This story was
Published in The New England Ski Journal
Published:
November 2001
By Heather Burke
Perhaps the only
“airtime” skiers are looking for this season is in
terrain parks. Foregoing the trip out west this winter means viewing
the Olympics in Utah from the comforts of your couch. But you don’t
have to spend every weekend confined to your home. TV and backyard
sledding will not sustain your family through a snowy New England
winter, which is predicted yet again. Good news - there are downhill
diversions within a reasonable drive, many with a reasonable price
tag.
Our family has made a tradition of getting away the weekend prior to
Christmas. It’s an ideal prelude to the holidays, and high season
rates are not yet in effect. We treasure this time on the practically
vacant snow-covered slopes, knowing the masses are at the shopping
malls.
Pico, a peak over from Killington, offers early season rates, combined
with 30 percent off specials if you book online. Surfing their
efficient website, you can reserve a mid-December weekend in a
slopeside Pico one-bedroom condo for just under $500. This package
includes two-day lift tickets for four valid at Pico and Killington,
plus use of the Sports and Fitness Center with a kid-pleasing heated
pool. Similar five-night Sunday to Friday stays including lift tickets
start at $693 for the family.
Stratton is worth an early season visit. When two adults purchase a
three-day midweek lift ticket for $129 each, they receive two nights
lodging “free.” If families take advantage of this deal before
December 19, the kids can stay free. Granted, you’re staying in the
same room rated double occupancy, close-quarters. And you still need
to buy lift tickets and lessons for the kids. Regardless, this is a
bargain to experience Stratton’s four six passenger high-speed lifts
(two new this season) servicing 2,003’ vertical.
Looking for an affordable day trip to test out your equipment? Here is
food for thought. On Sunday, December 2, easy-to- reach Mount Sunapee
offers lift tickets for $20 when you bring three non-perishable food
items to the ticket window. Kids six and under always ski free at
Sunapee.
Gunstock, overlooking New Hampshire’s beautiful Lake Winnipesaukee, is
a haven for families. This photogenic mountain offers tame, corduroy
trails and sells a Sunday family four pack of tickets, (two adults and
two teens or juniors), for $99. By visiting Sunday, instead of
ever-popular Saturday, you get a better price and less people on the
hill. This Sunday four pack is offered all season long, except during
three holidays.
Sundays at Attitash Bear Peak, kids pay their age (this applies to
ages 6-12 on non-holidays). I can bring my 9 and 7-year-old for $16.
This 1,750’ vertical ski resort has two interconnected mountain peaks,
70 trails altogether and two speedy quads. With North Conway as the
nearby bed base, there is an abundance of lodging to suit every
overnight budget.
Create your own winter vacation package of skiing spectacularly scenic
Wildcat Mountain and staying at Nordic Village, in beautiful Jackson,
New Hampshire. Here the family can get five nights lodging and five
days skiing for just over $1,000. This package can be done all winter
long, non-holiday and certainly qualifies as a family vacation
bargain. At Luxury Mountain Getaways a Sunday to Friday stay starts at
$129 per night in a fully equipped one-
bedroom condominium that sleeps
four. With the “4th night free,” you can purchase five nights lodging
for $516, including use of the indoor and outdoor pools, spas and
ice-skating. Just a few miles up the road, Wildcat sells a family of
four five-day ski ticket for $499.
Just over the Maine border, 20 miles from North Conway is Shawnee
Peak. Like Gunstock, Shawnee has a $99 family four pack of Sunday lift
tickets. Shawnee is a manageable 1,300’ vertical ski area on
appropriately named “Pleasant Mountain.” The terrain is well suited
for families, and the views of Moose Pond at its base and the White
Mountains in the distance are phenomenal.
If you can travel January 13-18 and stay at least three-nights at
Sunday River , here’s a steal. When parents pay $79 each per night for
lifts and lodging at the Grand Hotel, kids ski and stay free and get a
free ski clinic. Where else can a family get a five-night slopeside
vacation including lifts and lodging for $790?
If you want to make a habit of skiing the same day each week,
Wachusett has an affordable Express Pass. Simply select one midweek
day, and you can ski that day and night, from 9a.m. until 10p.m., all
season long for $159. Or choose Saturday or Sunday night
(4p.m.-10p.m.) and pay $175 for the season. These rates are so good;
there is no child category.
New England ski areas give some worthy incentives to steer away from
their busy holiday periods. Early winter trips will jump-start your
holiday spirit and give you the edge on ski days for the remainder of
the season. This could be your year to rack up a record number of
family days on our local slopes. The forecast is for another Eastern
skiers’ winter. And remember, the family that “chills together —
thrills together.”
If You Go:
In Vermont:
Pico can be reached at 1-866-667-PICO or
www.picomountain.com
Stratton can be
reached at 1-800-STRATTON or
www.stratton.com
In New Hampshire:
Gunstock can be viewed at
www.gunstock.com or call 1-800-GUN-STOCK.
Attitash Bear Peak can be reached at 1-800-223-SNOW or
www.attitash.com
Wildcat
Mountain can be reached at 1-603-466-3326 or
www.skiwildcat.com
Luxury Mountain
Getaways Reservations can be reached at 1-800-472-5207 or
www.luxurymountaingetaways.com
In Maine:
Shawnee Peak can be reached at 1-207-647-8444 or
www.shawneepeak.com
Sunday River can be reached at 1-800-543-2SKI or
www.sundayriver.com
In Massachusetts:
Wachusett can be reached at 1-978-464-2300 or
www.wachusett.com
