First turns of the 2003-2004 Season! I matched my earliest opening day with last year’s November 30th at Cannon Mountain. Sadly, Cannon has delayed their opening day one week this year, so I opted for the cheapest lift ticket I could find with Waterville Valley weighing in at only $25.00. Upon parking my car, I started jumping up and down next to my car in anticipation. It was a child-like giddiness.
A park was built next to the lodge but I did not walk over for a closer inspection. Skiing was available on the High Country Double only in the morning with uploading via the High Speed Quad. The High Country Double was running as slowly as ever and offered only one trail open underneath. This lift officially gets my nod for the slowest chair lift in New England. Twice as slow as the Willoughby Quad at Burke without the slightest bit of an exaggeration. With long lines early in the day, one racer decided it would be quicker simply to hike back up! And it was!
The trail under the high country double was horribly scraped up as early as 8:30 A.M. The skiers left edge had the goods though featuring the pushed over snow. They were still making snow and grooming Tippiecanoe, so all traffic was directed to the High Country. Considering only one trail was open to the public, the race team practicing was taking up an exceptionally large slice of real estate.
After two runs, the lift wait plus ride time was up to around 15-20 minutes. I decided to take a break and waited for the rope to drop on Tippiecanoe and was not disappointed when it did. Decent man made groomed snow with pockets of sweet loose granular on the sides. This trail was jam packed with skiers, most going too fast and out of control. After a few runs, I again decided to take a break. Later I returned to find nice and soft pushed around snow on Tippiecanoe which made for some soft mini-bumps.
They were blowing snow on the two trails next to Tippie… so Waterville should be skiing top to bottom sometime this week. High Country was looking really ugly by my last run around noon while Tippie was in top shape! Considering the recent warmer temperatures and rail, things could certainly have been a lot worse at Waterville Valley. Not bad for a first day out.