Category: Snowboarding

First snowboarding trip of the season. Got JMan his season pass thanks to Zimmerman’s in Nashua NH, GMan and I had discounted tickets via Liftopia.

It started snowing when we left home and snowed the whole way up. The mountain was very quite and remained quite all day. Boarding got better and better but a dozen or so runs later we are cooked. I feel my 4 month absence from the gym!

The boys at the bottom.

GMan and I taking a pit stop on the way down. As you can see we have the whole place to ourselves.

Great place, great day, great company, we’ll be back.

At 85 degrees today it’s safe to say the snowboarding season is over. I put all the gear away so it will be ready when the white flakes start falling again.

Moving on to biking and hiking…..and a few runs for good measure.

My sled and boots in their summer home!

Yup, we made Wachusett Mountain again. For April 1st the conditions were great thanks to old man winter dumpling on us………again.

JMan chilling at the top of Ralph’s run.

Cider Shack pit stop. 

We got in a few runs and it will most likely be the last for this season. 

Nowadays we seem to count everything. This is especially true for sports. Real fans not only know how many yards a receiver ran, but what they ate for breakfast. The following is not really about stats but more value for money and time spent.

Since I started wearing a Garmin watch (currently Fenix 3 HR) I tend to track and sync all activities to Garmin Connect. I ran a report yesterday to see how much Elevation loss I logged at our local ski/snowboarding mountain (Wachusett Mountain). The report captures the entire season (Jan 1, 2017 to March 25, 2017). Not that our season is over but and Elevation Loss this close to April on the east coast is a good thing, but I’m guessing we’ll be hanging up our boards till next year.

1. Number of activities: 16. This the number of times I tracked my runs. On many occasions two activities were tracked in one day; example, morning and afternoon or afternoon and evening.
2. Total distance: 109.42 miles.
3. Total time: 7:43:53 h:m:s. Not a high number considering it’s over a 3 month period, but not bad for a 50 plus knuckle dragger!
4. Average speed: 14.2 mph. Seems slow but considering I was on the bunny hill at the start of the season with JMan it’s not bad.
5. Average Heart Rate: 102 bpm. (My normal resting is 54 bpm.)
6. Max Heart Rate: 156 bpm.
7. Total Evelation loss: 155,374 ft. Again, for an entire season this is not a high number but considering Wachusett has just under 1000 ft of drop its pretty good.
8. Max Speed 46.9 mph. Was hoping to beat 50, but I’m delighted with almost 47.
9. Total number of runs: 125.
10. Cost per run: $299.00 (season pass cost)/125 = $2.39 per run. Be real nice to get this under $1.50 or $1.00! However, a daily lift ticked is $40 (based on a Friday ticked when I normally go) , so you need to go 7.5 time to break even on a season pass (based on $299). This year I crushed that number.

Wachusett trail map

We are boarding again. Today JMan conquered the upper 1/2 of the mountain. We warmed up on Ralph’s, then cut across Hitchcock to catch the Polar Express to the top. 

JMan was a little caught off guard when he realized he was about to get on a new lift but he was a good sport about it and soldered on.  He did mention the height a few time but settled in for the one way ride….up.

The boys at the top.

JMan did great on the way down and had no issues even on the few steep parts. 

The boys safely at the bottom. Photo thanks to a fellow boarder. 

I couldn’t be any more proud of JMan. Considering he was on the magic carpet at the start of the season, then got on Madnadnock to the top of the bunny hill, then Minuteman and the mid upper and today all the way! He’s a real trooper. Of course the bonus with going to the top is access to the Cider Shack on the way down. It’s like a right of passage, you get up to come done for hot cider, donuts and apple turn overs…..what could be wrong with that. The real bonus for me was as soon as we hit the bottom on the first run JMan said “can we do it again”. Of course my answer was absolutely, let’s go.

The boys in the Cider Shack.

About 1/2 down Conifer.

GMan showing off his yoga moves….actually this pose is called a tri-pod…..get it?

JMan taking a pit stop. After a few more runs we hit all the trails including Smith and 10th! Again, for a lad that started out on the magic carpet a few months ago he’s doing great. 

GMan getting set up for a 180. 

