On Saturday the wind was so high that I didn't feel like hitting the jumps, so I pretty much just cruised around with my snowboarder friends. We ended up exploring most of the mountain and it was the first time that I really got to see how much potential that place really has for expanded gladed terrain. A few examples for those of you that are familiar with the mountain:
-the woods to the skier's left of True Grit- if this section of woods were cleared, they'd have a long, wide glade with an aggressive double fall line and likely some pretty sweet cliffs. I scoped it out from the sunnyside triple, but didn't really try to go in at all. It looked like there were a few access trails cut through the woods which would make for convenient break points.
-the woods to the skier's right off of Upper Psyched- So I know this one actually works. I dropped in with a few of my friends just to the right of the second table. It's got a really steep pitch at first and a few big rocks that you can hop off. Maybe this is supposed to be a local secret (if so, sorry for blowing up your spot guys), but I think it would only benefit from being professionally developed. If they thinned it out up top it would allow you to link a bunch more turns and make it a really fun glade.
-The woods above and below No Grit- I only skied this trail once all weekend, but definitely saw potential in the woods above and below. The proposed trail (Lotsa Grit? Tons o' Grit? Eggs and Grits? We'll work on the name...) could start from upper True Grit and empty out onto Oblivion near the middle. The pitch looks good, though there might be some drainage near the bottom which could flatten it out at the end and complicate things.
So what I saw this weekend was a different side of Waterville; a cool little mountain with a lot of potential. My home mountain is Okemo- a resort that's been developed to within an inch of its life- so that mentality could be influencing my thinking, but I really wish this would happen for WVV. It's already such a fun place to shred and doing this would only add to their total skiable terrain and give the tree enthusiasts somewhere new to rip on powder days.
I wanted to get some feedback from those of you who call Waterville Valley home. Is there some reason that the mountain hasn't already done this? Maybe a permit issue that stops them from logging in these areas? I know that the ski area has an eye toward expansion with the proposed move toward Green Peak (located to the skier's right off of Oblivion). Though I look forward to riding that new terrain if and when this happens, I find it surprising that current owners aren't doing more to develop what they have on the main mountain. I'd love to get some thoughts and opinions from those of you who know a little more about this cool little resort.
