Wachusett 12/6/07

[Zand]

Date(s) Skied: Thursday 12/6/07 (Night)

Resort or Ski Area: Wachusett Mountain, MA

Conditions: PP, upper 10s to low 20s

Trip Report:

Amazing night for early December tonight. Conifer and Smith are both edge to edge the entire way and 10th is edge to edge in all but 2 or 3 small spots. And this time last year? Not even open yet.

Conifer: Great loose stuff on the right, but the entire trail was covered in top notch packed powder. I don't think I slipped once ther entire night. It was the fluffiest packed snow I've seen in quite some time, especially for this early in December.

10th: A few scratchy spots in a few places, but they weren't bad and there was plenty of loose stuff on the side to avoid them. The racers were hanging out on this trail for most of the night. Man are they nuts with all the air they get over the road. There were plenty of kickers on the side but I didn't see Marc doing his 90's tonight.

Smith: Not as good as the other 2 with lots of styrafoam and quite a few scratchy spots, but all things considered, this trail didn't have a flake on it Sunday and now it's open top-to-bottom and edge-to-edge. There was uneven grooming here and there which kept you on your toes, but give it a couple days and it'll be as nice as Conifer and 10th. Polar Express really put the "express" to truth tonight... the ride was almost a minute shorter than last week. It also had a decent line at 7:30... around 25-30 chairs.

Snowmaking: Everything up on Minuteman is getting hammered. Once the lift is fixed, I bet every trail over there will be open. The place really is in amazing shape right now. You know it's a good early season when you can ski right over to the bar door without ever hitting wood. I'll be back Sunday morning for a few hours before the Patriots game.

 

[wa-loaf]

Nice, wish I could have made it out tonight. The race season kick-off is a good time.

They posted the details about the minuteman on the blog. Dude from CO is supposed to be here on the 9th to re-splice the rope. Should take him a couple days to complete.

 

[Phildozer]

Zand is right on the money with his assessment.

Last night's conditions were spectacular.

 

[Mark_151]

Can't wait -- I'm heading over for about a 3:30-3:45 start.

 

[soulseller]

I was eying Smith Walton Wednesday night, it had plenty of coverage but hadn't been groomed yet. Looks like they opened Vickery Bowl today.

I might go tomorrow or we might go to Crotched. Either way I too will be there Sunday morning for a few runs before the Pats game.

 

[Sky]

Hey Zand...Dozer and I were up there with a couple of our team members for the kick-off party and a few runs.

We were on snow from about 8:30 to about 10.

I stayed off Smith, but you were right on about 10th and Conifer.

As for the "scratchy" spots....not surprising given that the Minuteman is down. All that traffic is on 10th and the boiler-plate is bound to show on some of the heavier traffic'd/steeper spots.

Great night on snow!!! Sorry we missed you.

Sky

 

[Zand]

Sky... I think I saw you hanging around the bar around 7.

 

[Sky]

Sky... I think I saw you hanging around the bar around 7.

Errrahhhh....I was just passing through. It'll never happen again. *smirk*

Yep, I was on the corner close to the stairs/entrance. Red T-shirt over long sleeve'd white shirt.

Sort of obvious I guess.

Next time say hello.

 

[soulseller]

Yesterday between 9-1pm was amazing, I'm glad we didn't bother driving up to Crotched. All three from the top had great coverage, nice and soft and no ice. Temps were good and crowds were light.

Today between 12-3 was an entirely different story, several spots on all three were showing grass, lots of ice spots and big crowds on connifer.

From the top it was clear that they have lost a lot of snow due to warm temps. The wooden deck around the lift was showing and you had to stick to the left exiting the chair to avoid the edge of the decking. All in all it really wasn't that bad, I stuck mostly to 10th and Smith and was able to find some good lines and enjoy myself.