Serafina
Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Population to whom the ski area's website markets: families
Population for whom the mountain is appropriate: high-end teenaged ski racers
About me: not a native New Englander, but a native New England skier. Comfortable on narrow runs, have no notion what to do with powder but can comfortably ski six different kinds of ice. Hate bumps because they're always rock-hard. Will ski steep blacks as long as they are not covered with east-coast bumps or sheets of boilerplate ice. Unimpressed by hardpack, because I have THE skis for that.
The positive things about this mountain:
*Lift system is incredibly easy to navigate
*Area is small and virtually all runs point down to the base, so very difficult to get lost or even separated for long
*Views from face of mountain are fantastic
*Residential development handled very well - ski area is not built up and can't be; plenty of condos and available lodging at a small distance from the hill; regular free shuttle buses make the circuit between the ski area and the housing
*Easy access to other winter sports such as snowshoeing, ice skating (indoor), and cross-country skiing
Things about this mountain I wish I had known:
*Novice terrain is limited to a tiny ghetto off the main ski area, plus one straight short strip down the side
*Only one true intermediate run despite large number of "blue" runs; most true intermediate terrain can only be accessed by way of trails requiring advanced or expert skills
*Mountain lacks a true cruiser (green or blue)
*Problem with snowmaking and grooming (more below)
*Public ice skating hours very limited; minimal dining choices in the village
*Apres-ski scene is a bust; base amenities are negligible; beer choices very limited
The first thing you see when you walk into the base lodge at Waterville Valley (WV) is the NASTAR desk. This, frankly, tells you most of what you need to know about this mountain. The runs pour straight down the face, and if what you want to do is spend your day ripping high-speed GS turns on challenging terrain, you will love this place.
If what you want is a broad selection of terrain, or to do cruisers, or to have a nice mellow ski at any point, this is not the place for you. This pretty much a race hill. There were major-league races going on when I visited (rode the lift with the Burke Mountain Academy), and watching the racers warm up on the hill makes it very clear - if the NASTAR desk did not - what this mountain is all about: racing, training racers, and more racing.
The only run that approximates a cruiser (and I say "approximates" because it is both terrifying in places, and short) is Oblivion, which runs from the first summit-type area (mountain functionally has two peaks, but only one face) down to the green strip at the base. This run is narrow enough to be a little exciting at the summit, but involves a true hairpin turn with the mountain dropping away in what look like cliffs on the outside. Other than that terrifying hairpin turn - and remember, I like narrow runs so when I say "terrifying" you can take that to the bank - the run is not particularly challenging. It's not really long enough to be a cruiser, and the top part of it certainly is not mellow. There is no other run on this mountain that could reasonably qualify as a cruiser, which is why I say that it lacks one.
This is compounded by what I think of as Surface Maintenance. In the week where I visited WV, there was a ski weather disaster on Monday - warm, and rain, followed by plunging temperatures on Tuesday - freezing anything that got rained on or melted. I understand that these are very challenging circumstances to recover from. I visited WV on Thursday, so the mountain had functionally 48 hours to recover through careful grooming and lots of snowmaking, which is what all the other mountains were doing (according to snow reports). WV either was unable to marshall those resources, or unable to deploy them effectively, or didn't try. This was my first trip to this ski area, so I'm not sure which it was.
The snow report was comprehensively and wildly inaccurate, reporting "packed powder" conditions, when the reality was that it was a combination of straight-up frozen granular and machine-groomed frozen granular. Unsurprising, given earlier in the week, but it would have been nice to seen an honest report.
While I was there, the snow cats were completely occupied in building some sort of park feature. As mentioned before, there was a large GS race taking place on the property, so I can understand the mountain devoting some assets to preparing that course. What I couldn't understand is that there was no evidence of major snowmaking activity taking place since the Thaw. There were snow guns firing for about 150 feet on the intermediate run, but no evidence of recent snowmaking activities anywhere else.
Most ski areas seem to have a couple of runs that are as beautifully maintained as possible, given conditions, and in my experience, is typically is a blue run for true intermediate skiers. It is also usually the WROD: first run to open, last run to close, and because of this, has pretty concentrated snowmaking/grooming activities. I found a handful of long-time season passholders (classic Yankee skiers, not kids) and asked them where I might find a run like that on the mountain, as I wanted to make sure I was getting a representative sampling, and not just picking the out-of-the-way stuff. They were not able to speak to the premier run question with any confidence, despite having skied the (small) mountain for years, which tells me that there probably is not such a run at this hill...but they think that Tippecanoe was usually in pretty good shape.
