Zand
Well-known member
Date(s) Skied: Wednesday, 12/17/08
Resort or Ski Area: Wachusett, MA
Conditions: Variable... recovery mode basically... not bad with last night's snow though
Trip Report:
Wachusett opened for the first time since last Tuesday today after power was restored yesterday. Today was also my last day out of school due to the ice storm. The snow was trashed from the storm, but luckily the 3" from last night was enough for a decent refresher and at least made the place skiable again. Many trees are down on the trails, especially the narrow trails, and you have to ride some lifts in a defensive mode to not get branches in the face.
I skied about 5 runs today at the beginning and end of my day, and tried snowboarding for the 2nd time in my life during the middle of my day. So the summit and minuteman reports will be from a skiing perspective and the monadnock and ollies reports will be from a snowboarding perspective.
Conifer: Scraped to the nasty base in the middle and poking through on the edges, but last night's fresh snow hung around the sides for a while. Lots of beginners up there today because Minuteman was closed till 4. Lower Balance Rock is naturally closed by treefall.
10th: Lost quite a bit of cover since last week, but in good shape all things considered. Some lower parts were closed, but both lower 10th and Salamander made it through pretty good. Upper Salamander has a few branches across it. Polar Express was running very slow due to this morning's ice and was ski on.
Ralph's: Got first tracks down it when it finally opened at 4:15 after grooming and getting Minuteman to run normally. Was nice skiing fresh corduroy and it looked like it lasted because I could still see the cord walking out at 4:30. Minuteman was a bit slow too (not as bad as Polar) and was ski on when I left. They were grooming Challenger when I left but they were having trouble getting the lights to come on too. Website says Look Ma is open, but it didn't appear that was possible. Hitchcock is also covered so maybe that'll open this weekend.
Indian Summer: Started to get the hang of heel-side turns after my 4 runs down it. Toeside needs a lot of work still. Got down it pretty well though, a lot better than last time I tried it. Lots of crusty snow if you ventured off the 3-cat wide groomed path. Monadnock was slow as ever, but after riding Polar, it didn't feel too bad.
Ollie's: Took a couple runs just to make sure I could stop and balance on a board. I'm glad I tried it because it'll give me something more challenging to do at Wachusett than bomb 10th and Conifer repeatedly on skis.
That's all for today. Even with the tough conditions all day, I had good fun. I'll be back up there Friday night for the powder night coming up. Looking to get north next Monday if the Sunday Nor'Easter dumps good in VT and closes school (again) here.
Resort or Ski Area: Wachusett, MA
Conditions: Variable... recovery mode basically... not bad with last night's snow though
Trip Report:
Wachusett opened for the first time since last Tuesday today after power was restored yesterday. Today was also my last day out of school due to the ice storm. The snow was trashed from the storm, but luckily the 3" from last night was enough for a decent refresher and at least made the place skiable again. Many trees are down on the trails, especially the narrow trails, and you have to ride some lifts in a defensive mode to not get branches in the face.
I skied about 5 runs today at the beginning and end of my day, and tried snowboarding for the 2nd time in my life during the middle of my day. So the summit and minuteman reports will be from a skiing perspective and the monadnock and ollies reports will be from a snowboarding perspective.
Conifer: Scraped to the nasty base in the middle and poking through on the edges, but last night's fresh snow hung around the sides for a while. Lots of beginners up there today because Minuteman was closed till 4. Lower Balance Rock is naturally closed by treefall.
10th: Lost quite a bit of cover since last week, but in good shape all things considered. Some lower parts were closed, but both lower 10th and Salamander made it through pretty good. Upper Salamander has a few branches across it. Polar Express was running very slow due to this morning's ice and was ski on.
Ralph's: Got first tracks down it when it finally opened at 4:15 after grooming and getting Minuteman to run normally. Was nice skiing fresh corduroy and it looked like it lasted because I could still see the cord walking out at 4:30. Minuteman was a bit slow too (not as bad as Polar) and was ski on when I left. They were grooming Challenger when I left but they were having trouble getting the lights to come on too. Website says Look Ma is open, but it didn't appear that was possible. Hitchcock is also covered so maybe that'll open this weekend.
Indian Summer: Started to get the hang of heel-side turns after my 4 runs down it. Toeside needs a lot of work still. Got down it pretty well though, a lot better than last time I tried it. Lots of crusty snow if you ventured off the 3-cat wide groomed path. Monadnock was slow as ever, but after riding Polar, it didn't feel too bad.
Ollie's: Took a couple runs just to make sure I could stop and balance on a board. I'm glad I tried it because it'll give me something more challenging to do at Wachusett than bomb 10th and Conifer repeatedly on skis.
That's all for today. Even with the tough conditions all day, I had good fun. I'll be back up there Friday night for the powder night coming up. Looking to get north next Monday if the Sunday Nor'Easter dumps good in VT and closes school (again) here.
