Waterville expansion

[eastern powder baby]

It doesn't really ski like a 2000 vertical hill. To achieve that, you have to go from the top of High Camp and have your run interrupted after 350 vert or so when you reach the "lower summit" where White Peaks, Sunnyside and Northside converge. You ski the mountain more in 1000 or less pods for the most part. Of all the 2000 vert hills I've skied in the Northeast, Waterville skis the smallest.

That said, the mountain has tremendous opportunity to expand horizontally alla Sunday River and be a major player again in the Northeast due to it's proximity to Boston. As with most of NH, they lack natural, but it's a beautiful valley that's easily accessible from Boston. I hope Waterville's ambitious expansion plans come to fruition.

Agreed. The only other 2k vert mountain that I would say skis equally short is Burke, which skis more like Bear Peak (1500 vert), on the groomers of course. I also always forget that Sunday River is technically a 2300 foot vert mountain, though its longest lap-able runs are about half the advertised length.

Good news for Waterville though. I would love to see a couple new runs in bounds at Attitash/Bear Peak like they're planning around Lower Bobby's at Waterville. The eventual gondola complex should be a nice touch as well.

[Nick]

Sunday River really does have a lot of horizontal. Probably the most in the East. Who can keep up with them in terms of horizontal? Killington gives them a run for their money.

It's funny because I always grew up skiing at Killington. When I went to Sugarloaf for the first time, I had heard it was similar in size to Killington. I didn't see it at first when I was driving up. It looked tall but that was it.

That's the difference between breadth and height. I always considered killington big because it spanned multiple peaks. They are both fun in their own way.

[kickstand]

Good news for Waterville though. I would love to see a couple new runs in bounds at Attitash/Bear Peak like they're planning around Lower Bobby's at Waterville. The eventual gondola complex should be a nice touch as well.

Attitash thinned out some of the trees in the Cathedral, Tim's, Idiots area, dumping out on Lower Cathedral. No signage, but it's there and they did let people know roughly where it was. I kind of like that - the mountain maintains it, but doesn't tell everyone where it is. You have to find it.



Wildcat did the same a few years ago, although they did mark the general areas on the map. No names, though.

[UVSHTSTRM]

So after all the small places are gone we're left with the mega-resort? Seems to be the way all the areas are going. First Killington, Bretton Woods and Sunday River - now Loon, Cannon, Sugarloaf and also Waterville and Ragged. Who else is experiencing horizontal sprawl?

Hmmmm....All the resorts minus Ragged have always been large players in the Northeast. I wouldn't consider Cannon a resort however........they have nearly zip in regards to a resort.

[St. Bear]

I'm stoked for Waterville to become a realistic option again. I only hope that after the expansion, they continue to be very aggressive with their ticket prices and promotions like they were this year.

[skiersleft]

It's funny because I always grew up skiing at Killington. When I went to Sugarloaf for the first time, I had heard it was similar in size to Killington. I didn't see it at first when I was driving up. It looked tall but that was it.

That's the difference between breadth and height. I always considered killington big because it spanned multiple peaks. They are both fun in their own way.

This is definitely true. I joke around with my friends that what makes hills ski big is "horizontal", not vertical. There, of course, must be a minimum vertical for it to ski big, but a horizontally sprawled mountain with 1,000 to 2,000 vertical in most peaks will ski big (e.g. SR and K in the East).

That's why K will always ski bigger than sugarloaf. And that's why Gore skis much bigger than Whiteface. Gore has more horizontal sprawl, especially now with the addition of Burnt Ridge and Little Gore. So, while at Whiteface you feel that all runs funnel to the same place (a lot of vertical, but very little horizontal), at Gore you feel that you're skiing distinctly separate areas with less vertical. The latter makes it ski much bigger than Whiteface

It happens at very level, BTW, Windham skis bigger than Hunter even though they have almost the same amount of skiable acres. But Windham, has two distinct peaks and getting from one to the other makes the place seem bigger than hunter.

In sum, horizontal is often underestimated. The horizontal of hills like K and SR make them ski huge, much bigger than what their skiable acreage suggests. Whereas the cramped horizontal of others makes them ski small.

[Northernflight]

If they cut down the glade next to Lowers Bobbys for a trail I will be disappointed, its the best of the limited tree skiing they have.

[cannonist]

I beg to differ there is good tree skiing if you know where to look...

[rockisland]

New information:

http://www.newenglandskihistory.com/skiareaexpansions/NewHampshire/watervillevalley.php

[Smellytele]

New information:

http://www.newenglandskihistory.com/skiareaexpansions/NewHampshire/watervillevalley.php

Where is the new part of the info?