Date(s) Skied: 12/27/2008
Resort or Ski Area: Tenney Mountain
Conditions: Fog, early spring like snow
Trip Report:
The Good:
Despite the ominous forecast, I decided to head out knowing it would be my last available ski day of December. The commute to Tenney is an easy 1:35 from my house, which is great for a day trip. I'd love to have a place with 1000+ vert within an hour, but it could be worse. When I arrived it was raining slightly and not looking good. The stairs up to the lodge were badly in need of some sand and salt. I went in and the staff (singular :lol
was very nice in quickly taking my photo for my season pass. When I went back out it had stopped raining, so I booted up and up and headed up the only lift open, the Eclipse Triple and skied on buttery smooth cord. There wasn't a spot of ice or even hard pack found any where. All of the runs off the triple were open and skiing well. Lift attendants and ski patrol were very friendly.
The Bad:
As the saying goes, you get what you pay for. When I purchased my pass for $99 I was skeptical of what the offerings might be. Starting with the pass process, they had nothing to offer in terms of holders or chains; just a simple comment that they don't have that sort of thing. I would've gladly plopped down $5 for a lanyard right there, but the pass would have to go in the pocket. Thankfully I was one of maybe 50 skiers, so they remembered me and I only had to fish it out the first ride up. Having only skied Tenney once in High School during an afternoon race, I grabbed a trail map; 2007-2008 edition. At this point I'm checking my watch to make sure it is indeed the Saturday after Christmas and not the second week of November.
Further signs of extremely limited capital investment where despite nearly full coverage from the recent storms, the summit double was not running. I was told that they were waiting state inspection of the lift and that it was supposed to happen some time this week. Something tells me that this is not the state's fault, but probably Tenney for not having the lift ready for inspection, which blows my mind as it's CHRISTMAS vacation week; the biggest money week of the year. The lift being closed probably explained why when I took off for the day at 11:00 there was maybe fifty cars in the lot.
While the snow surface was fantastic, the base was very low and if I'd have to guess, 95% from natural snow. Outside of the one night skiing trail with tower guns, I saw maybe a half dozen old school snow guns total on all 12 or so trails open. The only other evidence of snowmaking were two very new pole cat portable fan guns that weren't hooked up. Because of this base issue, every water bar, stump, etc were still very much in play. The hero snow encouraged me to let em' run, but the variable terrain coupled with the fog had me dialing back a bit. I skied everything open and bailed at 11:00 when it started to rain.
Synopsis: Unless we have a very good snow winter and they get their summit lift moving, Tenney is destined for NELSAP after this season. I wasn't expecting much, but if we do get some good snow and that lift runs, I will get exactly what I hoped for out of my pass at Tenney. The trails I skied though not challenging, were quite enjoyable classic New England winding trails, lots of character. I really think that given a little investment, Tenney could be a viable mid sized area ala Shawnee Peak or Crotched Mountain. They have some pretty nice looking slope side condos, decent vert and it's a breeze to get to from Boston. It looks to me that they want to sell condos to fund the amenities, but are caught in catch 22 because they need to improve their amenities first to attract buyers.
So, long Trip Report for an hour and half worth of skiing, but given' there's not much discussion regarding the state of Tenney and it's always teetering on the edge of shutting down, I figured I'd give a lengthy report of what I saw. Hopefully they don't get too wiped out from the upcoming weather, the summit lift opens soon and I can get out there to sample the upper mountain next weekend.
Resort or Ski Area: Tenney Mountain
Conditions: Fog, early spring like snow
Trip Report:
The Good:
Despite the ominous forecast, I decided to head out knowing it would be my last available ski day of December. The commute to Tenney is an easy 1:35 from my house, which is great for a day trip. I'd love to have a place with 1000+ vert within an hour, but it could be worse. When I arrived it was raining slightly and not looking good. The stairs up to the lodge were badly in need of some sand and salt. I went in and the staff (singular :lol
was very nice in quickly taking my photo for my season pass. When I went back out it had stopped raining, so I booted up and up and headed up the only lift open, the Eclipse Triple and skied on buttery smooth cord. There wasn't a spot of ice or even hard pack found any where. All of the runs off the triple were open and skiing well. Lift attendants and ski patrol were very friendly.The Bad:
As the saying goes, you get what you pay for. When I purchased my pass for $99 I was skeptical of what the offerings might be. Starting with the pass process, they had nothing to offer in terms of holders or chains; just a simple comment that they don't have that sort of thing. I would've gladly plopped down $5 for a lanyard right there, but the pass would have to go in the pocket. Thankfully I was one of maybe 50 skiers, so they remembered me and I only had to fish it out the first ride up. Having only skied Tenney once in High School during an afternoon race, I grabbed a trail map; 2007-2008 edition. At this point I'm checking my watch to make sure it is indeed the Saturday after Christmas and not the second week of November.
Further signs of extremely limited capital investment where despite nearly full coverage from the recent storms, the summit double was not running. I was told that they were waiting state inspection of the lift and that it was supposed to happen some time this week. Something tells me that this is not the state's fault, but probably Tenney for not having the lift ready for inspection, which blows my mind as it's CHRISTMAS vacation week; the biggest money week of the year. The lift being closed probably explained why when I took off for the day at 11:00 there was maybe fifty cars in the lot.
While the snow surface was fantastic, the base was very low and if I'd have to guess, 95% from natural snow. Outside of the one night skiing trail with tower guns, I saw maybe a half dozen old school snow guns total on all 12 or so trails open. The only other evidence of snowmaking were two very new pole cat portable fan guns that weren't hooked up. Because of this base issue, every water bar, stump, etc were still very much in play. The hero snow encouraged me to let em' run, but the variable terrain coupled with the fog had me dialing back a bit. I skied everything open and bailed at 11:00 when it started to rain.
Synopsis: Unless we have a very good snow winter and they get their summit lift moving, Tenney is destined for NELSAP after this season. I wasn't expecting much, but if we do get some good snow and that lift runs, I will get exactly what I hoped for out of my pass at Tenney. The trails I skied though not challenging, were quite enjoyable classic New England winding trails, lots of character. I really think that given a little investment, Tenney could be a viable mid sized area ala Shawnee Peak or Crotched Mountain. They have some pretty nice looking slope side condos, decent vert and it's a breeze to get to from Boston. It looks to me that they want to sell condos to fund the amenities, but are caught in catch 22 because they need to improve their amenities first to attract buyers.
So, long Trip Report for an hour and half worth of skiing, but given' there's not much discussion regarding the state of Tenney and it's always teetering on the edge of shutting down, I figured I'd give a lengthy report of what I saw. Hopefully they don't get too wiped out from the upcoming weather, the summit lift opens soon and I can get out there to sample the upper mountain next weekend.
