Wachusett Opening Day 11/16/13

[Zand]

Got to the hill around 7:40, booted up and got 10th chair on the already boarding Minuteman at 7:45. Challenger and Ralph's were the openings off that. Challenger was silky soft snow the entire way and other than one or two brown spots, good depth as well. A rail and barrel bonk were set up for the jibbers but they did it in the worst possible spot. They were set up inside the turn off Look Mom, so all the boarders would line up across the trail and make an approach directly across the trail. Got annoying when there were big groups of them. Ralph's had some very narrow sections at the top where they had to patch over some waterbars, but it widened out after that. I feel like they groomed it out too wide as there were some very thin areas, might be in some trouble tomorrow. But, also very fun and soft. The more they got skied, the better they got.

Took a couple runs down Indian Summer just to check it out around 9:00. Not too many people had been over there yet so had lots of fresh cord to carve up. Probably had the best coverage of all the open trails.

Best part about today was debuting my new Nordica Steadfasts. Haven't had new skis since 2004, so it was nice to have beautiful new edges and really carve up some nice turns. Took a couple runs to get used to the width, but they're going to make a very nice Wachusett ski.

Weather was cloudy and in the 40s the entire time I was there, but the sun came out when I left at 10:15 and temps were in the mid 50s as I rolled into my driveway. Might be some nice spring conditions up there this afternoon, but right now it's nice, soft, and buttery. Tomorrow could be tough as some bare spots will likely open up. Overall, a beautiful opening day for them. Minuteman had a few 10 chair waits if you caught the crowd wrong, but mostly ski on. Got 20 runs in a little over 2 hours, can't complain about that.

 

[xwhaler]

Nice report. Pretty awesome to be skiing in central mass in mid November in 60 degree weather!
I demoed the steadfasts a couple yrs ago----awesome ski. I hear the he'll and backs are also great just a bit wider.

Sent from my VS980 4G using AlpineZone mobile app

 

[The Sneak]

I was there as well. Skied til 10:30, 20 runs off the minuteman quad, non stop and straight back to the car (row 2).

Me - blue jacket, grey pants, old prophet 90s. 12 runs down challenger, 8 on Ralph's.

Same time, same place next week.

 

[LiquidFeet]

Worth going tomorrow, Sunday? Or will it be mud and gravel?

 

[Zand]

Worth going tomorrow, Sunday? Or will it be mud and gravel?

Best to check webcam before you go. Last pitch on Challenger dropping into the lift area should be a good indication.

 

[LiquidFeet]

Thanks. Will do right now.

 

[hrstrat57]

Hey Zand, great job as always thanks for continuing to do this.

Any talk of midweek skiing this week amongst the lifties, staff or regulars or is this w/e it for a while?

Thanks again and congrats on the new boards.

 

[Zand]

Hey Zand, great job as always thanks for continuing to do this.

Any talk of midweek skiing this week amongst the lifties, staff or regulars or is this w/e it for a while?

Thanks again and congrats on the new boards.

They said they're hoping to open 7 days a week starting next weekend. Looks like they'll get a decent snowmaking window on Wednesday to at least get Challenger and Ralph's back up to snuff for the weekend, so I don't think they'll have much trouble doing so.

 

[KD7000]

I went out there Sunday morning with the kids. We collected our passes, geared up, and went out in the rain/ drizzle /clear. It was a slushy, muddy, narrow mess- yet it was completely awesome to be out this early in the season. I'm so out of shape it's ridiculous. Felt fantastic to get the gear on and be on the snow, though.

They're going to have to work damn hard to get ready this week. Today is a huge rainy washout- but then temps look ok for blowing snow. They'll get it done, I'm sure. But anyone looking for really good conditions won't be that happy. Skiing/ riding this upcoming opening weekend will be more of a novelty.

I'll likely still go, though. :smile:

 

[Nick]

Crazy! I didn't htink I would get to ski early this year but i might still get in a few days at Wawa

 

[LiquidFeet]

It's going to be very warm there today.

 

[Zand]

Looking at the snow report video and the webcams earlier, it actually didn't look like they got hit too bad by the warmth and rain. The trails still look mainly intact. With a night or two of snowmaking coming this week, getting the trails back open shouldn't be a problem at all. Looks like a good long cold stretch starts next weekend, so hopefully that'll be expansion time.

 

[Zand]

All 4 trails still look skiable today with no big bare spots. I guess base depths were more impressive than it seemed the other day. Nice job Wawa! Looks like they'll be firing up as soon as the temps drop tonight.

 

[dmw]

Nice. Maybe they'll keep up the aggressive approach and go for the summit (doubtful I know).

 

[Zand]

Probably not this week as they only have a couple cold nights, but next week looks very cold so hopefully by Thanksgiving they'll have the summit open.