Ragged Mountain 12/07/2007 Opening Day

[OldsnowboarderME]

:roll:

 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

Wow Old Snowboard in Maine..either you had a senior moment or smoked some really good shit..lol

 

[MrMagic]

thanks for the report, i hope the new owners get their you know what in order before a major storm, they would look quite silly with only half the mtn open, and all the chairs to the lifts sitting on the ground, i look foward to your future reports, as its an area of intrest to me, tho i have never skied it
cheers,
chris

 

[millerm277]

Their trail report seems to list much more than that open, according to it, there are at least 2 unique ways down, with a bunch of other short trails open.

 

[riverc0il]

IIRC, the NELSAP forums at SJ have beta on the Ragged Mountain lifts. Can't remember correctly but I think there was a lightning strike earlier this year? Do a search over on NELSAP Forums and the answers should be over there.

 

[davidhowland14]

off by one year, river. there was a lightning strike last year on the six-pack, which opened up last year and is open this year. The Spear Triple needed new cable this year so they prob. haven't gotten the chance to put the chairs back on. Also, the spear is really slow, so their prob. focusing on opening the main mountain with the fast lift.

 

[riverc0il]

Ah, thanks for the correction.

 

[billski]

I don't want my report to be viewed entirely as "negative" I like what I see at Ragged. It is a gem in the rough. Some TLC and that mountain will sparkle and I know it will come a nice major snowstorm. Seeing it as a work in progress, I am willing to give them a chance to make something happen. I like what they have accomplished so far but chairs laying on the ground give it such a NELSAP look. I would have put up a sign explaining what was going on and the planned date to get the lift back online. Let people know your moving forward and not let them think it is more of the same.
One thing Ragged has that Crotched doesn't is a nice road system connecting it to the outside world. It was a longer drive but an enjoyable one that didn't wear on one. Route 4 and 11 are in excellent shape and are much quicker than routes 13, 136 and 47 to Crotched.

I like Ragged a lot. It's got the goods, and some years it even gets decent amount of natural. You don't have to change much on slope, other than getting your chairs going. I can't imagine why the chairs are all off at this time of year other than a mechanical failure; if you look back on the photos and stories, they did a lot to get them re-inspected and maintained. It certainly doesn't look good to the general public.
Well, well well, Their web page indicates:
[FONT=Geneva, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][FONT=Geneva, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]
Servicing Spear Lift to have operational this season.
Servicing Northeast Peak to have operational

(I also noticed they plan to have a bunk house this year - that's an interesting notion when you want to crash.)

[/FONT][/FONT]
With regard to snow conditions. Ragged it at prime in January and February - good snow, fairly well protected with it's lower el's. I am a little suprised however with the completed snowmaking system they had not been pumping out more. I guess we need to be sensitive to the cost of energy - it has never been higher. Snowmaking can represent up to 85% of a resort's energy costs. With all the investments they made this summer, I hope they have save some bucks for operating costs.

In the past, Ragged was a great place for intermediates to go on a powder day, even a weekend - they got decent amount of snow, did not groom a lot (didn't have much equipment) right after the dump and not that many people showed. All of that works against the economic viability of the place.

You're spot on about location - hard to get to, when you can "conveniently" buzz to Sunapee, Loon, WV, which are "right off" the highway. That's why I liked Ragged. If we get good snow over Xmas, this place would be a great target to avoid holiday week crowds.

 

[Skier75]

If we get good snow over Xmas, this place would be a great target to avoid holiday week crowds.

Shhhhh, don't tell everyone that. sounds like someplace I'd like to check out. This year is going to be about finding some nice quiet stashes closer to home. I've skied the ASC mountains and most of Maine the past 20 yrs or so and now I'm ready to find places that aren't as crowded with all the yahoos.....

 

[orsonab]

Am I stupid or is there no trail map on their website?:dunce:

 

[billski]

map

Am I stupid or is there no trail map on their website?:dunce:

I noticed their web site has a lot of dead ends. It seems to be rebuilt very slooooooowly.
anyways, checkout this copy of the map:

http://www.skitown.com/gfx/trailmaps/nh21tm01f.jpg

Let them get their chairs back on the cable, then they can work on the site

 

[riverc0il]

I noticed their web site has a lot of dead ends. It seems to be rebuilt very slooooooowly.
anyways, checkout this copy of the map:

http://www.skitown.com/gfx/trailmaps/nh21tm01f.jpg

Let them get their chairs back on the cable, then they can work on the site

Did they add glades off the Cardigan Turnpike on Speare? Maybe I just didn't remember seeing them when I skied Ragged. Ragged has nice tree skiing. Probably the best tree skiing for a ski area that far south actually, excepting Magic.

 

[davidhowland14]

the glades have always been there, just only sometimes marked on trail maps, impossible to find, almost never open, and not marked.