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WAWA open

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Bill29
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Posted: Dec 13, 2011 - 2:57 PM GMT

I talked to someone today (Tuesday, Dec. 13) who said she and her husband skied for most the the day at Wachusett. She said only Challenger and Ralph's Run at the bottom of the area were open on man-made, of course. The cover is not yet full width, but she said it was pretty good.
She said there was just a small crowd, many of them seniors, having a good time. She and her husband came in with one old timer they met in the parking lot("he must have been your age," she said) who walked slowly with a limp. On the hill, on skis, he flew by them several times in full control, with a big grin. She and her husband were impressed.
I told her that he probably was one of the senior brigade who skied Mondays through Fridays on a season pass and, by the end of the season, will have gotten the cost of each day's lift ticket equivalent down to less than four or five bucks. They usually start at 9 a.m. or so, leave by 2:30 p.m. when the school groups arrive, make an occasional weekend trip up north, and have a great time.

ciscokid
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Posted: Dec 14, 2011 - 1:20 AM GMT

Bill I would have expected s trip report from you by this time . Bein your retired you should furnish s daily trip report!

Btw Bill., I challenge you to upload pictures this season. Believe me if I can do it so can you , all I need is someone to help me get my pics from my smart (dumb.) phone to my gallery

As the waterboy said ..."you can do it!"

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Bill29
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Posted: Dec 15, 2011 - 5:12 PM GMT

Quote: "Bein your retired you should furnish s daily trip report!"

Cisco, you'd think that, after 37 years full time with the Worcester Telegram & Gazette I would have known how to retire 20 years ago. But I didn't. For the last 20 years I have been working three days a week Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays, for a weekly newspaper in Worcester. So when I ski, it's usually on a Monday or a Friday, and it has almost always in the last few years been at Mt. Wachusett. This season, because of knee and other problems, I'm not sure whether I'll be able to ski, though I'm working on it.

ciscokid
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Posted: Dec 15, 2011 - 11:31 PM GMT

Bill we don't rely on your skiing prowess, it's the wisdom, experience, history and communicating with someone who has been around before chair 1(SV36)

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jedk
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Posted: Dec 16, 2011 - 11:53 PM GMT

Nice skiing today 12-16-11. Very few skiers 11-3 and warm, partly cloudy weather. The Challenger and Ralph's Run holding snow pretty well. Trails were not wall-wall covered but were at least half-width most places. Snow was a bit wet near the bottom of the trails and no icy spots anywhere.
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bubblecuffer
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Posted: Dec 17, 2011 - 10:51 PM GMT

Here's the scene from about 2 hours ago...

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mapnut
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Posted: Dec 18, 2011 - 2:39 PM GMT

Whoa, are they starting from "scratch"?

bubblecuffer
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Posted: Dec 19, 2011 - 3:12 AM GMT

Challenger and Ralph's run are open (off to the right, not in the photo). Otherwise, pretty slim for WAWA in mid-December. Things are looking better though. There will be skiing off the summit tomorrow.

xlr8r
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Posted: Dec 19, 2011 - 3:21 AM GMT

Went to Wawa on Wed night. They desperately need to get the Polar Express open and get edge to edge on the 2 trails that are open

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Bill29
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Posted: Dec 20, 2011 - 2:42 PM GMT

I was at Wachusett Friday (just looking) and suggested to one of the owners that if they were going to have the opening ceremony for the new high speed quad on Monadnock they probably should have some snow under it. He assurec me that, with cold temps , they planned to hook up three guns to each hydrant and would put sown snow. I drove by Monday and, sure enough, they did. They also were skiing off the top as well as on Challenger and Ralph's, which looked to have been widened from the previous week. Pretty good crowd for a Monday, too.

jedk
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Posted: Dec 21, 2011 - 2:23 AM GMT

Edited: Dec 21, 2011 - 2:50 AM GMT

Skiing was great Today, Dec 20. Conifer and Indian Summer were in great shape considering they've only been open two days now. Ralph and Challenger were also great with packed powder. Conifer was the only trail covered edge to edge very nicely. 10th Mountain should be able to open if we get another cold night for snowmaking and grooming. Smith Walton will take a few days of work.
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bubblecuffer
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Posted: Jan 03, 2012 - 5:19 PM GMT

I hiked Wachusett yesterday (Monday) with my family and made a point of crossing Conifer and 10th a couple times by taking the road route down. The situation did not look that great. While the cover was reasonably thick, scratchy surface all around. 10th looked a bit better than conifer. Hopefully this weeks cold temps make things better. These cold/warm cycles are brutal.

Bill29
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Posted: Jan 03, 2012 - 8:24 PM GMT

The weather people are predicting single digit temps for Central Mass. tonight and below freezing temps for Wednesday (Jan. 4). If they are correct, WAWA ought to be able to get a fair amount of snow down n the open trails and make some progress on opening some more. Smith-Walton still isn't open, or wasn't the last time I looked. They must have lost lots of business over the vacation week.

smelick
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Posted: Jan 03, 2012 - 8:58 PM GMT

We went Thursday and by Wachusett standards it was a ghost town. The Polar Express was ski on all day long. The Minuteman Express had a 5 minute wait at the busiest part of the day. After talking with the staff and hitting the webcam everyday this was a typical day for them last week - a far cry from the normal 45 minute waits you'd see. A part of me feels bad for them while another has little sympathy

. Conditions were pretty good too. Challenger was a magnificent stretch of corduroy bliss.

-Scott

medford_mike
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Posted: Jan 05, 2012 - 1:28 AM GMT

I went Monday (January 2nd) morning and it was empty as well especially for Wachusett. Although not everyone got the 2nd off in place of the 1st so that could have been part of it. Maybe it got a lot busier in the afternoon but I left around 11 am and there was virtually no wait. December 26th was not much busier in the morning.

On the 2nd you could see where the temps from the New Years holiday weekend had taken a big toll. Although this cold snap should really help. I have a love (location) hate (crowds) relationship with Wachusett but I think they do as much as they possibly can when it comes to grooming and snowmaking.

jedk
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Posted: Jan 05, 2012 - 10:57 PM GMT

Working on Smith Walton today and snow is piling up nicely.
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hrstrat57
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Posted: Jan 05, 2012 - 11:58 PM GMT

Cross posted from another thread here...

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Finally got my boots on a ski hill today.....1/2 day at Wachusett Mountain

Ski on ski off as usual for weekday. Conifer, 10th and Ralph's were loose granular, a bit sketchy in spots but well covered. Hitchcock(my fav trail at wa) and Challenger were true packed powder bliss, high whales to glide over and not a slipped edge to be found anywhere. Fantastic!

Our original plan had been either Catamount, Butternut or Berkshire East but that trip had to be scrubbed. A great half day of skiing.

Smith looks almost ready to groom and it appeared that Look Ma was being prepared to open tonight.

Now the bad....

$53 midweek....yep you read that right! I love Wa but that is way off the mark......the $5 back at 12:30 helps a wee bit but even $48....wow what is our sport coming too?

Equally bad it appears Honey Dew on 146 S is closing. No jelly stick on the way home. The end of an era

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let's go while we're young!

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