‘A TOP-10 DAY’
Getaway to Wachusett is quick, easy and so worth it
Itwas a midweek afternoon when the mood hit me hard: I had to get out and ski the next day. Ahead on my work and armed with a personal day, I put the word out on social media: Pop-up ski day at Wachusett Mountain tomorrow. Who’s in?
By morning, I was meeting up with a dear college friend and making the quick trip out to Wachusett. Sun gleaming on the fresh corduroy snow as we pulled in, we could feel the day would be special. And it was.
That’s the thing about Wachusett Mountain. An easy hour from Boston and an easy hour-and-ahalf from my home base on the South Shore, it requires no planning to zip out for a great day on snow. And here’s the secret: Midweek, you’ll clock as much vertical as you might on a bigger mountain that’s harder to get to.
We popped into the base lodge to put on our boots and found plenty of room in the sun-splashed lodge. Steps from there, we hopped the high-speed quad, and our day had begun. Wachusett takes snow surface and grooming quite seriously. This day, cool enough to keep the snow firm but warm enough to soften it a bit, we found delicious corduroy to carve through all morning long while still soaking up sun on the lift.
Gleeful, we zipped up and down a multitude of trails, loving how each had a unique feel. Conifer Connection is a lovely moderate cruiser, winding along top to bottom and lined with thick trees. It has a true New England feel. Smith Walton (a spot for many a ski race through the years) and 10th Mountain are steeper, with enough pitch to make you work your turns in a fun way. Call them “thigh burners,” because they are.
My friend, Laurie, had not been on skis much lately and felt a bit off center. A lesson, I suggested, might do her good. And since it was midweek, we were able to get her into one easily. She headed off with her pro to finesse her turning; I kept up the fun pace of looping the trails and zooming to the top again on fast, modern lifts.
By midday, I’d clocked 17,000 vertical, and I wasn’t even done yet. I met back up with Laurie (a snap with all lifts funneling back to the main base area) and found she had regained her confidence thanks to her able pro. We grabbed a quick chili and “drunken knot” at the base’s Coppertop Lounge and noticed (filed away for later) the bartender poured a perfect Guinness. I told Laurie to save room though: There is a special treat halfway up the mountain at Wachusett that is a must.
We hopped the lift and carved our way down to the Bullock Lodge Cider House, tucked away in the mountain’s woods. Once the original base lodge for the area, it is now home to Red Apple Farm. You can smell it before you find it: the intoxicating scent of fresh mulled apple cider and cider doughnuts made to order. Whether sitting beside a warm fire on a chilly day or on skis in the bright sun, the combo is a win-win. The products are available in the base lodge, too, but Bullock just makes them extra great.
We spent our afternoon feeling like we had the mountain nearly to ourselves, alternating between Ralph’s Run, where you ski out wide and get a different view, and all the other trails across the mountain.
Tired by 3 p.m., since we’d taken more runs than a person can usually imagine in a day, we started dreaming of that Guinness. Then, like a sign from above, Laurie’s phone buzzed. “Hey,” our friend Dave from college texted. “Did I see you are at Wachusett? I can be there in 10!” And so he was. We took up our posts on Adirondack chairs, where we soaked in the sun, took in the afternoon crowd rolling in, sipped that Guinness (we were right . . . perfection) and caught up on life.
“This,” Dave said, squinting into the sun, “is a top-10 day.”
Sure, I could have worked that day. Yes, Laurie might have had things to do. True, Dave could have kept busy. But thanks to the easy access, excellent setup and pure bliss of a midweek escape to Wachusett Mountain Resort, we know sometimes the better choice is to go with the heart.
We’ll all do it again this season, probably more than once.
And if you see me post on social media about Wachusett, you all should just drop everything else and join me. Bliss, for the ski and ride lover, is just a quick jaunt away.