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Waterville 3.2 - 3.3.13

Cheese

New member
Joined
Jan 4, 2012
Messages
999
Points
0
Location
Hollis, NH
Date(s) Skied: 3.2.13 - 3.3.13
Resort or Ski Area: Waterville Valley
Conditions: Corduroy
Trip Report:

Booted up and went for a quick bio-break before heading out. While standing at the urinal the lights went out so I glanced over expecting to see someone had leaned on a light switch but there was nobody there. 30 seconds later the lights came back on so I basically thought nothing of it.

Caught the main quad about 5 minutes behind first chair but the corduroy was still intact. Made the usual first run right down White Caps, bailed around Chute since it was bumped and probably frozen and then caught Lower White Caps to the base area. The snow was incredible. Groom was soft yet grippy but deep enough so there was no feeling of the base layer underneath. I carved it up with ridiculous lean angles so couldn't resist lapping it two more times before the crowds started skidding it away. On the fourth trip up the chair it stopped. Again I thought nothing of it until I looked around and noticed that all the lifts were stopped. This was too much of a coincidence so I knew I was stuck and probably due to another power failure. Spent about 15 minutes on the lift before it started turning. I thought they would just run it on diesel until we were all off but when I looked at the line at the base I noticed they were still loading. I arrived at the top and sure enough they were running under diesel power but at near full speed. So, I sort of figured it was going to be a diesel day. I slipped over to True Grit to mix things up but the snow there was different. It probably saw a melt and refreeze before the groom since there were patches of golf balls on the way down. Skied back into the quad line and it appeared that Waterville was going to just weather the power outage under generator and diesel power. The lift stopped one more time while I was in line but this time when it fired back up they weren't loading chairs. Stood in line for probably 10 minutes before I saw people towards the front exiting the line. Lifties said they were down for 30-60 minutes and to check back later.

I headed into the lodge to wait it out. People were noticeably agitated probably from a lack of information (Waterville's staff didn't make any sort of announcement) and I decided to wander up the the information desk and see if there was any plan for the day. The friendly guest services agent told me there was a fire in Thorton, power was out in the entire valley and they had no idea when power would return. She said they were handing out vouchers to return another day. Since that was the only information I received, I took her advice, exchanged my ticket for a voucher and left.

So, 3 great runs and 1 fair run, but extra credit for them all being essentially free.

Sunday I returned with my voucher for another attempt at skiing more of the resort. A fresh inch plus of snow had fallen so I expected the same grippy corduroy but this time with a hero dusting of powder on top. I hit the quad line at 7:55 and was surprised to see the lift was already loading. When I tried to get through the lifties I was told, "Passholders only from 7-8am". Bummer, no fresh tracks for me. When the clock struck 8 I pushed on ahead.

The mountain is in great shape. 100% open with great coverage. There were seeded expert moguls on True Grit, seeded intermediate moguls on Tyler Too and seeded beginner moguls on Valley Run. Natural moguls on Chute, Ciao and Bone Yard. Conditions progressed from an inch plus of fresh for carving to soft powder piles in the bumps and later mashed potatoes and crud. I never went into the woods since I don't consider Waterville's glades to be worth skiing.
 
Last edited:

Abubob

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 9, 2010
Messages
3,531
Points
63
Location
Alexandria, NH
Website
tee.pub
This post is the most news there is on this fire. There is absolutely NOTHING in the news about this. I did a web search and checked places like WMUR, Concord Monitor, Union Leader and Seacoast Online - nothing. You would think a fire stopping a major ski resort would be news of some interest but I guess not.
 
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