Attitash

My uncle and cousin from Florida were visiting in New England and wanted to spend a few days skiing. So I joined them at Attitash on day two of their three day jaunt through the White Mountains. They experienced a temperature swing of 100 degrees between the high of Florida when they left and the low in the White Mountains Wednesday evening. But the cold and wind relented somewhat Thursday afternoon and the skiing turned out to be quite pleasant.

Wildcat shut down for the day and diverted skiers to Attitash due to the low temperatures and extreme wind chills. We decided on a late start and began skiing just before noontime. Bear Peak’s high speed quad got a late opening after the wind died down and the summit triple was offline so we “warmed up” on Attitash’s Flying Yankee.

Not much terrain was available from the Flying Yankee, only five options for limited vertical. After lunch, we made our way to Bear Peak where we found three top to bottom routes and the terrain park. The snow was very edgible and skied well on most trails. Wandering Skis was unfortunately the worst trail for conditions as mountain ops only recently flattened the whales resulting in death cookies and frozen golf balls.

I haven’t had a high speed hard pack day all season so it actually felt nice to rip some big and small arcs on the groomed. Despite the record setting cold and wind chill the previous night, temperatures after noon were pleasant and didn’t even require full face coverage. But today wasn’t about the skiing but rather seeing family that I rarely get to see. A rare non-powder day vacation day and well worth it.

NSBS Day 2: Attitash

Pat Rips a Groomer at Bear Peak

Perhaps I need to adjust The List parameters to include more than one visit. My first visit to Attitash, during the now defunct ASC regime, was less than impressive. But that visit was a free ski day during early season with only a quarter of the mountain open. I hardly gave Attitash a fair shake yet still relegated the mountain to the second tier of homogenized resorts. Today I dined on crow and it tasted great!

The morning began with a massive carboload buffet at the Grand Summit. A leisurely slope side start is an unusual luxury experience for this deal hunting day tripper. I can see the attraction of using a slopeside hotel as home base for several days of skiing. For simplicity and relaxing without worry during a ski trip, it is hard to beat. Sitting here totally disconnected from my world is a great feeling. Some people cruise to an island. This is my cruise–my island is a mountain.

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First Turns of the Season at Attitash??

Steve Doing Early Season Patch Skiing at Attitash

Already four days behind last season’s epic start, I had resigned myself to no October turns for the first time in three seasons. After a massive snow making push by seven New England ski resorts this past weekend, I was chomping at the bit to boot up and make some turns. Attitash posted some impressive pictures and video of their snow making efforts using their new line up of SMI Polecat Fan Guns. Unfortunately, the man made white gold fell on unfrozen ground which quickly melted out the snow and any chance for top to bottom turns.

On this day before my twenty-ninth birthday, I find myself one year older but no less the wiser when it comes to pursuing skiing adventures and the pursuit of turns the hard way. After jetting out of work an hour early, I pointed my car north and drove up through Franconia Notch and the down through Crawford Notch. Driving past Bretton Woods en route to Attitash, I was dumb founded by the lack of snow. While I figured Bretton Woods used the snow making more for publicity than anything substantial, I held out hope that Attitash would have the real deal. Stepping out of my car and gazing upon Roland’s Run was disheartening but I was not about to let any amount of grass between snow patches get in the way of my first turns of the season!

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Attitash, NH

Friday December 6th was Free Day at Attitash. I had requested the day off from work before I even knew of the event. Serendipity. I planned a cheap ski weekend around the Attitash Free Day. After driving up to Attitash and skiing for free, I would crash at the Hiker’s Paradise in Gorham, NH for only $15 and then hit Cannon Mountain on Saturday to use my $20 coupon. Two days of skiing and lodging for only $35… sweet!

The Free Day and recent snowfall in Boston Metro brought the crowds. I was amazed at how many people made it up for a Friday. But free skiing is free skiing! I encountered attitude everywhere and witnessed kids acting like babies, skiing/riding with complete and total disregard for others.

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