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Date(s) Skied: Sunday 2/1/2009, 9:00 AM - 1:30 PM
Resort or Ski Area: Mount Sunapee, NH
Conditions: Packed Powder, very busy
Trip Report:
Took the family to Sunapee yesterday. Conditions were about as good as I've seen it...packed powder everywhere, the bumps looked like they were in great shape (although as usual I didn't ski them), and even the coverage in the glades looked good.
Now for the bad part...I don't think I've ever seen crowds as bad as they were yesterday. I normally only get to Sunapee a few times in a season at most, but I've never been the last car in the 2nd lot at 8:45 AM before. My son and I even had to take the singles line to get onto the North Peak Triple in a reasonable amount of time. When we left (we had plenty by 1:30) the cars were parked on the road almost out to the Rt. 130 rotary.
My son and I started out in the Sun Bowl with a run down Williamson. We normally don't make it on the trail because it's only open when there's enough natural snow...they had signs saying "thin cover" but any thin spots were easily avoided. The trail doesn't have much pitch but it's narrower and scenic. We then went on Porky (short but fun) and Wingding (uber wide but with nice pitch for a blue). For our next run, we ventured over to Liftline, where my son sampled the bumps while I took the groomed section on the side. The bumps looked nice, but I just didn't feel comfortable with charging into them...need to work more on short turns...
The lines were starting to get long in the Sun Bowl, so my son and I decided to hit a trail from the summit. I'm not sure where my son went, but I hit Bonanza->Chase Ledges->Hansen Chase. It was crowded at the top but thinned out nicely by the Chase Ledges headwall. After getting down from the summit we decided to head up the North Peak Triple and get a run down Lynx before lunch, which was in fine shape. The lift lines all around were getting bad at that point.
After an early lunch (the lodge was packed the entire time), I headed out with my son and my wife for a run down Ridge, the easiest way down from the summit. Part of the way down, I saw the entrance for the Ridge Glades so I decided to go in. Of course, it was all tracked out, but the coverage was fine and the trees were spaced out well enough for me to make it through without too much trouble (only fell twice, which is good for me getting through glades). The glades open out into Outer Ridge, another natural snow trail, which had thinner but still good cover.
We took a few more runs down from the summit, but the lift lines were getting long...waits were pushing 15 minutes at that point, and runs down Ridge with my wife were getting quite crowded. Took one run down the Upper Blastoff headwall which was in the worst shape of all of the trails with some spots scraped down to ice.
My wife was done early so my son went back off of the North Peak Triple for a run down Goosebumps (had to hit the singles line), which was scraped up top but was nice on the steep section. We didn't go down Flying Goose but the bumps looked like they were in nice shape...most people were meandering but I did see a few rippers.
For my last run of the day, I went over to have a look at Dare Ya and Double Dare Ya to see if they were skiable...and while they were tracked out, the coverage was OK and they would have been fine for an advanced skier but definitely beyond my skills at this point. The Double Dare Ya glades looked like they had decent pitch.
I never made it over to South Peak...my guess is that it was crazy over there. My daughter stayed over there all day...she had a bad fall last year on Ridge (scraped up her face pretty good) and unfortunately she is still scared about going down from the summit.
Overall it was an OK day...the conditions were great and I had a chance to check out a few trails that I normally don't get to, but it was a pain to deal with the crowds and lift lines.
Resort or Ski Area: Mount Sunapee, NH
Conditions: Packed Powder, very busy
Trip Report:
Took the family to Sunapee yesterday. Conditions were about as good as I've seen it...packed powder everywhere, the bumps looked like they were in great shape (although as usual I didn't ski them), and even the coverage in the glades looked good.
Now for the bad part...I don't think I've ever seen crowds as bad as they were yesterday. I normally only get to Sunapee a few times in a season at most, but I've never been the last car in the 2nd lot at 8:45 AM before. My son and I even had to take the singles line to get onto the North Peak Triple in a reasonable amount of time. When we left (we had plenty by 1:30) the cars were parked on the road almost out to the Rt. 130 rotary.
My son and I started out in the Sun Bowl with a run down Williamson. We normally don't make it on the trail because it's only open when there's enough natural snow...they had signs saying "thin cover" but any thin spots were easily avoided. The trail doesn't have much pitch but it's narrower and scenic. We then went on Porky (short but fun) and Wingding (uber wide but with nice pitch for a blue). For our next run, we ventured over to Liftline, where my son sampled the bumps while I took the groomed section on the side. The bumps looked nice, but I just didn't feel comfortable with charging into them...need to work more on short turns...
The lines were starting to get long in the Sun Bowl, so my son and I decided to hit a trail from the summit. I'm not sure where my son went, but I hit Bonanza->Chase Ledges->Hansen Chase. It was crowded at the top but thinned out nicely by the Chase Ledges headwall. After getting down from the summit we decided to head up the North Peak Triple and get a run down Lynx before lunch, which was in fine shape. The lift lines all around were getting bad at that point.
After an early lunch (the lodge was packed the entire time), I headed out with my son and my wife for a run down Ridge, the easiest way down from the summit. Part of the way down, I saw the entrance for the Ridge Glades so I decided to go in. Of course, it was all tracked out, but the coverage was fine and the trees were spaced out well enough for me to make it through without too much trouble (only fell twice, which is good for me getting through glades). The glades open out into Outer Ridge, another natural snow trail, which had thinner but still good cover.
We took a few more runs down from the summit, but the lift lines were getting long...waits were pushing 15 minutes at that point, and runs down Ridge with my wife were getting quite crowded. Took one run down the Upper Blastoff headwall which was in the worst shape of all of the trails with some spots scraped down to ice.
My wife was done early so my son went back off of the North Peak Triple for a run down Goosebumps (had to hit the singles line), which was scraped up top but was nice on the steep section. We didn't go down Flying Goose but the bumps looked like they were in nice shape...most people were meandering but I did see a few rippers.
For my last run of the day, I went over to have a look at Dare Ya and Double Dare Ya to see if they were skiable...and while they were tracked out, the coverage was OK and they would have been fine for an advanced skier but definitely beyond my skills at this point. The Double Dare Ya glades looked like they had decent pitch.
I never made it over to South Peak...my guess is that it was crazy over there. My daughter stayed over there all day...she had a bad fall last year on Ridge (scraped up her face pretty good) and unfortunately she is still scared about going down from the summit.
Overall it was an OK day...the conditions were great and I had a chance to check out a few trails that I normally don't get to, but it was a pain to deal with the crowds and lift lines.
