Wachusett Mountain: Snowy and Close By

This was the challenge:

A tight schedule.
A short drive.
Find snow during a warm week.

This was the answer:

Night skiing at Wachusett Mountain.

It all seemed so simple. It was about an hour and 20 minutes away in Princeton, MA, it had lights and a base depth of 46 inches on most of the main trails. It was a good decision.

New Year's Day is traditionally one of the best holidays on which to ski or ride because the revelry the night before keeps a lot of people on the sidelines the day after. But Wachusett still handles the crowds because of its high-speed quad chairs servicing the main trails. Though is it pretty far south relative to the snow sports landscape, Wachusett has the ability to make a deep base early on and keep the snow with its state-of-the-art grooming fleet. In other words, not much is lost when the weather turns freakishly warm.

The surface Saturday was on the soft side, but smooth.

Wachusett has always been a player among the smaller mountains and the fact that it lies just north of Worcester and has a variety of terrain amongst 1,000 vertical feet and 22 trails makes it quite attractive to skiers and riders in north central Connecticut. 

Wachusett, which means ''great hill'' in the language of the Algonquin nation, has a colorful history. It was the site of tense negotiations between indians and settlers in 1676, when King Philip himself took Mary Rowlandson, the wife of the local minister, captive during the war named after him. She was eventually released.

Its first trails were cut in the 1930s as part of a Civilian Conservation Corps Project. The first lifts were constructed in 1960.

It sits on state parkland and in 1969, Ralph Crowley, leased it from the state and dared propose a full-service ski area that far south. Crowley was tired of driving his family to Vermont each weekend and put down the foundation for the family snow sports business today.

The Crowleys have installed an extensive snowmaking system that covers every trail on the mountain. It taps into the Fitchburg public water system, but the spring runoff dumps right back into the reservoir at the base of the mountain, so the Crowleys like to point out that they routinely recycle their water.

Night skiing has alway been something distinct with the smaller eastern resorts and Wachusett does not disappoint. Most of its trails are lighted. It offers one of the most extensive night corporate racing leagues in the East. Many schools use Wachusett for their ski and snowboard clubs, including E.O. Smith High School in Storrs.

The terrain park is extensive, but skiers and riders must take a safety course to get a pass.

Wachusett sports 38,000-square-foot full-service lodge that is the envy of many mountains its size. It was also the first to include corporate suites to its amenities. They can be leased for seasonal, weekly or daily use.

Wachusett has a bar (one could ski and watch the UConn football game Saturday) the Black Diamond Restaurant, a cafeteria, the Mountainside ski and snowboard shop, a huge rental pool and a popular ski and snowboard school for both children and adults.

In early 2010, Wachusett woke up the Bullock lodge from a 50-year hibernation. It was built in the 1930s when the CCC crews were on the mountain. The stone structure is fully operational for the 2010-11 season and serves as a mid-mountain refreshment house. It has chairs and tables both inside and out, adjacent to the 10th Mountain and Salamander Cutoff trails.

Wachusett is open from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. on weekdays and from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. on weekends and holidays.

A detailed pricing chart is available at www.wachusett.com.

Wachusett Mountain by the numbers
Elevation: 2,006
Vertical drop: 1,000
Lifts: 8
Trails: 22
First trail cut: 1934
First lift: 1960