I was a pass holder at Ragged for a couple of years roughly five years ago now. I typically try and make it back there once or twice a year, but last year I did not. I was excited to try out the new HSQ and a couple of new glades that have gone in since I last skied there.
Part of the reason I moved on from Ragged as a pass holder was the slow pace of investment during the two years I was there. The snowmaking was particularly poor, probably the worst in the state at that time and it looked like the Spear lift might never happen. The reason why I was a pass holder at Ragged was it's very convenient for me to get to (1:35), it offers decent terrain when the trees are in play, back then it was a really cheap pass at $299 and most importantly, NO ONE skied there. You could arrive at 9AM on a Saturday and still get a parking spot in the main lot next to the lodge. Occasionally back then the top two lots would fill and they had to use one of the lower lots, but it was never all that busy unless it was a race day.
Fast forward five years to now and I think I prefer the "old Ragged" a bit more. Ragged has for sure been discovered now. I wasn't able to get to the mountain until noon yesterday. I circled every single parking lot and there wasn't a single spot to be found. There were several cars circling as there also were no employees or signage instructing people where to go. I eventually pulled up and popped my head into the rental shop to ask if it was okay to park on the street and when I came out I lucked out with someone leaving.
Inside the lodge was PACKED like I had never seen it. Not a single chair to be had anywhere in the lodge. There were many folks just leaning up against the wall in corners of the lodge trying to cram a quick bite in. There was a race going on, so that probably heightened the crowds. A law firm had bought out half the upstairs of the lodge too for an employee appreciation day. That also cramped things considerably.
Anyways, after dealing with that madness I was finally out on the hill. The skiing conditions were fantastic all the way up until 4PM. Very little scratch anywhere except for in the troughs of the moguls. All the groomers skied superb. And speaking of moguls, I was shocked at how good they were on Upper Sweepstakes. Never in my two years as a pass holder and the dozen odd other times that I've been to Ragged had I seen anything remotely approaching good bumps. I guess when you get historic snowfall, even a place like Ragged can finally have decent bumps.
The Spear lift certainly made a world of difference in moving the crowd. Wait times for Spear despite the massive crowds were maybe 4 chairs in the singles line. Wait time at the six pack were maybe 10 chairs in the singles line. So, despite the madness that was the lodge and parking situation, the lifts did well at moving the crowds and the trails weren't too mobbed.
I noticed Head was having a demo day at the hill and I was going to skip it, but right at 2 I decided to swing by. They had a set of the Worldcup Rebel i.SL skis on the rack. The Rep was going to close up shop for the day, but I pleaded with him for one run on the SL skis as I had never experienced a modern race ski before.
The skis were 160cm. I don't think I've skied a set of skis that short since about 1986. All I can say for the performance is HOLY CRAP. When I've asked people what a modern slalom race ski skis like, I've often been told to imagine Porche like performance. The amount of rebound energy, accuracy and stability was stunning. The skis literally threw you out of each turn and into the next the second you started to un-weight. Amazing, I've never experienced anything like that on any ski I've ever tried. I don't think I'd want a pair of SL race skis like these as they'd wear me out in three runs trying to keep up with them. You just can't ski them lazy. However, I'm now eager to try maybe a beer league GS race ski as it's clear they offer a level of groomed snow performance that no mid-fat all mountain ski could ever hope to match.
After the quick demo, I grabbed a beer and bowl of ramen (quite good) at Birches in the lodge and spent the rest of the day on the Six Pack side of the hill. I talked to a few locals about the Pinnacle Peak expansion. First off, in my opinion they absolutely completely swung and missed with the trail design over there which is a tremendous disappointment. Not since South Peak at Loon has a New England ski area had a blank canvas mountain of terrain to expand onto and Ragged laid a steaming turd in regards to the trail design. It looks basically like the Solitude Pod at Okemo, only worse. Arrow straight, mega wide characterless trails of about 1000 vert. My pic doesn't do it justice. I should have grabbed a picture from the road that really demonstrates how bad it is.
So, why when you have this blank canvas wouldn't you at least put in a few old school New England style narrower trails? Well, apparently the Pinnacle expansion may take a few years to happen. Those trails were cleared right now primarily to sell off the lumber. I talked to a few long time pass holders and they all said what they've heard is no lifts or snowmaking are going in on Pinnacle until Ragged reaches 100K skier visits. Apparently they've averaged about 75K the past couple of seasons. Maybe they all had the wrong information. Who knows. All I know is after looking at what they've done on Pinnacle, it's going to be massively disappointing McSkiarea terrain.
