First off, I must apologize for the poor optics of doing this after skipping the Snowjournal meetup of yesterday. However, it just ended up working out better and my legitimate excuse is that driving would have been an absolute nightmare if I had gone out yesterday. Now for the report.
Set the alarm for 5:55 and was out the door at 7. Unfortunately all the doors on my car were frozen shut so it took a while to get that going. Didn't help that I had accidentally left a window partially open and that was frozen in position too. Never got the trunk to open before finally leaving at 7:30 until about 9/10th of the way there when it popped open after I hit a bump.
Was a little worried about black ice, but it was smooth sailing. Over an hour in on 495 all of a sudden a traffic jam formed jeopardizing my already late start. About 7 minutes later an accident came into sight where a car was totally upside down on the median. After everyone shifted into the two open lanes and was done gawking it was back up to 65 (or 90 if you were one of those three crazy white cars). Eventually hit the nice somewhat rural Route 140 which was a pleasure to drive. Arrived at the ski area around 10 and got my morning ticket without issue, no RFID tax which was nice. Got in line for the Polar Express which felt like 20 minutes though it was probably more like 12-15.
Did some runs and took pictures of the lifts for Remontees-Mecaniques. Both main lifts had considerable lines, though the beginner detach was mostly walk-on. Some people on the chairs were chatty while others preferred to keep facing forward without talking. Most, but not all singles were willing to go up with another single.
Overall, with the exception of the detachable lifts, it reminded me a lot of Shawnee Peak, with a very prominent mountain with views of a nearby lake, local vibe with night skiing and lots of snowboarders, and similar size.
The lines started shortening at 12 and were much better at 12:30, though I suspect all the afternoon session people were coming at that point. I skied till 12:30 when my morning ticket ended and then drove down to my namesake ski area in Shrewsbury where I had purchases a 12-5 ticket. Did some runs, took photos for Remontees-Mecaniques, and did more runs. T-Bar fans will appreciate their 1965 GMD Mueller.
On the first ride up the chairlift I was nearing the last lift tower and raised the bar. 4 seconds later I heard a raspy voice shout 'use that safety bar!' I turned to my left and saw that I had come into view of the ski patrol who had came out of the shack and wasn't happy. 'The bar above your head is a safety bar that pulls down in front of you, and you're supposed to use it!' I gave the thumbs up, but there was no way I was pulling it down because I was almost ready to unload. The attendant in the lift shack didn't seem to care at all. But I made sure for the rest of the day to wait until the last possible moment to raise the bar.
I did a bunch more runs than I did at Wachusett, and sure enough, the t-bar was opened at 3:30 right on schedule. After a few runs up and down the t-bar I left at 4.
Overall, Ski Ward is a nicely run place that I would definitely recommend for learning to ski. The only shame is that most of the runs on the left side of the ski area are rarely skied because of the huge traverse to get back over. There was one trail over there that I was the first one down at after 3 o'clock. I could see that there used to be a rope tow up the left side, but it appears to be long grown in. I probably wouldn't go back there for the small size unless I lived very close by or there was a social reason for visiting.
That's New England ski area's 43 and 44. Thanks for reading the ramble!
