Date(s) Skied: Sunday, January 3rd, 2010
Resort or Ski Area: Ragged Mountain
Conditions: PP, hard pack, crust, powder
Trip Report:
While not the epic powder day I had hoped for, it was still pretty darn good. Much nicer to have more of the mountain open. According to a pass holder of 35 years, absent natural snow, this was the quickest he had seen terrain expansion at Ragged and the snowmaking efforts have improved each of the past 3 seasons under the new ownership. Exhibition was open as was Birches, Sweepstakes and Tree Hugger Glades. I would say the total snowfall amounted in the 10-12 range since Friday. I spoke with one fellow down for the Masters Race who lived in Whitefield and he'd put Cannon's haul at probably 20 inches. Looks like the Notch held the system from dipping down over night, but after the morning of only flurries, the snows started coming down at decent clip early afternoon. Unless the Ravine Glades are very boney, there is plenty of snow to open them up. I think the hesitation lies in that the Ravine glades all dump into Showboat which isn't ready to open and there's an open water bar near the bottom. I did see tracks coming from there, saw ski patrol exiting a couple of times as well and overheard some people in the lodge talking about poaching. Who knows, maybe with a few more inches and a groomer to push and get a path across the water bar on Showboat and they may open them up.
Run of the day was out in the Tree Hugger glades. It's short, but pretty nice. There are about three 30 foot wide variations that all funnel into a bumpy luge back to Cardigan. Not sure why they don't continue down the fall line some more; either way it was nice to make many boot deep turns. It was especially nice because today I finally brought back out my High Society Free Rides. I used them at Sunday River in October on frozen slab and they were burly and meh trying to make quick turns due to all the traffic. Today they shined in the powder, stomped through the crusty areas on Birches and Sweepstakes and were rockets on the groomers. I kept pushing to find a speed limit for these skis and they remained solid as fast as you wanted to take them. Really happy with my decision. If anyone is looking for a good eastern powder ski, I'd give a strong look at these. They're fantastic.
Looking forward to getting back up there tomorrow. Hopefully we get a few more inches of snow and they leave Birches and Sweepstakes ungroomed. They had the early makings of bump lines starting to form. A bit more fresh snow and a decent amount of skier traffic and we'll be in business.
Resort or Ski Area: Ragged Mountain
Conditions: PP, hard pack, crust, powder
Trip Report:
While not the epic powder day I had hoped for, it was still pretty darn good. Much nicer to have more of the mountain open. According to a pass holder of 35 years, absent natural snow, this was the quickest he had seen terrain expansion at Ragged and the snowmaking efforts have improved each of the past 3 seasons under the new ownership. Exhibition was open as was Birches, Sweepstakes and Tree Hugger Glades. I would say the total snowfall amounted in the 10-12 range since Friday. I spoke with one fellow down for the Masters Race who lived in Whitefield and he'd put Cannon's haul at probably 20 inches. Looks like the Notch held the system from dipping down over night, but after the morning of only flurries, the snows started coming down at decent clip early afternoon. Unless the Ravine Glades are very boney, there is plenty of snow to open them up. I think the hesitation lies in that the Ravine glades all dump into Showboat which isn't ready to open and there's an open water bar near the bottom. I did see tracks coming from there, saw ski patrol exiting a couple of times as well and overheard some people in the lodge talking about poaching. Who knows, maybe with a few more inches and a groomer to push and get a path across the water bar on Showboat and they may open them up.
Run of the day was out in the Tree Hugger glades. It's short, but pretty nice. There are about three 30 foot wide variations that all funnel into a bumpy luge back to Cardigan. Not sure why they don't continue down the fall line some more; either way it was nice to make many boot deep turns. It was especially nice because today I finally brought back out my High Society Free Rides. I used them at Sunday River in October on frozen slab and they were burly and meh trying to make quick turns due to all the traffic. Today they shined in the powder, stomped through the crusty areas on Birches and Sweepstakes and were rockets on the groomers. I kept pushing to find a speed limit for these skis and they remained solid as fast as you wanted to take them. Really happy with my decision. If anyone is looking for a good eastern powder ski, I'd give a strong look at these. They're fantastic.
Looking forward to getting back up there tomorrow. Hopefully we get a few more inches of snow and they leave Birches and Sweepstakes ungroomed. They had the early makings of bump lines starting to form. A bit more fresh snow and a decent amount of skier traffic and we'll be in business.
