October 26, 2025 • 22 mins
In this episode, Ski New Hampshire’s Kathleen Harriganand Melody Nestor join Let’s Move to New Hampshire to share what’s new for the 2025–2026 ski season. From new lifts and trails to the popular 4th & 5th Grade Passport, discover how the Granite State is making skiing more accessible, inclusive, and fun for everyone.
Listeners will learn:
What’s new across New Hampshire’s ski resorts this season
How the 4th & 5th Grade Passport opens the slopes to kids statewide (and beyond)
The importance of adaptive skiing and inclusive programs
Insider tips on beating the crowds, night skiing, and finding the best beginner mountains
💼 Why Ski NH isn’t just about recreation — it’s also helping build careers and communities across the state
Hear insider tips on night skiing, beginner-friendly slopes, and how to make the most of your winter in New Hampshire — whether you’re a lifelong skier or just learning to love the snow.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Let's move to New Hampshire today. We're talking about skiing,
specifically skiing New Hampshire. Kathleen Harrigan and Melody Nestor join us. Kathleen, Melody,
hello and and happy almost winter time.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Yes, hello. Yeah, thanks, thanks for having us. We're happy
to talk about winter. It's the best season.
Speaker 1 (00:20):
Give us sort of a thumbnail description of of exactly
what ski New Hampshire is, what ski New Hampshire does,
and how it came to
be.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
If you don't mind, Melanie, I'll start and you can wrap.
With anything that I might have missed, but Ski New
Hampshire is a trade organization for the sports skiing in
the state of New Hampshire. Basically, we're like a chamber
of commerce, but just for ski areas. We help promote them.
We help support them in a number of ways with
(00:48):
education and legislative assistance. And in general, we have a
lot to offer ski areas and our other associate members.
So it's a
Nonprofit organization and it is also not a charitable one,
but a nonprofit all the same, and, uh, our members
pay dues to be in the membership and, um, we do,
(01:11):
we obviously also do a lot of marketing for the
ski areas as well. So marketing education and advocacy is
what we do on behalf of our ski area members.
Speaker 1 (01:22):
And for the general public, you're kind of one stop
shopping for many of the best ski areas in the state, right?
Speaker 2 (01:28):
Yes, most ski.
areas in New Hampshire, the, the larger ones for sure are,
for the most part, are members of ski New Hampshire.
And so if someone's out there just going, where do
I go skiing in New Hampshire, they'll, um, usually land
on our website or give us a call most often,
you know, everything's through the, uh, computers, electronics now. So, uh,
(01:50):
we will get calls or if they land on our website,
pretty much, we have all information related to anything skiing
in New Hampshire. And
Speaker 1 (01:58):
as we look
Forward to the 2025, 2026 ski season. What seems to
be on the horizon for ski New Hampshire this year?
Speaker 2 (02:05):
We never know every year it's unique, but we've geared
up with a lot of new things, certainly, um, a
lot of ski areas during the summer and even into
the fall end up making a lot of capital improvements.
There are certainly a lot of thousands and thousands of
dollars invested in snowmaking every year. There
(02:28):
there's new lighting as well, new programs come out. Cranmore
has a new Arctic lights, um, that will be coming
to tubing, to the tubing hill there, and there's lots
of new things. Bretton Woods has developed some new trails.
There's brand new lifts at a variety of our ski areas,
and we have all that information as everything that we, uh,
(02:51):
put out is on our website, skiNH.com.
Speaker 1 (02:54):
Across the winter, you've got the holidays and and people
are on
Vacation around many of those holidays, perhaps even more importantly
to the ski areas, you've got school vacation weeks and
those are busy, busy times, aren't they?
Speaker 2 (03:06):
They sure are, yes. And yeah, we, again, uh, a
lot of the capital improvements too, is investments in helping
move the guests around the mountain in an efficient way
so that we can accommodate all those guests. And there's
a lot of events to both on slope and off
slope that happen.
(03:27):
Especially at the holidays, but all throughout the, the winter
year as well. And we also have, um, night skiing,
which is a great way for people to enjoy, you know,
an extended ski day or just go in the evening
when it might not be as busy.
Speaker 1 (03:42):
And what does skiing New Hampshire have for school-age children
and of course their parents on on school vacation weeks
uh coming up this year?
Speaker 2 (03:51):
For school kids, I'm gonna let Kathleen jump in about
our passport program, and that's certainly um a big thing
that we're offering school kids. Um, did you wanna talk
about that now, Kathleen?
Yeah, sure, um, but it's pretty specific. It's the GNH
4th or 5th grade passport. It's a junior ticket program
(04:12):
that um kids from anywhere, not just New Hampshire.
Um, they buy into the program for one price of
$59 and they get one ticket to each one of
our 32 different participating ski areas. And a bunch of
those are downhill and a few less than that are
(04:32):
cross country areas. So it's a great time for kids
to learn that sport if they haven't done that yet.
There are blackout.
Dates. So sometimes during vacation periods, there are some blackout dates,
so you have to be aware of that. But that is,
there are some dates available during vacation periods. And, um,
so that's a savings for the parents so that at least,
you know, their kids are getting a really good deal.
