Cool Day At Ragged

PHOTO: On top of Ragged Mountain Lori and Kris are ready to ski! No skin is showing, the frosty cold couldn’t catch them. There is no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing! Everyone can have fun if they are wearing the right clothing. Ragged Mountain in Danbury has 1,250 vertical feet of drop and 57 trails including glades serviced by a high-speed six-pack chairlift, a high-speed quad chairlift, a triple chairlift and two carpet lifts. Visit RaggedMountainResort.com for snow conditions and more.

by Amy Patenaude
Outdoor/Ski Writer

Kris invited me to join her and her friends at Ragged last Thursday. The forecast said It was the last day of the Arctic Blast.
There is no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing. Everyone can have fun outside when it’s cold if they are wearing the right clothing.
I went to the ticket office to redeem my Indy Pass and activate my rfid card/lift ticket. This was my first visit to Ragged Mountain this season. I right away noticed the new patio in front of the lodge. Getting in and out of the lodge is better and on the far end there is a fire pit and chairs. Slopeside there is a retaining wall with stairs leading up to the snow and the equipment racks. Hurray, no more slippery slope and it looks really nice.
It was about ten degrees and the sun was hidden behind high gray clouds. I was happy to get into the warm lodge to put on my warm clothing. Kris and our friends were already there so I had to hustle.
To fight the cold I put on my dry wool socks, I pulled on my insulated ski pants over my fleece lined pants. I wore a merino wool quarter zip turtleneck underneath a bear print fleece pullover and I covered it all with my insulated ski jacket. I pulled on my Balaclava that covered my head and face and then I pulled my fleece neck gaiter over my head. I made sure the vents in my helmet were closed before I popped it on top of my head. I then connected the chin strap and lastly I pulled my goggles over my eyes. I was ready to go.

We were all dressed similarly. Little to no skin was visible. The cold wouldn’t get us.
First we rode up the Summit Six Express chairlift and we admired the giant snow whales the snow makers had made. Exhibition would surely be open for the upcoming weekend but first it needed to be groomed out. Two groomers worked pushing the piles of snow to build a big ribbon of snow down the trail. Each ride up we watched their progress.
Lori led us down her favorite trail, Newfound Ridge down to Maine. The nice thing about a week of cold weather is that the snow doesn’t transform and the snow stays wonderful packed powder. The smooth soft snow surface made it easy to make big or quick perfect turns.

Ragged has 17 glades, over 250 acres but sadly the ropes were up keeping them closed. I guess we all are waiting for just a little more snow so they can open. I hope they open soon because they are a ton of fun.
Some of the closed trails had piles of man made snow. The cold weather had been good for making snow but now the groomers have to catch up spreading and grooming the trails.
Weekdays are usually not busy and not surprisingly cold weekday mornings have less people showing up. It was a pretty quiet morning and we loved it. Most often we had wide open trails all to ourselves. We flew down Headwall and Ridge. I can’t say enough about the quality of the snow. We all gushed about the great snow conditions.

The five of us skied over to the Spear Mountain Express Quad. Showboat underneath the lift was wide open and groomed smooth. On the top on the edge of the trail there were some bumps on natural snow. Skiing fast felt too easy on the steep slope on the packed powder snow.
I love the views from the top of Ragged and Spear. Though the morning light was not too clear we could easily see Cardigan Mountain. Further north the tops of some of the White Mountain’s big peaks were visible. Mount Moosilauke and the Franconia Ridge’s white capped summits glowed bright and stood out alone as if someone was shining a flashlight directly on them.
After we made 8 or 9 runs we all decided it was time for hot chocolate. All morning I can’t recall anyone complaining about the cold. I was jealous of Kris’ battery heated mittens. My fingers were starting to notice the cold but I could have held out for a couple of more runs. But I was sure happy to be in the warm lodge sipping a hot drink.

We all chatted about our upcoming ski trips. Big trips to Colorado and Utah, Jay Peak and cross country skiing at Women’s Day at Woodstock, VT were discussed for future outings. Of course wearing out our season pass and skiing local as much as possible is what we really like to do.
After our break we put back on all our warm clothes and headed out on the slopes again. We enjoyed a cool fun day skiing together at Ragged.
Have Fun.