Ragged Mountain 12/12/2009

Date(s) Skied: Saturday, December 12th, 2009

Resort or Ski Area: Ragged Mountain

Conditions: Loose Granular, hardpack

Trip Report:

Well, today was the first day of the season at my new 'home mountain'. I chose to get a pass at Ragged this season for it's convenience, value and vibe. I think I'll be quite happy with my choice. 84 mile commute that took an hour and a half. Love how the parking is 50 feet from the lodge and about 100 from the lift with a total of about 5 stairs to walk up. Love the laid back atmosphere of the place.

Only one route from the summit open, which got boring, but for the 2nd day of the season you can't expect much. They were spinning the six and the village green double. While no lift lines, the trail was very crowded all the way up to 3:15 when I called it a day. Lots of kids from Proctor Academy were there today, 4 bus loads full. Some were racers, some were just free skiing and many of them really had no issue passing people with a few feet. While I didn't enjoy sharing the trail with these kids, I did enjoy sharing the lift with them and reminding them that Proctor sucks and that I loved whipping their asses in lacrosse every year I played them at a rival High School. :razz:

Was skiing the bump skis today, which I enjoyed. I wish I had a more of a race ski like a Fischer Progressor today, but oh well, maybe next year. I'm looking forward to getting in the Ravine there with my new powder boards. With the purchase of them, especially with Dukes on them, I have realized I need to join the ranks of those who lock up their gear. I was persuaded today by a theft incident. I had left a half drank bottle of Gatorade sitting in my shoe next to my gear bag. Now, perhaps a worker took it while cleaning up in the lodge, but it was somewhat out of sight. This day and age, who the heck steals a half finished beverage from a stranger? :blink: No biggie, but I decided to swing into the shop and picked up a compact cable lock for $15.

Overall, I thought the surface skied quite well. I was skiing in the afternoon and I imagine in the morning it was very good. I'm still on the fence about going tomorrow or just sleeping in and watching the Pats game. While lift lines and the surface were good, the crowds on the one trail were pretty oppressive. With just a bit more terrain, I imagine this will improve. The good news is that it appears that that will happen fairly soon; if not tomorrow then Monday. There was a good 10 inches of dense natural on the ground, so new trails should come on line fairly easy. Today they were blasting Upper and Lower Ridge and it looked like much of the snow on Upper Ridge was finding it's way onto Headwall. They were also hammering an only 3/4s opened Village Green. With that lift spinning combined with the traffic from the summit, that trail was a zoo and the added elbow room is much needed.

So, provided we get a decent amount of natural this season to open the woods up or Ragged decides to commit to a mogul program, I think I'll be very happy with my season there. For $329, it's heckuva deal and definitely the closes big mountain to me accept for maybe Gunstock.

well look at that. I just checked the web page and they've opened three more 'trails'. Still only one bottom route, but maybe they'll make enough snow on Lower Ridge to get it open for tomorrow.


One other thing from today. Ended up riding the lift a couple of times with a long time pass holder. Apparently when the new owners bought the mountain a few years ago, the Spear triple was slated to be replaced with a High Speed Quad this summer. The economy put that on the back burner, but hopefully they have a successful enough season this year to replace it next summer. While I'm sure that lift upgrade would raise pass and ticket prices noticeably, I would be a welcome improvement and worth the extra money. At least it's good to hear they recognize the problem and have it on their radar.

deadheadskier said:

well look at that. I just checked the web page and they've opened three more 'trails'. Still only one bottom route, but maybe they'll make enough snow on Lower Ridge to get it open for tomorrow.


One other thing from today. Ended up riding the lift a couple of times with a long time pass holder. Apparently when the new owners bought the mountain a few years ago, the Spear triple was slated to be replaced with a High Speed Quad this summer. The economy put that on the back burner, but hopefully they have a successful enough season this year to replace it next summer. While I'm sure that lift upgrade would raise pass and ticket prices noticeably, I would be a welcome improvement and worth the extra money. At least it's good to hear they recognize the problem and have it on their radar.

Click to expand...

Thanks for posting the report. I'm keeping an eye for Ragged reports since that's my moutain of choice for day tripping with family. Although it's a largely intermediate (at best) terrain, when everthing is open with good cover, it's a good value for family skiing trips.

They do have some of the better glades arrounds, and the combination of pricing, driving distance from Boston, terrain and overall vibe is pretty nice. I'm rather hoping that the mountain doesn't replace the older lift (spear mt is it?). On busy weekends it limits the number of people on the slope. I like it that way. It's a lot of fun to do the no turn descends on the two most outer trails off that lift. That can only be done when the slopes have fewer people on them.
And, I'm afraid you're right, any new lift will result in higher ticket prices.

I hear you completely on how the current Spear lift limits traffic on the that terrain, which is a positive. My response to this gentleman who shared the info was "Wouldn't a more modern, faster fixed grip triple do the trick?" His response was that the owners would rather permanently fix the situation with a HSQ rather than install a new fix grip that may not be sufficient in the future. Ski racing consideration also factors. Flying Yankee is designed to be the mountains signature race trail and racers / teams want the ability to lap it quickly.

I also agree with you on Flying Yankee and Cardigen being GREAT cruisers to just let em' run. Those two trails very much remind me of (though much shorter) Excalibur and Lollapalooza on Jordan Peak at Sunday River.

Lastly I agree with you on price/value. Ragged might be the best season pass value in New England. Their day ticket price is as also very fair; especially with the midweek and liftopia deals they offer. That said, it's all about balance. Due to how much I like the area so far and it's convenience to me, I think I'd be willing to spend $450 on a pass if that's what they need from regulars to offer a HSQ on Spear. If the pass price eclipsed that, I'd probably opt to travel a half hour further and get a pass at Cannon for $600.

Thanks for the report. Should work out fine with the family tomorrow if it's a bit less crowded.

Liftopia has $18 tix for Thursday. Looks like that's where I'll start my season. Thanks.

Deadhead I agree with what you are saying about Spear Mtn. I've been on that triple for at least 15 minutes on some windy days and as much as I love Flying Yankee the lift ride usually limits me to one or two runs over there per visit to the mountain (when that side is open of course).

Like Bumpsis I'm not sure there is enough terrain over there to handle a faster lift though. Maybe if they cut a couple more trails ....

What would be the feasibility of a high speed lift with fewer chairs than average to limit downhill capacity? I have never skied the Speare Mountain glades but Ragged is well known for having good glades. It seems only one glade is accessible from the six pack. That has to be a significant hindrance in attracting the skiing and riding population that enjoys glades.

I'm sure that's possible riv and it might be a good idea. It would seem that a HSQ might create too much downhill traffic, but the three primary runs over on Spear are some of the widest on the mountain, never mind the primary glade runs.

If they wanted too, there's plenty of room between Showboat and Flying Yankee to construct a trail. My recommendation would be for a dedicated seeded bump run in that spot. :grin: