New Hampshire ski resort areas announce upgrades for season

All six of New Hampshire’s ski areas situated close to the resort town of North Conway have announced upgrades for the coming winter. Cranmore ski area, the closest to the town, is spending the most on upgrades, approximately $6 million, including a new quad chairlift to replace the old South Peak double chair, which will nbe moved to an expanded beginner’s area.

Other improvements include more tubing lanes, more snow making, new easier ticketing and a new children’s centre. A year-round Mountain Coaster, a kind of downhill roller coaster, is also being installed that will allow guests to ride up the mountain and then descend at rider-controlled speeds. Besides Cranmore, Norrth Conway’s guests can easily visit the ski areas of Attitash and Wildcat, both about 20 minutes away, with Bretton Woods, Waterville Valley and Loon 40 minutes and Cannon an hour distant.

Cranmore is also one of the five areas in the region, along with Cannon, Loon, Wildcat and Waterville Valley that are all available on one lift ticket.
One of the biggest upgrades is at Loon Mountain which will add 20 more acres of tree skiing and spend $1.2 million on improvements to its snowmaking system.

Attitash is also adding a new Mountain Coaster ride, where riders descend over 2,800 feet (nearly a kilometre) of track through dips, banked turns and straight runs at rider-controlled speeds of up to 25mph.

At Bretton Woods new terrain is being added with an expansion on to Mount Stickney creating new gladed (lightly wooded) terrain for all abilities.

On Wildcat Mountain, Pinkham Notch — Improvements to the snowmaking system will continue with integral pipe replacements that will enhance the system’s capabilities. There’ll be two new trails, Leo’s Leap and Sphynx and a new trail map will unveil to the uninitiated some existing tree ski areas that had only been proposed in the past. There’ll also be snowmaking upgrades and wifi in the base lodge.

Finally Cannon will add a double chairlift to the recently re-opened Mittersill back-country ski area as well as extend its base lodge and upgrade snowmaking.