Wachusett 2/8/08

[Zand]

Date(s) Skied: Friday Night 2/8/08

Resort or Ski Area: Wachusett Mountain, MA

Conditions: PP, LSGR

Trip Report:

Day #20 on the season and it was a nice one. The new snow, although it's not much, has led the mountain to a quick recovery from the rain. Crowds weren't bad tonight and it was a nice night on the hill.

Conifer: Only hit it once around 8:30. Some parts were scratchy but overall the trail had some nice snow. Good loose stuff on the side for the short turns.

10th: Took 3 runs down it, once down the left where the moguls usually are and 2 hugging the right edge. On the 2 on the right, I went through 3 different tree branches sticking out. The snow was very nice and loose over there though. On the left, it was a bit scratchy and definitely harder packed, but fast.

Smith: Took a few runs right after grooming which were all sweet runs. Around 7, it was starting to get scraped at the top of the headwall, but the rest was still nice. At 8:30, it was scraped quite a bit, bringing back images of the "good ol' Smith" we're used to at Wachusett. Still nice elsewhere on the trail. Polar Express was almost in full speed with a 2-3 minute wait most of the night, sometimes shorter.

Look Mom: Took a few runs in the park. Hit the 3 small jumps on the left, the 1st is very long and requires quite a bit of speed to clear, the 2nd is a height jump with a steep landing and the 3rd is just a normal medium-sized jump. The halfpipe isn't in the greatest shape, but definitely doable. The rest of the park is unchanged. Minuteman was in full speed with a 3-4 minute wait, also usually less.

Sundowner: Took a run on it to hit the small mounds they put up. They also took a piss-poor attempt at a mini halfpipe which is a couple of 2 foot tall mounds at about 25 degrees. Monadnock Triple was actually at a decent speed tonight... not fast by any means but quicker than normal. Also managed a stop-free ride for what seemed like the first time ever.

I'll have another Wachusett report early next week. I'm also due for a day trip with all this new snow, perhaps a trip to Magic or Beast. Maybe back to Mount Snow. Who knows...

 

[billski]

Crowds weren't bad tonight

can you say more? Like how long was a typical lift line, how full the parking lot, how busy the trails (could you go for broke without endangering others?) lodge? Since it's been a while since my last visit, I'd like to get some relative perspective.

 

[wa-loaf]

Raced/Skied Thursday night and we were surprised at how good the conditions were. The trees were all thickly coated with ice. A couple spots where the rain had been running down the slopes were ice spots, but everything else was nice packed powder. Smith: if its freshly groomed I like to go right over the headwall, otherwise all the snow gets pushed over to skiers right and bumps up nicely. I love ripping down that right side while everyone else is skittering down the scrapped off middle.

 

[aoneil]

Went last night...

...lines were fairly short, although the Polar Express had a couple of problems that had everyone over on the other lift for a while. I also got stuck most of the way up the first time it conked out at 7pm or something (was probably there for five minutes max, but it seemed like longer when I was just sitting there up in the air). I usually go solo (the singles line) and the longest I waited was under five minutes, usually less.

Thursday was hard, the ice was everywhere, and the lifts were covered in ice, too (nice for wet posterior for the trip down). Saturday was a whole other world - nice snow, and they even had some of those bumps people keep talking about. It got a bit windy later in the evening and was pretty much snowing most of the time.