Attitash 1/23/16
Attitash
Conditions: Very firm/bullet proof/ice
Trip Report:
Well we were not going to ski Attitash because last year around this time the trails were rather crappy and not well taken care of. However, we thought that we should give it another chance and this year was no different. Unfortunately we arrived later than we would have liked but we got there in any case around 10:30.
When we arrived we headed right over to Bear Peak and skied down Avenger which is a great run but gets skied/snowboarded off quickly. It was super hard with a very thin layer of PP. We skied down Illusion where there was snow making going on and it skied well but there were whales so it was not an all-out cruiser. After a couple more runs on that side we opted to head back over to Attitash proper to do another run before eating lunch.
After eating we headed to the summit on what feels like the slowest chair in the East. We skied Upper and Lower Saco down to Idiots Option. The run had decent coverage but every now and then the tails would wash out which was a little freaky. Idiots Option was very firm and even though I sharped edges the night before it was not holding well. That run is pretty straight and fast so it was fun in any case.
Further down on Lower Cathedral there are some really nice rollers that are fun to catch air on but there was ice and landings were sometimes sketchy. We eventually resigned ourselves to skiing off the HSQ to ski the middle of the mountain. We skied Moat, Grandstand, Cathedral, Spillway and Whitehorse. Moat skied very fast and was scraped off at the top but had a good base about 1/3 the way down to the base the same was true for Grandstand. Upper Cathedral was good to Lower Cathedral (mentioned earlier) but was the most crowded. Spillway was s shit show for the first few pitches which are fairly steep. The reason it was bad was due to the idiots who think they need to stop and figure out a way down because they should not have been there in the first place. It was busy up top as well since it is somewhat narrow. Once past the pitches the runs were great and had the best cover. Whitehorse was really fun and tricky at times. It was top to bottom whales of varying size and contour. That run was definitely a work out. While the front trails were the most fun of the day, there were many sketchy sections. I saw a kid bite it on Spillway and this dude face planted big time where Grandstand and Moat merge after he decided to follow my son over a snow making bank. Never follow youth. There were plenty of others situations. While I saw many beginners, the conditions were not well suited for them.
The highlight off the day was the tribute to Veterans. They do it right. They have a parade of flags representing all military branches then hang them in Ptarmigan Bub - see pics below. The Ride and Ski party was a lot of fun and the band was awesome. They happen to play at Attitash and Wildcat. They do Johnny Cash justice as well as Grateful Dead, Eagles and others!
Our son who was in college in Florida has moved back to go to school up here and he had never skied at Attitash before which also influenced our decision. Having Veterans free and two comp tickets helped as well. Someone handed us their lift ticket while walking from the parking lot which ended up being the fourth we needed. All in all, it was a free lift ticket day to boot!
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I circled the whales (hard to see) but White horse was littered with those!
IMG_0864.JPG
Conditions: Very firm/bullet proof/ice
Trip Report:
Well we were not going to ski Attitash because last year around this time the trails were rather crappy and not well taken care of. However, we thought that we should give it another chance and this year was no different. Unfortunately we arrived later than we would have liked but we got there in any case around 10:30.
When we arrived we headed right over to Bear Peak and skied down Avenger which is a great run but gets skied/snowboarded off quickly. It was super hard with a very thin layer of PP. We skied down Illusion where there was snow making going on and it skied well but there were whales so it was not an all-out cruiser. After a couple more runs on that side we opted to head back over to Attitash proper to do another run before eating lunch.
After eating we headed to the summit on what feels like the slowest chair in the East. We skied Upper and Lower Saco down to Idiots Option. The run had decent coverage but every now and then the tails would wash out which was a little freaky. Idiots Option was very firm and even though I sharped edges the night before it was not holding well. That run is pretty straight and fast so it was fun in any case.
Further down on Lower Cathedral there are some really nice rollers that are fun to catch air on but there was ice and landings were sometimes sketchy. We eventually resigned ourselves to skiing off the HSQ to ski the middle of the mountain. We skied Moat, Grandstand, Cathedral, Spillway and Whitehorse. Moat skied very fast and was scraped off at the top but had a good base about 1/3 the way down to the base the same was true for Grandstand. Upper Cathedral was good to Lower Cathedral (mentioned earlier) but was the most crowded. Spillway was s shit show for the first few pitches which are fairly steep. The reason it was bad was due to the idiots who think they need to stop and figure out a way down because they should not have been there in the first place. It was busy up top as well since it is somewhat narrow. Once past the pitches the runs were great and had the best cover. Whitehorse was really fun and tricky at times. It was top to bottom whales of varying size and contour. That run was definitely a work out. While the front trails were the most fun of the day, there were many sketchy sections. I saw a kid bite it on Spillway and this dude face planted big time where Grandstand and Moat merge after he decided to follow my son over a snow making bank. Never follow youth. There were plenty of others situations. While I saw many beginners, the conditions were not well suited for them.
The highlight off the day was the tribute to Veterans. They do it right. They have a parade of flags representing all military branches then hang them in Ptarmigan Bub - see pics below. The Ride and Ski party was a lot of fun and the band was awesome. They happen to play at Attitash and Wildcat. They do Johnny Cash justice as well as Grateful Dead, Eagles and others!
Our son who was in college in Florida has moved back to go to school up here and he had never skied at Attitash before which also influenced our decision. Having Veterans free and two comp tickets helped as well. Someone handed us their lift ticket while walking from the parking lot which ended up being the fourth we needed. All in all, it was a free lift ticket day to boot!
IMG_0871.jpg
IMG_0863.JPG
IMG_0870.jpg
IMG_0872.JPG
I circled the whales (hard to see) but White horse was littered with those!
IMG_0864.JPG