Teacher Trekker

Bretton Woods Ski Resort Information

The main reason I went up to New Hampshire was to go snowboarding. From where we were staying, the closest location was the Bretton Woods Ski Resort. Bretton Woods is New Hampshire’s largest ski area with 464 acres of skiing and snowboarding and 100 kilometers of Nordic trails. The highest of the three peaks on the resort property has a summit elevation of 3,100 feet, and there is a vertical drop of 1,500 feet. There are 97 total trails and glades including 62 alpine trails of varying levels of difficulty and 35 single and double black diamond glades. There are also 3 terrain parks throughout the ski area also of varying skill levels. There are 10 lifts, 4 of which are high-speed quads quickly shuttling skiers and snowboarders up the mountain all day long. If necessary 92 percent of the trails have snowmaking capabilities. Over the course of the average season, which ranges from Early November to mid-April, an average of 200+ inches of fresh powder descend on the mountain trails. As a result, Bretton Woods Ski Resort has been voted #1 for the “Best Ski Resort in the East for Snow, Grooming, Service & Weather” by Ski magazine in 2013 and 2014 and the “Best Ski Resort in New Hampshire Overall” by Ski magazine in 2014.

Lift Tickets

Like any ski resort, the price of lift tickets vary depending on a number of factors. The resort does offer a number of discounts and deals that can help you save some money. Unfortunately, we were unable to take advantage of any of these money saving offers, because it was a holiday week. As a result, lift tickets were at their most expensive. A full day lift ticket cost $85. The most obvious discount was for multiple day passes. Although the price of lift tickets has gone up throughout the Northeast in the last few years, I found the price to be quite expensive. It was cheaper in Switzerland, and I thought everything cost more in Switzerland. I guess I was wrong. All of these references to the White Mountains being the Alps of the East suddenly made much more sense. Although the lift tickets were a pretty penny, the cost was the last thing on my mind once we got into fresh powder. I would recommend checking the resort’s website and comparing it with your travel itinerary to find the cheapest times to ride.

Trails and Riding Conditions

Over the course of two full days of boarding, we were able to hit approximately 50 of 97 total trails, 16 of 32 of which were glades. There is a debate whether or not we hit a few trails. Our count is between 48 and 51 total trails after mapping out our paths when we would get the chance at the bottom of the mountain. If there was no wait, or if it was too cold, which it was at times, I would not even attempt to open up the map and chart the trail we just covered. Clearly, we attempted to ride down as many trails as possible and see as much of the three peaks that we could with the time we had.

We spent most of the first morning on Mount Rosebrook. The Bethlehem Express High Speed Quad takes you almost to the top of the mountain. This is the most used and congested of all the lifts, and we did not realize this until later. After a brief ride down, we would connect to the Rosebrook Summit Express Quad to reach the apex. After a few warm up runs and looking at the map, we decided to go east through the Black Forest, which was a cross between a trail and a glade with some trees on the track, but few enough to easily navigate through. On our next run, we began to ride through some of the Rosebrook Glades. The weather was so cold that both my GoPro and iPhone could not hold a charge longer than a minute or so. We were in some fresh powder that no one rode through for at least a few days. It was great to hit some virgin snow as we avoided rapidly approaching trees during our descent. I would have loved to have recorded it, but the weather was just not cooperating.

In the afternoon we made our way west. First we rode through Zephyr Glades, where we actually found our favorite trail: Cherry Mountain Slide. There was a plethora of trees to navigate through, but the lines were ideal for a snowboarder. They were wide enough to allow for deep carves, but narrow enough to force the riders to maintain their line as their speed increased. We finished up on West Mountain, where we rode a number of trails and went into the West Mountain Glades. We realized that the West Mountain Express Highspeed Quad never had a line, so we continued riding on this side of the mountain until we called it the day shortly before the 4 p.m. ending of the full day ticket.

On our second day on the mountain, we continued to ride as many new trails and glades as possible. We created a game plan after looking at our map from day one, and decided that we would start on the eastern side of the resort. Over the course of the day we would slowly make our way to the western edge of the property. We used the Bethlehem Express High Speed Quad and the Zephyr High Speed Quad to ride a number of more trails and glades on Mount Rosebrook. After lunch we made our way to the less congested West Mountain to continue riding a number of trails while taking detours throughout some of the glades during our descents. Overall, I was extremely impressed with the trails. They were well maintained and had enough trails to challenge riders of all skill levels.

Only briefly did we even come close to riding on the Mount Stickney trails. Some of the trails and glades you access from Mount Rosebrook lead you east toward Mount Stickney. Excluding those instances, we chose to not spend much time on this mountain. A large portion of it is for Nordic skiing and has a great deal of flat areas and traverses that make it difficult for snowboarders to access other trails. Additionally, the only way to access this portion of the Mount Stickney is to use the Telegraph T-Bar lift. The amount of additional time and effort that we would have needed to use the T-Bar lift further deterred us from skiing on this side of the resort. Had the weather been less brutal, I’m sure we would have taken the T-Bar lift, but my hands were so cold and stiff I couldn’t imagine holding onto the t-bar to get me up the mountain. There is always next time and a fresh set of glades to explore as well.

The Weather

We got told that it was -88 degrees at the top of Mount Washington just a few days prior to our arrival. It was obviously not quite that cold, but the temperature was hovering around 0 both days we were on the mountain. Actually, I found the first day to be a bit warmer, but the news reports and mountain temperature reports were quite similar both days. There was wind, but it was only abusive on the lift up the mountain. Actually, when is the wind not a slap in the face while sitting on any lift it in the winter? Numerous times we would add additional layers of face guards and thermals to combat the temperature. Just before we left to come home I took a photo of the temperature at -15 degrees. Clearly, it was a cold vacation whether we were on or off the mountain.

