Bretton Woods to get a new lift

[Edd]

BW is flat...but the reasons why a group of us go there sometimes are

1)Natural snow quality. Strictly from my personal observations it appears to be among the best in NH/Maine. They get snow when others don't and they seem to keep it. Especially impressive because (again from my observations) their snowmaking seems to be lacking.

2) Trees. Yeah, some of these runs are short but..there's alot of trees. Also, you'd be hard-pressed to call a few of the Rosebrook Canyon tree runs short.

3)Great spacious lodge. We go weekdays so it's obviously pretty relaxed there. Buy your beer at the bar and take it anywhere.

4)Very wind protected. This is the goto place when Cannon and Wildcat look very iffy.

Those are the biggies but the views of Mt Washington don't suck, the lift system is (mostly) well laid out, and it's just an oddly fun place to ski given the flatness. This is only one of the places I ski regularly but I had to step in and stick up for 'em.

[LiquidFeet]

I'm glad someone did. I like Bretton Woods too for various reasons.
When no one else has snow, they do. This is especially nice late-season after other mountains close down.
Free hot cider in the lodge if you time it right.
There's often a Nastar course open (who else has that?)
There's often a free timed slalom run available just for fun at the top of Range View. If you've never done any racing, this is a good place to start.
They have glades of graduated difficulty from hardly-call-it-a-glade-unless you've never skied one (which you won't find anywhere else), to glades of intermediate difficulty, to downright difficult.
There are gnarly tree runs that are a fun challenge simply because they are very narrow & tight, always bumped up unless you get first tracks after a storm, and there's only one twisty path available so if you can't time your turns right you're toast. Some of these are on the map; some aren't. They don't match the tree skiing over at Cannon for length of runs. But still, just sayin'.......

[Zand]

I skied BW once last year, and while obviously it was a little too flat for me, I couldn't help but think how much I would've loved it there when I was a kid. Definitely my top recommendation to someone looking for a place to bring a beginner or their kids. This new lift sounds a bit more exciting than the rest of the mountain...might have to check it out.

[snoseek]

My father skis Bretton woods and likes it, that's the main reason why I've been there. I have had some truly awesome storm days there. There is in fact short goodness. I'm not too proud to say that. The snow is pretty good when other places in the area suck. I also ski alot at squaw and kirkwood.

I don't say that to sound like an arrogant prick but just to point out the fact that if you just check your ego at that door, there is good stuff all around. I'll ski untracked goodness all morning off the top and not complain.


I think this terrain will be a welcome addition. If they were only one ridge of mountains back...

[uphillklimber]

I ski BW from time to time and absolutely love skiing there. Nothing to make me think twice on whether I do this trail or not, just look at how empty the trails are and take the one with least number of people on it. And just go for a nice long ride!!!! Great conditions, HSQ's everywhere to take you back up, room to ski.... Less getting cut off by skiers and boarders going blind. I love this place.

Perhaps I should be saying the place is too shallow and lame, no one would enjoy skiing there, don't bother to go there, more room for me.

[riverc0il]

I approached my trip to Bretton from the perspective of "What if this place is an over looked powder day gem?" In other words, no expert is driving past Cannon on a powder day so perhaps BW might be an incredible place on a powder day. I honestly want to find a massively overlooked powder paradise. And perhaps it is. But it is so low angle that it would be a nightmare in deep powder or dense powder. It would be pretty crazy on a mid-week foot of blower, though. That is a pretty rare event, however.

I am always looking for an off the radar place to rack up over looked powder (see my love for places like Black, Dartmouth, Abram, and Magic before it became crowded on powder days). So I took in Bretton with a rather open mind for such things. But the lack of pitch really is that bad. But truly a great place for families and those that don't care about pitch.

Oops, looks like this thread has become a referendum on the qualities of Bretton rather than about the new lift.

[jaytrem]

But it is so low angle that it would be a nightmare in deep powder or dense powder.

I had a day like that there, nice snow but yeah super SLOW in a many many places. No turning allowed!!! That being said, I usually get there once a year with a Descente ticket. The fact that it's free skiing might have some effect, but I always enjoyed myself. I'm not picky though, as long as a place isn't too crowded I'm happy.

[skiberg]

I rode by BW this weekend again and decided to stop in. First the best terrain for this new lift will definitely be BELOW the cut back to the lift. It is skiable and fairly wide open. It has some drops, cliffs and river beds, BUT to ski it you will need to hike back along the train tracks. You will get dumped behind the Mt. Wash. lodge and it's a 10 min walk from there. BW does NOT own the property rights above the lodge. The Sylvester family retained this strip intentionally when they sold to BW. BW has to buy the property. They want to buy but no dice so far from the family. If they sell BW is planning a major lift and a whole new base to seve this terrain. Above the new lift is very flat, not skiable and BW is talking about building a Nordic facility up there to take advantage of the elevation and snow. Until this all takes place the new lift terrain is basically same old same old.

[thetrailboss]

I rode by BW this weekend again and decided to stop in. First the best terrain for this new lift will definitely be BELOW the cut back to the lift. It is skiable and fairly wide open. It has some drops, cliffs and river beds, BUT to ski it you will need to hike back along the train tracks. You will get dumped behind the Mt. Wash. lodge and it's a 10 min walk from there. BW does NOT own the property rights above the lodge. The Sylvester family retained this strip intentionally when they sold to BW. BW has to buy the property. They want to buy but no dice so far from the family. If they sell BW is planning a major lift and a whole new base to seve this terrain. Above the new lift is very flat, not skiable and BW is talking about building a Nordic facility up there to take advantage of the elevation and snow. Until this all takes place the new lift terrain is basically same old same old.

Very interesting. Thanks for doing the recon and getting us the real dirt.