Date(s) Skied: February 2, 2008
Resort or Ski Area: Bretton Woods
Conditions: Light winds with some passing gusts up high, 3-5" of soft fresh snow over a hard granular base, pretty darn good considering the icy weather.
Trip Report:
Yesterday I finally took una_dogger to Bretton Woods, and I have to say that not only lived up to our expectations but exceeded them.
First impressions: the parking areas are tree-lined, laid out nicely, not a mob scene, and not just one huge lot. The lodge is really nice, spacious, easy to navigate, and really good-looking. The folks at the rental office were incredibly courteous and professional. They did a great job outfitting her with gear.
We did two quick runs in the learning center just to help her get her legs under her, then hopped on the Bethlehem Quad. Big Ben was a perfect start for her first "real", non-learning-area green trail. Wide, even, and good snow conditions, too. Despite the mixed precip of the previous night there were several inches of nice snow layered on top of a granular crust, no problems at all getting a good edge and the sides of the trail even had untouched areas to carve through. She made her zig-zag way down while I watched and played in that edge snow.
We did that a couple of times while she built up her confidence and balance, then took a ride down Sawyer's Swoop. This was when she found herself putting the brakes on a little more, and got some cramping in her legs from it. I totally remember exactly this moment in my own learning process! She went in for a quick break and some food.
Meanwhile, I hopped on the Rosebrook Summit Quad and made a couple of quick trips down Bode's Run and McIntyre's Run. Nice speed runs with steep-but-short headwalls and trees here and there, but too short. I then had a lot of fun on Snake, where the moguls took a beating from the weather but it's starting to re-bump nicely. That lead into Perimeter, where the great views of the Rosebrook Canyon Glades had me drooling. Alas, they will have to wait for another day as I hopped on Water Tank and made my way back down.
After reuniting with una_dogger, we hopped on the Zephyr Quad. Our first comment was that the area up along the top of Zephyr is a really beautiful bit of woods. We were tempted by Avalon, but wanted to come down Range View first. It was a smooth, lovely trail. No Presidential views with the clouds out there, much to the chagrin of the pro photographer up top, but still a nice ride and the snow was holding up well. We went right back up Zephyr and this time traversed west on Avalon. When we swung into the big junction where Avalon, Joseph's Run, and Abel's Traverse we were blown away by the great "landscaping" there. Everything is so nicely nestled in the trees while winding around, it was just such a pleasure to ride through.
Una_dogger continued down Avalon enjoying the views, grade, and width all perfect for her skill level, while I drooled at the bottom of Blowdown Alley, another one on my list for our next visit. Then I could resist no longer and dipped into the Peppersass / Cherry Mountain Slide glade, which actually had good snow with just a little scratch but was easily open enough to cruise through. We met back up at the bottom and decided to try it again by going up the West Mountain Express Quad, but this didn't work out so well. The green route from there, Alpine Garden to Abel's Traverse, left us in a position of having to pole uphill to get back to Avalon. I tried to shortcut it and ended up in the terrain-park-in-the-trees of Wild West. That was ... interesting! I was really wobbly, desperately in need of lunch, so it wasn't as fun as it could have been, though skiing the little bridge in the trees from Jacobs Ladder back over to Avalon was a brief rush. We reunited and cruised down Crawford Ridge, her narrowest green to date but she handled it really well, then decided to grab lunch.
No wonder I was wobbly - it was 2pm already! We couldn't stay much longer since the dog was waiting back home to get her walk, so we decided to do one last Zephyr-Avalon loop. I tried to dip into the woods again but did it too early and accidentally ended up in Wild West again! At least this time I was able to have more fun of it. I thought I had beat her down to the Crawford junction so I hopped on the West Mountain, because I really, really wanted to get into Cherry Mountain one last time. It's really nice up on the top of West Mountain, and Joseph's Run has a nice headwall and a short but sweet cruise. This time I made sure to enter the woods in the right place and had a beautiful ride through there.
Well, it turned out that on her last run down Avalon I *hadn't* beaten una_dogger down, everything had really clicked for her and she had cruised all the way to the base lodge. Since I didn't realize she was waiting for me, I took a third "last run" off Zephyr, coming down Range View at cruising speed, just letting it all out. Mmm-mmm good. I found her at the lodge waiting so patiently for me (thanks!), then we popped some Vitamin I and headed home.
Altogether an awesome day. Bretton was fantastic for her - their variety and length of green terrain made for a very rewarding experience, unlike so many areas which would have trapped her in the learning area or only one or two "plain" trails. I also was able to easily dip into some very enjoyable challenging terrain and still easily meet back up with her down below. All the trails lead back to the same base area, always with at least one green route, so there was never a worry about getting down or ending up separated. This is indeed a great place for a novice, even one accompanied by an advanced skier. Neither are going to get bored. We will definitely be going back! Two thumbs up for Bretton, and big congrats to my sweetie on her first time up on a real mountain!