All in all a good ski afternoon at Ragged, but I'm not sure it's heading in the direction I'd like. It's looking to become Sunapee North. Makes sense; that's what makes the most money in this business. It's just not the kind of place I want as a home base.
Part of the reason I moved on from Ragged as a pass holder was the slow pace of investment during the two years I was there. The snowmaking was particularly poor, probably the worst in the state at that time and it looked like the Spear lift might never happen. The reason why I was a pass holder at Ragged was it's very convenient for me to get to (1:35), it offers decent terrain when the trees are in play, back then it was a really cheap pass at $299 and most importantly, NO ONE skied there. You could arrive at 9AM on a Saturday and still get a parking spot in the main lot next to the lodge. Occasionally back then the top two lots would fill and they had to use one of the lower lots, but it was never all that busy unless it was a race day.
Fast forward five years to now and I think I prefer the "old Ragged" a bit more. Ragged has for sure been discovered now. I wasn't able to get to the mountain until noon yesterday. I circled every single parking lot and there wasn't a single spot to be found. There were several cars circling as there also were no employees or signage instructing people where to go. I eventually pulled up and popped my head into the rental shop to ask if it was okay to park on the street and when I came out I lucked out with someone leaving.
Inside the lodge was PACKED like I had never seen it. Not a single chair to be had anywhere in the lodge. There were many folks just leaning up against the wall in corners of the lodge trying to cram a quick bite in. There was a race going on, so that probably heightened the crowds. A law firm had bought out half the upstairs of the lodge too for an employee appreciation day. That also cramped things considerably.
Anyways, after dealing with that madness I was finally out on the hill. The skiing conditions were fantastic all the way up until 4PM. Very little scratch anywhere except for in the troughs of the moguls. All the groomers skied superb. And speaking of moguls, I was shocked at how good they were on Upper Sweepstakes. Never in my two years as a pass holder and the dozen odd other times that I've been to Ragged had I seen anything remotely approaching good bumps. I guess when you get historic snowfall, even a place like Ragged can finally have decent bumps.
The Spear lift certainly made a world of difference in moving the crowd. Wait times for Spear despite the massive crowds were maybe 4 chairs in the singles line. Wait time at the six pack were maybe 10 chairs in the singles line. So, despite the madness that was the lodge and parking situation, the lifts did well at moving the crowds and the trails weren't too mobbed.
I noticed Head was having a demo day at the hill and I was going to skip it, but right at 2 I decided to swing by. They had a set of the Worldcup Rebel i.SL skis on the rack. The Rep was going to close up shop for the day, but I pleaded with him for one run on the SL skis as I had never experienced a modern race ski before.
The skis were 160cm. I don't think I've skied a set of skis that short since about 1986. All I can say for the performance is HOLY CRAP. When I've asked people what a modern slalom race ski skis like, I've often been told to imagine Porche like performance. The amount of rebound energy, accuracy and stability was stunning. The skis literally threw you out of each turn and into the next the second you started to un-weight. Amazing, I've never experienced anything like that on any ski I've ever tried. I don't think I'd want a pair of SL race skis like these as they'd wear me out in three runs trying to keep up with them. You just can't ski them lazy. However, I'm now eager to try maybe a beer league GS race ski as it's clear they offer a level of groomed snow performance that no mid-fat all mountain ski could ever hope to match.
After the quick demo, I grabbed a beer and bowl of ramen (quite good) at Birches in the lodge and spent the rest of the day on the Six Pack side of the hill. I talked to a few locals about the Pinnacle Peak expansion. First off, in my opinion they absolutely completely swung and missed with the trail design over there which is a tremendous disappointment. Not since South Peak at Loon has a New England ski area had a blank canvas mountain of terrain to expand onto and Ragged laid a steaming turd in regards to the trail design. It looks basically like the Solitude Pod at Okemo, only worse. Arrow straight, mega wide characterless trails of about 1000 vert. My pic doesn't do it justice. I should have grabbed a picture from the road that really demonstrates how bad it is.
So, why when you have this blank canvas wouldn't you at least put in a few old school New England style narrower trails? Well, apparently the Pinnacle expansion may take a few years to happen. Those trails were cleared right now primarily to sell off the lumber. I talked to a few long time pass holders and they all said what they've heard is no lifts or snowmaking are going in on Pinnacle until Ragged reaches 100K skier visits. Apparently they've averaged about 75K the past couple of seasons. Maybe they all had the wrong information. Who knows. All I know is after looking at what they've done on Pinnacle, it's going to be massively disappointing McSkiarea terrain.
All in all a good ski afternoon at Ragged, but I'm not sure it's heading in the direction I'd like. It's looking to become Sunapee North. Makes sense; that's what makes the most money in this business. It's just not the kind of place I want as a home base.