Saddleback Mountain Resort on Friday, April 5, 2024

		Saddleback Mountain Resort Friday, April 5, 2024
		Submitted on April 5, 2024 by newenglandskier13 (719)
	Session	Full Day
	Ticket Type	Discount from Third Party
	Lift Lines	0 minutes
	Trail Conditions	75% open; Packed Powder, Variable Conditions
	Glades	Open glades had pretty good cover with some obstacles
	Moguls	Some were frozen and icy while others were soft
	Terrain Park(s)	Yes, at least two were open
	Run of the Day	Lower Tight Line
	Food and Beverage	None had, but it's pretty expensive
	Comments	We skied at Saddleback today for the first time in a couple of seasons. They received over a foot of snow from yesterday's storm, but it was difficult to tell exactly how much, due to drifting from the very high winds yesterday. This made for extremely variable conditions around the mountain, as some areas had deep powder, and other had bare ground or ice. There was a huge lineup for first chair on the Rangeley Quad, but after that, there was never a wait of much more than a minute for any lift. Unfortunately, there wasn't much powder skiing to be had, as the areas that did have powder were mostly tracked out within the first half hour of the day. However, most of the mountain had good packed powder conditions throughout the day. Unfortunately, the Kennebago Quad went down about an hour after opening. Despite staff saying that it would reopen during the day, it never did. One new thing that we noticed about Saddleback this year, is the crazy amount of information they ask you for when getting your ticket. While most areas just require money, Saddleback now also requires your name, address, phone number, email address, date of birth, and a signed waiver. Another new thing to us was the mid-mountain lodge. Unfortunately, this has little use for the average skier, as the entire lodge is an expensive wait-serve restaurant. There is nowhere to go in and just warm up for a bit. They also have not resolved their line management issues that I noticed during my last few visits. The corrals are simply two wide lines which funnel into each other right before the RFID gates. There are no singles lines or anything. The staff also does not try to group people up to fill chairs. They seem to have plenty of staff to do it, but the multiple lifties at the base of the Rangeley Quad all are usually sitting inside or chatting with each other, instead of managing the lines or maintaining the loading ramp. Besides the Kennebago area, most of the trails were open, although the Sandy and Cupsuptic lifts were not running. You could get to the lower half of many of the Kennebago trails via the Northwest Pass traverse, although it's a bit of a hike. The glades that were open were skiing pretty well, although you did need to be aware of obstacles and thin spots. Temperatures were around 30 degrees, but the wind and snow throughout the day made it feel much colder. Lower traffic runs that are protected from the wind, such as Lower Tight Line and Woolly Bugger Glade, were the best today. Although it wasn't the blockbuster powder day that many people were hoping for, it was still a good day of skiing with conditions that felt more mid-winter like than the April date would suggest.
	URL	http://snowjournal.com/discussion/4285/saddleback-4-5-2024/p1
	Report Rating	4