Ragged Mountain - 2/27

[SteveInCT]

Date(s) Skied: 2/27/2010

Resort or Ski Area: Ragged Mountain

Conditions: Powder! Falling Snow! Powder!!

Trip Report: Well, I have been waiting all season to hit up Ragged Mountain to burn some pre-purchased lift tickets. They finally got some snow mid-week and the mountain was almost completely open so I decided to run up there yesterday. As I drove in, I was VERY nervous that I was scammed by the trail report. There was grass showing everywhere as I got off 89 and headed out Rt4. Finally, when I got close to the mountain, the snow started piling up on the lawns and in the trees. "Phew.. they will have some snow anyway", I thought, and then got to the mountain to see they were telling the truth. There must have been a good 18'' - 24'' on the ground it is was snowing like mad on the mountain.

First impressions: Nice lodge and the crowds were NOT as big as I had anticipated since a) it was a Saturday b) they had a lot of fresh powder c) it was puking on the mountain all day and d) it was NOT puking around the mountain so travel was a breeze! You can not ask for a better scenario! I got to hit powder all day without having to slip and slide my way there! Awesome! Ok, back to my report...

I got up on the mountain around 11:30 (it is a 4 hour drive and I got a bit of a late start).. It was puking snow and at the top, it was nearly white out conditions. These heavy squalls continued throughout the day spaced with steady snow and a couple of little breaks. The lift lines were nearly ski on. In fact, there was several times I did get a ski on, but usually I had to wait for one or two in front of me. On a Saturday? Seriously? Bonus points awarded.

The trails were all powder and the trees were open. Unfortunately, last week I stopped off at a ski shop on my way home from Ascutney to buy some wax and the old timer who worked there said he would just wax them while I wait. I agreed. He then said "want me to give them a quick tune?".. I said "how much"... he said "$15".. I said "ok.. sharpen them up"... UGH!!! Why did I let that guy touch my skis?!?! They were HORRIBLE!! My tips and tails were grabbing like mad every time I hit a spot that wasn't completely powder and it was throwing me WAY off. This made me very nervous about heading in to the trees.

I hit a bunch of other trails and the Reggae Glades (it is a blue so the trees are spaced) and, while I was fighting my skis, I was having a blast popping in and out of the powder! As the day progressed, I tried detuning the tips and tails a bit and was really working hard to get them to feel comfortable again.. So.. there I was.. at 3:45 taking a run down Spear, and all of the sudden, I felt that moment arrive: "Hmm.. I just did a run without feeling anything catch"... I got to the bottom and went up the 6 pack for my last run.. NICE!! Rags to Riches was still open! I had been wanting to hit that all day.. Let me tell you -- that trail is gorgeous! Hands down, that may have been my favorite last run ever. Exploring a new trail, nobody around you, powder everywhere, in the trees, snow hanging from branches, an incredibly gorgeous scene -- It made for an unbelievably amazing last run on a great day (except for fighting my skis all day)..

I have one more pass to Ragged -- Lets hope another storm hits at the end of the week! I want more!!

 

[polski]

Great report. Now if I may kvetch a little:

I see Ragged revamped their website a bit within the past week so now they actually have a snow report on it - but it's still a terribly sparse report, giving little indication conditions are this good. Here's the total verbiage they've had up there for two or three days now:

"Wow Great Storm..."

C'mon people, ya gotta give me a little more to work with ... How long would it take a marketing person to put together a few sentences like "The Ravine is open and so is just about everything else at Ragged! Great skiing in the glades and on the trails on XX" of new snow since XXXXday including X" in the last 24 hours!" etc. -- and, importantly, honest disclosure of any effects from rain (I'm sure they got some Thurs night). I'm a big boy, I can deal with variable conditions and I'd be less inclined to stay away if I think I'm getting a complete picture. I have to think they cost themselves business yesterday by not telling a simple story. I was watching websites and radar and message boards etc before making a destination decision for yesterday and while I'm certainly happy with the choice I made, I have to say I couldn't piece together enough info for Ragged to be in the running - and clearly they should have been.

Yeah I could've just called them but it was after 6 p.m. Friday when I was making my final decision. I tried calling them around 4:30 p.m. once earlier this season, got voice mail and nobody ever got back to me. In this day and age you shouldn't have to pick up the phone to get good info anyway.