Resort or Ski Area: Bretton Woods
Conditions: Light winds with some passing gusts up high, 3-5" of soft fresh snow over a hard granular base, pretty darn good considering the icy weather.
Trip Report:
Yesterday I finally took una_dogger to Bretton Woods, and I have to say that not only lived up to our expectations but exceeded them.
First impressions: the parking areas are tree-lined, laid out nicely, not a mob scene, and not just one huge lot. The lodge is really nice, spacious, easy to navigate, and really good-looking. The folks at the rental office were incredibly courteous and professional. They did a great job outfitting her with gear.
We did two quick runs in the learning center just to help her get her legs under her, then hopped on the Bethlehem Quad. Big Ben was a perfect start for her first "real", non-learning-area green trail. Wide, even, and good snow conditions, too. Despite the mixed precip of the previous night there were several inches of nice snow layered on top of a granular crust, no problems at all getting a good edge and the sides of the trail even had untouched areas to carve through. She made her zig-zag way down while I watched and played in that edge snow.
We did that a couple of times while she built up her confidence and balance, then took a ride down Sawyer's Swoop. This was when she found herself putting the brakes on a little more, and got some cramping in her legs from it. I totally remember exactly this moment in my own learning process! She went in for a quick break and some food.
Meanwhile, I hopped on the Rosebrook Summit Quad and made a couple of quick trips down Bode's Run and McIntyre's Run. Nice speed runs with steep-but-short headwalls and trees here and there, but too short. I then had a lot of fun on Snake, where the moguls took a beating from the weather but it's starting to re-bump nicely. That lead into Perimeter, where the great views of the Rosebrook Canyon Glades had me drooling. Alas, they will have to wait for another day as I hopped on Water Tank and made my way back down.
After reuniting with una_dogger, we hopped on the Zephyr Quad. Our first comment was that the area up along the top of Zephyr is a really beautiful bit of woods. We were tempted by Avalon, but wanted to come down Range View first. It was a smooth, lovely trail. No Presidential views with the clouds out there, much to the chagrin of the pro photographer up top, but still a nice ride and the snow was holding up well. We went right back up Zephyr and this time traversed west on Avalon. When we swung into the big junction where Avalon, Joseph's Run, and Abel's Traverse we were blown away by the great "landscaping" there. Everything is so nicely nestled in the trees while winding around, it was just such a pleasure to ride through.
Una_dogger continued down Avalon enjoying the views, grade, and width all perfect for her skill level, while I drooled at the bottom of Blowdown Alley, another one on my list for our next visit. Then I could resist no longer and dipped into the Peppersass / Cherry Mountain Slide glade, which actually had good snow with just a little scratch but was easily open enough to cruise through. We met back up at the bottom and decided to try it again by going up the West Mountain Express Quad, but this didn't work out so well. The green route from there, Alpine Garden to Abel's Traverse, left us in a position of having to pole uphill to get back to Avalon. I tried to shortcut it and ended up in the terrain-park-in-the-trees of Wild West. That was ... interesting! I was really wobbly, desperately in need of lunch, so it wasn't as fun as it could have been, though skiing the little bridge in the trees from Jacobs Ladder back over to Avalon was a brief rush. We reunited and cruised down Crawford Ridge, her narrowest green to date but she handled it really well, then decided to grab lunch.
No wonder I was wobbly - it was 2pm already! We couldn't stay much longer since the dog was waiting back home to get her walk, so we decided to do one last Zephyr-Avalon loop. I tried to dip into the woods again but did it too early and accidentally ended up in Wild West again! At least this time I was able to have more fun of it. I thought I had beat her down to the Crawford junction so I hopped on the West Mountain, because I really, really wanted to get into Cherry Mountain one last time. It's really nice up on the top of West Mountain, and Joseph's Run has a nice headwall and a short but sweet cruise. This time I made sure to enter the woods in the right place and had a beautiful ride through there.
Well, it turned out that on her last run down Avalon I *hadn't* beaten una_dogger down, everything had really clicked for her and she had cruised all the way to the base lodge. Since I didn't realize she was waiting for me, I took a third "last run" off Zephyr, coming down Range View at cruising speed, just letting it all out. Mmm-mmm good. I found her at the lodge waiting so patiently for me (thanks!), then we popped some Vitamin I and headed home.
Altogether an awesome day. Bretton was fantastic for her - their variety and length of green terrain made for a very rewarding experience, unlike so many areas which would have trapped her in the learning area or only one or two "plain" trails. I also was able to easily dip into some very enjoyable challenging terrain and still easily meet back up with her down below. All the trails lead back to the same base area, always with at least one green route, so there was never a worry about getting down or ending up separated. This is indeed a great place for a novice, even one accompanied by an advanced skier. Neither are going to get bored. We will definitely be going back! Two thumbs up for Bretton, and big congrats to my sweetie on her first time up on a real mountain!
