Crotched Mountain - 2022-3 Season

Chuckstah

The old double chairs are being sold at auction

https://givergy.us/CrotchedMountainChairsale/?controller=home

joshua_segal

Chuckstah;c-56689 wroteThe old double chairs are being sold at auction

https://givergy.us/CrotchedMountainChairsale/?controller=home

These are not the chairs from the West Double, but the wood-slatted chairs from another lift, I think from Crotched East.

Chuckstah

I think they are like the #10 chair on West, the only one with wooden slats,

This is the picture posted

tedede

The chairs at Attitash started at $150. $250 seems steep considering the condition.

NELSBEER

The chairs do clean-up reasonably well. There are many of them scattered around the base lodge with the hangers removed and new legs welded on them. Got to watch for parts though, the one above has no safety bar.

conrad

I would just describe that chair as 'having character.'

joshua_segal

Latest announcement for the 2022-3 season:

CM plans to open on December 2, 2022 assuming cooperation from Mother Nature.

Operating hours will be:
- Sunday and Monday 9am – 4pm
- Tuesday thru Saturday 9am – 9pm.
- CM will be bringing back midnight madness, but no details yet.:

So, the differences from pre-COVID ops:
- Sunday closing at 4PM rather than 5PM
- Monday closing at 4PM rather than 9PM

NELSBEER

4pm mostly saves turning on lights in the dark months.
Probably means that the old afternoon 2:00 (2:30?) until closing afternoon deals on Sunday won't be back yet, families with smaller kids liked the cheap afternoon pass.
There were never too many folks or school groups on Monday anyway.

Quietman

Chair auction is active. Bids are currently $300-$500. Some of these chairs are pretty roached.

https://givergy.us/CrotchedMountainChairsale/?controller=lots&category=All%20Lots

tedede

Those are from Crotched East. Having skied there from 1975 until they closed in 1990, odds are very good my ass has been in every one of those chairs :)

"Roached", LOL, haven't heard that in a while.

joshua_segal

Some have seen CM referred to as Mount Crochet, which they assume to be French, pronounced "cro-shay". Looking at one of the oldest photos of the mountain, in the book, "A History of Bennington, NH", it would indicate the original spelling was "Mount Crotchett". While the spelling may have evolved, it appears that the current pronunciation is correct!

abubob

joshua_segal;c-56735 wroteSome have seen CM referred to as Mount Crochet, which they assume to be French, pronounced "cro-shay". Looking at one of the oldest photos of the mountain, in the book, "A History of Bennington, NH", it would indicate the original spelling was "Mount Crotchett". While the spelling may have evolved, it appears that the current pronunciation is correct!

Could it be a derivation of Crockett? It has always interested me how words and names originate and how local language and region mold pronunciation and meaning.

The Crocketts were of mostly French-Huguenot ancestry, although the family had settled in Ireland before migrating to the Americas. The earliest known paternal ancestor was Gabriel Gustave de Crocketagne, whose son Antoine de Saussure Peronette de Crocketagne was given a commission in the Household Troops under French King Louis XIV. Antoine married Louise de Saix and immigrated to Ireland with her, changing the family name to Crockett. – Wikipedia, David Crockett

Chris

I figured I could throw a couple of pennies into the conversation, because it reminded me of an excerpt from the Francestown NH history book of 1895:

"Several of the adjacent towns are dotted with mountains, but Francestown has only one elevation that can be dignified by that name, and this has been always known as "Crotched Mountain". This is the proper spelling. In a newspaper article (1870) now before me, it is called "Mount Crotchet", and a like error escaped my eye in the proof of the Hillsboro County History (1885), it was called "Crotched" Mountain undoubtedly because of its two or three forks or summits. I think that in boyhood I heard old people speak of it as the "Forked Mountain", conveying the same idea. The term "Crotchet" is both modern and meaningless. It was called "Crotched Mountain" in the Town Records of 1785. Also in the NH Gazetteer 1817 and that of 1874, (and probably in all the others), and in all surveys and references known to me prior to 1870."

This excerpt begins near the bottom of page 486, of the book "History of Francestown, N.H. From Its Earliest Settlement April, 1758, to January 1, 1891. With a Brief Genealogical Record of All the Francestown Families", published in 1895 by Warren Robert Cochrane & George K. Wood.