I had already skied Tippecanoe. This blue run was so steep that I had to stop and check my map to make sure I hadn't gotten lost and wandered onto a black. This run would have been classed as a black at Mount Snow, Berkshire East (another racing hill, but with better terrain choices), Okemo, Bromley, and Stratton. It wasn't too steep for me, but it was covered with an absolutely blanket of death cookies that had been chewed up from the Thaw, but not mixed in with any actual snow. The entire thing was one busted-up sheet of ice. I was grateful that it was at least busted up, but that would NOT be my surface of choice for skiing a run that steep. This run, and the adjacent runs, were like skiing on a gravel road - the death cookies were large and heavy enough that they didn't kick up in a spray at the bottom of a turn like loose granular does. In addition, there weren't any real run-outs on the top half of the run. The bottom half of the run was true intermediate terrain, but could not be accessed directly by any lift. I am aware that I was seeing this mountain (hopefully) at its worst, but I suspect that the likely outcome of even a recent snowfall - given the exposure and the pitch - is that the face gets scraped down to hardpack extremely quickly.
Beyond this, there were a few other undesirable elements. The mountain staff were invisible, and those that were visible were not helpful. I never saw any kind of mountain ambassador or ski patroller while I was there. The machine-groomed frozen gran had stripped the wax off my bases and chewed up my edges, so I needed a manicure for my sticks, and the lifties were unable to tell me where to take my skis for maintenance. The most helpful person I found was the coach of the Burke Mtn Academy ski team, who I rode on the lift with once, and who was at least able to tell me that there was a ski repair shop somewhere in the base area. The staff in the shop were curt, suspicious, and rude. The bartenders were friendly, but the options were very limited.
I am well aware that the green/blue/black rating is mountain-specific, but I was frankly unable to tell any difference between the north-side blues and the blacks that were open on this hill. Many of the blacks were simply closed, and a good thing, too, given the conditions elsewhere on the hill. My conclusion is that that the operators of the ski area have probably arbitrarily designated some of the advanced runs as "blues" simply to avoid scaring recreational skiers off by showing an excessive percentage of advanced terrain. The truth, however, is that if you are a novice, or on the lower-end of intermediate skills, you will find very little terrain that is suitable for you at WV. If you want to plunge down the mountain on a hard, fast surface, on runs that are usually wide enough to handle a GS turn, it's a great place to be.
Population for whom the mountain is appropriate: high-end teenaged ski racers
About me: not a native New Englander, but a native New England skier. Comfortable on narrow runs, have no notion what to do with powder but can comfortably ski six different kinds of ice. Hate bumps because they're always rock-hard. Will ski steep blacks as long as they are not covered with east-coast bumps or sheets of boilerplate ice. Unimpressed by hardpack, because I have THE skis for that.
The positive things about this mountain:
*Lift system is incredibly easy to navigate
*Area is small and virtually all runs point down to the base, so very difficult to get lost or even separated for long
*Views from face of mountain are fantastic
*Residential development handled very well - ski area is not built up and can't be; plenty of condos and available lodging at a small distance from the hill; regular free shuttle buses make the circuit between the ski area and the housing
*Easy access to other winter sports such as snowshoeing, ice skating (indoor), and cross-country skiing
Things about this mountain I wish I had known:
*Novice terrain is limited to a tiny ghetto off the main ski area, plus one straight short strip down the side
*Only one true intermediate run despite large number of "blue" runs; most true intermediate terrain can only be accessed by way of trails requiring advanced or expert skills
*Mountain lacks a true cruiser (green or blue)
*Problem with snowmaking and grooming (more below)
*Public ice skating hours very limited; minimal dining choices in the village
*Apres-ski scene is a bust; base amenities are negligible; beer choices very limited
The first thing you see when you walk into the base lodge at Waterville Valley (WV) is the NASTAR desk. This, frankly, tells you most of what you need to know about this mountain. The runs pour straight down the face, and if what you want to do is spend your day ripping high-speed GS turns on challenging terrain, you will love this place.
If what you want is a broad selection of terrain, or to do cruisers, or to have a nice mellow ski at any point, this is not the place for you. This pretty much a race hill. There were major-league races going on when I visited (rode the lift with the Burke Mountain Academy), and watching the racers warm up on the hill makes it very clear - if the NASTAR desk did not - what this mountain is all about: racing, training racers, and more racing.
