Alpine Ski Areas in MA for a novice

[sli74]

Okay, so after my first foray into alpine skiing I think I have found yet another hobby to take up my time and money . . . and as I have said a number of times, I need another hobby like I need another hole in my head BUT nonetheless, I am looking for someplace within a one hour drive of Boston where I can buy a lift ticket and learn to ski without breaking the bank. I don't need a ton of trails just 1-2 novice slopes with a lift to get me up. I skied at Black Mountain in ME for $15 for a half day and cannot find anything in MA that is in that price range.

Any suggestions, even a small mom and pop place will do . . . it just has to be affordable. Thanks guys,

sli74

 

[Barbarossa]

Nashoba or Wachusett might be the ticket.

 

[Mark_151]

A bit more than 1 hour, maybe about 1.5 to 2 for you, but I skied here for the first time yesterday: Berkshire East

On Mondays they have "Coke Day" -- bring a Coka Cola product and you ski all day for $15! Very quiet place, and no rude morons! There was good novice terrain, as well as some of the steepest trails I've seen, surprising for a smallish mountain. Biggest lift line was about 30 seconds, and the lifty actually asked me to send some of the crowd over from Wachusett. Have fun.

Mark

 

[MichaelJ]

I've been going at least once a week to Wachusett for night skiing after work. It can be a bit crowded as all the after-school groups are there, but they tend to not occupy the beginner trails (it's a slower lift), take a dinner break right when I get there, and leave between 7 and 8 when I'm just getting serious.

The easy trails are wide and easy and a good place to get going. Ralph's Run is a perfect progression trail to intermediate stuff, and when you're ready for a blue Conifer Connection is a solid challenge without being a risk. I really like it there.

If you ever want to time a trip with one of mine, let me know. I'm currently planning on this Thursday for my next trek out there. I'm the one with the "VFTT" sticker on his helmet.

 

[Mark_151]

I've been going at least once a week to Wachusett for night skiing after work. It can be a bit crowded as all the after-school groups are there, but they tend to not occupy the beginner trails (it's a slower lift), take a dinner break right when I get there, and leave between 7 and 8 when I'm just getting serious.

The easy trails are wide and easy and a good place to get going. Ralph's Run is a perfect progression trail to intermediate stuff, and when you're ready for a blue Conifer Connection is a solid challenge without being a risk. I really like it there.

If you ever want to time a trip with one of mine, let me know. I'm currently planning on this Thursday for my next trek out there. I'm the one with the "VFTT" sticker on his helmet.

Hey, anyone for a mini-Gathering at WA? I'm a Century Pass holder, so I'm pretty much a regular. Evenings are best for me as well, and I'm flexible -- I'm 20 minutes from the mountain. I'm easy to pick out, ususally the only telemarker in site, and it's not pretty Next week, however, during Feb Vacation it will be known as WaZOOchett.

 

[Rick]

Hi Seema -
There is also this place in Shrewsbury for $20 per half day. It is smaller, but seems like a great place to learn. I cannot tell you anything about it, other than sometimes I pass it going to work and am impressed that this littel slope is so close to the 'burbs.

Ski Ward

 

[SherpaKroto]

Don't ignore Blue Hills $15 from 6-10PM on Sunday night, $22 for an 8 hour ticket on weekdays, $26 for a 4 hour ticket on Weekends. Close, and pretty good when conditions are right. I love to ski, but it gets real expensive real quick...

 

[Gris]

Just a reminder re the obvious - if you have your own equipment and enough energy you don't HAVE to go to a ski area and pay. Any old hill will do, esp. if looking at beginning level.

 

[Dugan]

Between Berkshire East and Wachusett, I much prefer Berkshire East even though I'm closer to Wachusett by 20-30 minutes.

For small locals, there's place in Barre called Pine Ridge. Never been there.

 

[Mr. X]

Bradford is super cheap. It's in Haverhill, MA

Ski Bradford

 

[Blue]

Seema,

I'm not a big fan of Wa Wachusett (too crowded), but you can sometimes get a cheaper ticket that only includes beginner lifts. It's $26 for whole day lower lift and $21 for a 1/2 day. If you want to include all the lifts, I can get you a $4 discount from that certain large university that I work for..

Blue Hills is a good option, but I wonder about the snow conditions given the warmer temps and lack of recent snow.

One other note: night skiing usually has more ice. I grew up night skiing, so whenever I hit ice, I never freak out because I grew used to it.

ski on,
-Liza

 

[sli74]

For those that are familiar with Wachusett, when they say "surface lifts" what are they talking about and what trails would that include? Also how many of the trails would the Monadnock Chair lift include?

