Date(s) Skied: January 31, 2005
Resort or Ski Area: Nashoba Valley Ski Area
Conditions: PP/FRGR
Trip Report: Last week, I noticed the annual "come night skiing at Nashoba" promotion that was in The Boston Herald and The Boston Globe. It turns out that I was not the only one who thought about giving the little area just outside Boston a try--only hours later BobR made mention of the ad and threw out the idea of having an AZ gathering there on a midweek night. I returned to work on Monday AM to find several PM messages..."we're on for tonight," and the excitement began.
Nashoba has 17 trails and 9 lifts, serving 240 feet of vertical. Its lift capacity is over 11,000 per hour to accomodate the masses who come to its slopes to learn the sport that we all love. For those who are not skiers or riders, it has the "largest snowtubing park in New England" at the end of a dirt road that leads away from the base area. It ended up being under 30 miles from my door, just north of Boston.
After grabbing a quick snack and my skis and boots, I headed out the door and braved the traffic to Nashoba. As I pulled into the parking lot I was greeted by tour busses LEAVING the area with kids...the slopes, for the most part, were empty.
Nashoba resembles a wide meadow with slight variations of the same pitch. Small stands of pine and mixed trees serve as trail dividers.
I bought my ticket, the fifth sold that night, and booted up before meeting fellow AZer's ChileMass and BobR, who were at the bar waiting for me. We got acquainted and then got to the task at hand: some great skiing.
We rode the Wardance Triple to the top and then proceeded to try the blue Nashoba Slope to the bottom. The snow was deep and groomed with some softer patches of "hero snow" as Bob put it. There were no bare spots. We took the Sundance Triple, on the far right of the hill (as you looked at it). On the way up I learned that my fellow AZer's were also Northern New Englanders who had shared similar childhoods. Bob had raced while in elementary and later high school. ChileMass and I reminisced about our town ski hills, which were Titcomb and the Lyndon Outing Club respectively (and we had visited during the 2003-4 season because they STILL operated! :wink: ) . After our next run on Sundance and the Nashoba Glades, it was evident to me that both of these gentlemen were very accomplished skiers and that we were going to have a great time skiing. ChileMass was enjoying his shorter skis (his last pair was a set that was over 200 cm long).
From here, we tried War Dance, which is front and center at the hill and featured some bumps in the middle. Bob stayed to skier's right and enjoyed softer snow while ChileMass and I braved the bumps (which were a bit icy) :x . I shot out into the nice snow that Bob was hitting.
As you look at the trail map, we worked our way to the left...and found some interesting terrain on the periphery including Big Bow (an easy diamond) and the Tomahawk Trail. While on our way down, both Bob and I spotted the lower part of Lobo, which shot out of a stand of trees and was barely a groomer width wide. At the bottom we both looked at each other and on cue asked in unison, "Did you see that trail?" We then sniffed out the small grove of trees on the next run after riding up the Chief Triple and found the entrance actually was on the far left of Big Bow. The entrance, or the Terrain Glade is a bit dark and the run becomes a narrow, old New England style trail with some interesting hairpin turns and some nice pitches and rolls before it dumps out onto Lower Tomahawk Trail. We enjoyed this run , which was a change of pace from its wider siblings.
We then worked our way back to the right of the mountain, hitting Bull Run (after the race was over), Chief, Dog Leg, Indian Run, and the interesting Nashoba Trail. This last trail was probably the most interesting night skiing trail that I have ever seen...it was a half-mile long narrow run with some great hairpin turns (with banks) and some dim lighting! "Is this it?" ChileMass asked as we entered the narrow opening complete with a pink floodlight (moodlighting I guess?). It soon became dark...before taking a turn to the right and crossing the fall line. :blink: The run was very entertaining and we were sure to hit it again. Indian Run was also nice and Nashoba Glades featured a small terrain park which provided for some amusement as we rode up the lift (we want to know how one does not hurt themselves or their boards while using the rails :wink: Can anyone answer? :-? ).
We skied the hill from 6:30 to about 9pm...taking 60 second runs down and getting back onto the lift with no wait. "You'll be seeing us in about four minutes," ChileMass once joked with a liftie who replied, "OK, great, should I call the ski patrol now?" At 9pm, Bob and ChileMass went in for a bite and I opted to go for a few more runs, four to be exact, in less than fifteen minutes. I went in and we talked some more before the headed home and I took two last "closer runs."
Nashoba, in Bob's words, "is what it is," and to us it was an evening of fun and good skiing (just don't expect massive vertical, powder skiing, or steep stuff). I look forward to another outing with these gentlemen and other AZer's.
The "Skinny on Nashoba"
Pros:
# Accessible and easy to get in and out. A great place to meet with ChileMass and Bob R
# FRIENDLY staff and a good value ($20 for 5-10pm ticket with ad).
# Decent terrain...if you want to get in a lot of skiing, midweek the place is dead and you can get some good runs in a short amount of time (my knees are even a bit sore today!)
