New Hampshire ski areas amp up with new features

A new gondola, upgraded base lodges, amped up snowmaking and more highlight what’s new at New Hampshire resorts this winter. With snow pounding the state this early season, there’s a lot of new features to experience.

Loon Mountain: This summer, Boyne-owned Loon replaced and rerouted all the snowmaking pipes and towers on the popular Flying Fox trail. This improvement will allow Loon’s snowmakers to take full advantage of the prevailing winds, which typically come out of the northwest during the winter. This change should make it easier for snowmakers to bury Flying Fox during the winter, and may even help them open the trail a bit earlier in the season. They also expanded the deck of the Paul Bunyan Room by more than 700 square feet, meaning even more room to soak up the sun and enjoy après outdoors this winter.

Waterville Valley Resort: Last winter construction began on the new High Country T-Bar, and the old 1966 double chair spun for its final season. The newly installed T-Bar’s design is low to the ground, which means no more wind holds and ascent times that are twice as fast, allowing for more skiing and riding on High Country. They’ve also continued the development of their RFID ticketing system. Instead of a traditional lift ticket which is checked by handheld scanners, guests will be issued an RFID card that will be automatically read by the gates. For this winter they have made updates to the technology by improving readability, eliminating the RFID card deposit, and introducing the Direct-to-Lift (DTL) Reloadable Card. Season pass holders and frequent skier card users will also have the option to upgrade to a helmet sticker. This winter also debuts 33,000 feet of new snowmaking pipe which connects to 400 new high-efficiency tower and fan guns. A 12,000 square foot expansion to the Base Lodge will allow for better views and more elbow room this season, and new direct access to the mountain from the second floor to the slope for more convenient lift access from there. On the snow, Green Peak is the first major expansion at Waterville Valley in over 30 years. This season they will be unveiling the final three trails which have not yet been skied, including Wayne Wong Way, which features the steepest pitch at the resort.

Bretton Woods: Bretton Woods is installing New Hampshire’s first eight-person gondola. The gondola will have 36 cabins, each carrying eight passengers. It will be the first eight-passenger gondola in New Hampshire and it’s estimated the 6,000-foot gondola trip will take about five minutes.

King Pine Ski Area: King Pine has spent the 2018 summer maintaining and upgrading its lift infrastructure, including a $35,000 purchase and installation of cat walks and lifting arms as well as replacing seals and bearings on bull wheels.

Cannon Mountain: This year Cannon spent $180,000 to make aerial tramway upgrades, plus an additional $180,000 for upgrades on other chairlifts. They also made $450,000 in food service upgrades, including an addition to the Cannonball pub which will add up to 80 new seats in the classically-wonderful base lodge pub.

Pats Peak: Pats Peak has purchased a new compressor that will boost the air plant by an impressive 20 percent, allowing even more snow guns to run at warmer temperatures. Pats Peak continues to increase their snowmaking capabilities by adding to an arsenal that already gives the mountain 100 percent snow coverage. This season four new fans from SMI Snowmakers and 20 new towers will greet customers. The center A-frame that makes up the main base lodge will be under construction this season with work being done on the foundation and the underground utilities. The lodge will also be expanded and will feature an all-new post and beam entrance, brand new bathrooms, an elevator, and additional seating.

King Pine Ski Area: King Pine spent over $40,000 to update and add to its available ski, snowboard, Nordic, snowshoe, and ice-skating rental fleet.