I had a great first alpine skiing day of the season at Cranmore! They had their typical two early season runs from the South Quad open, South Slope and Beginner's Luck. Both had good cover, although neither was full width. It was a spring-like day with bright sun and a high around 40. Despite the forecast, there was little to no wind all day.
Because of the construction of the new base lodge, the base area setup at Cranmore is unique this year. The building with Zip's Pub in it has a cafeteria and the bar open. You are allowed to change there, but you can't store your bags there. There is a temporary tent specifically for changing and bag storage. There is a second tent for eating lunch, if you brought your own. It's a pretty good setup, but I could see it getting overcrowded on busy days or cold on chilly days.
The mountain was not crowded, and lines were never more than a couple chairs long. Cranmore delivers a consistently good early season product, and this season is no exception!
Looking up South Slope from the base area
The South Quad loading area
South Slope
Beginner's Luck
Beginner's Luck
South Slope
The base area & Mount Washington
