Date(s) Skied: 12/30/06 8 am -12:30 pm half day ticket
Resort or Ski Area: Wachusett Mtn
Conditions: Variable. Surfaces ranged from LSGR to frozen corduroy with some PP to be had on Conifer Connection if you stuck to either edge.
Trip Report: I live in Wakefield, RI only a few miles from the ocean. My GF's sister and law and I left at 6:45 AM. We were at the mountain by 8, which is 40 minutes less than Mapquest said it would take. The key for RI peeps is to take 295N to 146N to 290E to 190N to 140N. No traffic whatsover.
We were only 5-7 rows back from the head of the lot. Got a great spot. It was cloudy and about 25 F at the base at 8 am.
I desperately need new skis, and am on the hunt for Volkl supersport 5 stars. Not sure if I should go 161cm or 168cm. Either way, I was planning on just demoing new gear from the slopeside shop. I took a pair of the new AC-3 Unlimited in 170cm.
We first headed over to the quad that runs 2/3 the way up the hill. (Didn't they used to call this the Northeastern Peak or whatever? I can't remember which quad is the Minuteman and which is the Polar Express...) There were 3 or so runs open off this lift, which has a roughly 640 ft vertical rise. The conditions on these trails were marginal. Hardpack with frozen corduroy on the edges.
I was surprised to see the guns silent when we got there - it never got above freezing the whole time we were there. They did say they'd made snow there, but the combination of the warmth and so much ski traffic/pressure has made for not the greatest snow on ralphs run, look mom, and challenger. The quad servicing this terrain was running *really* slow, with repeated stops, far from full speed. I asked an employee if they were intentionally running it slow to keep the ski traffic reasonable and he candidly replied No, they were just having problems with that lift. These trails were already getting congested by 8:30 AM so by 9 so headed over to the summit quad, where the only option -as it has been all season to date- was Upper and Lower Conifer Connection. I was shocked how much better the snow was.
We did laps on Conifer nonstop til 12:25 PM, when we called it quits and got our $5/ticket back for turning in full day tix before 12:30. We did 20+ laps on conifer and went non-stop top to bottom on nearly all. I play in competitve roller hockey league and am into cycling, so my legs felt great, the best ever on my first day of the year. My ski partner, a very attractive 40 year old woman (again, my GF's sister in law, but I'm not complaining about riding the lifts with her as opposed to going up solo), has Volkl supersport gammas and loves them. She looked to be in midseason form on her 1st day out this year.
The AC-3s felt great, if a little superfluous for the conditions. I was surprised they recommended a 170 when so many shops tell me to ski the volkls short ie 161. They were definitely not the fastest edge to edge skis, but were quite tolerant of both S and GS turns. I think that my Head World Cup Boots (04 models with less than 10 days on them) need to be softened. Gonna get a local shop to grind away the inners a bit this week and see if that helps. These are some STIFF boots and I think they hold me back by making me work too hard to flex them.
We called it a half day bc conifer was getting quite crowded with local racers, large groups of people, and large lesson groups. It was also getting a bit scraped off, esp in the middle where the short pitch section is.
My skiing partner had never been to Wa Wa before and was impressed with the facility. She wants to go back if and when they manage to open some more terrain from the top. We both live 5 minutes from Yawgoo, and I think she was worried it was going to be like the 'goo.
Weather wise, it started snowing around 10:30 AM and they had about an inch or so by the time we left. I think they ended up with 2" which certainly made it feel more like winter. The local roads were all sanded and salted.
We went upstairs to the black diamond lounge for lunch and some IPA and chocolate martinis before heading home.
Not a bad half day to kick it off.
This concludes my 1st ever AZ trip report.
Resort or Ski Area: Wachusett Mtn
Conditions: Variable. Surfaces ranged from LSGR to frozen corduroy with some PP to be had on Conifer Connection if you stuck to either edge.
Trip Report: I live in Wakefield, RI only a few miles from the ocean. My GF's sister and law and I left at 6:45 AM. We were at the mountain by 8, which is 40 minutes less than Mapquest said it would take. The key for RI peeps is to take 295N to 146N to 290E to 190N to 140N. No traffic whatsover.
We were only 5-7 rows back from the head of the lot. Got a great spot. It was cloudy and about 25 F at the base at 8 am.
I desperately need new skis, and am on the hunt for Volkl supersport 5 stars. Not sure if I should go 161cm or 168cm. Either way, I was planning on just demoing new gear from the slopeside shop. I took a pair of the new AC-3 Unlimited in 170cm.
We first headed over to the quad that runs 2/3 the way up the hill. (Didn't they used to call this the Northeastern Peak or whatever? I can't remember which quad is the Minuteman and which is the Polar Express...) There were 3 or so runs open off this lift, which has a roughly 640 ft vertical rise. The conditions on these trails were marginal. Hardpack with frozen corduroy on the edges.
I was surprised to see the guns silent when we got there - it never got above freezing the whole time we were there. They did say they'd made snow there, but the combination of the warmth and so much ski traffic/pressure has made for not the greatest snow on ralphs run, look mom, and challenger. The quad servicing this terrain was running *really* slow, with repeated stops, far from full speed. I asked an employee if they were intentionally running it slow to keep the ski traffic reasonable and he candidly replied No, they were just having problems with that lift. These trails were already getting congested by 8:30 AM so by 9 so headed over to the summit quad, where the only option -as it has been all season to date- was Upper and Lower Conifer Connection. I was shocked how much better the snow was.
We did laps on Conifer nonstop til 12:25 PM, when we called it quits and got our $5/ticket back for turning in full day tix before 12:30. We did 20+ laps on conifer and went non-stop top to bottom on nearly all. I play in competitve roller hockey league and am into cycling, so my legs felt great, the best ever on my first day of the year. My ski partner, a very attractive 40 year old woman (again, my GF's sister in law, but I'm not complaining about riding the lifts with her as opposed to going up solo), has Volkl supersport gammas and loves them. She looked to be in midseason form on her 1st day out this year.
The AC-3s felt great, if a little superfluous for the conditions. I was surprised they recommended a 170 when so many shops tell me to ski the volkls short ie 161. They were definitely not the fastest edge to edge skis, but were quite tolerant of both S and GS turns. I think that my Head World Cup Boots (04 models with less than 10 days on them) need to be softened. Gonna get a local shop to grind away the inners a bit this week and see if that helps. These are some STIFF boots and I think they hold me back by making me work too hard to flex them.
We called it a half day bc conifer was getting quite crowded with local racers, large groups of people, and large lesson groups. It was also getting a bit scraped off, esp in the middle where the short pitch section is.
My skiing partner had never been to Wa Wa before and was impressed with the facility. She wants to go back if and when they manage to open some more terrain from the top. We both live 5 minutes from Yawgoo, and I think she was worried it was going to be like the 'goo.
Weather wise, it started snowing around 10:30 AM and they had about an inch or so by the time we left. I think they ended up with 2" which certainly made it feel more like winter. The local roads were all sanded and salted.
We went upstairs to the black diamond lounge for lunch and some IPA and chocolate martinis before heading home.
Not a bad half day to kick it off.
This concludes my 1st ever AZ trip report.
