Hatching Another World Tour

[billski]

Got an idea for knocking off three more areas in one day.
this time NH

- Cranmore
- Shawnee
- King Pine

They all offer night skiing, so it might work.
Any suggestions on how to do this cheaply? What would be the best day to stage this?

8)

 

[frozencorn]

Sunday. King pine early. Shawnee $25 afternoon. Then Cranmore night session.

 

[wa-loaf]

FYI Shawnee is in Maine.

 

[billski]

FYI Shawnee is in Maine.

yep. you can spit at it from Conway:razz:

 

[twinplanx]

yep. you can spit at it from Conway:razz:

What could I expect to find in the way of rooming options in Conway?

 

[deadheadskier]

I have several twofers for Shawnee valid on Sunday's, let me know if you'd like one.

 

[billski]

What could I expect to find in the way of rooming options in Conway?

Huh? Are you joining the World Tour? Welcome! A couple B&Bs in Conway Center, but if you spit to the north five minutes more, you've got a hundred choices in North Conway, the entire gamut of choices. I vacationed in Conway for about 7 years.

 

[billski]

I have several twofers for Shawnee valid on Sunday's, let me know if you'd like one.

thanks! I'll let you know when it gets closer.are the 2fers good over the pres day weekends? I somtimes go to off radar places during holiday blackout periods. could be a plan

 

[twinplanx]

Huh? Are you joining the World Tour? Welcome! A couple B&Bs in Conway Center, but if you spit to the north five minutes more, you've got a hundred choices in North Conway, the entire gamut of choices. I vacationed in Conway for about 7 years.

I'm sorry is this an exclusive club or something? :dunce:
I'll step back behind the velvet rope.:beer:


Just havin a lil' fun billski(maybe 2 much coffee/not enuf skiing?) Next question w/ its proximity to Boston should I expect large crowds? I've neglected NH long enuf, the only area I've skied there is Sunappe(great view/fun glades, by the way)

 

[billski]

North Conway or Bust

I'm sorry is this an exclusive club or something? :dunce:
I'll step back behind the velvet rope.:beer:


Just havin a lil' fun billski(maybe 2 much coffee/not enuf skiing?) Next question w/ its proximity to Boston should I expect large crowds? I've neglected NH long enuf, the only area I've skied there is Sunappe(great view/fun glades, by the way)

Yep. It's exclusive until you join it! Actually this thread is about how I can ski 3 nearby areas all in one day.

But, since you hijacked my thread, I'm more than happy to oblige:

North Conway has been a center for New England skiing since the beginning. Cranmore and Black have a lot of US ski history firsts. Cranmore imported Hans Schneider (bend zee nees, five dollar pleeze!) to teach the Arlberg method back in the 1940s. A ski train came right into town from Boston, and the skiers actually walked to their accomodations and then to the slopes of Cranmore, which is literally about three small town blocks to the train station/village center.

Cranmore has a pretty good history page, with some interesting historic photos online.
http://www.cranmore.com/info/winter/resorthistory.asp

Slopes like Cranmore, Black arose first, followed later by Wildcat, Attitash, King Pine and Shawnee a little farther afield. All within a fairly easy commute from North Conway.
So the downtown grew and prospered and skiing remains a priority in this town. Lots of lodging from slopeside to downtown, condo, luxury hotel, B&B and motels.

Back in the 1980s the "outlet store" craze hit North Conway. The claim is that there are over 100 outlet stores in North Conway, and I wouldn't doubt that. You can spend an enitire weekend shopping if that's your thing. :roll: I don't understand why.

Tons of restaurants making it a great place to hang in and for the non-hill types, plenty to do.

Cranmore is right in town. Nice beginner to intermediate area. Schnieder-heaven.
Black is above the village of Jackson, one of the most picturesque villages in New England. Lots of old style resort hotels in the village. You have to drive through the really authentic and really preserved covered village. It's nice, off the busy route 16. See my TRs about Black.
Further up the road is Wildcat, owned by the State of NH. The hands down best feature of it (if I can ignore trails for a minute) is that it's across the valley from Mt. Washington. The views of Mt. washington from Wildcat are stunning and breathtaking. Some people actually get used to it :-o Trails are classic new england, there is a lot of challenge, some very long, winding trails. Pretty bare bones area, no condos, etc. just the skiing and boarding, which are some of the finest in NH.

South of the village, you'll find Attitash, kind of a Loon-sized mountain, popular with families. You can hang a left to the smaller Shawnee Peak, right across the border in Maine, or take a right to King Pine, the smallest, most intimate of the areas. You can also drive through Kinsman Notch and get to Bretton Woods, not too bad a commute if you've got a pleasant day. Bretton is a relatively new area, across from the Mt. Washington Hotel.

It takes about 3 hours to get there from Boston. Unless you are insane like me, most folks often stay a couple of days or more. You could ski a different area if you wanted to all week. Tends not to be on the radar for the CT/PA/NJ/NJ crowd because of the distance involved; as such, you 'll experience a much more northern new england/boston mix of social color.

In the summertime, it's a hoppin place too, but I'll leave that to you to discover.

The chamber of Commerce is very highly organized and has a very informative web
http://www.mtwashingtonvalley.org/

Back to your question. Crowds. Sometimes it's busy, sometimes not. Depends on the week. For the holiday periods, definitely. Other weeks/weekends, not nearly as busy as the Ski 93 areas which tend to have more daytrippers.

So, now I'll sit back and wait for my Mt. Washington Valley Chamber of commerce commission check to arrive. Hope this helps.

 

[deadheadskier]

thanks! I'll let you know when it gets closer.are the 2fers good over the pres day weekends? I somtimes go to off radar places during holiday blackout periods. could be a plan

unfortunately blacked out from the 14th to the 22nd.

