Headed to Crotched this morning to pick up my Granite Pass and get a few hours of skiing in. With Attitash still closed and Wildcat offering limited terrain, I opted for Crotched as it's much closer to home than Wildcat. I have only skied Crotched a couple of times since it reopened and both times I wasn't all that impressed as I felt like I spent an awful lot of time on the lift to ski pretty short runs. I was pleasantly surprised today due to the HSQ. That lift really is a game changer for the mountain.
For an opening weekend, the conditions and terrain offerings were quite good. They had a fair amount of variety open with a good cruiser off the top, a trail with park features set up and a long novice trail around the perimeter (don't know the trail names yet.) They also had the magic carpet area covered and open. Coverage was great on all open trails and the snow was pretty darn good with only a few scratchy spots here and there.
Here's a photo looking up at the cruising run I spent most of my day on.
A few runs in I rode the chair with a longtime condo owner on the Mountain. I asked him what they might open for terrain next and he said it will be a while as they were out of water and it takes a while for their ponds to refill because they don't have a natural water source to pump from. Another ride with a ski patroller also resulted in the same conversation. He said they might have enough water to open one more shorter trail, but any of the main top to bottom runs such as the one under the Rocket will have to wait a bit unless they get some natural.
I was unaware that Crotched had a water supply issue. Below is a picture of the near empty pond and their second pond looked pretty much the same.
Overall a great half day on the hill though. I look forward to going back, especially mid-season when the trees are open and they hopefully have some bumps.
For an opening weekend, the conditions and terrain offerings were quite good. They had a fair amount of variety open with a good cruiser off the top, a trail with park features set up and a long novice trail around the perimeter (don't know the trail names yet.) They also had the magic carpet area covered and open. Coverage was great on all open trails and the snow was pretty darn good with only a few scratchy spots here and there.
Here's a photo looking up at the cruising run I spent most of my day on.
A few runs in I rode the chair with a longtime condo owner on the Mountain. I asked him what they might open for terrain next and he said it will be a while as they were out of water and it takes a while for their ponds to refill because they don't have a natural water source to pump from. Another ride with a ski patroller also resulted in the same conversation. He said they might have enough water to open one more shorter trail, but any of the main top to bottom runs such as the one under the Rocket will have to wait a bit unless they get some natural.
I was unaware that Crotched had a water supply issue. Below is a picture of the near empty pond and their second pond looked pretty much the same.
Overall a great half day on the hill though. I look forward to going back, especially mid-season when the trees are open and they hopefully have some bumps.
Hope the ponds fill back up quick.
