Ragged Mountain 12-13-2009

[deadheadskier]

Date(s) Skied: Sunday, December 13th, 2009

Resort or Ski Area: Ragged Mountain

Conditions: Loose Granular, Hardpack, Packed Powder

Trip Report:

Decided last minute to buzz up to Ragged for some morning turns before heading home to watch the Patriots. They had two more connector trails open from the top; Sunnyside and Headwall, but it was the same basic run down as yesterday. Headwall was in rough shape and after people satisfied their curiosity, they stayed away. Very icy in places and quite uneven. Certainly good enough coverage to open, but not pleasant to ski. Maybe it will be better tomorrow after some more work with the groomer. Snow on the main run was obviously much better in the morning than what I skied yesterday afternoon. There were far fewer people too, so the first 8 or so runs I could really let the skis fly. Village Green they had expanded to about 90% of it's width and that extra 30-40 feet made quite a difference compared to yesterday in spreading people out.

Maybe it was just coincidence, but of the 12 times I rode up the Six pack, 6 of the people I went up with were first time pass holders like myself. Maybe that's a good sign they'll have a successful year. Don't get me wrong, I like that it is a rather uncrowded mountain, but I do hope they turn enough profit to continue to re-invest in the mountain.

Looks like tomorrow they will have Lower Ridge open. During one lift ride I went up with a couple of the race coaches and they said that terrain expansion would go as follows: Exhibition, Barnyard, Cardigen, Flying Yankee, Showboat. Given the forecast that should allow for snowmaking every day except for Monday, we could very well be seeing Spear Mountain open for next weekend.

 

[hammer]

I was there with the family this morning between 10AM and 1PM...only hit Headwall once but my son hit it a few times. There was a section before it that I thought was worse...don't know the trail name. The main trails (green/blue/green) down from the summit were in fine shape.

Hadn't been to Ragged in a few years, nice to have no lift lines the whole time we were there. We'll definitely be back.

Another note...getting Liftopia tickets was no problem at all, showed my ID and the order receipt and they printed them right up.

 

[billski]

Maybe it was just coincidence, but of the 12 times I rode up the Six pack, 6 of the people I went up with were first time pass holders like myself. Maybe that's a good sign they'll have a successful year.

Let's hope. Good news. Good terrain, ops needs the money to keep turning, maybe forget about the golf course for a while and reinvest in the mountain :smile:

 

[deadheadskier]

I see myself invested in Ragged for the foreseeable future as long as I live where I do. I'm not a golfer, well in my adult life I've probably played 5 years, but not at all in the past 5 with little intention to pick the sport back up. Because of this, my individual desires would obviously be to see most investments being made in the on mountain product. I am and will most likely always be a day tripper to Ragged.

That said, real estate funds improvements and offering a good housing product that caters to four season use would seem to make the most sense. I'm still getting my bearings there, but if there was a way to construct a time share and golf clubhouse facility with banquet space within walking distance of both the base lodge and obviously the golf course, that's where I'd start. Think Spruce Peak at Stowe megalight. :lol:

Real Estate is what I think would be needed to fund major on mountain improvements/expansion. I'm not sure of their ownership/development rights, but Pinnacle peak to the east is intriguing. There would appear that there is the acreage on Pinnacle to add another 120 acres or so of terrain on a peak that appears to have a bit more vertical than Ragged proper. Such expansion looks to me in my head as a mini Sunday River; not a bad area to emulate.

I like the potential for Ragged's future, which makes spending money there more rewarding for me.

 

[Bumpsis]

I always thought that Ragged ought to put all that open range (the golf course) to good use in winter time and lay out some xc trails. That way, if one gets a bit bored doing the yo-yo downhill stuff, there would be the option of getting some aerobic excercise.

I certainly would welcome such choice. The mountain still presents enough of a challenge to my kids, but for myself, I really wouldn't mind bringing my XC skis and get some real excercise while my kids are riding the lifts.