Visited on a weekday around noon. School was in session but you wouldn't know it by the number of kids in the lodges. Then at 3pm, buses arrived with hundreds more. I love kids but would also like to find a bench to sit on in the lodge that isn't loaded with coats and book bags, or misbehaving kids who are unsupervised. There were several lifts running but they were very slow, taking 5 to 8 minutes (or longer) to reach the top, which isn't really very high. They kept stopping, apparently because some children couldn't board or leave the chairs easily. If you prefer a less chaotic environment, consider one of the resorts further north. I shutter to wonder what the weekends are like.
Such a a great time. My teenager was able to rent equipment snd ski the whole mountain with friends for 6 hours. It was really a lot of fun. The staff was so nice an helpful. Met the director or operations and he even had a minute to be helpful really was nice night.
Pat's Peak specializes in teaching skiers/boarders at all skill levels. The Adult Clinics provide a wonderful opportunity to improve your skills and increase your enjoyment of the sport. There is something on the Mountain for everyone.
First, I find their lift ticket prices very high considering what they have to offer. No significant discount for half-day tickets either and hold on to your wallet for junior tickets. I find that it's mostly an area for beginner skiers. Not much to entertain the more advanced skier. The other issue is that most of their slopes start out nice, but flatten out early. It's also find it difficult to move from one side of the mountain to the other...funky layout. Finally, they start closing some of the lifts and trails before closing to heard people towards the lodge. I'm sorry, but I just paid what I feel is a poor value for skiing and now I can't ski the whole mountain until closing?! Oh and the lodge...forget finding a place to sit or store your stuff... It's packed.
Spent the morning tubing and had a great time. Enough of a crowd that there were people around but never really had to wait to tube. The staff were helpful and friendly. Had lunch in the Sled Pub, and was pleasantly surprised by the food. The philly steak sandwich was very tasty and better than I'd expect from a ski lodge bar.
Both our kids learned to ski at Pat's, its a great family mountain. We live outside Boston and I'd rather make the trip to Pat's vs. Nashoba (very small, expensive, and limited terrain) and vs. Wachusett (too many people). There are beginner and intermediate trails from the summit, plus a terrain park and a few black diamonds. Lodge is a nice place to grab lunch (recommend Sled Pub upstairs, where they have nice draught beers and all you can eat popcorn). Kids under 6 ski free.
We enjoy going to Pats Peak for the convenience and the skiing. Our kids love the trails and we like the intimacy of the mountain.
We had found this diamond in the rough about 10 yrs ago, now we have been back for the last 3 yrs in a row. Family fun! The whole staff is wonderful! Great customer service!
My whole clan traveled to Pats Peak during school vacation. I stayed in the lodge, managing the hot chocolate whenever a grandchild took a break to come inside for a break. I did venture out to see the race course when my 17 y.o. Took his turn. From skateboarding to beginner skiing, the younger ones had a blast. Weather was great and staff very available and helpful. We will go back again and again.
We enjoyed skiing here last weekend. It's about 90 mins from Boston area, with last 30 mins or so being back roads (if you go up 3 to 89). Parking lot was crowded but lifts and slopes weren't bad at all. It's a small ski area, but has enough terrain to enjoy a day on it for sure. The lifts are on the slow side but it's small enough area that even running slow they don't take long to get to the top. Prices for tickets and rentals are about normal, and easy enough to get both. Everyone very friendly and helpful. The ski bag storage areas are pretty limited in the two small lodge areas, but use the lockers downstairs in the ski rental area for a convenient place to lock stuff up if you need to. Food area is small, but food was as good as any other ski area. They have a pub upstairs that we didn't go see. Not much else to cover here. It's well-run, on the small side but good enough unless you are looking for larger and more difficult terrain. BTW - we came back toward Boston using all back roads to compare the two options, and the back roads added about 20 mins to the trip....but zero traffic!