polski
New member
Date(s) Skied: 12/21/08
Resort or Ski Area: Big Red (lost ski area)
Conditions: About 16" fresh from Friday through today. Heavy blowing snow while I was there but it had turned wet (I missed the blower powder yesterday, unfortunately)
Trip Report: Honestly I can't say I "skied" very much -- I'd decided to take my x-c gear, figuring the snow would be too deep and pitch not steep enough to make much headway with my alpine boards. What I didn't count on was the snow being as wet/sticky as it was so my waxless x-c skis didn't glide very much except on a couple steeper drops. Good opportunity to get some pix though, and I did have the place to myself.
Now for those pix:
Top pole of the old rope tow (as noted in the nelsap.org listing, this was an "upside-down" ski area -- you park at the top and ski down toward a river valley):
Near the top of one of the two main slopes.
Another old rope tow pole. The tow ran between the two main slopes.
Tracks (again it was wet and sticky so these weren't as much fun to make as it may appear):
Toward a lower stretch of the second main slope
I did actually get some speed on this steeper drop ... then I did a face plant
An uphill view including hard-earned tracks and an old rope tow pole
The two main existing slopes of Big Red end about halfway down the original trails; the bottom half is filled in with brambles now. The aerial view at NELSAP suggests there may have been additional narrower trails from the top to skier's right. There still is another longer trail to skier's left that goes all the way down to the Indian River (a tributary of the Merrimack). This is visible on the aerial photo and it's kept clear because a septic leach field (for the school at the top) is located down in that area. I snowshoed there last year (no pix) but didn't try to ski it in the sticky conditions today.
Resort or Ski Area: Big Red (lost ski area)
Conditions: About 16" fresh from Friday through today. Heavy blowing snow while I was there but it had turned wet (I missed the blower powder yesterday, unfortunately)
Trip Report: Honestly I can't say I "skied" very much -- I'd decided to take my x-c gear, figuring the snow would be too deep and pitch not steep enough to make much headway with my alpine boards. What I didn't count on was the snow being as wet/sticky as it was so my waxless x-c skis didn't glide very much except on a couple steeper drops. Good opportunity to get some pix though, and I did have the place to myself.
Now for those pix:
Top pole of the old rope tow (as noted in the nelsap.org listing, this was an "upside-down" ski area -- you park at the top and ski down toward a river valley):
Near the top of one of the two main slopes.
Another old rope tow pole. The tow ran between the two main slopes.
Tracks (again it was wet and sticky so these weren't as much fun to make as it may appear):
Toward a lower stretch of the second main slope
I did actually get some speed on this steeper drop ... then I did a face plant
An uphill view including hard-earned tracks and an old rope tow pole
The two main existing slopes of Big Red end about halfway down the original trails; the bottom half is filled in with brambles now. The aerial view at NELSAP suggests there may have been additional narrower trails from the top to skier's right. There still is another longer trail to skier's left that goes all the way down to the Indian River (a tributary of the Merrimack). This is visible on the aerial photo and it's kept clear because a septic leach field (for the school at the top) is located down in that area. I snowshoed there last year (no pix) but didn't try to ski it in the sticky conditions today.
