OppositeGeorge
Member
Date(s) Skied: 12/26/2007
Resort or Ski Area: Mohawk Mountain, Cornwall CT
Conditions: Dry Loose Granular over Frozen Packed Granular, Temp: Just above freezing, Wind: None
Trip Report: Gonna keep this short because as I was driving home a big batch of rain blew through, so all bets are probably off for tomorrow. For the same reason, not knocking myself out with the editing so forgive the awkward structure.
Sorry, no pics.
About me: 41 years old. Advanced (as in, Bode's got nothing to worry about) and improving skier. ASIA Level I Instructor Certification.
Rolled into parking lot a little after 5:30pm and it was about 50% full. Guess folks are trying out their Christmas presents. Quite a few people heading home at this time, but almost as many coming in with me. There was actually a line for tickets, even with two registers open. Took advantage of Mohawk's Mon-Thurs Connecticut Ski Council 2-for-1 night deal (join a ski club already, guys!) so I was on the hill for ten bucks.
All lit runs were open with the exception of Indian Crossing. Conditions were better than I'd been expecting; mountain web site suggested frozen granular but the nicely-groomed, open runs actually had loose but dry granular over hard-frozen gran -- kinda like fresh cocktail sugar covering the top of a previously-torched creme brulee. Although none were open, the ungroomed areas were hard, choppy, shiny and slick. Think a glazed baked meringue. Yes, I still have visions of sugarplums dancing in my head.
The ungroomed stuff was essentially unskiable for all but the most generous definitions of "skiable," but again, it wasn't open.
The groomed conditions were real beer-league racer hero stuff -- perfect for carving high-speed GS turns while forgiving of less-than-optimal technique. Also great snow for working on gliding wedges and sideslipping with newbies. Overwhelmingly a green to blue crowd; lots of beginners on the bunny slope under the Nutmeg chair, lots more advanced beginners on Laurel and the blues and blacks. It was good to be in the top 10% for a change. Thank Providence for small mercies.
I was in the top 10% age-wise too; most skiers were teens and college kids. Mostly good kids -- not much in the way of irresponsible shens. Skier/boarder split about 50/50.
No wind. Very laid-back atmosphere. Even though it was the most crowded I've ever seen it at night it seemed like most of the skiers were casual, a few-times-a year types and split their time between the slopes and the lodge, so no lift lines. All the staff were friendly and did their jobs well. Temps in the mid-low 30s all night but it never got wet or frozen on top. Just about perfect temp, IMO for skiing.
The coverage -- There was only the tiniest bit of thin cover on upper left of Arrowhead, and two or three weeds poking out on extreme left of Lower Mohawk. Coverage was even and pure white on every other inch of open terrain but that was probably attributable more to excellent grooming than a deep base. The web site said 35" but I don't believe it. Eyeballing it, I'd be surprised if there was much over a foot on the open runs, but it's twelve inches of frozen base and barring a huge rain event it should hold up pretty well. We'll know tomorrow, I guess. At least a day's worth of skiers didn't seem to put a dent in the snow, anyway. Ungroomed, unopened trails showed plenty of bare spots, but guns were set up and ready to go on Rte 100 as soon as conditions permit, presumably, so that's a good sign. Got a good feeling about management's commitment to maintaining the slopes.
One tiny safety thing -- saw plenty of newbie boarders venturing off the left side of Nutmeg onto the icy meringue under the lift, at which point they'd lose it and land hard on their butts on the undentable surface (ouch!) Probably wouldn't be a bad idea to fence the extreme left of that area off except for the cut-throughs to Mohawk. Safety fencing was up and doing its job in the transitional areas on the skier's right of Pine.
Spent most of the night split between practicing fundamentals (gliding wedges, sideslipping/garlands/backwards skiing) and fast, big turns with one and two-footed skating. Man, I am the world's greatest skier -- at least on this stuff. All the runs were smooth -- no bumps of consequence anywhere including the usual suspects (Timber, top of Wildwood,) and it was easy to glue oneself to the hill at speed. There was a handful of small piles forming at the very top of Arrow Head but I suspect they'll be groomed out overnight.
Spent about three hours skiing non-stop (6pm - 9pm) and then headed off to the Happiest Place on Earth (the Torrington Wal-Mart -- which is when the rain started) and then home.
In short, excellent grooming yielded good no-work conditions perfect for getting mid-week, easy-commute turns in as well as practicing for club racing. IMO, offers more consistent pitch than the comparably-distant Sundown, at the expense of terrain parks and seeded bumps. If Mohawk had a seeded bump run, I'd probably never even consider going to Sundown as it's significantly more expensive and about 15 minutes further for me.