Ah well, some other time. I've got vouchers to burn there myself. I do love that Ravine when it's in, and think it's a well-run place aside from the website.

 

[TheBEast]

Unfortunately, last week I stopped off at a ski shop on my way home from Ascutney to buy some wax and the old timer who worked there said he would just wax them while I wait. I agreed. He then said "want me to give them a quick tune?".. I said "how much"... he said "$15".. I said "ok.. sharpen them up"... UGH!!! Why did I let that guy touch my skis?!?! They were HORRIBLE!! My tips and tails were grabbing like mad every time I hit a spot that wasn't completely powder and it was throwing me WAY off. This made me very nervous about heading in to the trees.

Sounds like they didn't de-tune the tips and tails.....just need a gummy stone to de-tune those things so they don't hook up every turn and make it impossible to make your next turn....I assume it got better as the day went on (as they'll often de-tune themselves after you've skied them for a while).

 

[deadheadskier]

Awesome

looking forward to next Saturday. Hopefully we see some more fresh

 

[billski]

Nice report Steve. Love that place. The little mountain that could.
We stopped by New London for dinner Friday night, I couldn't believe the piles of snow up there. It was a magical pocket of precip, just like it used to be 10 years ago.

 

[hammer]

Any guess on how the glades and natural trails will be by next Sunday? Wish I could have hit it this past weekend but I had a lot of other stuff going on...

 

[deadheadskier]

I'll definitely give you a report on Saturday Hammer

 

[billski]

Any guess on how the glades and natural trails will be by next Sunday? Wish I could have hit it this past weekend but I had a lot of other stuff going on...

It would be a wild guess this far out. This is March in New England after all. Having skied them a number of times, the factors will be: Nr. of midweek skiers (usually low), the temps: if the temps can stay low enough to preserve snowpack quality, they will be good. You don't want a freeze-thaw-freeze cycle in the woods. Once that happens, you have to ski them when they are soft. But the good news is that March is historically one of our snowier months. If it snows more, you'll be in the money, regardless of temps. If you can keep DHS out of the woods, you're golden!

Look again on Thursday, you can probably size up the situation by then.

 

[hammer]

It would be a wild guess this far out. This is March in New England after all. Having skied them a number of times, the factors will be: Nr. of midweek skiers (usually low), the temps: if the temps can stay low enough to preserve snowpack quality, they will be good. You don't want a freeze-thaw-freeze cycle in the woods. Once that happens, you have to ski them when they are soft. But the good news is that March is historically one of our snowier months. If it snows more, you'll be in the money, regardless of temps. If you can keep DHS out of the woods, you're golden!

Look again on Thursday, you can probably size up the situation by then.

I'm going regardless (passes to burn) so it's more of a data point than anything else.

Been skiing just about all groomers this season...still loads of fun at my skill level would like to be able to do something different for a change.

 

[polski]

It would be a wild guess this far out. This is March in New England after all. Having skied them a number of times, the factors will be: Nr. of midweek skiers (usually low), the temps: if the temps can stay low enough to preserve snowpack quality, they will be good. You don't want a freeze-thaw-freeze cycle in the woods. Once that happens, you have to ski them when they are soft.

I'll be at Ragged tomorrow and will report back in the evening. (DHS & anyone else: wearing black or charcoal gray from helmet to Gotamas, with my 12-year-old son - blue helmet with MRG/Ski It If You Can sticker, green jacket, bright sorta turquoise-color pants - and a friend of his.)

We've definitely had freeze-thaw cycles but tomorrow is supposed to be sunny - which might help on some of the more open deciduous glades in the ravine - with highs in the 40s. So I'm hoping the woods will soften up into some real good spring skiing in the afternoon.

 

[hammer]

Matters not for me...rest of the family wants to delay our trip to next weekend. :sad:

Provided we don't get NCP in the next week I'm pretty confident that there will be enough cover...but my guess is that unless we get more snow the natural trails will start to get iffy in a week.

Here's hoping...

 

[deadheadskier]

As long as things stay at a reasonable temp, woods / natural trails should be fine. There's plenty of cover in most spots, only worry really are creeks opening up.