Bretton Woods and Black Mountain

[Buckeye Skier 1330]

It looks like we are going to be headed up to Lincoln NH for 5 days of midweek skiing the second week of March. Trying to figure out what areas we want to hit. Cannon, Wildcat and Burke are pretty much definites. I've seen some of the trip reports about Black and that has me pretty interested in putting in a day there. The price is definitely right. I like uncrowded laid back moutntains.

Also been thinking about Bretton Woods. We can get lift tickets from our hotel for $48. We've skied Okemo before Jackson Gore was open. We found it to be a little too gentle. Is Bretton about the same? The one thing I figured might be good about Bretton would be the glades. My wife really isn't comfortable in most glades and I'm apprehensive about hitting them by myself. So I figured Bretton might offer some glades that are more our speed, strong intermediate to advanced. And I do like high speed lifts, which seem to be plentiful there.

Then I saw the thread about $50 for 2 tickets at Mt. Ellen. That is our favorite place. Figure it might be about 2 hours from Lincoln.
Anyone have any thoughts on these places?
Decisions , decisions. That's the fun of planning a trip.

 

[deadheadskier]

Bretton has the reputation of being as if not more gentle than Okemo....though I can't back it up from experience.

Black is great.....on Powder days. It's a relatively flat mountain, but does have small sections of really killer expert terrain. Those areas do require a fair amount of snow to open. I'm sure they were awesome today. Given that Black faces essentially south, you need to be sure to hit right after a storm.

No Loon? You're right there at the base of it.

 

[Edd]

If you're interested in an introduction to glades you're not going to find a better place than BW. Something folks don't mention also is they have a high base elevation and are positioned well for wind protection. They get snow when other resorts don't and often leave chopped up powder on the sides of many of their trails, including greens. Generally. the resort has a mellow pitch and I find the runs to be on the short side but I think you'll have fun there.

If you're considering Black Mountain I strongly suggest you check out Wildcat, which is right up the road. Long, narrow, uncrowded runs and a great old school vibe.

 

[riverc0il]

Bretton is definitely flat. I drive by it a few times a year and I am always amazed by how flat the place looks even from the road. If Okemo board you, then I can't imagine you are going to find much interesting at Bretton. Might as well go to Burke for your glade fix.

Being in Ohio, you may or may not be following the weather here in NH, but the state is on pace for yet another record breaking year if things continue going the way they are. Even Cannon has every single trail open except for Tramline (including all of their glades) in January... which is a first in as long as I have been a Cannon skier and they have had glades on the map. Essentially, you are set for glades for the season in NH no matter which mountain you choose in NNH pending you time your trip correctly (i.e. no NCP or thaw).

Black is an awesome small mountain. Though it is rather flat except for some short trails. Linked together, those trails can make a kick butt decent. I am not sure it will be worth your drive over the Kank while you already have so many other mountains so close by. It all depends on conditions.

Mount Ellen from Lincoln would be a 2.5 hours with less than half of that time on an interstate. Jay Peak would be MUCH closer for a Vermont option and DEFINITELY recommended if you haven't been there and you like trees.

 

[riverc0il]

If you're considering Black Mountain I strongly suggest you check out Wildcat, which is right up the road. Long, narrow, uncrowded runs and a great old school vibe.

LOL. I usually say the exact opposite to people considering Wildcat. :lol:

 

[billski]

If you're interested in an introduction to glades you're not going to find a better place than BW. Something folks don't mention also is they have a high base elevation and are positioned well for wind protection. They get snow when other resorts don't and often leave chopped up powder on the sides of many of their trails, including greens. Generally. the resort has a mellow pitch and I find the runs to be on the short side but I think you'll have fun there.

If you're considering Black Mountain I strongly suggest you check out Wildcat, which is right up the road. Long, narrow, uncrowded runs and a great old school vibe.

Black closes the season pretty early. They don't make a lot of snow, so late March is getting dicey for black. BW is a keeper.

 

[billski]

LOL. I usually say the exact opposite to people considering Wildcat. :lol:

I'll do my Black TR tomorrow, but suffice to say, I rejected Wildcat this morning when the wind holds were reported. Also, there is a lot to be said for not having to compete for any piece of the mountain. I skied an entirely untracked trail (albeit green) at 4PM on a powder day. There's no place else you can do that except rivercoil's backyard!

 

[billski]

Jay Peak would be MUCH closer for a Vermont option and DEFINITELY recommended if you haven't been there and you like trees.

+1
Because Jay's inbound glades are so well marked, you don't have to worry about coming out someplace wrong. that will give you some warm and fuzzies. They also try to mark them - green, blue black, which is good guidance. All of which I think would make a new to glades experience tops.

 

[riverc0il]

Also, there is a lot to be said for not having to compete for any piece of the mountain.