Lift chair selfie by GMan.

All in all it was a wonderful day on the slopes and like GMan, JMan was bitten hard by the boarding bug and I’m certain he’ll be shredding circles around me in no time. Apparently I sponned a pair of knockle draggers! 


GMan and I with some friends hit the hills of Wachusett again today. Cold in the am but it warmed in the afternoon. Just in time for the 3″ of granular ice to get carved off exposing the ice under belly. 

15 runs was plenty before we pointed homeward. Given the time of year and our location any boarding is good boarding this time of year. A good day was had by all and we’ll be back for more real soon.

GMan marking his ground on the way out.

You know how it goes “make hay while the sun shines”. Well for us it’s “shred the hills while the snow remains”. Picked up JMan from school and headed to Wachusett again today. GMan and a friend joined us.

JMan and I heading up.

Conditions were good until the temps dropped, then it got choppy. But all in all it was a great afternoon/evening of boarding.

The boys at the end of day. Can’t imagine Jimmy Quinn on a snowboard! However, he’d be good in a groomer….kinda like a Massey Ferguson….but with tracks. 

BTW. The Arc’Teryx Iser shell got another good workout today and I’m liking the results so far. Dry and warm and waterproof as I managed to bail a few time snowboarding slowly. It’s harder to stay upright when moving at JMans speed.

GMan and I got in some spring boarding today. We got to Wachusett just before the lifts opened and carved up…well down some really nice corduroy.

The boys on the lift.

It was also a good opportunity to try out my newest piece of gear….well new to me as I snagged it on flee bay. It’s an Arc’Teryx Iser shell. Depending on where you buy it there anywhere from mid fours to high fives. I picked this one up (with tags still attacked) for $214…..yup, wicked bargain as we’d say around here.

Overall it’s a bomb proof shell. Completely wind proof with the right amount of well placed pockets. Unlike most boarding jackets the Iser is more formed fitted. Not tight, but definitely not baggy. As the day wore on I sheaded a layer but kept the shell on. I was plenty warm with just one layer under it. Again, since no wind get through and as it wicks away moisture I was dry and warm all day. Undre arm ventilation is fairly standard on all boarding/ski jackets and its easily found and adjusted on this one. 

They run true to size so keep that in mind when shopping. I’m on the smaller size so a medium works for me. The powder skirt is snug around the waist and won’t do anything for New England snow but it does keep the cold wind out. I guess if you were a skier and had a total yard sale the skirt would keep out the snow…..well slush we have around here.

Over all I’m very happy with this shell and would recommend it to anyone in the market for a high end shell. However, the regular retail price is a bit of a shocker but perhaps you’ll also get lucky on flee bay.

Photo my DB. Yours truly taking in the view.

Later in the am some friends showed up and we boarded until noon. By that time I had 15 runs in and a new top speed of 46.9 mph. That’s 9 mph more than my last 36.9 record…..shredded it! Not sure if the new shell helped but conditions were very good and listing to my hood flapping was an incentive to go even faster……apparently I did.

After lunch I got in another 7 runs for a total of 22. According to Garmin Connect my Training Effect was 1.0, but my legs are telling a whole different story. If anyone is around on Thursday we’ll be back for more.

Hit the mountain early today then picked up GMan and hit it again.

By my calculations every run so far cost $5.54. That’s $299 for my pass divided by 54 runs so far this season. When you add them up it’s not a big number, but my body sure thinks differently!

Update, 4 more runs….so now I’m at $5:15 per run. Pretty soon they’ll be giving me money…..not. Not that I’m counting here but today was 18 runs. 

Actually it’s Sunday boarding. All schools are closed tomorrow so the boys and I headed to Wachusett for a few runs.

Conditions were….well work, but it was a blast.

Route 2 was a mess on the way out but my top speed was under 30. Ru is good in snow as long as you don’t panic stop.

Boys on the way.

Nice empty parking lot and where did the lodge and mountain go!

We hit the bunny hill for a few, but again by the chair lift. We then headed to Ralph’s for a few.

Mick gangsters!

Mick gangsters with goggles!

I beat my all time speed record on some fresh corduroy maxing out at 37.9 mph. 

All in all it was a great evening/night of boarding.