Adventure Saturday Bridal Veil Falls and Rope Tows

by Amy Patenaude
Outdoor/Ski Writer

Becca and I made a date for a skinning adventure and we didn’t decide where to go until the last minute. We had kept our eye on the higher summit forecast that called for high winds and clouds and since it looked like it wouldn’t improve we decided to stay low and in the trees by adventuring to Bridal Veil Falls.
Skinning is going uphill using “skins” attached to the bottom of your skis or splitboard. The skins allow the ski to slide forward on the snow but not backward. Today the skins are made of nylon but they are still called skins because the first ones were made from sealskin.
A splitboard is a snowboard that can be broken down into two ski-like planks and the bindings are re-fixed to allow the boot’s heels to rise for climbing–I’m sure it’s a magic trick. It looks complicated but Becca can take apart or reassemble her board quickly.
We headed up the Coppermine Trail in Franconia. The trail is popular and the snow was well packed by snowshoers and a few skiers. The Trail is 2.5 miles long and climbs over a thousand feet to reach Bridal Veil Falls.
About a mile up the trail on the left we could see recent ski tracks coming down from the old Hardwood Heaven cross country ski trail. It hasn’t been groomed or maintained for years but people still ski it. The snow conditions were wonderful and it made me think that maybe it would be possible to make a big loop and end up coming back on those tracks.

We were able to skin up all the way, even the rocky sections along the Coppermine Brook were covered with more than a foot of packed snow.
We worked our way around the Coppermine Shelter and inspected the heavily graffiti marked old shelter. I learned this past fall that this is one of the just two remaining shelters built in the mid 1930’s by the Civilian Conservation Corp. in the White Mountain National Forest. Sadly the other shelter, the Mount Landgon shelter is slated to be destroyed. I read in a news story that the Bartlett Selectmen are opposed to the removal, but I have not heard if a plan has been made to save that historic CCC log Adirondack-style lean-to hiking shelter. The good news in the story was that they planned to preserve and maintain the Coppermine Shelter.

We skinned right up to the base of the frozen falls. At first we heard voices and a loud cry, “Off Belay.” Two men were ice climbing the falls’ icy wall. We saw their skis stuck in the snow nearby; they had skinned up too.
From the base of the Falls we skied a few minutes straight down because the skins dragged and slowed us. We climbed straight up out of the brook’s drainage and attempted to follow the route of the old CCC ski trail to connect high up on the Tucker Brook Trail. The snow was deep and powdery and breaking through the snow wasn’t easy.
Becca and I traveled in this area many times and in all seasons. We had a good idea where we were and in our backpacks we carried the essentials for going out on an adventure. After a couple hours of hard work and fun we popped out on the trail. Right there we met a couple that had skinned up Tuckerbrook and all of us removed our skins. Becca reassembled her snowboard and we took a break while the other two skied off.

The ski down the wide Tuckerbrook trail on the soft power was fun. We weren’t making all the first tracks but there was plenty of good snow to enjoy. After the very last steep drop we glided fast to the top of a small uphill. We stopped, Becca split her board and we put on our skins. I took out my compass and set the bearing to intersect the old Hardwood Heaven XC ski trail. Yes it was truly hardwood heaven as we traversed through the forest of Beech trees.
At the height of the land we took off our skins and zoomed down the hill and back to the Coppermine Trail. We were able to glide all the way back to the trailhead at the road. Since it was only early afternoon we jumped into Becca’s car and drove to Lancaster’s Mount Prospect Ski Tow. The rope tow and groomed slopes are located on the hillside of NH’s Weeks State Park. The small ski area is run by volunteers while the Town of Lancaster provides the funds to cover liability insurance.
The ski tow operates on Saturdays from 1 to 4pm when snow conditions permit. This was our first time here when it was open. Donations are accepted (we donated five dollars each) and off we went. We were pulled along up almost 300 vertical feet and we made half a dozen rides in a row. Our arms got so tired doing this without a good rest between tows. The children were impressive, the ones that couldn’t make it to the top held on as long as they could before they let go.
The Granite Backcountry Alliance has cut glades from the top of the State Park that drop 700 vertical feet but we didn’t have enough in the tank to skin anymore that day. But we did cross through the woods from the top of the rope tow to hit the bottom of a couple of the glades.
On the way out we thanked the volunteers and said no thank you to their offer of joining their hotdog cookout. We would have liked to have stayed but we had one more place to visit.

Back in the car we drove straight to Littleton’s Mt. Eustis Ski Hill. They’re open Wednesday’s 3-7pm under the lights and on weekends 12-4pm–snow conditions permitting. We made it for the last half an hour, we donated $5 each and signed a waiver before we grabbed onto their rope with already worn out arms.
Becca went up first and then a kid jumped on between us. When I got halfway up the slope the rope stopped. I let go and went back to the bottom. Becca was on top and it was a few minutes before the rope got going again. When I finally met her on top she asked me if I knew why the lift stopped–I didn’t but she told me why. She held on too long to the rope and went through the emergency stop switch and it took a bit of time for the lift person to fix!
We enjoyed a couple runs before the clock read 4pm. The mountain views from its slope are wide and far and include Mount Washington and the Presidential Range.
Mt. Eustis volunteers have built a terrain park too!
On our way home we stopped by the Iron Furnace Brewing for a celebratory IPA in honor of Becca’s completion of the New Hampshire Small Ski Area Challenge list.(Smallskiareas.com).
Have Fun!

Amy Patenaude is an avid skier/outdoor enthusiast from Henniker, N.H. Readers are welcome to send comments or suggestions to her at: amy@weirs.com.