Skiing Waterville Valley
December 15th, 2024
Runs: 13
Distance: 8.65 miles
Elevation: 10,225 feet
Max Speed: 21.9 mph
Avg. Speed: 8.3 mph
Moving Time: 58 minutes, 33 seconds
Total Time: 5 hours, 23 minutes, 5 seconds
First day of the season! That is, if you're not counting my day at Big Snow on July 29th (I decided I am not, even though it's VERY funny to ski in a New Jersey mall in the summertime). Truly, my goals for the season are just to ski more and if I improve a little bit while doing so, even better! I was flirting with heading to Pats Peak or Ragged, but ultimately decided with heading up to Waterville Valley. I want to wait until more of Pats and Ragged are open before exploring a new mountain, while I hit Waterville twice last year, so I was more or less familiar. I texted Gen and Sarah and they were both on board, and then Sarah's mom joined on, and then her brother, and then they ran into their cousins, too! It was a silly fun day of Gen and I joining someone else's family, again!
We got to the parking lot around 8:30am (lifts started spinning at 8:00am) and got booted up at the car before heading to the lodge to get our lift tickets and use the bathroom. Our plan was to start in the Lower Meadows area to get a few "remember how to ski" runs in before going up the mountain and seeing what was happening up there. We ran into Sarah and Mom, who were running a half hour behind us, as we headed out. Skiing!!!
Runs 1-4
Run 1: Lower Meadows - Stemtation
[0.21 mi; 1:45; 180 ft; 14.9 mph max; 7.1 mph avg]
Run 2: Lower Meadows - Revelation
[0.24 mi; 1:56; 190 ft; 14.9 mph max; 7.1 mph avg]
Run 3: Lower Meadows - Leroy's Loop
[0.25 mi; 1:34; 171 ft; 18.1 mph max; 9.1 mph avg]
Run 4: Lower Meadows - Revelation - Baseway
[0.23 mi; 2:52; 141 ft; 16.5 mph max; 4.8 mph avg]
The first four runs were nice and easy and provided us some nice time to find our sea legs again. We skied from the base lodge down past the ski school to the Lower Meadows double (a similar voyage from the Jay Stateside Lodge to the Jet) and then conquered the first challenge of the day - remembering how to get on a chair. After a brief moment of internal panic, we both successfully made it on! I still have some trauma from my snaffus at Bolton Valley at the end of last season...
Our first run was down the main trail in this pod - Stemtation. It was a wide trail with frozen corduroy. I definitely (think I) noticed that my skis were moving quicker since I just got them waxed and sharpened. I kind of remembered how to turn, but I still hadn't a single clue what to do with my poles. One step at a time!
Run #2 was down Revelation, which was steeper than I was emotionally prepped for, and run #3 was down Leroy's Loop, which was much more enjoyable. At this point though, the bees started to arrive. I started called massive pods of children all skiing to a chair bees because it truly feels like a swarm of bees coming in. We decided this would be our last run in this area because the line had suddenly double/tripled in size. We followed Revelation halfway down and followed Baseway past the snow guns and back to the lodge for a pee break. We ran into Sarah's extended family who were heading up the Tecumseh Express, so we agreed to wait for them at the bottom. This was followed by a desperate search for free water in the lodge, which was much more difficult than anticipated, but we eventually got a cup from the coffee shop...
Run 5
Run #5: Tecumseh Express - White Caps - Upper Sel's Choice - Tommy's World Cup Run - Lower Preiphery
[1.09 mi; 8:07; 1,686 ft; 18.2 mph max; 7.7 mph max]
Now we had officially joined our new family and headed up the Tecumseh Express! Sarah and her mom said the initial route they took down was "...fine," with a brutal middle section, so they wanted to try a different way this time. We got in the incredibly comfortable six-pack and zoomed up. I forgot how slow the disembarkment was on this lift, it basically comes to a screeching hault and then lets you out (unlike the Flyer at Jay that shoots you out - I think I prefer that way).
From the top, we banged a left and headed down White Caps, which was a big jump in skill from the easy greens we started the day with. It skied pretty well, though. No better way to remember how to ski than to plunge to the gates of hell right away! Things got interesting once we hit the junction with The Chute/Upper Sel's Choice. It was STEEP and basically a massive sheet of ice. This was some rough skiing, and Sarah even said it so I know I wasn't being a weenie! This led us into Tommy's World Cup Run, which was 5% better, but still rough. We didn't realize that this route had black runs, as Sarah's mom was in charge. When I saw the sign later on, I said to Sarah under my breath "do NOT let Gen know this is a black" - unfortunately Gen did read the sign, but on the plus side, she's officially skied her first black! On the plus side, once at the bottom, Lower Periphery was lovely! We took some deep breaths, and I begged Sarah to teach Gen and I how to use a T-Bar so we can delay another run like that one.
