Falling in love with Attitash again

My long-time love affair with Attitash Mountain Resort has, to be honest, been put to the test in past years. I’m not talking just since Vail purchased it along with Wildcat and some other eastern resorts in 2019; it’s more been a decade of looking for the silver linings what I saw and felt while spending time with Attitash.

After an epic visit taking place, ironically, in a time when conditions everywhere were ehhhh at best and grim for the most part – I’m happy to say with conviction: My love for Attitash is whole, pure and reignited.

At the top of the mountain on a sunny Friday (two weeks before the recent big storm) I looked out across the clear blue sky offset by the pristine white peak of Mount Washington (is there a better view on this planet?) I renewed our vows. Through the tough time and now back to what I hope will be great, we are a team.

I’m not saying there’s not more to be done to bring Attitash to where it can and should be. But before we dig into that, let’s talk about the good. Because you can see it and truly feel it: there’s a lot of good going on – finally – at the Bartlett, New Hampshire resort.

First and most obviously are the lifts. Vail invested in two shiny new lifts in as many years and it’s not hyperbole to say they’ve transformed the Attitash base side in a super positive way.

The Progression Quad replaced the outdated East and West Double/Double last season, adding a next step for learners (start on the Magic Carpet, advance over to the slower Learning Center Triple (which empties you out to only beginner terrain) and then graduate to the Progression. It’s a nice set-up. But I found that I, too, use the Progression Quad – it takes you to some great intermediate runs and a few pretty runs that are less used. That spreads out skiers, always a good thing.

And then there’s this year’s new lift, the Mountaineer High Speed Quad – a comfortable, fast and efficient lift finally answering the decades-long plea of the loyalists to “get us off that slow, untrustworthy triple!”

It’s not just that the lift is fast and dependable; its placement at the base makes it easier to access the lift and to get across the wide berth base area. Smart.

And then there’s the snow surface. To be honest, in the past decade – even at snowier times – the snow base management at Attitash had been worrying me. Whales left sitting mid-trail when the weather seemed just right for grooming out. Snowmaking not running in spots you feel it should. Lesser conditions than I’d always seen in decades past.

This visit, at a time when every area was challenged to even be open, Attitash stepped up. Thanks to what clearly was smart snowmaking, grooming and surface management all season, they held onto some truly decent trails to ski despite the sad, muddy brown state of the region around it.

Sure, the snow was soft (it was warm out), but it was fun, manageable and worth being out on.

So, as we do, let’s talk what else would be great. The base buildings absolutely still need love. The main Attitash base lodge in particular is dated and gets crowded easily. It has its beauty: the giant crackling center fireplace is one example. But the bar area, general seating and rental shop could all do for an update.

Same goes for the learning center and even the “newer” (it dates back to the mid 1990s) Bear Peak base lodge. Building infrastructure love is much needed.

But there are little touches that show love – and bring added fun – already. There’s the new and fun firepit area at Bear Peak, a natural apres ski spot (and free smores on Sundays), and the fun little Beers and Brat window set up by Tuckerman’s Ale on the Attitash side.

The best thing going, though, is the one enduring quality that maintained through the tough times and may very well be the reason they’re rising again: the loyalists.

I could see them – and feel their vibe – everywhere. Sitting in the sun at the base, I could just tell I was next to a group of AOGA’s (Attitash Old Goat Society – it’s a thing!). With their talk of how trails were skiing and their thermoses of soup, they’re such a part of who the mountain is.

And on the three chairs ahead of me were three foursomes of about 14 year old girls, all dressed in fun ski themed sweatshirts and bib ski pants (no jacket – spring skiing) and in braids. They were singing Taylor Swift’s “Love Story,” one line at a time from chair to chair – and probably giggling about ski life, boys and all that.

I got a bit misty because, 50 years ago at that same ski area albeit on an older, slower and smaller chair – that was me and my gang. Rather than “Love Story,” we sang “Build me Up Buttercup.”

But we had the same feeling of total belonging; the same kind of total joy that a day at a great ski area brings – it makes you want to sing out loud.

Just for kicks, I joined in at the top.

“Baby just say yes!” I crooned as I carved past them on my way to another sun drenched run, that white Mount Washington peak – the center of so many core memory moment in my life – shining on the horizon ahead. They giggled. I smiled.

And that’s the core of the Attitash magic. It’s a love story, so skiers just say yes.