Crotched Mountain Skiing 2011

Crotched Mountain Skiing

February 11 – 12, 2011

We met at the Elks Friday evening at 5:00 as usual and were on the road by 5:30. The drive was uneventful and we arrived at Crotched Mountain in Bennington, NH around 7:30.

After checking in, everyone put on their ski clothes, picked up the rental gear and headed to the mountain. The boys were at a variety of skill levels on skis. Some were expert skiers and are in their high school ski clubs, some had only been on skis a few times and some had never really been on skis before. Friday night we had an instructor who volunteered his time to teach anyone who needed it. After 2 hours of lessons everyone was able to work their way down the slopes. All of the boys divided into groups of 2-4 people based on their skill levels and headed out to the slopes. We had adults of varying skill sets as well and were able to have adults patrolling all of the different slopes from green to black diamond.

With impressive punctuality all of the boys returned to the lodge at 11:00 for some veggies, crackers and cheese. The lodge had cleared a spot in the carpeted dining area for us to sleep so after the break we went out and got the rest of our gear from the cars and set up our sleeping area. Once that was set, everyone headed out again for some more night time skiing.

While the troop was skiing on the well-lit slopes, the lodge had a huge roaring bon fire going. Some of the boys would periodically take breaks by the fire and everyone stayed warm throughout the night. A few of the boys and adults came in at around 1:00 a.m. to get some sleep but most of the boys stayed out skiing until 2:30 a.m. Once everyone was back we headed over to the Bon Fire for a little quiet time and conversation then went back to the lodge and we were asleep by 3:00 a.m.

Morning came early at 7:00 a.m. The boys packed up their gear at a surprisingly efficient pace given the small amount of sleep they had and we were ready for breakfast at 8:00 a.m. The Crotched Mtn. staff provided a great breakfast buffet with eggs, bacon, sausage and French toast. The boys were in heaven and took full advantage of the buffet.

After finishing up and cleaning up the area everyone headed out again for another few hours of skiing. We skied until lunch time when we had sandwiches and fruit then headed out again to finish up the day. At 2:30 we returned the equipment, changed out of our ski clothes and headed for the cars. The ride back was very quiet. Most of the boys took the opportunity to get some needed rest.