Snow Business: Rookie Night Skiers Tear It Up At Wachusett

PRINCETON, MA — It's vacation week and everyone's bouncing off the walls. Some resorts were wrecked by the Christmas Day rainstorm, so it was hit or miss around New England all week.

Still, the chants bounced off the walls from a pair of 10-year-olds.

"We want to go ... "

"Where can we go ... ?"

"Can we try night skiing?"

Wait. Night skiing? Now that was an idea.

Suddenly I heard this voice. It was fitting since Christmas week was full of snow sports Scrooges, cranky about the rain last week. It was longtime Wachusett marketing director Tom Meyers repeating an old quote.

"Trust the technology ... "

So I picked up the phone ...

"Hey Tom ... night skiing Wednesday?"

"Sure."

His answer was matter-of-fact. So yes, I said we'd go and trust the technology.

And Wachusett did not disappoint, as usual.

Because of coronavirus capacity restrictions, Wachusett has been operating on a four-session daily rotation and we chose the 4 to 7 p.m. slot.

It was a potentially risky choice because the first two sessions were sellouts. The conditions after dark were a combination of softer snow the machines made to cover the losses from the rainstorm and hard pack from the original base. Overall, though, Wachusett put out a good product and it was worth the short drive north of Worcester.

And the kids loved it. They were wondering at first how much they'd be able to see and adapt to changing terrain, but the light system at Wachusett is bright and there were no worries.

Nighttime at Wachusett adds a different element to the experience. First of all, it's lodge all lit up is the envy of the snow sports industry, especially among the 1,000-foot vertical mountains. Secondly, between the torches, the heated benches and the outdoor dining and the trademark Adirondack chairs on the deck, it's a festive atmosphere.

The entire experience showed that, no matter what Mother nature presents, Wachusett can usually handle the situation and persevere. It also showed the resort is primed to be a player as the season enters the post-holiday period. Every major run was open Wednesday from the bunny hill to the summit and the skiers and riders seemed to enjoy the experience.

One other note: Wachusett had added outdoor bag storage cubicles to compliment its free outdoor bag and ski check area, to further promote the virus-restricted experience for the 2020-21 season.

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Chris Dehnel is a Patch editor who has been writing about skiing and snowboarding since 1999. He is also a past-president of the Eastern Ski Writers Association and former board member of the North American Snowsports Journalists Association. The Snow Business Colum appears periodically during the season.