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Mount Washington Valley – A Short Drive to Skiing Heaven

February 10, 2009 - NORTH CONWAY, NH -- On a clear, crisp day in Portland you can see mighty Mount Washington looming large, white and inviting. I took this scenery as a personalized plea to go ski nearby North Conway last week. It's close, just 60 miles away, and once you are in the Mount Washington Valley, you have four ski resorts to carve all within a snowball's toss.

Cranmore is in the heart of North Conway, very convenient. Cranmore is a historic hillside dating back to 1938, when Hannes Schneider introduced ski instruction from Austria and the unique "ski mobile" debuted – individual cars carried seated skiers uphill on a cable (an original car is on display).

I found Cranmore to be a cruisers' mountain, especially popular with racers for its consistent pitch and 4.5-minute lift laps on the 1,200-foot vertical SkiMobile Quad. You can arc giant-slalom turns on Competition and North Slope. Or, if you prefer more woodsy winding trails, swerve down Kandahar and SkiMeister. The Darkside Terrain Park is well-dubbed, and dotted with skull and crossbones. Cranmore is a real deal Saturdays. From 2 to 9 p.m., lift tickets are $25 as part of their Cranapalooza party with live entertainment.

Black Mountain in Jackson (not to be confused with Black Mountain here in Rumford, Maine) is an absolute gem. Black Ski Area is the oldest in New Hampshire and home to the first overhead cable lift in the country, which offered skiers shovel handles from Sears Roebuck to hold onto for their uphill pull.

Black remains refreshingly retro – no terrain parks or high-speed lifts here, just soft, natural snow on 1,100-foot vertical runs, with a rare sunny southern exposure. The summit scenery of Mount Washington is stunning, and the 1.5-mile-long Black Beauty (my favorite) is a serene saunter through snow-covered trees with not another soul in sight, akin to Maine's Saddleback.

Black Mountain is a modern-day reminder that a deliberate double chair to the top means no "skier density" on your descent. I loved Black, an old-fashioned deal at $29 midweek tickets ($39 weekends). Thursday, Black's deal du jour is a $20 ticket including breakfast. Black brings back classic trail skiing; happy, humble faces; and there are even horses in a pasture next to the little but lively base lodge. For apres ski, stop by the Shovel Handle Pub next door to see the authentic lift handles, and enjoy entertainment in this historic post-and-beam barn.

Attitash is the largest of the North Conway quad of ski areas and certainly the most modern, with the Valley's most powerful snowmaking and high-speed lifts servicing two interconnected peaks. A superpipe and several parks, plus 75 trails from groomers to glades, makes Attitash a good pick for families looking for lots of on-hill options. Attitash, originally dubbed the "Red Carpet ski area" in 1965, is host to events galore and some great trails like Ptarmigan's and Tightline.

Wildcat is the second-highest ski area in New Hampshire (Cannon wins by 18 feet), with a 4,062-foot summit reached by a speedy quad in six minutes. Wildcat has extraordinary views of Mount Washington from every trail, whether you take Polecat's 2.75-mile prowl (New Hampshire's longest beginner trail) or you go wild on LiftLion, which delivers the most direct route down the 2,112-foot vertical. Because of Wildcat's higher elevation, there is often more snow, and a later season, than neighboring ski areas. Wildcat is 75 years old this season. Its first race trail was cut on these slopes in the summer of 1933 by the Civilian Conservation Corps.

With four worthy ski areas within 15 minutes of each other, you should stay overnight and ski a few. The Valley has too many lodging options to list, from candlelit inns to condos, and so many cozy pubs with apres ski ambience you will be glad you aren't driving back to Portland. In fact, now is a perfect time to plan a vertical Valentine's getaway to North Conway.

My personal pick is the winter postcard town of Jackson. From the moment you cross the covered red "honeymoon" bridge into this snow globe scene, you are under cupid's spell. Shimmery white lights adorn trees and cross-country skiers glide over snow-covered fields.

The Wentworth Inn is the grandest in town – very elegant at more than a century and half old (1869). Wentworth's rooms range from romantic to downright regal, with your own fireplace and Jacuzzi tub. A midweek ski package including full breakfast and a ski ticket starts at $106 per person, per night. For cross-country skiers, 158 kilometers of trails emanate from the Jackson Touring Center – the largest Nordic trail system in the East.

Shoot over to the nearby Mount Washington Valley for a change of ski pace, interesting history and great apres ski spots. I didn't even mention shopping, but the White Mountains are especially snowy this season, so the factory outlets will have to wait.

I hope to see you out on the slopes.

EVENTS

Freeheelers should head to Sunday River on Saturday for the seventh annual Maine Telemark Festival, then slide over to Saddleback on Sunday for the fifth annual Tele Invasion.

HEATHER BURKE, Portland Press Herald, February 5, 2009


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