The only run that approximates a cruiser (and I say "approximates" because it is both terrifying in places, and short) is Oblivion, which runs from the first summit-type area (mountain functionally has two peaks, but only one face) down to the green strip at the base. This run is narrow enough to be a little exciting at the summit, but involves a true hairpin turn with the mountain dropping away in what look like cliffs on the outside. Other than that terrifying hairpin turn - and remember, I like narrow runs so when I say "terrifying" you can take that to the bank - the run is not particularly challenging. It's not really long enough to be a cruiser, and the top part of it certainly is not mellow. There is no other run on this mountain that could reasonably qualify as a cruiser, which is why I say that it lacks one.
This is compounded by what I think of as Surface Maintenance. In the week where I visited WV, there was a ski weather disaster on Monday - warm, and rain, followed by plunging temperatures on Tuesday - freezing anything that got rained on or melted. I understand that these are very challenging circumstances to recover from. I visited WV on Thursday, so the mountain had functionally 48 hours to recover through careful grooming and lots of snowmaking, which is what all the other mountains were doing (according to snow reports). WV either was unable to marshall those resources, or unable to deploy them effectively, or didn't try. This was my first trip to this ski area, so I'm not sure which it was.
The snow report was comprehensively and wildly inaccurate, reporting "packed powder" conditions, when the reality was that it was a combination of straight-up frozen granular and machine-groomed frozen granular. Unsurprising, given earlier in the week, but it would have been nice to seen an honest report.
While I was there, the snow cats were completely occupied in building some sort of park feature. As mentioned before, there was a large GS race taking place on the property, so I can understand the mountain devoting some assets to preparing that course. What I couldn't understand is that there was no evidence of major snowmaking activity taking place since the Thaw. There were snow guns firing for about 150 feet on the intermediate run, but no evidence of recent snowmaking activities anywhere else.
Most ski areas seem to have a couple of runs that are as beautifully maintained as possible, given conditions, and in my experience, is typically is a blue run for true intermediate skiers. It is also usually the WROD: first run to open, last run to close, and because of this, has pretty concentrated snowmaking/grooming activities. I found a handful of long-time season passholders (classic Yankee skiers, not kids) and asked them where I might find a run like that on the mountain, as I wanted to make sure I was getting a representative sampling, and not just picking the out-of-the-way stuff. They were not able to speak to the premier run question with any confidence, despite having skied the (small) mountain for years, which tells me that there probably is not such a run at this hill...but they think that Tippecanoe was usually in pretty good shape.
I had already skied Tippecanoe. This blue run was so steep that I had to stop and check my map to make sure I hadn't gotten lost and wandered onto a black. This run would have been classed as a black at Mount Snow, Berkshire East (another racing hill, but with better terrain choices), Okemo, Bromley, and Stratton. It wasn't too steep for me, but it was covered with an absolutely blanket of death cookies that had been chewed up from the Thaw, but not mixed in with any actual snow. The entire thing was one busted-up sheet of ice. I was grateful that it was at least busted up, but that would NOT be my surface of choice for skiing a run that steep. This run, and the adjacent runs, were like skiing on a gravel road - the death cookies were large and heavy enough that they didn't kick up in a spray at the bottom of a turn like loose granular does. In addition, there weren't any real run-outs on the top half of the run. The bottom half of the run was true intermediate terrain, but could not be accessed directly by any lift. I am aware that I was seeing this mountain (hopefully) at its worst, but I suspect that the likely outcome of even a recent snowfall - given the exposure and the pitch - is that the face gets scraped down to hardpack extremely quickly.
Beyond this, there were a few other undesirable elements. The mountain staff were invisible, and those that were visible were not helpful. I never saw any kind of mountain ambassador or ski patroller while I was there. The machine-groomed frozen gran had stripped the wax off my bases and chewed up my edges, so I needed a manicure for my sticks, and the lifties were unable to tell me where to take my skis for maintenance. The most helpful person I found was the coach of the Burke Mtn Academy ski team, who I rode on the lift with once, and who was at least able to tell me that there was a ski repair shop somewhere in the base area. The staff in the shop were curt, suspicious, and rude. The bartenders were friendly, but the options were very limited.
I am well aware that the green/blue/black rating is mountain-specific, but I was frankly unable to tell any difference between the north-side blues and the blacks that were open on this hill. Many of the blacks were simply closed, and a good thing, too, given the conditions elsewhere on the hill. My conclusion is that that the operators of the ski area have probably arbitrarily designated some of the advanced runs as "blues" simply to avoid scaring recreational skiers off by showing an excessive percentage of advanced terrain. The truth, however, is that if you are a novice, or on the lower-end of intermediate skills, you will find very little terrain that is suitable for you at WV. If you want to plunge down the mountain on a hard, fast surface, on runs that are usually wide enough to handle a GS turn, it's a great place to be.
