New Hampshire resorts do it right
New Hampshire resorts didn’t wait for the snow to up your experience this season. Lots of new and improved elements have been introduced this season. Here’s a rundown of what you can find when you visit:
In partnership with Ski the Whites, Black Mountain is now offering back-country skiing and snowboarding lessons and rentals from its base lodge. They also added high-efficiency snow guns to strengthen snowmaking and provide a better snow surface throughout the season.
Following last year’s $5 million snowmaking and energy upgrade project, Cannon Mountain was able to make two times the snow with half the energy. This year, it will add more upgrades to snowmaking and a public warming hut on Mittersill.
As part of a $50 million master development plan, the 18-unit Kearsarge Brook Condominium project at Cranmore Mountain Resort is complete. It includes a four-season outdoor pool with an indoor viewing area and changing rooms. Cranmore also renovated its drop-off area and added 86 high-efficiency snow guns.
Granite Gorge ramped up its race trail with better grading and drainage, and added new race-specific safety equipment for that trail. You’ll find 50 new Tube Pro snow tubes, new lighting for cosmic tubing, and new rental equipment available for skiing and snowboarding.
Gunstock purchased 37 energy efficient HKD snow guns for the winter season, completing a multiyear initiative to replace all of the resort’s snow guns with modern, energy efficient technology.
King Pine installed 5,000 feet of new larger diameter snowmaking pipe to replace older pipe, and purchased additional new HKD Snowmakers that feature higher efficiency.
Loon Mountain Resort installed 11 semi-automated snowmaking hydrants on Lower Rumrunner. By drastically reducing the time required to turn the guns on and off, the hydrants allow Loon to open more terrain more quickly in the early season. It also enables the resort to deliver better, more consistent snow all season long.
A new triple chairlift at Pat’s Peak replaces the old Peak Double, doubling the capacity of the lift from 800 to 1,600 people per hour. The bottom of the lift is better too, with a conveyor carpet system that makes loading easier and faster. On snow, they added six new fan guns. You’ll find more cafeteria seating as their base expansion project continues.
Ragged Mountain Resort added a new Bison X Groomer to its snow grooming fleet, as well as a new hardware update for its point-of-sale system. It’s also amping up the successful Bebe Wood Learn to Ski Program with even more offerings.