2020/2021 Ski Days 3-15

Barred Owl at Berkshire East

It was a rough season, mostly spent in-state. The lines at WaWa were awful, so I ventured out to Berkshire East, which is a great little place. NH and ME opened up late in the season, so I got to hit Loon, Cannon, and Sunday River.

Day 3: Wachusett
Day 4: Wachusett
Day 5: Sunapee
Day 6: Berkshire East
Day 7: Wachusett
Day 8: Berkshire East
Day 9: Berkshire East
Day 10: Berkshire East
Day 11: Cannon
Day 12: Cannon
Day 13: Sunday River
Day 14: Saddleback
Day 15: Loon
Booting up in the lot loses its charm above freezing
Cabanas at Berkshire East
Snow day at Cannon
Looking down Profile, at Cannon
Thin conditions at Sunday River
Saddleback, very late season: Dazzler, on the way to Tight Line
Saddleback: Tight Line
Loon: Final, snowy day

2020/2021 Ski Day 2: Wachusett

My first “real” day of skiing was in-state, at good old WaWa. It’s possible that COVID-19 travel restrictions may mean I don’t ski a single day outside of Massachusetts. I expect to become acquainted with the likes of Berkshire East and Jiminy Peak before too long.

Thanks to COVID-19, skiing at WaWa is a time-restricted, by-reservation-only affair. I bought my slot for the day’s early session, 7:30 to 11:45. Conditions were about what one should expect for an early season day on all-manufactured snow. By about 9:30 what little powder there had been in the middle of the trail was gone, and I kept to the sides, where it had been shoved.

Looking down Conifer Connection
Looking to the left

2020/2021 Ski Day 1: Underwood Hill

The Boston area got some snow the night of October 30th: two to three inches in parts!

I awoke early Halloween morning deadset on skiing a small hill near my home: Underwood Hill, which leads down to the Underwood Pool (which a few years ago replaced its namesake, the first public swimming pool in the United States). As I loaded the car with skis and boots, the words to Billy Joel’s You May Be Right played through my head: I may be crazy. I knew that when I returned home, and my wife woke up, she would just shake her head and sigh.

A family arrived with sleds at just about the same time I did, and the Mom gave me a thumbs up as I proceeded with my ridiculous suburban ski adventure.

Underwood Hill, Belmont MA

After six laps I had gotten about as much satisfaction as I think that hill could deliver.

So that was my first outing of the new, still uncertain ski season. Six laps of a forty-one-foot-vertical hill.

It’s gotta be all up from here.

2019/2020 Ski Day 12: Killington

I took Friday off, driving up to Killington Thursday night. After a bite at a friendly pub I settled down in my room at the ever-practical Killington Motel.

I got up early and made one of the first Gondola cabins.

Blue sky and plenty of room to roam

The snow was in fine shape, but a little more natural stuff would have made things better. They have gone bonkers on snow-making, though, piling on to Superstar and aiming to ski into June.

The Superstar glacier

 

 

2019/2020 Ski Day 11: Loon

Biggest day of the year so far. The snow was not ideal, but it was fast.

I spent the last couple of runs making tight turns on the edges of trails, playing in what little powder I could find.

On the deck at Camp III

Break for a cold one