Lodge irritants and other rants

[RISkier]

We wanted to do an overnighter this weekend, just wouldn't work so we went to Wachusett (see trip reports) today with plans for somewhere else Sunday. Behavior in the lodge challenges my understanding that we live in a civilized society. My wife and I staked out a spot to boot up, she went to the restroom before we put our stuff in the locker. A young woman comes, sits in her chair, throws her stuff down on top of ours, stands on my wifes shoes, and basically is completely oblivious. Later we got some coffee--what is it? Does everyone think they can just throw there stuff under a table and lay claim for the day. Then some kids arrived absolutely soaked from "skim the pond" and we'd obviously chosed their spot to drink our coffee. I know, there's too many people and it's crowded, and I'm old school, but I really thought there was a general aura of complete indifference to anyone else.

 

[severine]

The phenomena you were exposed to today is, unfortunately, becoming more and more common. We gave up on booting up in Mohawk's lodge because of this; and unless you get to Ski Sundown real early, all tables have been claimed (both with things on and under them), leaving you with nowhere to sit to get ready. I don't even want to think about Southington--there is absolutely nowhere to boot up in the base lodge; your best bet is to go to the newer eating area behind the rentals which seems to be forgotten by most other patrons. We also encountered this at Catamount when skiing midweek during a ski practice--and it was the parents who were rude and obnoxious that day, leaving barely a chair (forget table space!) to use to boot up or deboot.
I will say that we were lucky enough not to encounter these problems at MRG and Sugarbush, but it was pretty deserted the days we skiied at both, so that may be the only reason why...
It's a shame that there is so little human decency out there these days...

 

[Joshua B]

My question is why do respectable people continually patronize these places and flock to them every weekend? My solution: Find a ski area with a respectable clientele that is not overcrowded like a rat race and patronize them!

 

[severine]

My question is why do respectable people continually patronize these places and flock to them every weekend? My solution: Find a ski area with a respectable clientele that is not overcrowded like a rat race and patronize them!

For some, we don't have much choice. As I've mentioned before, we have a dog at home, and one who can't "hold it" for more than 8 hours, so we're pretty limited on where we can go. For the most part, we stick to Connecticut as the 3 ski areas we normally patronize are within a half hour from our house. We do prefer Mohawk of the 3 because it's usually less crowded than the other 2... Catamount and Butternut are within the radius of how far we'll drive, but Butternut tends to be busy on weekends and doesn't have any night skiing. Catamount we only got to once, and it wasn't a happy lodge experience in spite of the mostly uncrowded trails (which means their lodge must also be way too small for the number of skiers who use it).
I'd rather ski and, armed with the prior knowledge of the lodge situation, avoid the lodge altogether than not ski at all because of the lodge situation. I know it's a cop out, but I'll take what I can get.

 

[RISkier]

My question is why do respectable people continually patronize these places and flock to them every weekend? My solution: Find a ski area with a respectable clientele that is not overcrowded like a rat race and patronize them!

I'd basically echo Severin's reply. We work weekdays. We have animals and other family responsibilities that make it difficult to take off for overnighters without a good bit of planning. Three hours (one way) brings areas in Southern NH into play and we've done that quite often. We went to Wa Wa yesterday because it's the only reasonably proximate option with decent terrain. And it's easy to understand why some of these places would be busy. -- while Wa Wa certainly doesn't have terrain to challenge experts, it does have decent runs for everyone from beginners to solid intermediates and its close to population centers. I knew it would be packed, what irritted me was the disregard for others and the idea that you could lay claim to large sections of the lodge by piling your crap and throwing your cloths all over. I'd be hard pressed to go back to Wa Wa on a weekend. If I did, it would likely involve being ready to rip by the time the first bull wheel turned then leaving by lunch.

 

[teachski]

WAWA is like that a lot! It's not just on weekends, it's during the week and at night as well. I live 15 minutes from WAWA but rarely of the rude people both on and off of the slope. A few weeks ago, on a Thursday night I had just racked my skis and was reaching into my pocket...no further than 3 feet away from my skis, and a punk grabbed my skis and started off with them. I said, hey, those are my skis...he used several explatives and said that they were his not mine. Funny thing is, I ski Volkl 6*'s and have good boots, this kid had an old pair of rear entry, probably rentals, on. I looked at the punk and said, oh yeah, if they are yours put one on. He said I don't have to...they're mine. I said, well if they are yours you shouldn't have a problem with my request then. He couldn't get the skis apart so I said, let me...I took them and set them down. I said, go ahead, put one on...he took off like a shot.
The lodge is always a zoo!!!!! I have actually had people tell me to move because I was at their table. At night when school groups are there it's worse. Some of those kids belong in the zoo! Some groups have little if any supervision. My group always has 1 to 2 Chaperones in the lodge at a time. There is this one group on Thursday night that is absolutely horrid, you never see their chaperones. They throw food, swear, yell. push and shove people and think nothing of going into other people's bags. They are from a Central MA town that is just off of 290, 495 and 85. They are the worst group of kids I have ever met.

 

[Joshua B]

Now that is a crazy story. You handled it very well. I might have pushed the kid down and gone to jail. I can't believe you've seen kids rummaging in other people's bags. Insanity.

