[peltoms]

Today was our 50th ski outing of the season, our seasonal goal. It has not been a big snow year, but we have not seen our yard since December 9th, so consistent. We have cross country skied more than alpine, but today we did both. We left the house at 730 am and were on the slopes for the first run at 800 am. Mount Wachusett has 1000 vertical feet, so not bad for size. The conditions at Wachusett are almost always good, since we got there right as it opened, all the runs were perfect and groomed. We tried out the moguls, which were in pretty good condition, as well as a few side-trails. Also, we went to the small cider house, new this year, towards the bottom of Tenth, on the summit lift. The cider and cider donuts were very good, and it was nice and warm by the wood stove.

View from near the top of the base of the mountain and the scenery to the northeast

Lots of room for turns

Lynne on the corduroy

Mauri in the Moguls

Jill at the base of the moguls

The crowds had mounted by 11 am and we packed it in, school vacation week. We wrapped it up with 14 runs in total; the good thing was that even though the lines had gotten long, the slopes weren't crowded. At three in the afternoon we headed out the back door to ski. First a short one with the dogs, then a longer one without. It was very bright and sunny in the beginning. Our new snow had softened quite a bit, and melted in places in the woods. We tried to get our good pics in before the sun went behind the clouds. A few runs down the golf course and then we headed back!

Jill emerging from the woods into the field

In the field outback, winds have blown much of the snow out of this exposed field.

heading home down the golf course hill

Jill and Mauri

[JPH]

Waaaaaaa, Waaha Wachusett, Wachusett Mountain, Big mountain skiing just minutes awaaaay! Nice. We used to night ski there when visiting my sister at Worcester State.

[DIYSteve]

50 ski days by mid-Feb. Yeah baby! I've gotten 50+ days in each of the past three seasons, but my 50th day has never been earlier than May! (We PNW skiers like to rub the rest of the nation's nose in our ability to ski on, and often after, July 4). Thanks to El Nino, getting to 50 days this season will likely involve more skinny skiing than I've done since the 2004-05 Winter That Never Happened. Keep on slidin'

[SlowWalker]

Congrats, that's very cool!

[Scrooge]

Good times. When we lived in North Andover, our kids used to ski at Boston Hill, down on Rt 114. (I believe Wachusett put it out of business, sometime after we left there). I don't think Larch and I ever skied any closer to home than Mount Sunapee; but I do remember hiking a mile in snow from our apartment down to the nearest DeMoulas, when a 23" snowfall pretty much put a stop to traffic.

[Yana]

[Highwalker's Daughter]

Congratulations - that's a lot to get in for one season.

[SlowWalker]

[Trail Angel]

no wonder Jill is such a natural at the standing glissade!! Glad you're enjoying your winter! We're enjoying endless sun

[peltoms]

Just mix a bit of apple cider into the batter and voila. Speaking of sunshine, got a bit of sunburn skiing on Monday.