Thanks for all the suggestions. I might try and get together with you Wachusett skiers for some night skiing IF I can get out of work early enough sometime. Thanks again,

sli74

 

[MadRiver]

A surface lift is a J or T bar or rope tow, which means your skis never leave the ground. You are basically pulled up the slope rather than lifted into the air as in a chair lift.

There is one down side to skiing that you should know, and that is it can be addicting. I have been skiing since I was 8 years old and there are times as I ride the Quad at Waterville Valley and look over to see the Franconia Ridge or the tip of Washington, that I become torn between the love of skiing and the love of hiking.

No doubt in the larger scheme of things being torn between skiing and hiking is small in comparison with other more pressing matters, but it can be frustrating at times. Especially when I read trip reports saying that the ridge was spectacular. So keep that in mind before you venture forth into another winter sport.

 

[Mark_151]

For those that are familiar with Wachusett, when they say "surface lifts" what are they talking about and what trails would that include? Also how many of the trails would the Monadnock Chair lift include?

Thanks for all the suggestions. I might try and get together with you Wachusett skiers for some night skiing IF I can get out of work early enough sometime. Thanks again,

sli74

Surface lifts are lifts in which you are pulled or conveyed up the mountain with your feet on the ground -- rope or handle tows and "magic carpets" are two. J-bars, t-bars, etc. are other types. At Wa, Monadnock serves the beginner slopes to the left facing the hill. You'll get very quickly tired of riding the Monadnock Triple though. The other night I rode up there to get away from the crowds and there was a kid walking up the slope under the lift. The chair was stopped (very frequent occurrence) after he went out of my sight for about 1 minute, and he caught up with my chair in a matter of seconds.

There is one handle tow at the top of the Monadnock area, but I've never seen it operating.

Mark

 

[MadRiver]

To add to what Skimom said about muscles, I have found that if I do a few Death Marches in the late fall, my legs are in much better shape for skiing than if I hadn’t hiked prior to ski season. The reverse is also true, if I ski a lot in the winter, my legs are in much better condition for spring hiking. So skimom was correct, there is an up side to skiing and hiking. In any event, have fun.

 

[dave.m]

The secret for learning to ski quickly is good terrain.

Wachussett has the best learning terrain I've ever seen. If you want to rack up miles getting down the basics of wedge turns, this is the place to do it, imo. To avoid crowds, take a day off work and go mid week.

Blue Hills is OK once you can handle intermediate trails. The main slope has enough pitch to warrant attention. Their second trail has a narrow top ending with a steep roller which can be off putting to beginner skiers. Their easy trail just isn't open unless you get a 2 foot dump. And lastly, their beginner's area is a law suit waiting to happen. There is no run out, a magic carpet in the middle of the hill and all sorts of unpadded construction debris and fire hydrants. What a war zone.

 

[TJH]

Waaaaaa Wa Wa Chusett

Wachusett definitly. Its just about an hour from Boston and if you can get there midweek, non-holiday, before the after school crowd gets there, you can't go wrong. I stopped skiing 6 years ago and switched to snowboarding. I wouldn't rule out giving snowboarding a shot to find out what you like better.

If you don't have your own equipment, you might want to consider demo-ing the stuff rather than getting the run of the mill rental gear. At Wachusett you can do this, it will cost about 10 - 15 dollars more but in my opinion well worth it. I know this for a fact with some of the rental snowboards some mountains have. Heavy cheap rigid things. It could be the difference between someone getting the basics of the sport and progressing nicely, or someone having a frustrating first day because of the crappy equipment and giving up. My 2 cents. Tim

 

[Nadine]

Sorry I'm not familiar with any of the ski areas in MA. But I'm into free heel skiing and would love to come to a gathering that involved skiing

 

[MadRiver]

BTW: Happy birthday Skimom

 

[Quietman]

I haven't skied in MA recently but Crotched in NH has reopened and has some good deals. I found these 2 links that might be helpful.

Mass Ski areas

Ski Deals in NH

I skied at Black in ME last Saturday and was very impressed. Although there are only 3 trails from the top, there are lots of nooks to explore. No double blacks but a couple of good steep cruisers. Best of all, on a Saturday with 2 feet of fresh powder(well groomed), skied 1,200 of vert. all day with nothing even approaching a lift line for $18!
I'm sure that Sunday River 10 miles away was skied off by 11am.