Skiing

Yawgoo Valley Ski Area in Exeter, Rhode Island’s only ski area, is an intimate and accessible facility that’s perfect for beginning skiers, snowboarders and tubers.

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THE PROVIDENCE JOURNAL / Bob Breidenbach

If you’re a skier in Rhode Island, you greeted last month’s twin snowfalls with cautious optimism. Optimism because at least it was snow, but caution because in the last few years, before-Christmas snowfalls typically have been washed away by rain, and then the weather seemed to fast-forward to May.

Sure enough, heavy rain just before Christmas turned lovely piles of whipped-cream snow to ice and then to soupy slush. Before you knew it, we were looking at green grass again. Could it be that last year’s January temperatures of 60 degrees are just around the corner?

Of course, ski operators say: “’Sno way!” and predict a great season ahead. They point out that even last year, the snowless January eventually turned cold enough to allow resort operators to make their own snow to keep the slopes covered. And then in April, long after many frustrated skiers had given up on the season, a great big Easter dump finished out 2007 with a bang.

Long and short story: You never know what will happen when it comes to natural snow in southern New England. But with any cooperation at all from Mother Nature, the three ski areas that are within an easy hour-or-so drive of Rhode Island should be operating at a good clip this month.

Here’s the low-down on where to go and what you’ll find there:

Yawgoo Valley

Closest to Providence and the only Rhode Island ski area is Yawgoo Valley.

Buried in the woods of Exeter off the South County Trail, Yawgoo has given thousands of Rhode Islanders their first taste of downhill skiing — a taste that led many of them to embrace the sport at much larger resorts much farther away.

“We’re really a feeder area for all those northern ski areas,” said owner Max deWardener on a day just before Christmas when his hill was alive with skiers and boarders of all ages. He meant that skiers who learn to enjoy the sport in Exeter usually go on to ski at places like Killington, Sunday River, Bretton Woods or Loon, providing such areas with a steady stream of new skiers.

But does he ever get thanked for playing that role?

Not really.

“Once, a few years ago, Les Otten (until last year the owner of the huge American Ski Company conglomerate of New England ski areas) called me and asked me if something was going on down here,” said deWardener. “He said he’d looked out at his parking lots, and it seemed as if a third of the license plates up there were from Rhode Island.”

That was as close to a pat on the back as he’s ever gotten.

First opened in 1963, and then purchased by deWardener in 1980, Yawgoo has been chugging away for more than 40 seasons, gradually adding more snow-making capability and a few years ago a tubing hill that is also served by snowmaking. Its main lodge has a homey, nostalgic quality that some skiers say they appreciate because it isn’t as intimidating as those at big northern mountains, especially Sunday River and Killington.

For that matter, Yawgoo isn’t a mountain at all. It’s a 240-foot valley approached by a road that dips and drops right along with the ski runs next to it. Driving in, you can look to your right and watch the skiers and tubers go from top to bottom.

Small as it is, it’s perfect for beginners, children and adults, and it also is a popular place to get a few runs under your belt in the early season before going north.

Last year, Yawgoo opened some new runs by clearing trees from a mid-slope area called The Ledges, one of a couple of runs that are rated Black Diamond for difficulty. Most of Yawgoo is rated Blue (medium difficulty) or Green (easiest). Two double-chair lifts (Conan and Proud Mary) carry skiers to the top of the hill, and a rope tow serves the novice area.

Inside the homey base lodge are a cafeteria, lounge area with fireplace, and gear and rental shops.

Yawgoo Valley Ski Area, Yawgoo Valley Road, Exeter. (401) 294-3802 for ski information; (401) 295-2276 for tubing; www.yawgoo.com. Directions from Providence: Route 95 South to Route 4 (Exit 9). Take Exit 5B for Route 102 North. After one mile, turn left onto Route 2 South. At four miles, Yawgoo Valley Road is on the left.

Weekend lift passes for adults are $38, with reduced rates for half-days, children and seniors. Weekday rates: $27.

Season passes, lessons and rentals are available.

Blue Hills Ski Area

Just a few miles farther from Providence than Yawgoo, the Blue Hills Ski Area on the Canton/Milton line in Massachusetts is in a natural snow belt that often gives it several more inches of natural snow than Rhode Island has. Of course, it has complete snow-making capability as well. The 350-foot Big Blue is easy to spot as you make the split from Route 95 north to 93 or 128 around Boston. At night, its line of lights defines the ski slopes where night-skiing is offered.

Blue Hills has been popular as a backyard ski destination for Bostonians since its first runs were cut in the 1930s by the Civilian Conservation Corps. The area is part of the much-larger Blue Hills State Reservation, which also includes the next-door Trailside Museum and a top-of-the-mountain weather station. The ski operation is leased under a management agreement, and last February (to local skiers’ disappointment), the area suddenly closed when its former lessees said their liability insurance had been canceled.

The area was put out to bid, and in October was taken over by a new company that also runs a small ski mountain in New Jersey. With a combination of a good natural base (thanks to those December snows) and a steady supply of man-made snow, Blue Hills opened on the third weekend in December. As long as conditions permit, it is open daily 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Blue Hills is served by one double-chair lift and a combination of rope tows and Magic Carpet slope-climber on its novice areas. From the top, there’s a choice of three runs rated Black Diamond and one longer and easier Blue run, called Sonya. Some skiers at Blue Hills the weekend before Christmas said conditions were excellent and the runs just challenging enough to kick-start the season.

There’s a rental shop, sales area, cafeteria and fireplaced lounge in a chalet-style main lodge at the base of the slope. Several parking lots line Route 138 just before and just past the ski area.

Blue Hills Ski Area, 4001 Washington St. (Route 138), Canton, Mass. (781) 828-5070; www.ski-bluehills.com. Directions from Providence: Route 95 North to Route 128/93 split. Turn right onto 93 North and take Exit 2B onto Route 138 North. Blue Hills is about 1 mile on the right.

Weekend lift passes for adults are $33; weekdays are $21. Season passes, lessons and rentals are available.

Wachusett Mountain

While Blue Hills and Yawgoo Valley might both be described as primarily for learning and practicing because of their small size, 2,000-foot Wachusett Mountain Ski Area just north of Worcester is the closest real ski mountain to Rhode Island skiers. With a vertical drop of 1,000 feet, Wachusett has 10 main slopes and eight lifts, including two high-speed quad chair lifts, serving about 110 skiable acres, all covered by snow-making. Twenty-two trails are divided into about 30 percent Novice, 40 percent Intermediate, and 30 percent Advanced. There’s a full-service base lodge, complete with rentable-by-the-day “Mountain Suites” that give families or groups of up to 15 a place to hang out in condominium-style units with wide windows overlooking the mountain slopes. Because of its location convenient both to Boston and Rhode Island, it draws some of the biggest skier numbers of any area in New England. It takes just over an hour to drive to Wachusett from Providence, and about the same from Boston.

Wachusett Mountain Ski Area, 499 Mountain Rd., Princeton, Mass. (978) 464-2300; snow reports: (800) SKI-1234; www.wachusett.com. Directions from Providence: Route 146 North to Worcester, then Route 290 East to Exit 19 (Route 190 North) to Exit 5 (Route 140 North). Wachusett’s access road is 12 miles north on the left.

Weekend lift passes are $49; weekdays $44, with reduced rates available for half-days, nights, children and seniors. Season passes, lessons and rentals are available.

kimbrie@projo.com