Nevertheless, skiing at Ascutney can be unnerving for the first time visitor with lower intermediate ability. Unless one has read the warning contained in the trail map, there is little to tell the unwary that they may be getting into something over their head by taking the Summit Triple chair. There is no novice trail from the top of the Summit Triple Chair, states a paragraph in the trail map. Cloudspin, a trail designated as a Green at the top of the mountain would be a blue at any other mountain and could be quite challenging under icy conditions. Well, the trail map also states that trail ratings should not be compared with those at other areas.
Blacks are really double blacks and so on.
But, perhaps surprisingly, once I had found my way around the mountain, I began to like some of Ascutney s steep and relatively narrow slopes and even its double fall lines. If you are a good skier, you will enjoy Ascutney trails when conditions are good. As I remarked at the beginning, Ascutney reminds one of a luxurious country club. The design of the Resort Hotel, and landscaping at the foot of the mountain, gives one the impression of what an artist might have dreamed up. Everything seems perfectly placed and in proportion, yet at the same time there is a strange feeling of omission.