Saddleback Mountain Resort on Monday, January 30, 2023

		Saddleback Mountain Resort Monday, January 30, 2023
		Submitted on January 30, 2023 by rocket21 (1408)
	Session	Full Day
	Ticket Type	Indy Pass
	Lift Lines	0 minutes
	Trail Conditions	98% open; Powder, Packed Powder
	Glades	I only skied Nightmare Glades and a small part of Dark Wizard Glades, but both were in generally good shape with a nice refresh of powder last night.
	Moguls	On some of the natural trails off the high speed quad; firm with an inch or two of powder. Off Kennebago, not nearly as large or as firm, with more powder too.
	Terrain Park(s)	Quite a few features set up on Wheeler Slope.
	Run of the Day	Black Beauty
	Food and Beverage	Okay food in the base lodge, but hot chocolate was very watery. Mid-mountain lodge is still under construction/closed.
	Comments	Mid-winter conditions with little evidence of last week's rain at the tail end of the snow storms. 1-4" of silky powder fell last night, making the upper mountain Kennebago Quad complex primo. RFID ticketing situation is over the top. Last year's RFID passes are no longer valid and this year's require them setting up a new account and signing a waiver on an iPad. Not sure if they require a photo as well (didn't get mine taken, fortunately for their camera). Process took almost 5 minutes (not including waiting in line). It shouldn't be this difficult, nor should they require this much for a day ticket. Can't imagine what it would be like on a weekend. All lifts were running and were ski-on. No idea why the new Sandy Quad was running; most of the time it was completely empty. Glad I got to ride it nevertheless. Did not venture into the South Branch novice area (slowwww lift), but everything looked to be open and in good shape. Groomers were generally packed powder with a little bit of scratchiness atop Royal Coachman. Standard fare, including Tight Line (always fun first thing), Tri-Color, Green Weaver, Grey Ghost, and most of the Cupsuptic Area. America and Montreal were closed due to recent snowmaking (piles partially pushed out). Fan guns are starting to accumulate in the base area, so I assume snowmaking is close to done for the season. In terms of natural on the main mountain, the lower angle stuff was good, while the steeper stuff was a little uneven with occasional rocks sticking up. Of the ones we did, Parmachene Belle was probably the thinnest up top, but still had some powder down low (west branch was closed). Kennebago natural trails were generally awesome. Typical rocks to avoid on the headwalls (not surprising if you see it in the summer), but doable. Otherwise, just about ideal conditions with a few inches of powder on top of an edge-able base with not too much in way of firm moguls. Muleskinner was probably the least savory of all of the trails due to a few narrow chokepoints with stuff that sticks up. Black Beauty, Warden's Worry, Supervisor, and Family Secret were particular highlights. Blue skies first thing and then a brief break of sun around 3 bookended some flat light. Temperatures in the 20s. Almost empty trails. Awesome.
	URL	https://www.franklinsites.com/temp/saddleback-2023-0130a.jpg
	Report Rating	4