With the exception of the temperature, the first and second days were quite the opposite. On the first day the sky was grey, visibility was low, and it snowed the entire time we were on the mountain. On the plus side, there was tons of fresh powder your board could carve through if you found the right untouched trail, and there were a bunch of them. Towards the end of the day the snow picked up, so much visibility was down to zero, but the snow was magnificent.

On the second day the sun decided to come out making for a bright day on the mountain. This created an intense glare on the reflecting snow. My new goggles did a good job until moisture accumulated in the mask from my breathing froze. It was so cold I could not clean off the interior lens and had to warm it up underneath my shirt on bare skin, which is what I ended up doing with my GoPro and iPhone to maintain battery life. The body heat solved my goggle dilemma, but my electronics malfunction issues continued. The clouds attempted to part to show the beauty of Mount Washington, but the weather was not complying. I did manage to snap a few photos of the view from the top of one of the lifts before the battery died again. As the sun melted the snow, the conditions began to deteriorate. Late in the afternoon, while riding down a black diamond trail, I hit a patch of ice that I suspect froze because the trail was covered by the shade of trees. After this spill, I finished the run and decided to call it a day. It was less than an hour before 4 p.m., and our ride was already on their way.

Terrain Parks

For anyone interested in trick riding, Bretton Woods has three freestyle terrain parks of varying levels of difficulty. There is the Toy Box, which is a good introduction to riding on man-made features. The Toy Box was near what we assumed was the bunny slope beginner area, so we ended up missing this park. The Midway is more advanced and has a few small jumps and many rails to practice grinding tricks. The park did not feel very well maintained and could have used some much needed maintenance on a few of the rail features. Finally, there is Coos Terrain Park which is the most extreme of the three terrain parks and very well maintained. This is where you can find the biggest jumps, ramps and freestyle features.

Base Lodge – Food & Amenities

The base lodge has a variety of amenities for guests of the ski resort. On the bottom floor there was a general store that had souvenirs and collectibles like clothing and locally produced candy. I briefly stopped in to purchase a magnet, shot glass and some stickers, which are the items I collect when I travel. Also on the bottom level was the rental shop, repair shop, the Adaptive Ski office and a small exhibition from the New England Ski Museum in Franconia Notch State Park, New Hampshire. The bathrooms are located on the same level. Lockers and open cubbies were available for storage on both the lower level and main floor. Finally, there is the Slopeside Climbing Wall available for anyone interested in rock climbing. (For more information see the “Other Activities” section below.)

With the exception of the bathrooms, we made little use of the base lodge on our first day at the mountain. We skipped lunch and instead snacked on trail mix and other goodies I brought from the house. The second day we grabbed a quick bite to eat at Lucy Crawford’s Food Court on the main level of the lodge. We could have also eaten at the Slopeside Restaurant & Pub on the second floor, but there was a waiting time, and we weren’t there to sit around and wait, so we went back down to the food court. Lucy’s serves your average array of hot foods ranging from soups to pizza to burgers. There were also sandwiches and some health conscious choices. I had chicken fingers and French fries and my friend had pizza. The majority of the seating is available on the main floor of the lodge. After our meal we bundled back up and went back on the slopes for what remained of the afternoon.

If you are on the mountain you can stop in at the Latitude 44 Restaurant and refuel before hitting the slope for the remainder of the day. The restaurant is accessible via the Bethlehem Express High Speed Quad. It is open during both the winter and summer seasons. From the restaurant, you can take in views of Mount Washington and the rest of the Presidential Range. There is also a small Chutters candy store at the Zephyr High Speed Quad for anyone looking for a quick sugar rush during their time on the slopes.

Other Activities

For guests of the ski area that are not interested in skiing and snowboarding, there are many other activities that are available to them. Many of them are right at the ski resort, but a few of them are back at the Mount Washington Hotel. Since I did not participate in any of these activities, I cannot give all of them an exact location, but the resort map will quickly solve that issue. There was the Canopy Tour which was a series of zip lines that we saw people riding while we were snowboarding through the glades. It was extremely cold on the mountains and lifts so I could imagine what it was like on the zip lines. We also saw many tracks on Snowshoeing trails throughout the glades. We also saw a family getting ready to go snowmobiling with their children who were going to ride junior sized vehicles. Located on the Slopeside level of the base lodge is the Slopeside Climbing Wall. The indoor facility has a 30 foot high wall that covers 624-square feet with a variety of routes on artificial rock and hand holds. The Adaptive Ski Program services handicapped individuals and returning veterans interested in hitting the slopes. Other activities include: Dog Sledding, Sleigh Rides, Skating, and Tubing.

Conclusions

The Bretton Woods Ski Resort deserves the acclaim that it has received in the past for being one of the best resorts in New Hampshire, New England and the entire east coast of the United States. Although lift ticket prices are high during holidays and weekends, there are discounts available for those able to travel and ski during non-peak times. The three mountain property has almost 100 trails and glades of various skill levels to accommodate all skiers and snowboarders. For anyone who has no desire to hit the slopes, there are ample activities in and around the fully stocked base lodge that can occupy their time. If you are in the area, I would recommend you spend at least one day hitting the slopes at the Bretton Woods Ski Resort. Happy riding!