seb@mtgzy.UUCP (s.e.badian) (02/10/86)
This past weekend (Feb. 7 - 9) the Holmdel Ski Club went to Waterville Valley, in New Hampshire. Conditions were typical New England - some surface snow, mostly on the sides of the trails and lots of ice underneath. Cover was good, but only on snow-making trails. There were some rocks on non-snowmaking terrain. The weather was pretty good for February. It was in the teens with no wind on Saturday and partly cloudy skies. Sunday was very clear, a good wind blowing at the top and temps again in the teens. The most recent snow had been earlier that week, so most of it had been skied off long before we got there except for one trail that opened for the first time on Sunday. There was about 5 to 7 inches of fresh snow. Made for interesting skiing after all the ice. The mountain itself is "wimpy" as my husband described it. No moguls anywhere. Even the expert slopes aren't that tough. It's a mellow kind of place. We didn't wait in any long liftlines, but some people did. We're not sure why. There is a double and triple right next to each other at the base. The double goes all the way to the top, and always had a horrible line. The triple goes 2/3 of the way up and had no line. That's how we avoided the liftlines. All accommodation are in Waterville Valley. The village consists of lots of condos and inns. There aren't that many restaurants to choose from, and the general store doesn't supply basics for cooking. We ate at Alpine Pizza which had very good pizza. It's not fancy, but it's cheap. The height of the weekend came on the walk to and from the restaurant, which was about 20 minutes. It's hard to say since we dawdled because we were being treated to a spectacular display of the Northern Lights (Aurora Borealis to you astronomy types). What I would call a once in a lifetime experience. Too bad they don't happen more often or further south. All you more southern skiers are really missing out here. To sum it all up, don't go to Waterville Valley expecting Stowe or Sugarbush. It ain't. But it's a nice homey sort of place. A good place for families (I think it caters to mostly families from the Boston area). Sharon Badian ihnp4!mtgzz!mtgzy!seb