On a Tuesday evening, I’m usually heading home from school wishing for the weekend so I’d have something more fun to do than my laundry. I think most people can relate.

This week, I decided, would be different. I’d find a better reason than the next Glee episode to put off doing laundry. Instead of moseying home from campus, I ran back, grabbed my snowboarding gear and boyfriend (in order of importance), and headed out for night skiing at Wachusett Mountain in Princeton, Massachusetts.

On the way to the mountain, Sam and I heard a radio commercial for Wachusett—truth in advertising as we discovered.  This is a great mountain for anyone in the Boston area, only an hour and a half from downtown even with rush-hour traffic, so it’s possible to hit the slopes any day of the week (even Tuesday).

In fact, I would highly recommend trying out night skiing at Wachusett Mountain on a weekday. Every skier dreams of nonexistent lift lines and cheap lift tickets, and the night skiing at Wachusett makes the dream a reality, even for those of us with 9 to 5 work and school schedules.

Riding up the lift, we checked out the other skiers who were already on to this secret. They were a hodgepodge of local kids (mostly snowboarders), veteran skiers, racers getting in some weekday practice, and beginning skiers and boarders.

I remembered my first days snowboarding, and sympathized with the new folks out on the mountain. The first few times trying out any new snow sport are enjoyable, but by no means easy. This is especially true on a crowded mountain when you only have the bunny slope to learn on. The benefit to learning or practicing a new downhill sport on a week night at Wachusett in March is that they have plenty of slopes suited for beginning to moderate skiers and those slopes are close to empty.

But the smaller slopes aren’t just for beginners. This night I practiced “riding regular” (I’m usually “goofy”–Sam says in more ways than one).  Sam also encouraged me to check out the terrain park. It was only my second venture into a terrain park, but I should be landing boxes and rails soon enough with a park so close for practice. We’ll have to hurry back out to Wachusett soon, since the season is drawing to a close. But I am here to attest, after night skiing many times during February, that spring is the best time for night skiing.

After the sun sets, temperatures drop to around what is normal for day skiing earlier in the season, still pleasant in other words. I was able to focus on connecting my turns rather than reconnecting with cold-numbed fingers. Night skiing at Wachusett Mountain doesn’t have to mean half frozen digits!

Let me debunk another night skiing at Wachusett Mountain myth while I’m at it: the snow at Wachusett isn’t ice pretending to be snow. It’s real snow (not even manufactured)! There were a few icy patches, but they were well marked and easily avoided. The folks running Wachusett take good care of the mountain and the skiers on it.

Between the well-lit slopes and readily available lifts (including a high speed quad), Sam and I got in a great evening of snowboarding. I encourage everyone to head out to Wachusett Mountain before their season ends on April 3rd.

For anyone in the Boston area, the drive to Princeton is easy, but a Wachusett Ski Train is also available every Saturday and Sunday. It’s the perfect getaway if you don’t have a car but love to ski and can’t resist a day on the slopes.