• Welcome to AlpineZone, the largest online community of skiers and snowboarders in the Northeast!

    You may have to REGISTER before you can post. Registering is FREE, gets rid of the majority of advertisements, and lets you participate in giveaways and other AlpineZone events!

Wachusett 12/5/08

Zand

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 30, 2003
Messages
4,424
Points
113
Location
Spencer, MA
Date(s) Skied: Friday night 12/5/08

Resort or Ski Area: Wachusett, MA

Conditions: FRGR, low 30s

Trip Report:

Very quick hitter at Wa tonight (~80 mins) just to get out because I was bored. Only hit the summit, but observed snowmaking all around the base of Minuteman as well as on Look Mom. Snow was made on Hitchcock last night but was shut off when I was there. Light crowds but a majority of the crowd were spores (which is surprising for this early in the season).

Conifer: Better of the 2 summit trails by far once again. Scraped down the middle at the top, but nice loose stuff on the sides for some short turns. Lower was prime packed powder for some GS turns if you didn't get a snowplowing beginner in the way. If you got caught in a swarm, you temporarily would've thought it was January. Aside from those swarms, the trail would be empty minutes at a time.

10th/Salamander: Scraped and weird lumps again. Upper was real scratchy down the left side but right had loose stuff on the lower side of the double fall line. Theres still a huge bump right in the middle of the trail just before the road. If you hit it at speed, it shoots you like 3 feet in the air unexpectedly. I hit Salamander which was really thin plus it was about 4:30 when I hit it do it was difficult to see anything. Lower 10th and Salamander were both alright, not as good as Conifer though. Polar was pretty slow again with lines ranging from ski on to being stuck behind a 10-chair line of spores. I didn't understand the high frequency of them so early in the season.

I'll be back Monday at noon (half day at school), next Friday, and then VT next Sunday.
 
Joined
Aug 23, 2007
Messages
17,569
Points
0
80 minutes,,,and I get crap for my short sessions..anyway it's good you got out..what percentage of the terrain is open??? We get swarms here at Blue mountain..even on uncrowded days..earlier 4 snowboarders sitting in the middle of the trail made a great GS gate..
 

Zand

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 30, 2003
Messages
4,424
Points
113
Location
Spencer, MA
They have slightly over half open right now. They opened with a bang, but expansion was halted the last couple weeks due to the need to add to the base of the already open trails so they don't rot in the rain. They've started expansion on the intermediate hill as of last night. They have 4 intermediate trails, 1 black diamond, and 1 beginner trail left as far as major stuff goes.

And ya, 80 minutes was far and away my shortest day ever. I had plans tonight that I came home for and ended up getting cancelled but I was almost getting bored anyway being there alone tonight.
 
Joined
Aug 23, 2007
Messages
17,569
Points
0
They have slightly over half open right now. They opened with a bang, but expansion was halted the last couple weeks due to the need to add to the base of the already open trails so they don't rot in the rain. They've started expansion on the intermediate hill as of last night. They have 4 intermediate trails, 1 black diamond, and 1 beginner trail left as far as major stuff goes.

And ya, 80 minutes was far and away my shortest day ever. I had plans tonight that I came home for and ended up getting cancelled but I was almost getting bored anyway being there alone tonight.

The nice thing about having a season pass is that you can go out and at least make an appearance on days you wouldn't ordinarily go whether it's bad weather or if you're real tired. Anyway it sounds like Wachusett is off to a good start. A good base on some core trails is important to keep the mountain open in case there's a monsoon..
 
Top