Need help planning NH trip

2 fer $77 is hard to beat at big mt.

cdskier said:

Beautiful picture. I really need to make it to Wildcat one day. Definitely on my list of places I want to ski. 6+ hours from NJ, but <3 from my condo in VT. I somehow need to figure out a plan to do a week long "road trip" to several ski areas from my condo that would not normally be in my driving range from NJ one year.

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I did a later ski road trip to NH in early Mar 2010, same trip that photo of my son was taken. We had a great ski trip to New Hampshire and arrived home in northern Virginia on Saturday, March 6. Besides the outstanding skiing, we got a good tour of the White Mountains, the most impressive range in the northeastern US. This area has a real alpine feel to it, with all kinds of winter activities at every price point and skill level.
First half of week we stayed at the White Mountains Hostel in Conway and skied Attitash, Wildcat and Black Mtn of NH.
Midway through our week we relocated from the Mount Washington Valley to the Lincoln/Franconia area, about a 75 minute drive on beautiful NH Route 302. We saw snowshoers in action on the drive to Lincoln outside the Appalachian Mountain Club’s Highland Center lodge at Crawford Notch. A few miles west of there we passed the Mount Washington Hotel Resort and Spa.
Traveling on a budget, we opted for our final two nights at nice, little Parker’s Motel http://www.parkersmotel.com/ with great views and a hot tub. It’s halfway between Loon and Cannon (~5 miles to either) and was a heck of a deal at $49 per night. We skied Loon and Cannon for a day each.
The last thing we did on our trip was a very cool après ski stop at the New England Ski Museum next to the Cannon Mtn tram building. It’s very small, but a ski buff could spend hours in there looking at the old gear, patches, clothing, and miscellaneous artifacts. There is a film on an ancient form of skiing in Mongolia. We saw an exhibit on Toni Matt’s famous 1939 schuss of the Tuckerman’s Ravine headwall.
There is one place to go on the web for information and bargains on all of New Hampshire’s ski areas: www.SkiNH.com
Vista Way, Cannon Mtn, NH:


More details on that 2010 trip to NH:
http://www.dcski.com/articles/view_article.php?article_id=1267&mode=rss

Thanks for the replies of stories! We will be staying in a family cabin, and since we have an extremely tight budget, we are not planning on staying anywhere else, but will keep those motels in mind!

LAST QUESTION ABOUT TIMING: Sorry, as this question may be looked as somewhat stupid, but we are planning on going March 7-14, most of you are talking about early march, as I assume the first week. Do you guys think this difference of a week is enough to put into consideration (weather wise)? We cannot move our dates at all, as I would love to get out there in late February.

Imcdaniel said:

Thanks for the replies of stories! We will be staying in a family cabin, and since we have an extremely tight budget, we are not planning on staying anywhere else, but will keep those motels in mind!

LAST QUESTION ABOUT TIMING: Sorry, as this question may be looked as somewhat stupid, but we are planning on going March 7-14, most of you are talking about early march, as I assume the first week. Do you guys think this difference of a week is enough to put into consideration (weather wise)? We cannot move our dates at all, as I would love to get out there in late February.

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It's a crap shoot. Impossible to set expectations on any week of a New England ski season. The sweet spot for best base depths and still getting big snow is Mid-February to Mid-March. During your week, I've seen anything from many feet of fresh powder on a deep base, to 0 degrees and no snow in weeks skiing frozen granular garbage, to temperatures in the 70's and 80's where the mountains completely melt away.

deadheadskier said:

It's a crap shoot.

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Crapshoot is correct for January 1-6 and March 7-14. But I think most of us would agree your odds are far better for a good week (more trails open, friendlier weather, longer days, etc) in the march dates than the jan dates.

jimk said:

Crapshoot is correct for January 1-6 and March 7-14. But I think most of us would agree your odds are far better for a good week (more trails open, friendlier weather, longer days, etc) in the march dates than the jan dates.

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Crapshoot is correct for pretty much ANY date this far in advance. But yes, March 7-14 still gets my vote. Back when I used to only do one "big" trip to VT a year, it was always in mid to late March (and it paid off huge one year when we were dumped on St Patty's day weekend).