Read here:
https://www.google.com/books/edition/History_of_Francestown_N_H/llGDthBQqTMC?hl=en&gbpv=1

ski_it

Bob, Crotchett to Crockett seems like a stretch. Next thing we’ll know is Dickens had a hand in naming the town or Daniel Boone. :D

And hi Chris

abubob

ski_it;c-56801 wroteBob, Crotchett to Crockett seems like a stretch. Next thing we’ll know is Dickens had a hand in naming the town or Daniel Boone. :D

And hi Chris

Language is a stretchy thing.

Quietman

Midnight Madness is back on the schedule, Sat nights only.

Midnight Madness is returning for the season! Dates for the 2022-23 season are:

Saturday, January 7
Saturday, January 21
Saturday, February 4
Saturday, February 18
Saturday, March 4

tedede

And only to Midnight.

NELSBEER

At our recent Ski Patrol refresher Crotched's management confirmed what we had been watching going on all summer at the hill and filled in a few details.

Don't look for anything miraculous or too exciting, but be prepared to be pleasantly surprised when all the lifts run, snowmaking is working better than it has in years and there is a lot more staff.

Doppelmayr was brought in to review the lifts stem to stern. Lots of parts were ordered and installed. All standard Maintenace (shive trains etc.) is about complete.

The chairs are on the triple hanging from the new rope installed last year, it has new load & unload ramps. Its name is now ROVER as the sign added last year states.

The WEST lift motor room and controls have been gone over. It got a new base ramp last year.

The VALLEY quad had some chairs removed to facilitate a second round of cable shortening, it was shortened about 10'. The dozen chairs removed for this task will be back in place shortly. New base and top station platforms are nearing completion.

The ROCKET hsq had a real good going over by Doppelmayr. Our staff and borrowed lift experts from Sunapee & Okemo did a lot of work. Fingers crossed, this may be the year it fully realizes it's potential. Details like checking every weld on every chair were performed - fixing every broken, loose or funky weld (thanks Lonnie).

The lighting system has been reviewed in depth, all bulbs work, all bulbs are now 1000 watt & the same color. Parking lot lights were upgraded to LED much brighter units.

The snowmaking pump house is totally up to snuff. 6 fully serviced pumps that work. When Crotched was new they used to be able to open top to bottom 1 trail with 2 days effort. Will we see that kind of production again? {Pond was drained within a week in those days}.

Snowmaking Electric Service for guns was PM'd. All the on-hill boxes were opened and cleaned out, connections tightened.

The 100+ Polecat Snoguns have had their compressor oil updated on service schedule & broken parts addressed. Water hydrants work. With all six pumps ready to run CM should be able to meet its first weekend of December scheduled opening date (weather permitting), that's 2 weeks earlier than the last few years! Rated at 6,000 gal per minute.

The hill is due to be cut very soon, when that is complete they can roll the portable polecats into place and get ready to blow.

There has been a lot of sharing of staff with Sunapee which really helped get a lot done this summer. They even provided us with a new senior hill manager. A promotion for him and a hill lead who seems to be enthused about his new position for Crotched. He should have enough staff this year with positions starting at $20.00 an hour for everyone including lift attendants and scanner operators.

The 2 Piston Bully 400's have been fully PM'd and we gained a "Newer to us" upgrade for a third PB. One is a working Winch cat (makes a big difference having 3 working groomers - with operators).

Saturday October 22nd. they are having a recruitment BLOCK PARTY, bands, food and lots of job opportunities inside & outside starting at $20.00 per hour and up. Lots of benefits... a real job at a ski area.. life can be good!

slatham

That’s great to hear, and very much not a Vail fail. Hope all works out for a great winter.

Quietman

That is exactly what was need at the Crotch. Stabilize and improve on the current infrastructure. Having 6 working pumps is a big thing. Doing in depth analysis on the needed lift repairs is crucial. Having the rocket run at 1000 FPM would be a welcome upgrade. Grooming was somewhat subpar last year and may have now been addressed. The additional lights will also be very welcome. Sounds like things are coming together!

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