Pat's Peak, NH
01/31/12

Photo by Ski Watch Reporter Anson January 31, 2012
Pat's Peak, NH
Ski Watch Reporter Anson

Ski Watch Reporter Anson went skiing at Pat's Peak, New Hampshire on Tuesday, January 31. Here's what Anson had to say about his ski day:

An inch of new snow had a positive impact on conditions at Pat’s Peak in Henniker, NH Tuesday.

The inch or so of slightly wet confectioner’s sugar atop frozen snow made for fast straight-aways and easily carveable turns all across the mountain.

It was true on greens such as Zephyr, Breeze, and Blast; blues such as East Wind, Lower East Wind and Duster; diamonds like Twister; and the double diamond F.I.S. Race Trail.

Pat's Peak, NH
01/31/12
Photo by Ski Watch Reporter Anson

If there was a wrinkle, it was clutchy, grabby snow on many trails, where their steeps start to level off. (Mother Nature imitating older snow guns?)

This was especially true on the trails to the left of the Hurricane Triple Chair, This made for a herky-jerky, stop-and-go motion that taxed the lower back and calves. Diamond Twister seemed to escape those problems. For this reason, it was a joy to ski.

However, there were some spots where the new snow had been scraped away by skier traffic, forcing skiers to try to carve snow ice during their turns.

If there was a dream trail Tuesday, it was doubled diamond F.I.S. Race Trail, which features a very respectable steep. Extremely light skier traffic left an abundance of fresh corduroy on the trail as late as noon. It was the kind of snow that would allow even new double diamond skiers to ski the slope with confidence.

However, there was that clutch, grabby snow near where the trail merged with diamonds Knight Slope and Twister.

Overall, skier/boarder traffic was very light at and there were no waiting lines on any of the lifts.

The bottom line:  There was fun skiing to be had at Pat's Peak.

-Ski Watch Reporter Anson