Paul
New member
Date(s) Skied: Saturday, 1/27/2007 - 10:00 am - 2:30 pm
Resort or Ski Area: Ski Butternut - Great Barrington, MA
Conditions: Manmade packed powder, hard pack, FGR. Some natural snow was falling until about 11:00 am Temps in the low 20's. Totally Crowded
Trip Report: We had planned to leave early in the morning for the hour and a half drive to try to get near first chair. Who were we kidding? We got to the Lodge around 9:30 which was completely packed. We hadn't bothered to check to see that there was an event going on, so it was pretty damn busy. We got on the slopes around 10 and the line for the Top-Flight was already near chaos. On subsequent runs, they had someone directing the people who had difficulties in understanding the concept of "taking turns" and "3 from the line + 1 from the singles = 4 people on a Quad" Unfortunately, the mathmatically and morally challenged were in the majority on Saturday.
The kid wanted to hit Whip first thing, so we hiked up Pied Piper and went to Whip. It was okay along the sides, but the middle was already showing some wear, and was fairly slick. We took a run down Nuthatch, which was in pretty good shape, as was Hob Nob. Main Street was closed in the morning for racing, so we never made it there. Pied Piper ended-up getting pretty scratchy early-on, but like the other trails, had some nice snow along the edges. Lower Applejack was pretty-much the same. Crosstown was nightmarish in that I could've literally taken my skis off and walked past most people there. Lucifer's Leap was akin to skiing on a frozen waterfall. Of course, watching people slipslide and scrape their way down, it was no surprise.
I give Nutterbutter a lot of credit for what they've done, despite the above rant. They really were hit hard by an awful Dec/Jan, and have basically opened 80% of the mountain in a 2 week timeframe. I think the problem lies in the fact that this is not exactly a secret. The area simply could not handle the volume of skiers. Possibly, if they had Cruiser/dipsy open and use that Quad, and Downspout/Fiddler/freewheeler and the Overbrook triple, it would've spread the bodies out better, and possibly kept some of the novices off of the "advanced" terrain. It really got to the point that we had to concentrate so much on other skiers, that it completely detracted from our own enjoyment.
Resort or Ski Area: Ski Butternut - Great Barrington, MA
Conditions: Manmade packed powder, hard pack, FGR. Some natural snow was falling until about 11:00 am Temps in the low 20's. Totally Crowded
Trip Report: We had planned to leave early in the morning for the hour and a half drive to try to get near first chair. Who were we kidding? We got to the Lodge around 9:30 which was completely packed. We hadn't bothered to check to see that there was an event going on, so it was pretty damn busy. We got on the slopes around 10 and the line for the Top-Flight was already near chaos. On subsequent runs, they had someone directing the people who had difficulties in understanding the concept of "taking turns" and "3 from the line + 1 from the singles = 4 people on a Quad" Unfortunately, the mathmatically and morally challenged were in the majority on Saturday.
The kid wanted to hit Whip first thing, so we hiked up Pied Piper and went to Whip. It was okay along the sides, but the middle was already showing some wear, and was fairly slick. We took a run down Nuthatch, which was in pretty good shape, as was Hob Nob. Main Street was closed in the morning for racing, so we never made it there. Pied Piper ended-up getting pretty scratchy early-on, but like the other trails, had some nice snow along the edges. Lower Applejack was pretty-much the same. Crosstown was nightmarish in that I could've literally taken my skis off and walked past most people there. Lucifer's Leap was akin to skiing on a frozen waterfall. Of course, watching people slipslide and scrape their way down, it was no surprise.
I give Nutterbutter a lot of credit for what they've done, despite the above rant. They really were hit hard by an awful Dec/Jan, and have basically opened 80% of the mountain in a 2 week timeframe. I think the problem lies in the fact that this is not exactly a secret. The area simply could not handle the volume of skiers. Possibly, if they had Cruiser/dipsy open and use that Quad, and Downspout/Fiddler/freewheeler and the Overbrook triple, it would've spread the bodies out better, and possibly kept some of the novices off of the "advanced" terrain. It really got to the point that we had to concentrate so much on other skiers, that it completely detracted from our own enjoyment.
. Nice TR anyways.
