Snowtime! The Lifts are Open

PHOTO: A skier on the snowy Range View Trail at Bretton Woods. Bretton Woods was the first ski resort to open in New Hampshire this season on November 18th! On the cold nights the snowmakers are hard at work to get skiers and snowboarders on the slopes. By this weekend most ski areas will be open for the season. Be sure to check snow conditions on-line at your favorite resort’s website, SkiNH.com/conditions or NewEnglandSkiConditions.com. It’s Snowtime!

by Amy Patenaude
Outdoor/Ski Writer

We flipped the last page of the calendar, and it is now December. Skiers and snowboarders want to hit the slopes as soon as the first frost covers the windshield in the morning. Thanks to the snowmakers the ski areas are able to cover the trails with man-made snow as soon as the temperature drops below freezing. Now we wait for the first big snowstorm to be delivered by Mother Nature. We all want our yards to be covered white before Christmas too.
Bretton Woods was the first resort in New Hampshire to open on Saturday November 18th. My first day skiing this season was at Bretton Woods on their third day open, Monday morning. It was a brisk cold morning, no wind and with only a few clouds that capped the summit of Mount Washington.

I was warm and comfortable bundled up in my ski clothes. Only the tip of my nose poked out between my goggles and my neck gaiter.

From the Zephyr high-speed quad chairlift the only way down was the Range View Trail. The snow was nice and the trail was covered edge to edge. That morning I made ten runs–a good fun effort for my first time out for the season.

They also had opened the Learning Center chairlift and the Meadow was covered with groomed snow for novices.

There weren’t that many people there, it was the first Monday of the new season. While I was leaving mid-day more people were showing up. There appeared to be a good number of local high school ski team members arriving.

Bretton Woods is now skiing top to bottom and the Skyway Gondola is a great way to ride up the mountain and enjoy the view of Mount Washington and the Presidential Range. You don’t have to be a skier or a snowboarder to ride the gondola. Scenic gondola rides are $28 per person and at the top everyone is welcome to go into the Rosebrook Lodge for good food and drink.

Congratulations are in order to everyone at Bretton Woods for being highly ranked by Ski Magazine’s Readers’ Choice Survey as one of the top 50 ski resorts in North America, #1 ski resort in New Hampshire and #1 in the East for Grooming and Lifts.

Last Friday Pats Peak opened for their 60th Anniversary for season pass holders only and the next day they opened for everyone. I didn’t make it for the very first chair but almost. We rode the fourth chair. The snow was good and fun. The sky was so clear we could see snow capped Mount Washington far in the distance from the top of the lift.

I asked a few kids if they were skipping school. They told me they lucked out, there was no school because of teacher conferences. What good luck indeed.

We skied 12 runs down the Cyclone Trail and a couple more in the Valley. We did take a break mid-morning. We bought hot chocolate and we split a giant Pats Peak cookie. The cookie was still warm. The melted chocolate inside the cookie tasted so good. The cookie is so big that I took home a piece of it to share with my husband.

There is a long ski season ahead of us. It is best not to over do it the first day out. Taking breaks and skiing half a day was plenty to start to get our ski legs back.

Please do a snow dance, help make it snow. I am ready for winter and I hope you are too.

Have fun.