Black-Wildcat at Feb break?

[andyaxa]

Another post got me thinking. Looking ahead towards our kids' Feb break, we were considering renting a place up around Jackson or somewhere in the valley and hitting Black, Wildcat and maybe Cranmore. We were thinking about taking advantage of the 5th Grader Passbook (we have twins in 5th), but Ski NH still hasn't put up any details for this season.

We went up to Quebec City last year, rented a flat a couple blocks from Frontenac and had a blast. Skiied Mt Sainte Anne a couple days, ice hotel, etc. Snow wasn't great but we got great deals because it was after the Canadian holiday week. Question is...will it be crazy busy here in NH? Our break is the week of Feb 20, the week after most districts, I think. The thought was to stay over on that side of the state as my impression is Loon and Bretton etc will be much busier?

 

[hammer]

President's Day week is usually very busy...if you live in NH isn't your school break a week later?

 

[andyaxa]

Yah, it usually is a week after, but I double checked the calendar and it looks like our break is indeed President's week. Hmmmm....maybe back to Quebec or Tremblant then.....

 

[Smellytele]

Livin' in NH - My kids' breaks aren't until the week after - running into March.

 

[andyaxa]

Not sure why our district changed it this year but at one point they were going to drop the break all together. Oh Canada...Oh Canada.... though it will probably be busy there too.

 

[riverc0il]

If your break is the same as MA, then I imagine the MWV areas will be very busy. But then again, mid-week busy during a vacation week is better than weekend busy on either end of the vacation. Burke is a great family friendly and vacation friendly mountain. Canada is a good option, too. Not sure what week Maine has for a vacation but Saddleback would be an off the beaten path option as well.

 

[billski]

If your break is the same as MA, then I imagine the MWV areas will be very busy. But then again, mid-week busy during a vacation week is better than weekend busy on either end of the vacation. Burke is a great family friendly and vacation friendly mountain. Canada is a good option, too. Not sure what week Maine has for a vacation but Saddleback would be an off the beaten path option as well.

I'm with Steve on where to go during the break. Those two are your bigger best bets for low crowds. Both areas don't have much to do outside of skiing, so if your family has other designs (I noticed your comments about ice skating), you may want to consider this.

Other off-radar but smaller places (if you don't need a lot of challenge) might include staying in/near Lebanon and hitting Suicide Six one day and Dartmouth Skiway another day. I would also have suggested Ascutney, but based on recent news, not so sure. Another option might be to stay in/near North Conway, do Black one day, then saunter down to Shawnee. That way you have the action of N. Conway if needed.

I know you're looking at the passbook - you might consider one day with the passbook, one day without. The nice thing about the smaller areas is the price...

 

[hammer]

I'm with Steve on where to go during the break. Those two are your bigger best bets for low crowds. Both areas don't have much to do outside of skiing, so if your family has other designs (I noticed your comments about ice skating), you may want to consider this.

Other off-radar but smaller places (if you don't need a lot of challenge) might include staying in/near Lebanon and hitting Suicide Six one day and Dartmouth Skiway another day. I would also have suggested Ascutney, but based on recent news, not so sure. Another option might be to stay in/near North Conway, do Black one day, then saunter down to Shawnee. That way you have the action of N. Conway if needed.

We went to Dartmouth over a President's Day weekend a few years ago. Bit of an odd layout and the lifts are slow, but there were no lift lines and there's a lot of decent terrain for its size if the snow is good. Also has one of the nicest lodges I've been to. Check out billski's trip report for additional info.

 

[billski]

We went to Dartmouth over a President's Day weekend a few years ago. Bit of an odd layout and the lifts are slow, but there were no lift lines and there's a lot of decent terrain for its size if the snow is good. Also has one of the nicest lodges I've been to. Check out billski's trip report for additional info.

Skiway is the only resort where you have to cross a public roadway with your gear on to get to half of the trails.8)

 

[Bkroon9175]

If you are intending to ski the North Conway / Jackson area during vacation week, stay away from Cranmore. Lift line waits can be awful. If natural snow is good then Black will e very servicable during a holiday week as would Wildcat. As much as I like Cranmore, I would never go there during February vacation except to ski at night. Have you considered the Canadian Eastern Townships during this time? Owl's Head, especially with kids would be great and Orford with good snow is a great mountain and it is much cheaper than skiing in NH.

 

[john1200c]

We did Attitash last two years during Presidents week and the lines/crowds were not bad at all. Many of the lifts had no wait at all even the two HS quads had no more than 5 minute waits....

 

[JPTracker]

Jay is never crowed during Presidents week. This is because of their relatively small bed base and the fact they are too far from Mass for day trips. We stopped going last year because our kids are both in college now. But we made that week our annual trip to Jay for 15 years and there was never a crowd. The only downside is that because of their limited bed base slopeside lodging is tough to get. When we started 15 years ago you had to make them a year in advance. I think its better now but it still books up very fast.

 

[bousquet19]

If you are intending to ski the North Conway / Jackson area during vacation week, stay away from Cranmore. Lift line waits can be awful. If natural snow is good then Black will e very servicable during a holiday week as would Wildcat. As much as I like Cranmore, I would never go there during February vacation except to ski at night. Have you considered the Canadian Eastern Townships during this time? Owl's Head, especially with kids would be great and Orford with good snow is a great mountain and it is much cheaper than skiing in NH.

Andyaxa, I second Bkroon's suggestion of Quebec's Eastern Townships. There are plenty of overnight options in the Magog QC area. We stayed for a week in 2006 and everyone, even the non-skiers, had a great time. Magog has a 1.5-mile ice skating path along the shores of Lake Memphremagog. The trolley, if it still runs, will take you to Mt. Orford.

We skied a different area each day: Sutton, Orford, Stowe (a longer drive but we'd never been there), Bromont and Jay.

Good luck,
Woody

 

[andyaxa]

Thanks for all the input everybody!
The Eastern Townships look really interesting! Along with a few days skiing, it looks like we can find a number of tubing places, dog sledding, skating paths....nice. Think we'll start checking out VRBO and other similar sites for places in the area. For those of you have traveled there, are there any picturesque towns/villages etc that stuck out?

 

[Bkroon9175]

There is also some great food around the Eastern Townships, lots to do, decent skiing and your $ usually goes a little bit farther.

 

[vonski]

other than the first Saturday of the Pres. week. Sugarbush spreads the skiers out and is not at all crowded either. Especially at Ellen side.