2017/2018 Wachusett Thread

[Go Fish]

Lifts are turning at WaWa. The conditions aren't great...but it's a week before Thanksgiving. Lets call the conditions variable. Soft mixed with ice that reflects the high temps we are still seeing while the sun is up.

Sliding on skis, even on crap snow, is better than sitting on the couch.

[rockdaletj]

Amen. I was going to start this thread last night but wanted to give you the honor . 4 days on skis by Nov 19 in Massachusetts is pretty good. It may not be wonderful but it sure is nice to make some turns and see friends and get the legs working again!!

[Brenda]

Likely won't make it out there until after the 1st. Glad temps finally cooled enough for snowmaking. I was starting to wonder this fall.

[Go Fish]

I look forward to seeing you out there Brenda!

I'll be out for the morning session with my little one on Saturday. Look for the fat kid in red skiing with the little pink thing...

[Go Fish]

Snow Report 12/27/17

Real life has gotten in the way of skiing for the last month but I put that nonsense to an end this morning. I can sum it up in one word: Fantastic! WaWa is almost 100% open and the conditions are unbelievable for the end of December. It is more like end of January conditions. The coverage is wall to wall and the corduroy this morning was hero snow. I skied until noon and it was starting to get a little bit scraped off and crowded. It is a school vacation week so that has to be expected.

Get out there early. It is totally worth the effort.

[Go Fish]

Snow Report 12/31/2017

I took the morning shift today and holy $#!+ was it cold. However, the frigid temps made for fantastic conditions and really light crowds. There were no lift lines and I often had large portions of a run all to my self. There are some hard spots on the runs off the summit lift, but nothing to freak out about. All of the runs off of the Minuteman lift were about as perfect as they ever get. The snow is really fast and readily takes an edge.

[Go Fish]

Snow Report 1/6/2018

Who doesn't love -30 wind chills? I for one, adore them. My kid had her first DEV Team outing at WaWa today. The only people there were her team mates, some parents and the mountain staff. There were no lines at all.

The hill is 100% open and the conditions are amazing. All of the new snow was blown off the wide runs but the edges and the skinny runs through the trees were like butter. Everybody was happy. The racers had the firm stuff in the middle of the runs and the rest of us enjoyed the wind deposited stuff.

I was only able to string 5 runs together before I had to go warm up but it was definitely worth the effort.

[rockdaletj]

1/7/18. Chilly but sunny in the AM, fast super carvy snow edge to edge. Somehow I managed to ski about 15 runs and not run into anyone I knew until I walked into the bar at 1230. Felt good to get some vertical in after being on the fishscales in the woods for some pow turns for the last 2 days. Lets hope this good streak keeps up!

[Go Fish]

Snow Report 1/10/2018

I skied with my crew from work tonight and it was about as good as it gets. Temps were in the mid to high 20s and there was a fresh groom on Conifer and 10th Mtn when we showed up. The corduroy was sublime. Like clockwork, the crowds were gone by 7:30 and we did laps off of the summit until the groom got scraped down to the hard stuff. There was one run down Smith that was not repeated because it did not get groomed and it was a scratchy mess from the get-go. The night was polished off with three fun runs on the lower mountain where the snow stayed great right to the end.

Some beers and buffalo wings and it was a wrap.

I'm bummed about the rain this weekend because the hill is in such good shape. We'll just have to be patient until they are able to fix it back up.

[Go Fish]

Snow Report 1/13/2018

My ankle biter had her weekly lesson this morning so I was able to witness the aftermath of 60 degrees and rain. We got to the hill at 8:30 and the temps were in the mid 40s. There was water everywhere and it was running down the trails like it was late April. The grooming crews were frantically working on covering bare spots and diverting flowing water off all of the lower mountain runs except Challenger. In spite of the carnage, the remaining snow was actually pretty fun. Fairly classic spring conditions.

Over the course of an hour, it went from the 40's to the low 20's and the great re-freeze began. By 1:00 the entire place was a skating rink...then they started firing up the snow guns. When we left at 3:00 guns were blazing, top to bottom, all over the upper and lower mountains. It was a man-made snowmageddon. I overheard one of the owners talking to one of the guys from the snow crew and the plan is to blast snow until they are right back to where they were before the rain. I have no doubt that they will be back in good shape soon.

[rockdaletj]

1/14. Today was a pleasant surprise. I got there for opening expecting to be done by 930. Smith was firm but fun while the groomers were smoothing out the massive piles of manmade they laid down overnight on Conifer and 10th. Conifer opened first with soft corduroy and big whales down bottom...then 10th with nice snow top to bottom until the crowds rolled in by 11. Have to give them kudos for surviving this crazy weather weekend! Cold temps are back and think snow!!

[Go Fish]

Snow Report 1/15/2018

The kid had the day off so I took a personal day and went to the hill. I was astounded. It was like the rain never happened. Toward the end of the day there was some ice poking through but that is normal. The new snow making equipment appears to have been well worth the investment.

[Go Fish]

Snow Report 1/17/2018

It was a bit crowded tonight. It snowed in Boston.

The hill benefited from the 4-5" of real snow that fell today. We are approaching the glory conditions that existed before the rain last week. The runs off of the Minuteman lift are awesome. Soft like butta. The runs off the Polar Express have some shiny spots but they are not worth complaining about.

Lots of Tele peeps out tonight. Nice to see.

[Go Fish]

Snow Report January 27 + 28, 2018

Saturday was the beginning of the warm up after a few good days of snow making weather. In the morning it was still (barely) below freezing so the corduroy was soft and fast. As the temp began to climb, the crowds filled in and all of that nice snow was scraped to the sides of the runs. It was straight up bed rock ice down the middles of the runs and piles of sloppy (but fun) snow-like-substance on the edges. After lunch it was warm enough the the ice was softening and it readily took an edge. My wife and I skied until 2:00 and then declared it beer thirty. It was really nice to be layered lightly and need some sun screen for a change.

Sunday I met up with rockdaletj and a bunch of other peeps. The overnight low was 42 F so it was full on spring skiing today. The groomers did a nice job of grinding up the soft ice, mixing it with the snow-like-product and laying it back down. It was actually pretty good conditions and we had the hill all to ourselves until noon. I got in 5 laps with my new Blizzard Rustler 11s and then handed them off to rockdale for a few runs. We both think that it is a super fun ski. I'll add a report on that in the gear forum.

Overall, I am super impressed by the snow crew at Wachusett. They consistently get dealt a crap hand but somehow manage to get it worked out. I think I'm going to have to buy them a case of good beer at the end of the season.

[Go Fish]

Snow Report February 4, 2018

I got to the hill early this morning and was able to take advantage of flawless grooming and fast fun snow. For a change, Smith Walton wasn't rock hard which made for some really killer high speed arcing. Both the upper and lower mountain were in great shape until the crowds showed up and scraped down to the ice. The key on the weekend is to get there early and get some laps in while the lines are short and the runs aren't crowded. By 11:00 I had my fill and made tracks for home. When I left it was still 20 F at the summit. Hopefully it stays cold enough there so the precip later today is snow instead of the rain that we are going to get at my house.

We need this weather pattern to change for the colder in the worst way.