Cons:
# Short vertical (to be expected) and limited terrain choices...still a fun place to ski (a place every good New England skier needs to try to say that they did :wink: )
# Day skiing is crowded with local school groups (I've heard).
# Small general lodge area, so maybe store your stuff in your car? :-?
Resort or Ski Area: Nashoba Valley Ski Area
Conditions: PP/FRGR
Trip Report: Last week, I noticed the annual "come night skiing at Nashoba" promotion that was in The Boston Herald and The Boston Globe. It turns out that I was not the only one who thought about giving the little area just outside Boston a try--only hours later BobR made mention of the ad and threw out the idea of having an AZ gathering there on a midweek night. I returned to work on Monday AM to find several PM messages..."we're on for tonight," and the excitement began.
Nashoba has 17 trails and 9 lifts, serving 240 feet of vertical. Its lift capacity is over 11,000 per hour to accomodate the masses who come to its slopes to learn the sport that we all love. For those who are not skiers or riders, it has the "largest snowtubing park in New England" at the end of a dirt road that leads away from the base area. It ended up being under 30 miles from my door, just north of Boston.
After grabbing a quick snack and my skis and boots, I headed out the door and braved the traffic to Nashoba. As I pulled into the parking lot I was greeted by tour busses LEAVING the area with kids...the slopes, for the most part, were empty.
Nashoba resembles a wide meadow with slight variations of the same pitch. Small stands of pine and mixed trees serve as trail dividers. I bought my ticket, the fifth sold that night, and booted up before meeting fellow AZer's ChileMass and BobR, who were at the bar waiting for me. We got acquainted and then got to the task at hand: some great skiing.
We rode the Wardance Triple to the top and then proceeded to try the blue Nashoba Slope to the bottom. The snow was deep and groomed with some softer patches of "hero snow" as Bob put it. There were no bare spots. We took the Sundance Triple, on the far right of the hill (as you looked at it). On the way up I learned that my fellow AZer's were also Northern New Englanders who had shared similar childhoods. Bob had raced while in elementary and later high school. ChileMass and I reminisced about our town ski hills, which were Titcomb and the Lyndon Outing Club respectively (and we had visited during the 2003-4 season because they STILL operated! :wink: ) . After our next run on Sundance and the Nashoba Glades, it was evident to me that both of these gentlemen were very accomplished skiers and that we were going to have a great time skiing. ChileMass was enjoying his shorter skis (his last pair was a set that was over 200 cm long).
From here, we tried War Dance, which is front and center at the hill and featured some bumps in the middle. Bob stayed to skier's right and enjoyed softer snow while ChileMass and I braved the bumps (which were a bit icy) :x . I shot out into the nice snow that Bob was hitting.
As you look at the trail map, we worked our way to the left...and found some interesting terrain on the periphery including Big Bow (an easy diamond) and the Tomahawk Trail. While on our way down, both Bob and I spotted the lower part of Lobo, which shot out of a stand of trees and was barely a groomer width wide. At the bottom we both looked at each other and on cue asked in unison, "Did you see that trail?" We then sniffed out the small grove of trees on the next run after riding up the Chief Triple and found the entrance actually was on the far left of Big Bow. The entrance, or the Terrain Glade is a bit dark and the run becomes a narrow, old New England style trail with some interesting hairpin turns and some nice pitches and rolls before it dumps out onto Lower Tomahawk Trail. We enjoyed this run
, which was a change of pace from its wider siblings. We then worked our way back to the right of the mountain, hitting Bull Run (after the race was over), Chief, Dog Leg, Indian Run, and the interesting Nashoba Trail. This last trail was probably the most interesting night skiing trail that I have ever seen...it was a half-mile long narrow run with some great hairpin turns (with banks) and some dim lighting! "Is this it?" ChileMass asked as we entered the narrow opening complete with a pink floodlight (moodlighting I guess?). It soon became dark...before taking a turn to the right and crossing the fall line. :blink: The run was very entertaining and we were sure to hit it again. Indian Run was also nice and Nashoba Glades featured a small terrain park which provided for some amusement as we rode up the lift (we want to know how one does not hurt themselves or their boards while using the rails :wink: Can anyone answer? :-? ).
We skied the hill from 6:30 to about 9pm...taking 60 second runs down and getting back onto the lift with no wait. "You'll be seeing us in about four minutes," ChileMass once joked with a liftie who replied, "OK, great, should I call the ski patrol now?" At 9pm, Bob and ChileMass went in for a bite and I opted to go for a few more runs, four to be exact, in less than fifteen minutes. I went in and we talked some more before the headed home and I took two last "closer runs."
Nashoba, in Bob's words, "is what it is," and to us it was an evening of fun and good skiing (just don't expect massive vertical, powder skiing, or steep stuff). I look forward to another outing with these gentlemen and other AZer's.
The "Skinny on Nashoba"
Pros:
# Accessible and easy to get in and out. A great place to meet with ChileMass and Bob R
# FRIENDLY staff and a good value ($20 for 5-10pm ticket with ad).
# Decent terrain...if you want to get in a lot of skiing, midweek the place is dead and you can get some good runs in a short amount of time (my knees are even a bit sore today!)
Cons:
# Short vertical (to be expected) and limited terrain choices...still a fun place to ski (a place every good New England skier needs to try to say that they did :wink: )
# Day skiing is crowded with local school groups (I've heard).
# Small general lodge area, so maybe store your stuff in your car? :-?
