Skiing at Wachusett

by Marya Doery, February 8, 2012

I went skiing at Wachusett today!

Last week I got my first pair of skis and boots, brand new. The boots feel great, especially compaired to rental boots. I've been kind of anxious to try out the skis, and wasn't sure what to expect. Would they be so slippery that they'd be hard to control? I was a little worried. I shouldn't have been!

I took the above photo of my skis and boots at the top of the Monadnock Express Quad, first run of the day for me. Wow, look at that snow! Wachusett made lots of snow last night, and it was super nice and groomed this morning. I was very happy with the conditions! They were as good as you get, given there's no fresh snow.

The skis did feel more slippery than any rentals I've ever used. I was very cautious to start, and did three or four runs down two pleasant green trails, Sundowner and Indian Summer. Eventually I began to feel more comfortable, enough to try Ralph's Run, a longer blue trail over to the other side of the mountain. It went fine! The snow was a little more dry and powdery on this trail, but I still had great control. I went down Challenger (another blue) and Ralph's Run a couple of times.

For my last run of the day, I tried Conifer Connection, a blue trail which starts at the top of the mountain. It's a little more difficult, with more steep sections, but I still felt pretty good. I started to notice a little bit of ice, and decided it was time to quit for the day. I had skied for 2 hours, from 10 to noon. And I was able to get my $5 refund since I left before 12:30.

By the time I'd skied down a few runs, I had already noticed that the skis were not so slippery anymore. Once I got them home, I noticed that the bases were no longer entirely smooth and black. A lot of fine white lines had developed, mostly along the inside edges, but in a few other places, too. I wonder if this is normal, or due to some deficiency in my skiing technique. I thought it was due to wax wearing off, but it may be "oxidation". I'm trying to decide whether I should get all the tools to wax my own skis. It's a major nuisance if you don't have a garage. I might start with a liquid wax and see how well that works.

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