Runs 6-9
Run #6: Tecumseh Express - High Country T-Bar - Tree Line
[0.38 mi; 2:46; 420 ft; 16.5 mph max; 7.5 mph avg]
Run #7: High Country T-Bar - Tree Line
[0.39 mi; 2:25; 397 ft; 20.1 mph max; 9.0 mph avg]
Run #8: High Country T-Bar - Tree Line
[0.40 mi; 2:37; 417 ft; 19.5 mph max; 9.0 mph avg]
Run #9: High Country T-Bar - Tree Line - Tippecanoe - Siegel Street - Lower Old Tecumseh - Lower Periphery
[1.56 mi; 9:38; 2,070 ft; 21.3 mph max; 9.2 mph avg]
Our next batch of runs were MUCH more enjoyable. We rode the six-pack up and then went over the High Country T-Bar. Sarah gave us a thorough coaching on what to do and we got to watch a bunch of folks before us do it. For better or for worse, it was a double T-Bar, so Gen and I got to snuggle as we feared for our lives! It honestly wasn't that bad once I knew what to expect. There was some racing/training going on the main slope, so we went over to the Treeline Run, which on this day was a lovely series of banked turns leading over a couple jumps that were easy to go slow over. It was DELIGHTFUL, and a nice redemption run from our last run! We ended up lapping this a few times before heading all the way down for lunch. The route down Tippecanoe - Siegel Street - Lower Old Tecumseh was much better, although still a bit rough. Tippecanoe was remarkably steep for a blue run, and there were still some spots that were aggressively skied off, making for some exciting "turns," which were more like parallel skids (again Sarah validated me in this). Sarah also gave me a great tip that made me so angry - "skiing is like marching band, you need to seperate your lower and upper body and stay in a slide position" - which unfortunately helped my form more than I care to admit. All roads lead back to marching band!
Runs 10-13
Run #10: Tecumseh Express - Upper Bobby's Run - Terry's Trail - Old Tecumseh - Lower Old Tecumseh - Lower Periphery
[1.34 mi; 8:06; 1,677 ft; 21.7 mph max; 9.9 mph avg]
Run #11: Tecumseh Express - High Countryr T-Bar - Tree Line
[0.39 mi; 2:25; 420 ft; 21.9 mph max; 8.3 mph avg]
Run #12: High Country T-Bar - Tree Line
[0.41 mi; 2:29; 423 ft; 21.5 mph max; 9.5 mph avg]
Run #13: High Country T-Bar - Tree Line - Tippecanoe - Siegel Street - Lower Old Tecumseh - Lower Periphery
[1.75 mi; 11:04; 2,080 ft; 20.0 mph max; 9.1 mph avg]
We had a very nutritious lunch at the cafeteria, filling our bellies up with chicken tenders, mac and cheese, and chips. Overpriced, but a ski lodge cafeteria chicken tender hits like no other, truly. After lunch, Gen decided she was done with the upper mountain, which was fair. She headed back over to the Lower Meadows area and we headed up the six-pack. I thought we were going back to the T-Bar, but Sarah's cousin needed to leave for work, so we did another trip down connecting some different open runs. I concluded the only ways down the mountain were steep and icy, and that was just a fact I had to live with. I did feel like I was making some improvements along with dusting off the cobwebs, specifically on pole-planting and keeping my weight forward. Afterwards, we headed back up for a few more runs on Tree Line, which were absolutely delightful. Since it was nearing the winter solstice, the sun was already beginning to set around 2:00pm, and the light was flattening, so we called it after a few laps and did one final, slippery ride down.
Our day ended by meeting up with Gen in the lodge (who naturally had found a fireplace to roast by), changing, and heading upstairs to the Freestyle Lounge for a quick apres. We shared stories from our trips, notably to Saddleback, and had a lovely time together! It was really fun to ski with Sarah and her (extended) family, and Gen too, of course! Sarah might even join Gen and I for our Saddleback trip this upcoming February!
Writing this now a couple days later, I'm super excited to get up to Jay this weekend. My lower back is killing me, but I'm hoping that's just becasue its sore from using these muscles in a way they haven't been used in a while, and not because I've been doing something terribly wrong. Time will tell!
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