ski patroller on duty.
The most curious moment of the evening was at the top of the lift, which had a landing area I can only describe as an airport approach path. The sides of the ramp had small illuminated red cones lighting the sides. As you approached, just like in a plane, first you saw only the lights, then the runway. See for yourself.
Yep, feels just like the 737 landing at 100 knots.
On a cold Thursday night, the place had a couple dozen customers, primarily male teenagers working really hard to assert their manliness to each other. Smoking, swearing, shouting, pushing and shoving and bragging about their vast experiences int their 15 years of life. It got old after the first five minutes.
The area has potential if mother nature would cooperate. I only skied on two different trails, so I can't robustly review the area.
Searching for a souvenier pin was a failed effort. Apparently the rentals guy chucked them all last season. Oh well, I have to add two pins from Suicide to give me a total of 53 pins on the old hat. All areas must be skied to get a pin.
2 hours to home, it was a long drive. I slept like a baby. It's 3pm and I'm still thawing from yesterday.
The world tour is over. I think I could entertain myself for most of a day at any one of the three areas.
Last stop on the tour.
First lesson, 7 hours in single digit temps has a way of dragging you down. by the time I arrived, this was beginning to feel more like a job and less like the sport I love.
Even the sign looked cold.
Second it's much bigger than it looks. Wachusett-sized. There are many trails along the side and back that are unseen from the road.
The lift is what did me in. About every other chair had a seat pad. I got the chairs that didn't. Wooden slats, cool nighttime breeze, I was toast, no frozen waffles, after two runs.
Third lesson - it's a small operation, but it has everything you need. The rental center has a very good inventory. The Downstairs of the lodge, well, that's the nerve center of the operation. The food service has about a dozen items, most for the asking. The food service cashier sells the lift tickets, food and other merchandise. The cashier, well, she runs everything. They give you a ticket and using a marker to record the date.
Fourth lesson - Affirmation of the assertion I'm not big on night skiing. It's not the light, it's the cold-thing, I get very cold after the sun goes down.
Fifth - taking photos at night when its 5F is a major PITA. So apologies for the terrible shots.
The fella with the "mountain operations" parka, well, he does everything from grooming, to lift loading , to plowing the lot. Prolly fixes the lift when it breaks. Not a job I would want.
Grooming. I complemented mountain ops. Much better crunching was done by him than the Dartmouth operation. No death cookies here.
I was so tired, so cold that I took two runs and called it quits.
Again, the snow they had on the trails open was groomed to death and definitely ski-able. It looks like a real hard operation to manage. I saw one ski patroller on duty.
The most curious moment of the evening was at the top of the lift, which had a landing area I can only describe as an airport approach path. The sides of the ramp had small illuminated red cones lighting the sides. As you approached, just like in a plane, first you saw only the lights, then the runway. See for yourself.
Yep, feels just like the 737 landing at 100 knots.
On a cold Thursday night, the place had a couple dozen customers, primarily male teenagers working really hard to assert their manliness to each other. Smoking, swearing, shouting, pushing and shoving and bragging about their vast experiences int their 15 years of life. It got old after the first five minutes.
The area has potential if mother nature would cooperate. I only skied on two different trails, so I can't robustly review the area.
Searching for a souvenier pin was a failed effort. Apparently the rentals guy chucked them all last season. Oh well, I have to add two pins from Suicide to give me a total of 53 pins on the old hat. All areas must be skied to get a pin.
2 hours to home, it was a long drive. I slept like a baby. It's 3pm and I'm still thawing from yesterday.
The world tour is over. I think I could entertain myself for most of a day at any one of the three areas.