Well I made a previous comment so there's no need to rub it in.

 

[RISkier]

Well, Teachski, I'd never take Volkyl 6*s, way too much ski for me :wink: . More seriously, we talked with some nice folks, including some nice kids on some lift rides, but there were some kids I wouldn't have minded turning over my knee, and a few adults, well... I'm certainly not sure what I'd do if I saw someone walking off with my skis but some creative pole plants would seem to come to mind.

 

[ChileMass]

A few years ago, I was standing in the liftline at Wawa and some gang-looking kid spazzed and wiped out just in front of me in line. To get himself up, he put a skipole behind his fat butt and attempted to hoist himself off the snow just on his pole. Amazingly, he almost pulled it off, but just as his fat can was getting airborne the pole slipped on the snow and the point of it wind-milled right past my nose as he crash-landed back in the snow. Shaken a little, I grabbed the kid by his jacket and asked if he was aware he had almost taken my g-d---med eye out, but he could not have cared less. He bitched ME out (!!) and went off on his rentals to wreak havoc with someone else.

Point of the story - newbies gotta learn somewhere, but that doesn't mean I have to be there with them...... I ski Wawa about once a year just cause it's close (35 min) to home. But, I haven't been there this year. I really wish it wasn't so crowded and every day and night.....

 

[teachski]

Talking about kids spazzing out! The last night we were there with the ski group I chaperone there was a group of girl snowboarders who stripped their top half down to their bras and were doing the pipe that way. One of them wiped out pretty bad and had a good sized case of snow rash.

Later I witnessed 5-6 patrollers and/or other area personel restraining a kid who was really flipping out. He was violent. I don't know what lead up to this, but it was quite the scene.

It can really be a wild place sometimes.

 

[skijay]

I am surprised that teachski has not mentioned the Butternut lodge experience.

My pet peeve is when you are standing in a corral or lane at a lift. If there is a liftie they call out a group of people from the lane or corral to go to to load onto the lift, which is fine. When there is no liftie why do people not alternate rows coming out? What is so hard about that? Most of the time there is no problem, people who have common sense exercise courtesy and wait until it's their turn again BUT some people just do not care and do not get it!

These are classics as I have witnessed the events, have been a victim and had to give a statement to the police for a victim. Let's just say fists were thrown as a result of one of the below:

The parking lot. If your walking between cars with your ski gear (poles & skis) walk with it fore and aft and not horizontally. Your skis may be 180 cm but the width between the two parked cars is only 100 cm. That means a scratch to one or both cars. Again, some people fail to exercise common sense.

When parked next to a car, do not use that car as a place to lean your skis and poles on. It's rude. Would you like it if I leaned my skis on your MB ML320?

 

[Starter Jackets Rule!]

My question is why do respectable people continually patronize these places and flock to them every weekend? My solution: Find a ski area with a respectable clientele that is not overcrowded like a rat race and patronize them!

Ha, got one down here...my home mtn. Hidden Valley, N.J.
never a line and all the "City Folk" head over to Mtn. Creek any hoo...want to see a zoo?
heck Wa-Wa cant eve hold a candle to the mess at mtn. Creek.
( BTW.I have a camp on whymans pond in the shadows of Wa-Wa)
jmo.
Paul

 

[skican]

I have not skied WaWa in years and will never go back just because of my own experiences and what I read here today has reinforced my position in never going back. That place is a zoo and I would rather ski Nashoba before I would head back there.

Kids and adults are just not the same these days. It never ceases to amaze me how rude people can be and thoughtless! Do people teach their children manners anymore these days.

Teachski, that was a great story and I am glad that didn't happen to me. I would have tackled the kid and it would not have been pretty. You really did a great job with that situation. Thanks for the story. I hope that never happens to me, but if it does I will be thinking of you. Thank you for the lesson in patience.

 

[Greg]

Kids and adults are just not the same these days. It never ceases to amaze me how rude people can be and thoughtless! Do people teach their children manners anymore these days.

My turn. What grinds my gears more than anything while skiing is parents that let their kids act like jackasses. Kids will be kids and they're gonna fool around, but I can't count the number of times boys will start wrestling in a liftline with poles flailing around while a parent will just stand there oblivious......until I flash them a look that is. :-?

 

[subdude]

I know that WaWa is getting a pretty bad rap on here and I have to agree with all of you that it can get wild there on weeknights and weekends that is solely because they bus in up to 1000 kids from schools from all over the state on any given evening. Not to mention that there's a population of 4mil people within a 50mi radius. Heck I even got a pair of skis lifted from their a few yrs ago. (I thought I remember hearing that WaWa boasts the record for the most skis stolen from a ski area) I spoke to mgmt about it and they let me go to the mountainside store to pick out a pair at 1/2 price. At any rate, as a season pass holder and living 5 min from the mtn I know when to go. Any given weekday when kids are in school you pretty much have the mtn to yourself. As far as weeknights go I tend to go there after 7 when all the punks I mean kids are boarding their buses to head home. STAY AWAY from WaWa on weeknights/weekends from 3-7 and on Weekends during the day. After the 1st week on March all the ski schools are pretty much finished so weeknights are great.