I think of any lesson was really enforced this season so far for me personally, its that half the snow but with half the competition can be a good thing. When you get twice as much snow with half the competition, it becomes a no brainer. At least if you can get past not going to the big name resort/area.

 

[billski]

I think of any lesson was really enforced this season so far for me personally, its that half the snow but with half the competition can be a good thing. When you get twice as much snow with half the competition, it becomes a no brainer. At least if you can get past not going to the big name resort/area.

And you know Steve, while we're on that topic, I daresay that unless you can get onslope early, the blue trails are often in the worst shape because that's where most of the skiers are. I'm fairly comfortable skiing just about any terrain, but really don't enjoy the blues after they've been run on for a few hours. It's the volume that kills and it's no wonder Wachusett grooms 2x day.

 

[threecy]

I'll do my Black TR tomorrow, but suffice to say, I rejected Wildcat this morning when the wind holds were reported.

Ouch! Wildcat was beautiful yesterday and open T2B, at least in the afternoon.

I've skied Black in March twice. While it faces south, it's held snow through mid to late March the last two seasons. We're ahead of 2007-08 in terms of snowfall and snowpack up here right now, so unless something drastic happens, it should still be good to go in March.

 

[BLESS]

I would also go to loon & maybe sunday river ....about an hour from wildcat area...less if you drive a lil faster.

 

[billski]

Ouch! Wildcat was beautiful yesterday and open T2B, at least in the afternoon.

See the TR. It says it all. http://forums.alpinezone.com/48113-black-nh-1-29-09-a.html#post384029

 

[threecy]

See the TR. It says it all. http://forums.alpinezone.com/48113-black-nh-1-29-09-a.html#post384029

Absolutely - Black is a great place to go. That said, Wildcat was beautiful and there was untouched courderoy on the cruisers and plenty of pow elsewhere even after they closed. Relative ghost town there, with blue skies as well and Mt. Washington's eastern slopes in the clear.

 

[billski]

Absolutely - Black is a great place to go. That said, Wildcat was beautiful and there was untouched courderoy on the cruisers and plenty of pow elsewhere even after they closed. Relative ghost town there, with blue skies as well and Mt. Washington's eastern slopes in the clear.

Wow, nice. I thought cat and MW would have been in the clouds. that's great!

 

[threecy]

Wow, nice. I thought cat and MW would have been in the clouds. that's great!

Nope, and there were no winds on Wildcat until around 6 PM.

 

[Andrew Caffrey]

I may be in the minority here, but I have fond memories of bretton woods specifically because of its glades. They have more variety than i anticipated, from super easy trees alongside easy trails, to some pretty densely packed, steep-ish sections that are more out of the way. of course, last there it was after a fresh snowfall, and very low temps, so i was finding pockets of light fresh pow all day long.
It may also say something about Bretton Woods that i actually can't remember much about its trails. being somewhat bowl shaped there isn't a lot of complexion to the trails.
one thing in its favor is the place is wide, so it spreads a crowd out easily and the high speed chairs move people efficiently.

 

[Buckeye Skier 1330]

Jay Peak would be MUCH closer for a Vermont option and DEFINITELY recommended if you haven't been there and you like trees.

I like trees just don't have much confidence or experience in them.
How long do you think it would take to get to Jay from Lincoln, in good driving conditions?

We're pretty much on a budget but I saw that Jay is on Liftopia, so that could save a few bucks.

We can get tickets at our hotel for Cannon for $35. Do the 2 for 1 on Wednesday at Wildcat. So Burke would be the only full price we would pay, except for the $29 at Black. We like Loon, but for the price would just as soon go to Cannon.

Thanks for all the insight everyone.

 

[riverc0il]

I like trees just don't have much confidence or experience in them.
How long do you think it would take to get to Jay from Lincoln, in good driving conditions?

It takes me two hours from Ashland so I would estimate about 1.5 hours from Lincoln with about one hour of that highway.

Jay is about the best place in New England to ski glades. Though if you don't have much confidence in glades... then Bretton is definitely back on your short list with high marks. It might not have much pitch or challenge on the main trails but you do not want pitch or challenge when you are just starting to learn glades. You certainly aren't going to get any good tree skiing in at Cannon, Loon, Black, or Wildcat if you can't hack expert level glades.

 

[kickstand]

...I daresay that unless you can get onslope early, the blue trails are often in the worst shape because that's where most of the skiers are. I'm fairly comfortable skiing just about any terrain, but really don't enjoy the blues after they've been run on for a few hours.

AMEN!!!!!

I was at Attitash on Sunday of MLK weekend. I didn't get out until about 9:30, 9:45 on Bear Peak, and the top of Morning Star was already all skied off - huge powder puffs with about 20 feet of ice in between each one. You were better off running laps on the slow Abenaki quad or the triple from the base lodge.

After reading this whole thread, if the snow keeps up, I think I'll be hitting Black when I head up to clean on 2/13. No need to pay around $70 if the conditions are solid everywhere.