It’s shaping up to be a monumental winter at New Hampshire ski resorts.
Back in September, Ski New Hampshire (SkiNH) announced the capital projects occurring throughout the Granite State. These projects include a terrain expansion, new lifts, lodges, snowmaking upgrades, and much more.
As we did with Colorados’ offseason improvements, here’s a ranking of the new things coming to New Hampshire ski resorts for the 2023-24 season. But first, here are some honorable mentions.
Honorable Mentions:
- Cannon Mountain: Various snowmaking improvements have been made, which include high-efficiency compressor upgrades to increase efficiency, along with laying new pipe on the Upper Ravine, Lower Cannon, and Gremlin trails. The Middle Ravine and Turnpike runs have been widened to create more space for guests to carve some turns.
- King Pine: The “Cubby Tow” rope tow is being replaced by a new Sunkid conveyor/magic carpet lift. In addition, the King Pine rental shop is being expanded (which includes a large outdoor rooftop deck), they’ve purchased a new Prinoth Husky snow groomer, and the ski resort has added new outdoor decks to the Milts Lodge.
- Mount Sunapee: Funapee’s projects over this offseason included snowmaking upgrades, lodge renovations, new webcams, and parking lot improvements. Over at South Peak, a revitalization project has occurred. This includes a new lighthouse which guests can ski through, and interactive signage that will create photo opportunities.
- Pats Peak: The racing facilities at the first place I ever skied at are getting major upgrades. The Alpine Training Center is receiving a large interior renovation. A new Race Training Area has been created with new night lights and snowmaking enhancements. Other upgrades include the completion of a new mountain operations building, new rental equipment, new lights on the East Wind trail, snowmaking improvements, and more.
- Ragged Mountain: Lift improvements were made to the Summit Six, Spear Mountain Express, and the Barnyard Triple. For the Barnyard Triple, they added a new haul rope. In addition, interior renovations were conducted in the Learning Center and Rental Department, trees were cut at the end of Wild Ride to make for easier access to the Summit Six, and snowmaking improvements were done to improve efficiency.
- Waterville Valley: A new 2,000-square-foot outdoor deck has been added to the Freestyle Lounge, which is situated next to the Tecumseh Express. Other improvements include a new ski patrol shack next to the Northside chairlift and extensive renovations to their employee housing facility.
- Wildcat: The Peabody Pedestrian Bridge, which connects the main base lodge to the mountain, is currently being replaced. New tower guns have been added to Cheetah, Cat Nap, The Schuss, and the summit area. A new Pisten Bully 600 winch cat has been purchased, while the other groomers are undergoing restorations.
5. Gunstock Mountain Resort: The biggest investment is a new 67×24 foot Rental and Tuning Shop building, which is currently under construction. The Stockade Lodge is undergoing a renovation, which will add a new sit-down restaurant and a double-sided stone fireplace. The Panorama Pub, which is situated at the summit, is receiving a 16×30 foot addition. This will allow for more seating and more food/drink options at the Pub. Finally, its main parking lot is currently being paved, which will lead to a smoother driving experience at the ski resort. Click here for more details about the projects.
4. Whaleback Mountain: A new surface lift will provide much easier access to its race trail and terrain park. Currently under construction, the surface lift being added is a rope tow with a handlebar and a poma. An example of this kind of lift is pictured below.
The lift will start at the bottom of the skier’s right of the Lower Spout trail, and end above the top of the racing hut. It will be located on the skier’s right of Lower Spout, which is their racing trail (pictured below). The lift will also give access to the Canyon and Scrimshaw trails, which is home to their terrain park. The new lift will help them get the mountain open earlier in the season, and improve skier/rider flow during peak periods.
3. Cranmore Mountain Resort: The base area transformation is continuing this offseason at Cranmore. After amassing new buildings over the past couple of years, the latest project is replacing the base lodge. The new 30,000-square feet Fairbank Lodge will have a food court, slopeside bar, retail ski shops, restrooms, locker rooms, and two levels of residential condominiums. On the mountain, another terrain park will be added.
Another new condominium lodge project began this summer. The Lookout will add 36 condominiums to the base area, and become the new home for Cranmore’s ski patrol.
2. Loon Mountain Resort: Located one and a half miles away from I-93, the new Timbertown terrain pod is going to make reaching Loon even easier. The expansion will add 11 trails and a new chairlift to the already expansive ski resort. A majority of the runs are classified as easy, while the rest are intermediate. It will be serviced by Timbertown Quad, which is a Doppelmayr Alpenstar 4-CLF chairlift with a loading conveyor. The new terrain pod is expected to open in December.
1. Attitash: For years, the most hated chairlift in the Northeast was probably the Summit Triple. The slog up to the summit of Attitash made many want it to be replaced for decades. Finally, Vail Resorts, which acquired Attitash in 2019, announced in 2022 that it would be replaced by a Leitner-Poma high-speed quad chairlift.
Called the Mountaineer Express, the chairlift will reduce the ride time by more than half compared to its predecessor. The uphill capacity will be 2400 guests per hour, which is a massive improvement over its predecessor, which carried 1,500 people per hour. The Mountaineer Express is scheduled to open during the Christmas week of the 2023-24 season.
A couple of weeks ago, Jessyca Keeler from SkiNH spoke with WMUR about these projects. That video discussion is down below.
Image/Video Credits: Loon Mountain Resort, Gunstock Mountain Resort, Sunkid, Cranmore Mountain Resort, Attitash Mountain Resort, WMUR, Ian Wood