Category: Tenney Mountain

2010-2011 Season, Earned Turns, January, Powder Day, Tenney Mountain

Meadow Skipping at Tenney

Skinning up Venus Fly Trap at Tenney

Hair of the Dog style leg rehabilitation continued today at Tenney. While ski areas were fully tracked out and busy with the holiday crowds, there was still uncrowded slopes and untracked powder to be found. I began skinning under a bluebird sky hot on the track of the only other soul on the mountain.

The skin track was just as flat and meandering as most of Tenney’s trails. The snow was fluffy in nature with no base to speak of. Snow depths were significantly less than at my house just a few miles away as the crow flies. Lack of trail mowing was evident but no worse than could be expected.

My original plan called for inspection and subsequent descent of Snap Dragon: Tenney’s steepest trail. But base depths and snow density clearly suggested meadow skipping would be the safest and most enjoyable option. On the descent, I scratched up my boards skiing a trail used as an access road. Low angle grassy trails were best!

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2007-2008 Season, Earned Turns, March, Tenney Mountain

Post Work Dusk Patrol at Tenney

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With Powder being such a rare event this March, the last week of this month have me craving warm spring skiing, corn snow, and earned turns. Temperatures on Wednesday were rather warm considering the recent stretch of colder than average temperatures. As the sun began its slow linger descent over the mountains west of the Greater Plymouth area, I headed home from work around five o’clock. The thought occurred to me that I should have been heading towards the setting sun instead of away from it.

Upon reaching home, I quickly changed out of work clothes and into ski clothes, grabbed my pack and skins, and turned the car around heading back into Plymouth towards Tenney Mountain. Despite having moved to the Plymouth area this past summer, I had not skied the local mountain all seasons despite often thinking of doing some dawn patrols at Tenney. Today’s Dusk Patrol would be my first ski at Tenney in almost a half dozen years.

Since Tenney closed for the season recently, the base area was down right deserted. I quickly geared up and set off skinning at an aggressive pace. Tenney skis much smaller than its 1400 vertical drop suggests with mostly flat and meandering trails. I skinned right up the gut of the mountain via Tote Road and achieved summit in just over a leisurely hour and ten minutes via a mile and a quarter of skinning. In subsequent weeks, I expect many additional post work skins up Tenney during which I hope to improve my skin time to well under an hour. This should make an excellent twice per week training ritual to get my legs in shape for an epic spring on Mount Washington.

Skiing conditions were less than ideal. I crested the ridge along Tenney’s summit just as the sun began disappearing in a blaze of glory. Which meant snow that was soft and somewhat corn like at the beginning of the skin was freezing up and becoming quite unforgiving. My descent involved previously groomed trails as natural snow and ungroomed trails were horrific to say the least. I utilized big sweep carved turns on low angle trails with occasional speed checks when the trail became steeper or snow conditions became dicey. This will be a sensational post work routine this spring as warmer temperatures and corn snow finally break through winter’s hold. Base depths are simply sensational with no bare or thin spots anywhere on the mountain. Trees would still be easily skiable provided softer corn snow conditions.

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2002-2003 Season, February, Tenney Mountain

Tenney Mountain, NH

Tenney

My dad and I decided to ski Tenney Mountain on the last day of my vacation. This was our first visit to this intermediate oriented ski area at the foothills of the White Mountains. After years of troubled ownership, Tenney was reopened in 2002-2003.

Tenney’s constantly intersecting trails devalue the terrain’s character. The trails lack individuality and continuity. Even trails not bisected multiple times fail to offer any special topographical or visual features of interest, excepting the liftline trail and Forget Me Not.

Tenney is an affordable mid-sized mountain that is excellent for families, first timers, beginners, and intermediates. Hopefully Tenney will dial in its niche market as it is a good mountain. But it may lack long term viability due to nearby competition and lack of terrain diversity.