Resort or Ski Area: Mohawk Mountain, Cornwall CT
Conditions: Dry Loose Granular over Frozen Packed Granular, Temp: Just above freezing, Wind: None
Trip Report: Gonna keep this short because as I was driving home a big batch of rain blew through, so all bets are probably off for tomorrow. For the same reason, not knocking myself out with the editing so forgive the awkward structure.
Sorry, no pics.
About me: 41 years old. Advanced (as in, Bode's got nothing to worry about) and improving skier. ASIA Level I Instructor Certification.
Rolled into parking lot a little after 5:30pm and it was about 50% full. Guess folks are trying out their Christmas presents. Quite a few people heading home at this time, but almost as many coming in with me. There was actually a line for tickets, even with two registers open. Took advantage of Mohawk's Mon-Thurs Connecticut Ski Council 2-for-1 night deal (join a ski club already, guys!) so I was on the hill for ten bucks.
All lit runs were open with the exception of Indian Crossing. Conditions were better than I'd been expecting; mountain web site suggested frozen granular but the nicely-groomed, open runs actually had loose but dry granular over hard-frozen gran -- kinda like fresh cocktail sugar covering the top of a previously-torched creme brulee. Although none were open, the ungroomed areas were hard, choppy, shiny and slick. Think a glazed baked meringue. Yes, I still have visions of sugarplums dancing in my head.
The ungroomed stuff was essentially unskiable for all but the most generous definitions of "skiable," but again, it wasn't open.
The groomed conditions were real beer-league racer hero stuff -- perfect for carving high-speed GS turns while forgiving of less-than-optimal technique. Also great snow for working on gliding wedges and sideslipping with newbies. Overwhelmingly a green to blue crowd; lots of beginners on the bunny slope under the Nutmeg chair, lots more advanced beginners on Laurel and the blues and blacks. It was good to be in the top 10% for a change. Thank Providence for small mercies.
I was in the top 10% age-wise too; most skiers were teens and college kids. Mostly good kids -- not much in the way of irresponsible shens. Skier/boarder split about 50/50.
No wind. Very laid-back atmosphere. Even though it was the most crowded I've ever seen it at night it seemed like most of the skiers were casual, a few-times-a year types and split their time between the slopes and the lodge, so no lift lines. All the staff were friendly and did their jobs well. Temps in the mid-low 30s all night but it never got wet or frozen on top. Just about perfect temp, IMO for skiing.
The coverage -- There was only the tiniest bit of thin cover on upper left of Arrowhead, and two or three weeds poking out on extreme left of Lower Mohawk. Coverage was even and pure white on every other inch of open terrain but that was probably attributable more to excellent grooming than a deep base. The web site said 35" but I don't believe it. Eyeballing it, I'd be surprised if there was much over a foot on the open runs, but it's twelve inches of frozen base and barring a huge rain event it should hold up pretty well. We'll know tomorrow, I guess. At least a day's worth of skiers didn't seem to put a dent in the snow, anyway. Ungroomed, unopened trails showed plenty of bare spots, but guns were set up and ready to go on Rte 100 as soon as conditions permit, presumably, so that's a good sign. Got a good feeling about management's commitment to maintaining the slopes.
One tiny safety thing -- saw plenty of newbie boarders venturing off the left side of Nutmeg onto the icy meringue under the lift, at which point they'd lose it and land hard on their butts on the undentable surface (ouch!) Probably wouldn't be a bad idea to fence the extreme left of that area off except for the cut-throughs to Mohawk. Safety fencing was up and doing its job in the transitional areas on the skier's right of Pine.
Spent most of the night split between practicing fundamentals (gliding wedges, sideslipping/garlands/backwards skiing) and fast, big turns with one and two-footed skating. Man, I am the world's greatest skier -- at least on this stuff. All the runs were smooth -- no bumps of consequence anywhere including the usual suspects (Timber, top of Wildwood,) and it was easy to glue oneself to the hill at speed. There was a handful of small piles forming at the very top of Arrow Head but I suspect they'll be groomed out overnight.
Spent about three hours skiing non-stop (6pm - 9pm) and then headed off to the Happiest Place on Earth (the Torrington Wal-Mart -- which is when the rain started) and then home.
In short, excellent grooming yielded good no-work conditions perfect for getting mid-week, easy-commute turns in as well as practicing for club racing. IMO, offers more consistent pitch than the comparably-distant Sundown, at the expense of terrain parks and seeded bumps. If Mohawk had a seeded bump run, I'd probably never even consider going to Sundown as it's significantly more expensive and about 15 minutes further for me.
Last edited:
