I thought I would start posting and jump in here.
Today was opening day at Crotched Mountain. I can proudly say that I rode the Crotched Rocket... The most awesome name for a lift that I have ever heard.
Conditions were surprisingly good. It was your typical yellowish man-made hard pack, but not icy. There was a nice layer of 1" fresh natural as it was snowing all day. The had two trails top to bottom. Their base is pretty thin right now so I am worried about how they are going to weather this week's upcoming warmth.
I have never seen so many people there so early for first chair on the new lift. For those that don't know, they bought Ascutney's old HSQ. It cut the lift time from 12 minutes to 3 minutes and added maybe 100 vertical feet. The "new" lift is your standard HSQ and a welcome addition! The "crowds" (by NH standards) thinned out by 11am. As always it was mostly a local crowd with lots of kids, and I think everyone I talked to was a pass holder. Of course there was never a lift line more than 1 minute long. Such a thing would be unheard of here.
Things were a bit disorganized from the staff, but I expect nothing less. The computers weren't quite prepared for my Granite State pass from Wildcat, but they made it work with a comp ticket. Notably they still have not yet installed any clocks near the new lift, but hopefully they'll figure that out soon. There was a limited menu in the pub.
Today was opening day at Crotched Mountain. I can proudly say that I rode the Crotched Rocket... The most awesome name for a lift that I have ever heard.
Conditions were surprisingly good. It was your typical yellowish man-made hard pack, but not icy. There was a nice layer of 1" fresh natural as it was snowing all day. The had two trails top to bottom. Their base is pretty thin right now so I am worried about how they are going to weather this week's upcoming warmth.
I have never seen so many people there so early for first chair on the new lift. For those that don't know, they bought Ascutney's old HSQ. It cut the lift time from 12 minutes to 3 minutes and added maybe 100 vertical feet. The "new" lift is your standard HSQ and a welcome addition! The "crowds" (by NH standards) thinned out by 11am. As always it was mostly a local crowd with lots of kids, and I think everyone I talked to was a pass holder. Of course there was never a lift line more than 1 minute long. Such a thing would be unheard of here.
Things were a bit disorganized from the staff, but I expect nothing less. The computers weren't quite prepared for my Granite State pass from Wildcat, but they made it work with a comp ticket. Notably they still have not yet installed any clocks near the new lift, but hopefully they'll figure that out soon. There was a limited menu in the pub.
