Black Mountain NH - 1/13

[Conrad]

Date(s) Skied: January 13, 2013

Resort or Ski Area: Black Mountain, NH

Conditions: In the Sun: corn. In the shade: hard packed icy

Trip Report: I've been really dormant on AZ lately, so looking to get back into the loop, I decided to write this TR. Being one of the closest ski areas to me that I have never skied, and seeing $17 tickets for college students, I decided to visit New Hampshire's Black Mountain. There was also a deal where locals could ski free (I wasn't local enough) so I was expecting the mountain to have a good amount of people skiing. To my surprise, the mountain was quiet (maybe 50-100 people altogether). To my delight, almost all of the trails were either narrow, or like pastures with no rhyme or rhythm. Where other ski areas would have taken trees down, Black Mountain left them standing (as evidenced by the first picture). In spite of all the ice and slush we have had recently, some of the natural terrain was quite good and soft thanks to the mountain facing southward. There were also numerous narrow winding groomed runs which were fun to ski. I also noticed that the mountain has a lot of glade runs and potential cliff jumps leading me to believe that Black Mountain would be an even better place to ski with lots of snow.

I also checked out the vintage ski lifts:
1984 Borvig Triple (closed)
1965 Mueller Double
Early 60's Mueller platter pull
1954 J-Bar modified from 1936 shovel tow (closed)

The double travels faster than most fixed grip chairlifts, gains 1,100 feet, and is 4/5 of a mile long. Even though the j-bar was closed, I still took a whole bunch of photos of it. And I plan on soon making reports of the double and the platter pull for remontees-mecaniques!

Overall a very good day and I am glad I went! If you like narrow winding runs, vintage ski lifts, lack of crowds, and cheap lift tickets, Black Mountain is the place for you!


Classic Mueller double:


Looking down a single black run:


Couldn't miss this photo opportunity!


Another single black run:


Looking down from the top of the double near the end of the day:

 

[billski]

Great report. Black is always like that during the week. Pinch yourself and do it again! That foot of natural served them well for coverage. I love the classic feel to the trails.

 

[Abubob]

Good job with the report and photos. I have a pass from my ski and ride card plus the up coming discount on Saturday in February. So I hope to write my own reports soon.

 

[bdfreetuna]

Never been there thanks for the insight !

 

[dmw]

Looks like pretty good coverage - anyone have any idea how much that area got devastated by Tuesday's rain? I have a Ride and Ski card voucher there too, thinking Saturday could be a good day to use it.

 

[Tin]

They have been at 75% open or more for a while now. I'm surprised as well. Great for them. Would love to try the Lostbo Glades one day. My sister and her bf had to hike out of them last year, guess they found a few unexpected ledges.

 

[MadMadWorld]

Hmm I might hit them up sometime soon.

 

[xwhaler]

Black is great when there is good natural snow...Catsup948 and I hit up Black on MLK Day back in '08----Lostbo Glades is very ledgy and where I shattered my thumb ending my powder fest and spending the rest of the day in the MWV Hospital ER!

 

[catsup948]

Black is great when there is good natural snow...Catsup948 and I hit up Black on MLK Day back in '08----Lostbo Glades is very ledgy and where I shattered my thumb ending my powder fest and spending the rest of the day in the MWV Hospital ER!

My first day ever at Black. Love the place. We happened to have waist deep powder in places that day! It was epic! MLK day! Xwhaler has learned how to keep up since that day!

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[deadheadskier]

They have been at 75% open or more for a while now. I'm surprised as well. Great for them. Would love to try the Lostbo Glades one day. My sister and her bf had to hike out of them last year, guess they found a few unexpected ledges.

If you're looking for a place to huck, Black is a great spot. Carter Notch Glades has some really good ones. Also T2 has about an eight footer at the top that even has a sign that says "Danger Cliff".

Here's a link to some pictures I took there during a powder day about five years ago.

http://forums.alpinezone.com/gallery/g871-black-mountain.html

 

[Savemeasammy]

This looks like a great little mountain. It is on my radar for a midweek powder day!


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[billski]

Black is a great place to go when everyone else is swarming to the bigger places. You'll get first tracks all day. I was there a few weeks back (find my TR) and skied in foot+-deep pow (and got face shots all day).
It was 100% open - all the ropes had dropped that morning, which just goes to show it doesn't take a lot of snow to make the place ski-able.

Here's a photo from that day. Most of the tracks are mine.

 

[Wally Brown]

Any report on conditions right now? Looking to go somewhere MLK (tomorrow)

 

[Abubob]

Black is a great place to go when everyone else is swarming to the bigger places. You'll get first tracks all day. I was there a few weeks back (find my TR) and skied in foot+-deep pow (and got face shots all day).
It was 100% open - all the ropes had dropped that morning, which just goes to show it doesn't take a lot of snow to make the place ski-able.

Here's a photo from that day. Most of the tracks are mine.
View attachment 10466

Sweet! Can't wait to go.