Snow Business: Wachusett's 'Bear' Necessities Raise The Bar High

PRINCETON, MA — Over the past, let's say, six seasons, the snow sports industry has endured rising gas prices, that pandemic thing and some downright dreadful weather. When asked what it took for Wachusett Mountain to persevere through it all, resort president Jeff Crowley mentioned the Polar bear.

Crowley was referring to the inflatable mascot that sits on top of the Worcester plant for that other family business — Polar Beverage. The bear greets skiers and snowboarders who are heading to the mountain along Interstate 290.

But it's also a reminder, he said.

"My dad made us work there — and we worked our butts off," Crowley said of his younger years. "We learned how to do things right."

Jeff Crowley said the work ethic put forth by dad Ralph was already etched in stone when Wachusett was founded in 1969.

"One example was recently. We had a longtime customer tell us he wished there could be more snow cover on two trails he liked," Crowley said. "So, we invested in fans for the snowmaking system that took care of those trails, not only for that one customer, but everyone. It's what we do here."

Crowley said the business end of things always calls for "investing" wisely in terms of capital improvements. The snowmaking fans — and the mountain as a whole — were also bolstered by new and more powerful snowmaking infrastructure."

So Wachusett can offer a solid product just 83 miles away, even when there is no snow in the backyards of Connecticut.

"Trust the technology," one longtime and recently retired Wachusett staffer liked to say.

So during the Covid hype, state health officials ordered more distance between people. Crowley ordered the tables spaced out to greater distances and Wachusett added more outdoor cubbies for worry-free and healthy bag storage.

Gas prices? Wachusett instituted a ski train offering.

This was on top of a lodge and food and beverage complex that many of the larger mountains have been envious over for years. And every major lift being high-speed has never hurt the cause.

As Crowley was discussing it all Saturday, snow was dumping all over Wachusett. With all 26 trails open on base depths of up to 43 inches and six lifts running, the mountain was coming off a stellar holiday week and things were getting even better. Trails like Connifer Connection, 10th Mountain, Challenger and Ralph's Run (yes, named after Dad) offered soft surfaces in the morning and very navigable conditions even through the afternoon.

One big telltale sign was that Balance Rock was open. It's a blue trail off of the Polar Express Quad that offers a meandering, woodsy feeling when being skied.

"It's a good feeling right now," Cowley said.

And that was easily transferred to the customer Saturday.

For ticket prices and a full snow report, click on Wachusett.com.

Oh, one more thing. There were samples of Polar Seltzer at the mountain Saturday. Try the Yeti Mischief from the JR series. It's good with a hint of lemon lime.

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Chris Dehnel is a Patch editor who has been writing about skiing and snowboarding since 1999. He has contributed to several books on snow sports and is a past president of the Eastern Ski Writers Association. His Snow Business column runs periodically during the season.