I was at Wachusett today for their opening. I work half days on Fridays, so I left home at 12:30pm and was walking in by 1:30pm. I was able to easily find a spot in the 3rd row of the parking lot and had my season pass printed at the outdoor ticket window.
There were no lift lines, I consistently skied right onto the lift every run with not more than a couple of people in front of me. Still the issue of people standing around outside of the lift gates.. I was there alone and rode the lift alone every time. That was somewhat sad because I do love random lift encounters with strangers. Most people were riding solo and no one tried to get on with someone outside of their party. I wore a face covering when arriving at and getting on/off the lift and would pull it down to ski and while riding the lift. Most others were doing the same. It was 60 degrees out, so quite warm otherwise I would have left it on more. When I arrived at my car at the end of the day my hair was soaking wet with sweat, I missed my vented helmet that’s in my bootbag in Maine..dislike my backup helmet now lol! With so few people you were never near anyone so I felt comfortable with how things went outside, and it followed Wachusett’s specific guidance on their website for face coverings. There were many patio heaters and spaced tables outside at the base area, along with new heated benches which are cool! They are really long so you can definitely sit on opposite ends with others, I wanted to try it but it was so warm I couldn’t stay seated long, it’ll be really nice when it gets colder. I didn’t go inside at all and didn’t need the bathroom. There were porta potties outside and food was being served outside too.
I had a great day, the snow was lovely! It was spring skiing, without the sticky snow and no ice. Really nice conditions for opening day. There were 3 high speed quads open with one way down from each and you had to walk between lifts at the base because they are not connected with snow yet, but that’s nice to spread things out. The surface lift for the bunny hill was open as well. Right around sunset I went to the summit and hiked the short distance to the observation deck above, it was gorgeous and a few other skiers had the same idea. Good thing I had my grip walk hybrid boots on haha. At that point the lights were starting to come on and I decided it was my last run. This was because the teenaged boy groups started coming out and were skiing as a pack jumping off of everything they could on the trail. That was my queue to exit, and typical of the start of night skiing. There were still no lift lines even though the trails started seeming a little more cluttered. People were lined up picking up tickets at the outdoor window on my way out, but everyone was masked and distanced.
We don’t know how this season is going to go, or how long it’ll last.. So my current feeling is to go as soon and as often as you can if you plan to ski, just in case! It was 100% worth it, felt so good to get out on snow.