Recommendations for NH trip?

[RachelV]

We're hoping to spend about 4 days over Presidents' Day weekend up around Mt. Washington in NH. We're looking to do some combination of Bretton Woods, Attitash, Cannon and Wildcat. Would it be worthwhile to do 1 day at each, or would that be trying to do too much? Which mountains in that area are your favorites in general? Thanks in advance!

 

[Thatsagirl]

Rachelv, if you still need help with this, can you tell us what kind of skiing you like, ability levels, accommodation needs, etc.? That will help us figure out the best place(s).

Thatsagirl

 

[lv2ski]

Hi, I ski those areas fairly often. Bretton Woods is a great intermediate mountain, especially if you love cruising, and playing in fairly easy glades (blk forest glade fun). They have some fun windy, rolly trails too (Grannys Grit my fav). The views are magnificent on a clear day, as they are at Wildcat also. Wildcat has fun trails also but can get skied off and icy fairly early. I would recommend those before Attitash....Sounds like fun!B-Woods is pretty much one of my husbands and my favorites...we are upper intermediate/Advanced skiers. They have Nastar at both.

 

[liquidfeet]

RachelV,

Where did you go? Did you have a good time? Whoops, Presidents' day hasn't happened. Just answer this after this weekend. Silly me.

 

[SnowGlider]

I love Bretton Woods. The view is beautiful. There are wonderful condos onsite. After skiing you can go and sit by the fire in the lounge of the Bretton Woods Hotel for as long as you like and no one will bother you.

Only drawback I found during a 2-day overnight there last year was that there is exactly 1 restaurant nearby (very limited menu) and absolutely nothing to do after skiing but get romantic.

 

[ski diva]

and absolutely nothing to do after skiing but get romantic.

And this is a problem why????

 

[SnowGlider]

HA HA! It was a problem only because our vacation ran out before we had the sense to take advantage of the opportunity. Sigh . . .

 

[liquidfeet]

Next time you're there go over to North Conway, about 30-40 minutes east on 302. Lots of life - many, many restaurants, ski bars, etc. It's the major apres-ski locale for NH skiers in the White Mountains. Or, for quirky fun, go to the Pinkham Notch Visitors' Center of the Appalacian Mountain Club, just at the base of Mt. Washington, and join the crowds who have hiked up the mountain for a big family style dinner, $16.00 pp, every single evening of the whole darn year. It's great, and you can recount your escapades of the day with wonderful strangers who can recount theirs to you.

 

[RachelV]

We're back and we had a really good time. We did Wildcat, Attitash and Bretton Woods, in that order, with Bretton Woods being our favorite. So many glades, and so much snow! With the storm last week and the 3-4" they got over Sunday night, the tree skiing was the best I have ever experienced in the east. Plus, all those glades are *right* at our level. We had a blast.

We also enjoyed Wildcat and Attitash a lot. Wildcat was probably our least favorite, largely because it felt a little small - we were running out of stuff to ski by the end of the day. I have a feeling if we knew the mountain better we would have found some more places to play, though. And the views were amazing.

SnowGlider's right about the dining options in Bretton Woods, though - unless you want to bring dress clothes (jackets for guys, even) you have 1 restaurant and 1 pizza place to choose from. For us it's not really a problem, though, since after skiing we generally have a beer, have some dinner, and are asleep by about 9:30. :o

But anyways, we had a great time overall. The drive wasn't even much longer than Killington, since it's only about 20 miles off the highway, as opposed to a solid hour for K. We'll definitely be back up in that area in the future.

 

[lv2ski]

Glad you had a good time! B-Woods is just about my favorite mtn too. I know alot of experts call it 'medicare mountain' because it lacks in alot of steep knarly stuff, but that is fine with me. I also love their intermediate glades. We are going up next week-end, Sat. night to ski early Sunday, it's a 2 hour drive so we go the night before. Was it terribly crowded for you Rachel?

 

[RachelV]

No, that was the best part. It was full, but totally not crowded. We hardly spent any time waiting in lift lines all weekend. The cold might have kept some people away Monday (started around -5F and made its way up to about 5F by the afternoon), but even Sat (Wildcat) and Sun (Attitash) weren't bad at all.

 

[Thatsagirl]

No, that was the best part. It was full, but totally not crowded. We hardly spent any time waiting in lift lines all weekend. The cold might have kept some people away Monday (started around -5F and made its way up to about 5F by the afternoon), but even Sat (Wildcat) and Sun (Attitash) weren't bad at all.

I know why it wasn't crowded. The NH locals were all at Jay! I can't tell you how many people I rode up the lift with who told me they made a day trip from their home mountain of (insert any of the three areas you visited).

I'm glad you had a great time. Bretton does have some wonderful glades for people who want to get comfy in them. And the snow was just icing on the cake.

Thatsagirl