Yesterday was the first day this season I've skied there with the blacks open, as well as all of the blues. It was nice to have more options. Athough after running into
@BlueSkies and hearing that Smith was icy I decided to stick with just 10th Mountain for the blacks.
Mask wise all seemed safe enough. I saw a couple of noses further away from me in the lift line, and a couple of the open nose masks. But nothing wide spread, and I did hear the lifty ask someone to cover his nose. So a handful of partially masked in the 4 1/2 hours I was there. I'll probably write Wachusett later today to ask if they have any plans to combat the open nose masks. Funny thing was I heard one woman complaining about how she saw some kid without a mask, and she herself was wearing an open nose one. ???
The lifties were generally loading 2 singles to a quad, but those who wanted to ride solo could just ask to do so.
The lodge is now open, but basically a ghost town on weekdays. Few tables, and very few people at them. The cafeteria is also open, so good to know I can still get a cheap baked potato to take back outside if I forget my lunch.
There is a no bags inside policy, but they have now moved a few cubbies outside by the ski check (which is not checking skis this year.) So you could boot up outside the lodge and not walk in boots, as well as keep your lunch close by. And I guess you could also bring a hair dryer and find an outdoor outlet if taking your boots off when cold is an issue. There aren't a ton of cubbies, but it is something. Or you could hang a bag on the ski check racks.
One thing I noted that is different this year is the multiple time slots for tickets. Or maybe I should say more obvious. Before you could get full day or half day. This year there are set blocks from 9- 12:30 and 12:30 to 4, and even two night sessions on weekends. The upshot of this is that it used to get a quieter around lunch time when some left, and some went in the lodge, and would stay fairly quiet until the school busses rolled in around 2:30- 3. Yesterday it got quieter around 11 when the locals went home, but at 1 the mid mountain lift started getting busier as the next batch of skiers came in. But most seemed to be on rentals, and sticking to the greens and mid mountain blues, so the summit lift and runs were still quiet.