Wachusett 2/15/14 (POWDER DAY!)

[sf77]

Time Skied: 9am to 4:15pm
Weather: SNOW (heavy at times) and foggy later in the day, temperatures in the upper 20's and low 30's, no wind
Conditions: Powder and packed powder

I headed up to Wachusett this past Saturday since they got a FOOT of snow on Thursday and they were predicted to get another 5-8" of snow during the day on Saturday. I expected the mountain to be very crowded since it was the holiday weekend and because of all of the snow they got. However, the lifts were ski on most of the day and if I did have to wait it was only for 5 minutes max. One of the things that I really like about Wachusett is that they have THREE high speed quads that take you up the mountain. This really helps to diminish crowds and you can get up to the peak in less than five minutes. Got in around THIRTY runs on the day! From 9 to 10:30am it was beautiful - clear so you could see spectacular views from the trials. Then it started to snow! - from 10:30am to past 4:15pm it snowed moderately, but occasional heavy bursts or lighter parts. By 4pm, Wachusett probably received around 5". The coverage was EXCELLENT :smile: as expected. No ice spots at all, best conditions of the entire season! I went back and forth between the left side and the right side of the mountain, but both sides were equally as amazing ! In the morning they had some sort of competition or event in the terrain park of "Look Mom" and on the "NASTAR Course" to the right of "Challenger." There were some amazing (unmarked) glades to the skiers right of Ralph's Run that I ventured into twice (and got on camera). They had excellent coverage and were somewhat challenging. Tenth Mountain Trail (black diamond) had moguls on the skiers left side which were icy, but the right side was excellent. Conifer Connection and Hitchcock Trail were both very nice runs with excellent coverage. There were many other various glades throughout the mountain that had some nice powder in them. This INCREDIBLE powder day deserves an A++!
I'll have some cool, edited videos from Wachusett on this thread soon!

 

[Nick]

Can't wait to see the video.

30 runs is insane, even on a fast day. I find I start getting bored after 15 or so runs tops. 30 is a lot. Although on a powder day, it's a different story

 

[cbackman]

There are some cool unmarked glades at wachusett, ive never been down the ones on the side of ralph's, ill have to check it out, there is a cool one on the right side of conifer connection

 

[mishka]

There are some cool unmarked glades at wachusett, ive never been down the ones on the side of ralph's, ill have to check it out, there is a cool one on the right side of conifer connection

if patrol catch you doing it they will pull your ticket/season pass

 

[Nick]

^I've heard the same thing. Seen tracks before through the woods but they don't really seem that great (dense) .

 

[sf77]

Here's a video that I filmed and edited of the glades to the skiers right of Ralph's Run. This isn't the "Old Growth Forest" so they won't pull your ticket if they see you in here.

 

[dmw]

I've gotten away with a warning before.

 

[MadMadWorld]

The stuff that drops off of Ropers towards the beginner area can be fun for a run or 2. Problem is that it's not really maintained so there are a lot of hazards

 

[Nick]

I thought there was talk last year or 2 years ago of creating some glades at Wachusett. What ever happened to that?

 

[sf77]

Here's another video that I filmed and edited from Saturday. It is a top to bottom run on "Tenth Mountain Trail:"

 

[sf77]

Here's another video that I filmed and edited from Saturday. It's of some of the glades at the bottom left of Roper's Run and then to the skiers left of Lower Balance Rock:

 

[sf77]

Lastly, another filmed and edited video from this past Saturday - this one is a top to bottom run on Conifer Connection:

 

[MadMadWorld]

I thought there was talk last year or 2 years ago of creating some glades at Wachusett. What ever happened to that?

I'm sure it would be a big undertaking. They would probably need someone to come in and make sure that none of the trees in area are old growth. I'm sure one little tree would put the kibosh on the situation. That and adding glades would ruin their 100% open image.

 

[wa-loaf]

if patrol catch you doing it they will pull your ticket/season pass

I'm sure it would be a big undertaking. They would probably need someone to come in and make sure that none of the trees in area are old growth. I'm sure one little tree would put the kibosh on the situation. That and adding glades would ruin their 100% open image.

The glades off of Ralphs are official as of last year. Mostly just kids type luge runs through the trees.

 

[Nick]

really? I didn't know that they were official. Did they thin them out or do any other maintenance in there?

 

[sf77]

really? I didn't know that they were official. Did they thin them out or do any other maintenance in there?

I did notice some blue markers at one of the entrances of the glade. If you go to my video of the glades (on the previous page of this thread) at 1:56 you can see the markers.

 

[MadMadWorld]

The glades off of Ralphs are official as of last year. Mostly just kids type luge runs through the trees.

Kids ski that and the stuff off Conifer at night too. It's kind of ridiculous and shouldn't even be considered a glade.