Wachusett 3/14/05

[Zand]

Date(s) Skied: 3/14/05

Resort or Ski Area: Wachusett Mountain, MA

Conditions: Packed Powder

Trip Report:

Took a short trip to little Wawa tonight. The conditions were excellent, especially after grooming. All of the trails were open with great coverage everywhere.

Balance Rock: A tad scratchy in places, but mainly nice. There were a few bumps to get some air off and due to later sunsets, the trail was open way past 5. The bottom had a nice jump built up to the side of the exit.

Conifer: Hey, it was a real intermediate trail today! It was totally bumped with some good snow throughout. I didn't see any patrollers today, but I only took 2 runs down it, both before grooming.

10th: Comparing pre-grooming and post-grooming is like comparing apples to oranges. Before grooming, it was just about all bumps and good powder to the sides. After grooming, it was EXTREMELY fast, smooth, and just about perfect. The headwall after the 2nd road had tons of air today. Very nice.

Smith: I've been waiting for this day since St. Patty's Day last year. I never took any runs before grooming, but the trail was absolutely stellar afterwards. You could rip giant GS turns the whole way down and there was just about no ice the whole way. Definitely the trail of the day.

Hitchcock Terrain Park: Not too bad today.The jumps are still screwed up and the place is packed, but it detracts from the Look Mom crowd and it's OK for beginners.

Look Mom: It was in nice shape today. There was some ice on the landings, but enough snow to keep control after landing. The halfpipe seems way too wide and it's tough to keep a good speed through it.

Challenger: I tucked top to botom and flew the whole way. I had one scare when the racing grooves popped out of nowhere and I had to bolt to the side of the trail to get out, but that was the only time I got messed up.

Well, that's it for this week. I'll be at Okemo Sunday and Monday, Wachusett next Tuesday for day skiing, and maybe Jiminy next Friday. Pray the excellent weather keeps up.

 

[thetrailboss]

You wouldn't happen to know when Wa-Wa is closing would you? Want to try it on April 2nd.

 

[Zand]

I think April 3rd is their planned closing day. Sometimes, they shut down later, sometimes earlier. However, next week will probably be the last with lights (still nights on weekends) unless a miracle happens with the weather and people start coming back. It costs a lot of money to use the lights and 5 people with a century pass showing up in one night doesn't help cover the costs. They haven't officially posted an... err... official date, but they usually plan on the first Sunday in April and that's why I said the 3rd. As long as they don't pull off what they did last year, I don't really mind when they close. Last year, on March 27th, a Saturday, they were having a big board competition so they closed for day skiing. They decided that day that that was it, no more days.