The Forbidden Glade at Wachusett

[Nick]

VERY nice!

Before Wachusett Mountain prepares the slope for glade skiing, or skiing through the trees, approval must be given by the Advisory Board, which Stoddard said he would be meeting with in January to present a detailed plan. There must then be an endangered-species review by the Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program of the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife, Stoddard said, before final plans can be submitted to the Department of Conservation and Recreation, which has the final say.

"Obviously this is not something we are going to be doing this winter," Stoddard said. "We're trying to move through the process to get in a position to do it for next winter."

Read more: http://www.sentinelandenterprise.com/local/ci_19447087#ixzz1hC5PyD97

 

[hiroto]

Cool! I never expected this to ever happen.

 

[snowmonster]

Finally, sanctioned glades at Wa! My lift ticket is safe.

I found this part of the article amusing:

Stoddard said Wachusett Mountain is the only ski resort in the area that does not currently offer glade skiing, and that its addition to its offerings is crucial to remaining competitive.

Even without glades, Wa will always be competitive considering the number of skiers in the Boston/Worcester/Eastern MA chomping at the bit to make turns after work.

 

[speden]

Sounds intriguing. I'll be curious to see the detailed plan.

This part seems like an overstatement:

"Stoddard said Wachusett Mountain is the only ski resort in the area that does not currently offer glade skiing, and that its addition to its offerings is crucial to remaining competitive."

Um, they kinda have a captive audience considering their location, so they are going to be competitive with or without glades. I don't think they are losing a lot of skier visits to Nashoba Valley with its glade trail where the trees are spaced about 20+ feet apart.

Hey Snowmonster, you beat me to it.

 

[wa-loaf]

Does Blue Hills have glades?

 

[snowmonster]

Hey Snowmonster, you beat me to it.

Great minds think alike. Not to mention the stranglehold Wa has on the after-school market. In the words of my friend, "Wachusett has a license to print money."

Does Blue Hills have glades?

I don't think so. What about Nashoba? If the answer is no to both, I guess Wa sees itself as a big mountain competing with the resorts in So. NH and Western MA.

 

[LonghornSkier]

Great minds think alike. Not to mention the stranglehold Wa has on the after-school market. In the words of my friend, "Wachusett has a license to print money."

I don't think so. What about Nashoba? If the answer is no to both, I guess Wa sees itself as a big mountain competing with the resorts in So. NH and Western MA.

There is one area at Blue Hills where I know people skied in the trees last year. I can imagine though that there is almost never enough snowpack for this area to be "in play".

 

[hammer]

Great minds think alike. Not to mention the stranglehold Wa has on the after-school market. In the words of my friend, "Wachusett has a license to print money."

I don't think so. What about Nashoba? If the answer is no to both, I guess Wa sees itself as a big mountain competing with the resorts in So. NH and Western MA.

Nashoba has a trail with widely spaced trees but no glades that I recall.

I see Wachusett's competition including Crotched and Pats Peak, both of which have gladed trails.

 

[massbmx]

On one hand, cool, and good for those that know what they are doing and posses some ability to ski the trees. On the other hand I can't wait to see how many people are pizza and french frying through those woods when the glades are open. Might be the most crowded glades of any ski area ever.

They also need to put some lights in there. But good on them there are some fun woods around there if you poke around a bit, and the snow is there.

Also LOL at the "they don't have glades because they haven't figured out how to groom them" comment. Knowing wawa they'll probably have a turnstyle and make you pay $5 to ride the glades.

 

[C-Rex]

^ And you'll have to watch a safety video in a tent at the base before you can go in.

 

[Bostonian]

The area in question is located between the mountain's two main ski trails and is intersected by Balance Rock Road, a gravel road with a ditch that tends to collect water running alongside it.

Based on this statement it would look to be in the swath of trees between Ralph's and Challenger.

 

[wa-loaf]

Based on this statement it would look to be in the swath of trees between Ralph's and Challenger.

I think 10th and Conifer are the two main trails.

 

[Bostonian]

I think 10th and Conifer are the two main trails.

I thought so at first too, but this link http://www.mass.gov/dcr/parks/trails/wachusett.pdf shows that balance rock road intersects Ralph's and Challenger and not 10th and conifer.

Either way should be interesting to see how this progresses. Of course I would rather have it between 10th and conifer.

 

[wa-loaf]

I thought so at first too, but this link http://www.mass.gov/dcr/parks/trails/wachusett.pdf shows that balance rock road intersects Ralph's and Challenger and not 10th and conifer.

Either way should be interesting to see how this progresses. Of course I would rather have it between 10th and conifer.

The trail called Balance Rock is also part of the auto road and that comes down and crosses conifer and 10th. I'm hoping it's this because at glade between Ralph's and Challenger would kind of suck except for being a kids fun area.

 

[The Sneak]

Between 10th and Conifer would be great...even if it just merged with lower balance rock halfway down. Having a glade there would be sweet.

 

[Watatic Skier]

I hope its not just Ralphs/Challenger woods. There an ok tree area, but Wachusett has better.

 

[KD7000]

After taking some nearly-worthless early season runs at Wa the other day, I did get a small interesting benefit from riding a chairlift over zero-snow areas...

The woods are horrific looking with blown-down trees & branches. Between leftovers from hurricane Irene and more recent crap from October's snow storm, it really looks like hell.

So fair warning to anyone venturing off-trail this season- it's gonna be rather dangerous.