 

[twinplanx]

Thanx billski that was a much more of an informative response than I had anticipated! Impressive

 

[billski]

Thanx billski that was a much more of an informative response than I had anticipated! Impressive

what' impressive? The village of North Conway or that I actually was able to put two or more complete sentences together into a thoughtful commentary?:dunce: :beer::dunce:

 

[twinplanx]

LOL Both actually

 

[Terry]

Yep. It's exclusive until you join it! Actually this thread is about how I can ski 3 nearby areas all in one day.

But, since you hijacked my thread, I'm more than happy to oblige:

North Conway has been a center for New England skiing since the beginning. Cranmore and Black have a lot of US ski history firsts. Cranmore imported Hans Schneider (bend zee nees, five dollar pleeze!) to teach the Arlberg method back in the 1940s. A ski train came right into town from Boston, and the skiers actually walked to their accomodations and then to the slopes of Cranmore, which is literally about three small town blocks to the train station/village center.

Cranmore has a pretty good history page, with some interesting historic photos online.
http://www.cranmore.com/info/winter/resorthistory.asp

Slopes like Cranmore, Black arose first, followed later by Wildcat, Attitash, King Pine and Shawnee a little farther afield. All within a fairly easy commute from North Conway.
So the downtown grew and prospered and skiing remains a priority in this town. Lots of lodging from slopeside to downtown, condo, luxury hotel, B&B and motels.

Back in the 1980s the "outlet store" craze hit North Conway. The claim is that there are over 100 outlet stores in North Conway, and I wouldn't doubt that. You can spend an enitire weekend shopping if that's your thing. :roll: I don't understand why.

Tons of restaurants making it a great place to hang in and for the non-hill types, plenty to do.

Cranmore is right in town. Nice beginner to intermediate area. Schnieder-heaven.
Black is above the village of Jackson, one of the most picturesque villages in New England. Lots of old style resort hotels in the village. You have to drive through the really authentic and really preserved covered village. It's nice, off the busy route 16. See my TRs about Black.
Further up the road is Wildcat, owned by the State of NH. The hands down best feature of it (if I can ignore trails for a minute) is that it's across the valley from Mt. Washington. The views of Mt. washington from Wildcat are stunning and breathtaking. Some people actually get used to it :-o Trails are classic new england, there is a lot of challenge, some very long, winding trails. Pretty bare bones area, no condos, etc. just the skiing and boarding, which are some of the finest in NH.

South of the village, you'll find Attitash, kind of a Loon-sized mountain, popular with families. You can hang a left to the smaller Shawnee Peak, right across the border in Maine, or take a right to King Pine, the smallest, most intimate of the areas. You can also drive through Kinsman Notch and get to Bretton Woods, not too bad a commute if you've got a pleasant day. Bretton is a relatively new area, across from the Mt. Washington Hotel.

It takes about 3 hours to get there from Boston. Unless you are insane like me, most folks often stay a couple of days or more. You could ski a different area if you wanted to all week. Tends not to be on the radar for the CT/PA/NJ/NJ crowd because of the distance involved; as such, you 'll experience a much more northern new england/boston mix of social color.

In the summertime, it's a hoppin place too, but I'll leave that to you to discover.

The chamber of Commerce is very highly organized and has a very informative web
http://www.mtwashingtonvalley.org/

Back to your question. Crowds. Sometimes it's busy, sometimes not. Depends on the week. For the holiday periods, definitely. Other weeks/weekends, not nearly as busy as the Ski 93 areas which tend to have more daytrippers.

So, now I'll sit back and wait for my Mt. Washington Valley Chamber of commerce commission check to arrive. Hope this helps.

Actually it is Crawford Notch that will get you to Bretton Woods.
Shawnee Peak opened in 1938 as Pleasant Mt. and is the longest continuously running ski area in Maine. A lot of history there. It also has the most night skiing in new england. 1300 feet of vert isn't to shabby and there is some challenging skiing if you know where to look. The views on a clear day are just incredible.

 

[ski_resort_observer]

South of the village, you'll find Attitash,

Attitash is actually north of the village of North Conway.

Further up the road is Wildcat, owned by the State of NH.

Wildcat is not owned by the state of NH, your thinking of Cannon.

 

[billski]

Attitash is actually north of the village of North Conway and Wildcat is not owned by the state of NH, your thinking of Cannon.

I appreciate the corrections, got my brain map twisted. I'm confusing ownership versus operation. The state owns Cannon and Sunapee. I realize many resorts lease land from the USFS. Does the USFS own Wildcat land or is it privately held?

 

[polski]

This doesn't quite meet your criteria as it's two areas not three and they're not exactly close to each other but I had this idea today, weeks after you started your thread, and now I'll post it:

BLACK 'N' BLUE

Ski Black in Jackson NH from 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 or maybe 11

then drive to Palmerton PA (8.5 hours according to Mapquest) and hit the last 2 hours or so of night skiing at Blue Mountain reputedly the True Mountain.

OK, maybe that's not such a hot idea. But it does come a little closer to being a "world" tour.


edit: GSS could probably actually pull this off

 

[wa-loaf]

How about the double black? Hit Black Mtn in Maine and NH on the same day.

 

[xwhaler]

If you plan to do Cranmore as your last stop of the day, you need to do it on a Saturday as they now only offer night skiing on Saturdays

Id probably do Cranmore morning, King Pine afternoon and Shawnee at night. Ride and Ski cards can get you a $12 night ticket to Shawnee and also theres some $$$ off at King Pine.

I like these 3-mtn days you are starting....other ideas:
Sunapee/Ragged/McIntyre
Black/Wildcat/Sunday River (though definately not cheap)