# Ragged NH 3/1/2013



## billski (Mar 1, 2013)

“Crunchy”.  

I had a disappointing day at Ragged today.  

It drizzled heavy last night (according to a local who lives just down the road)  Which left pretty much everything quite crusty.  Only the groomers could be skied and even then it was quite squirrely.  When I got off the lift, I got about 100 yards down a groomer and “bam” down I went on my side.   This happened three times within five minutes.  This almost never happens to me on a groomer, except when I do stupid stuff.   Anyways, I could not control my tips.  They just wobbled as if I was doing a wheelie.  I had weight full forward and carved as best I could, but “bam” again.   So I stopped and clamped down my boot stiffer than I ever had before-to the max.  Nearly no change at all.

Even the racers had problems – one guy even went back and got his edges sharpened (I was thinking I need it to).  But he said it didn’t help at all. Even the course was bad he said.  I took two laps on the training gates - he was absolutely right.  They couldn't even make ruts.  Very frustrating.

Imagine really scraped off snow, that has some other consistency, kind of like panel board.  Think of when boarders and skiers side-slip their way down, without the noise.  It wasn't boilerplate.  

The only control I got was when I swapped out my boards with some much longer boards – 186 cm.    That gave me stability, but the edging was still poor.

I hit some two natural trails – the bumps, the tracks in pow, everything was immoveable.  It just grabbed  me and took me wherever it wanted to.  I hit a third one, last one – it softened up just a small amount.  A lot of work, not much fun.

The snow on the groomers didn’t even soften until about 1:30pm.  It was overcast the whole day.  Natural trails were a disaster.  Now, if young muscular people want to go down and break this stuff up, more power to them.
There was about 10" of fluff under about 1/8" of immoveable crust.

The only good snow was right at the summit, for about 1/5 (seriously) of the way down.  Nice silky stuff, then like a switch, it turned to crunch.

I was ready to leave after an hour and a half, but decided to stick it out and concentrate on technique.  Good place to drill. 

The mountain company did the best they could.  They groomed after close, but the rain came in after than, temps dropped and that was that.  Only places like Okemo and Stratton will win this battle, before spring really  comes.  Or is it here already?

I was really looking forward to the woods skiing - always a blast for me.  For me to express disappointment is a real shocker.  Even when it rains I can have fun.  This was different.


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## Rikka (Mar 1, 2013)

That's a shame. I was at Ragged on Thursday and it was the best conditions of the year . it was all powder. I did notice a few rain drops as i was leaving .

Rick


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## billski (Mar 1, 2013)

Rikka said:


> That's a shame. I was at Ragged on Thursday and it was the best conditions of the year . it was all powder. I did notice a few rain drops as i was leaving .
> 
> Rick



I saw your tracks.  I saw everyone's tracks.  All cast in concrete.    I had wanted to go Thursday, but I was too pressed for time.


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## JDMRoma (Mar 2, 2013)

I skied Bretton Woods yesterday, sounds exactly like what we had there too.......totally sucked.
Amazing how conditions change in a day.....Ice Skates would have been better yesterday.
Such a shame considering our season this year


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## Masskier (Mar 2, 2013)

Skied Burke yesterday afternoon.  Best coverage and conditions of the season.


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## jack97 (Mar 2, 2013)

While I was skiing the Crotch, I talked to one skier that said Sunnapee had cement. They need lots of traffic to smooth out the thick crust. 

I figure most places will be like this for a while; bump or glades that don't get traffic will need another dump or warmer temps to soften the frozen crust.


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## dansherpa (Mar 2, 2013)

Oh what a difference a day makes.  I too was there yesterday and the snow crust was unbearable.  Today at Ragged, however, was 10x better.  The temps rose just enough and the sun peaked out just long enough to soften everything out.


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## riverc0il (Mar 2, 2013)

You know things just got real when billski posts a downer TR with almost nothing positive to speak of! 

We all hit a stinker at least once every season, at least your eating of the ski toad is past!


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## Nick (Mar 2, 2013)

riverc0il said:


> You know things just got real when billski posts a downer TR with almost nothing positive to speak of!
> 
> We all hit a stinker at least once every season, at least your eating of the ski toad is past!



Positive mental attitude!


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## billski (Mar 2, 2013)

Comes with the sport.  I was watching a World Cup race today.  The race course was literally changing it's complexion by the minute.  One minute it was all fog.  10 minutes later, the sun was out.  Was that fair to the racers?    The commentator (who is very knowledgeable by the way) said, "You accept that's the way this sport will always be."  

I learned to accept weather no matter what it dishes out.  Doesn't stop me from being disappointed.  But as Riverc0il said, there's always another day.  The toads have all gone home.  I'll be at Burke on Saturday.


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## speden (Mar 2, 2013)

I had an icy day at Ragged like that one year.  I couldn't understand why they didn't fire up the groomers in the morning to fix the iced over trails.  Seemed like their routine was to groom everything the night before and they wouldn't regroom anything the next day no matter what.


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## jack97 (Mar 3, 2013)

speden said:


> I had an icy day at Ragged like that one year. I couldn't understand why they didn't fire up the groomers in the morning to fix the iced over trails. Seemed like their routine was to groom everything the night before and they wouldn't regroom anything the next day no matter what.



Lots of places groom overnight, it could be a town or county permission related item. If so, I figure the workers have other commitments when their work is done. 

With this last storm, the killer was when they groomed while mother nature is still spewing out that wintry mix of rain,sleet and snow. Early season, I have been to Bretton Woods enuf times to see that they finish they grooming just before the lifts opens. Come to think of it now, it keeps the snow soft for skiers while other places may let the groom snow harden overnight.


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## Abubob (Mar 4, 2013)

Rikka said:


> That's a shame. I was at Ragged on Thursday and it was the best conditions of the year . it was all powder. I did notice a few rain drops as i was leaving . Rick





billski said:


> I saw your tracks.  I saw everyone's tracks.  All cast in concrete.    I had wanted to go Thursday, but I was too pressed for time.



I've had days at Ragged like this. They have NASTY thaw freeze conditions sometimes. Its beyond the groomers ability to deal with it seems. Did they offer any voucher? I have often thought that when conditions were of the concrete variety (which Ragged has a lot) they shouldn't even open.


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## yeggous (Mar 4, 2013)

Elevation was the key this weekend. Lower elevations got rain last week while the high summits go dumped on. I heard that Attitash was mashed potatoes on Sunday. Meanwhile the snow at Wildcat was amazing all weekend.


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