Wachusett or Okemo

[toaster]

My friend and I are both new beginers at skiing. We want to go skiing this Friday. We can't decide whether to go to Wachusett which is only 1 hr away from us or Okemo which is 3 hrs away.

Which mountain will be less crowed this Friday? Is Okemo worth the 3 hrs drive for better lessons and beginner trails?

 

[thetrailboss]

It's the holiday season. Both are going to be crowded (sorry to say). With that said, I've heard a lot of people say that Wachusett is crowded. I take it that you have a voucher or something? Why not try Pat's Peak or Crotched?

 

[toaster]

Actually we don't have vouchers. This is two places people recommend to us.

 

[thetrailboss]

Actually we don't have vouchers. This is two places people recommend to us.

I see....well, both have good novice terrain. Crotched and Pat's do as well and may not be as crowded. I'm a passholder at Pat's and the skiing on Monday was very good. I've only heard good things about Crotched--no lines, good snow, good service, nice facilities, and good terrain.

www.patspeak.com
www.crotchedmountain.com

Both have new rental shops and night skiing = more flexible hours.

And they are closer to home for you :wink:

 

[riverc0il]

i would highly recommend crotched over wachusett. it will be a LOT less crowded and is a much cooler mountain, imo. much better place to learn to, the management up there really know how to handle first time skiers. okemo will likely be crowded and they charge an aweful lot of money for beginners.

if you want a more "big mountain" feel without the high prices, then i would highly recommend black mountain in jackson, NH near north conway which is a great mountain for beginners and their rental shop is really great. i have never skied cranmore in north conway, but that might be a slightly more crowded option than black, but still a decent sized and cheap mountain. both will be a lot less crowded than wachusett and okemo.

 

[RISkier]

In part it might depend on what you mean by beginners but I kind of agree with the suggestion of Pat's Peak. Has separate beginner areas for never evers. There are a couple of very easy greens off the chair on the far right (looking up the mountain) -- and you won't encounter much traffic other than other beginners on that part of the mountain. And when your comfortable with those you can start working your way across the mountain from the far left (again looking up the hill). There's a green from the summit, then an easy blue, then a little steeper blue. I've always found Pats to have a very friendly atmosphere. My experiences with WaWa on weekends, and Friday will basically be a weekend day, is that it can really become a zoo, it does have pretty nice terrain for beginners, however. But I think Pat's is a better choice on Friday. Crotched is doing a fantastic job with snowmaking but they don't have much beginner terrain and what they have is not as separated. I'd also say that most of the blues at Crotched are a step up in terms of pitch compared with the easiest blues at Pats. Yet another option is Gunstock -- completely separate learning area served by a moving carpet and chair lift, and while they don't mark much as green on the trail map, Smith is a very easy blue.

 

[toaster]

Thank you for the information! I think we will give Pat's Peak a try.

Hope everyone have a happy New Year!

 

[riverc0il]

Crotched is doing a fantastic job with snowmaking but they don't have much beginner terrain and what they have is not as separated.

crotched has a decent amount of beginner terrain compared to total terrain. aside from their magic carpet area, they have greens off three out of four chairs that do not cross trails... so while not a seperate area, the green circle trails are away from any one speeding.

gunstock as previously mentioned as a great seperate learning area, that's one of the areas i learned at actually.

 

[ctenidae]

Gotta trow my hat in for Pat's Peak. After 18 years of not skiing, I went there one night. Ate a lot of snow, had to deal with rentals, and it was colder than a brass..well, it was cold. Despite all that, I had such a good time I made my wife go buy all new equipment.
If your experience at Pat's is anything like mine was, well, good on ya!

 

[teachski]

Stay away from Wachusett! If you are close to Wachusett and are looking for beginner terrain and lessons, maybe consider one of the smaller areas nearby, Ski Ward in Shrewsbury or Pine Ridge in Barre (call first 978-355-6446). If you think a bigger area (that is more expensive) means better lessons, think again! You have larger groups at these areas and the crowds there take away from the experience.

Crotched and Pats are good choices, but I would lean more toward Crotched, they have MORE snow than Pats.

Depending on where you are coming from, Blandford, just west of Springfield, gives great lessons! My niece took boarding lessons there last year and was out for almost 2 hrs with the instructor and learned a lot.

I decided I needed to add to this post because Iit looks like I am totally anti-Wachusett. I'm not, I ski there from time to time, mostly nights. I am just trying to say that this week and weekend it is mobbed!

 

[hammer]

I'd echo what everyone is saying about Wachusett. Nice beginner terrain, but when I sent there during President's Day week last year the crowds were as bad as Disney World on Easter week... :x

Never been to Okemo, but I'd also suggest that you stick to a smaller area. Why pay a lot of money for a lift ticket for access to a bunch of terrain that you will likely not ski on?

As one who spent my first full season last year at Pats Peak and Crotched, I'd recommend Pats Peak for new beginners. Yes, Crotched does have two nice green trails other than the bunny slope, but the greens at Crotched are more of a step up from the bunny slope than the greens in the Valley area at Pats.

If you go a number of times this season, though, you should also check Crotched out. Great snow, no crowds, lots of lift capacity, and trails with nice sustained pitches.

 

[RossiSkier]

Okemo is Awesome for beginners

Okemo is awesome for beginners. I image that it wouldn't be too bad on a Friday, but Saturday it will be.

My wife and I, and another couple went to Okemo for a week last season and stayed Trailside. My wife and my friend's girlfriend are both beginners and they had lots of terrain to practice on. They have two lifts that run perpendicular to the mountain fallline and a large beginner section. Then the Sachum trail was a long windy practice run for them, plus miles more of GREEN DOT trails for beginners. And lots of trails for intermediate and expert as well. Okemo trails are manicurred. Their grooming is amazing. I highly recommend Okemo mountain for beginners on up.

 

[skidweeb.com]

I love Crotched. It's close, and the snow is deap.

Try this: http://www.skidweeb.com/

Type in your zipcode, and it will sort mountains by distance or size.

Wachusett and Okemo are sort of wildly distant and different places. I'd add Sunapee in there if you're going durring the day. It's not too steep, not too far from the highway, and on the lower side of the price scale.

 

[Zand]

Here's my scoop.

If you're a "beginner beginner", as in your first or second time, you will likely ski Okemo base if you go there. That area is VERY crowded on holidays. If you are just plain beginner, you can probably handle the beginner trails off the summit or Sachem.

If you are still a "beginner beginner", you should stick to Wachusett or Crotched. I'd prefer Crotched because Wawa will be PACKED tomorrow. If you hit Wachusett, start at the Monadnock lift which usually doesn't have a long liftline. Once you get bored of that, work your way over to Ralph's Run or the Vickery Bowl. I'd recommend the Vickery Bowl for tomorrow because the Minuteman Quad's lines are the longest at the area. Just ski Look Mom under the lift and get to the Vickery Bowl from there. The summit is relitively easy. I remember being up there my first day skiing. Obviously, you want to hit Conifer first because it has short steeps and an easy lower half. 10th isn't as steep as Conifer, but it's steep lasts the longest out of the 3 summit trails. Smith is the steepest and icyest of the 3 and I'd only recommend that one if you know what you're doing.

If you plan on going to Crotched, ask someone else about that place because I've never been.

Only go to Wachusett if drive time is an issue. If not, Crotched is the place to be.

 

[thetrailboss]

Thank you for the information! I think we will give Pat's Peak a try.

Hope everyone have a happy New Year!

How was your day, Toaster? Was there yesterday and it was OK, but icy and fast in places. Wish they had groomed more of the steeper stuff.