My first chore waking up that raining Saturday morning was to double check the snow conditions for Southington and yes – the recorded voice on the phone said they were open and NO rain.  This is not too unusual in New England where the weather can very regionally different and change rapidly.   So off I was for a one-day, two-mountain trip to central Connecticut.  Sure enough, as I passed near Worchester the sky was actually clearing and promised to be a sunny day – lucked out again.

Southington is a lovely small ski area tucked away in what I am sure was once farmland but is now suburbs.  The easy off and on to Interstate 84 makes this a popular place for Connecticut folks in the central and western part of the state.  Southington was unique for several reasons – it had all three types of lifts (chair, T-Bar and rope tow), it checked tickets at the main gate – not at the lift lines and it had more instructional/warning signs per square foot of wall space than any other mountain that I have EVER visited (these signs are the subject of another page of this web site).  Vickie greeted me warmly at the business office and I was then off to the quaint older lodge to change into my boots.  Attendance was light that day as I think the rain scared people away.  I stopped in the gift shop to buy a sew on patch and met Dan – son of one of the owners and an employee of nearly 40 years.  In the winter Dan works this shop and in the summer he works construction crews.

Out to the slopes where I tried all four lifts – including the tiny little rope tow for the charming bunny slope.  The snow was not what I expected after a night of rain- it was soft and fast.  The mountain had plenty of snowmaking and grooming equipment so there was plenty of base – they told me it could easily last till March.

The most pleasant part of this visit was seeing my sister Janet (one of five wonderful sisters I am blessed in having) and her dear friend Shannon and Shannon’s daughter Clair.  Janny – thanks so much for making the journey and greeting me with that great smile and sweet disposition – your great!  What a cheerful and good-looking threesome greeted me with a homemade “Woody” sign with my favorite color Orange (thanks Clair for the great sign).  We had a long lunch and sister Jan and I bored Shannon and Clair with old Wood family stories.  Clair also told us fun stories about ski racing at this mountain and others.  It was a fun time at Southington and now off to Power Ridge, about 45 minutes away.