(04:53):
And it helps encourage them to discover new areas around
the
state.
Speaker 1 (04:57):
And that's specifically for 4th and 5th graders,
Speaker 2 (04:59):
right?
Exactly.
Speaker 1 (05:01):
What about uh and and certainly in a post-COVID world,
I think more kids are probably being homeschooled these days
and and in that situation, the grades aren't always as
quite cut and dry as they are in an actual
school brick and mortar kind of setting. What do you
do about homeschooled kids? Yeah,
Speaker 2 (05:18):
that's a hot question because there are quite a few
homeschoolers and
You know, we basically, uh, if they're working at a
4th or 5th grade level, um, all the proof that
they need to have is like a letter from the
homeschool program administrator or a report card or product report
from a previous year when they might have been in
(05:40):
a public school. They could also provide a document showing their,
their um age because uh we would accept a copy
of a birth certificate or a government-issued actual passport.
Those things can also, you know, we're pretty flexible, and I,
I often encourage homeschool parents to just contact us and
we can talk about what they have for proof of
(06:01):
grade and work through it that way.
Speaker 1 (06:03):
Talk a little bit about blackout dates and and how
does that work and and are they common between the
ski areas or do they vary from area uh to
mountain and to mountain?
Speaker 2 (06:13):
The passport program is specifically what we're talking about here.
The passport program for the 4th and 5th grade students,
once they buy into the program, the blackout dates that
they need to be aware of are Friday, December 26th
through Wednesday, December 31st, and uh over Martin Luther King weekend,
(06:36):
Saturday through Monday, the 17th through the 19th, and President's Weekend,
Saturday through Monday, the 14th through the 16th of February.
And then one more day, Saturday, February 21st. Now, that's
a crossover Saturday between the Massachusetts and the New Hampshire
vacation weeks. And with this free program, the ski areas
(07:00):
wanted to mitigate some of the extra, like students that
would come through this program.
And just let them come on other days and not
add to the crowds on those days. So that's why
we have blackout dates, but all the other days are
free to go for the rest of the
season.
Speaker 1 (07:18):
One of the things New Hampshire is blessed with is
a whole lot of mountains and the passport allows for
some multi-mountain kind of trips, doesn't it?
Speaker 2 (07:27):
Yes, it definitely does. There's 32 mountains, and we encourage
through the passport program and in general for any adult too,
to try out the different ski experiences at the different mountains.
And in doing that, it really does spread.
It gives a variety of experiences, as well as it's
(07:50):
supporting all the different mountains in New Hampshire. So it's,
it's a win-win. I have yet to ski all the
ski areas in New Hampshire, though I've skied a lot
of them, and I always have a great time experiencing
a different mountain.
Speaker 1 (08:06):
Now technically, don't you have to ski all of them
for your job?
Speaker 2 (08:10):
Oh, we do. Um, but there's, there's so many of them.
It's not, we, I've skied, I think I've skied all
the downhill, but, and I think we have as a team, um,
cross-country A is just still hitting a few of them.
And we, we actually have a few new mountains that are,
are new to ski New Hampshire this year. So I
(08:30):
have not skied those. And, um,
That's um might as well say who they are. um
Tenney Mountain and Granite Gorge Mountain Park are 22 new
members to ski New Hampshire, not new mountains, just new
to our membership.
Speaker 1 (08:47):
In regards to the passport program, I've done a fair
amount of work with Special Olympics and I'm I'm always
amazed at at the adaptive uh ski programs and and
the people that run those programs. God love them for
doing uh what they do, it's it's amazing to watch. Uh,
how does the passport intersect with adaptive, uh, with ski
New Hampshire?
Speaker 2 (09:09):
Well, the passport provides the free day pass. However, the
adaptive program, if certain, um, equipment or lessons are required,
that would, we would suggest regardless giving a call or
reaching out to the mountain that you're going to ski at,
but almost all of our areas do have adaptive programs
(09:32):
if they want to combine the passport with a lesson
or rental equipment.
So there's a, a huge number of services and most
of them are separate services that are provided at mountains, although,
you know, Mount uh Waterville provides its own adaptive ski programming,
and we have all the different
(09:53):
Partners and programs listed on SCNH.com. Another reason to go
there so that folks can um reach out ahead to
make sure that if they do need a rental or
a lesson, they can schedule that.
Speaker 1 (10:09):
And talk a little bit about the Winter Kids app.
Speaker 2 (10:12):
Uh-huh, this is the coolest thing because
Now this whole program is so much easier to operate
and access because it's all on your phone. So parents
that sign their kids up, they are then welcome to
the program and given instructions to go to the Google
Store or the app store and download the Winter Kids
(10:35):
app that hosts all of the offers that they are
now entitled to.
The parents bring the child and the phone up to
the ticket booth and they present the offer, the ticket
agent scans their phone or records the number that is
there for areas that don't use barcodes, it's all still tracked.
(10:56):
And they are in turn presented with a ski ticket
for the day for their kiddo.
Speaker 1 (11:01):
Let's go to both ends of the respective scale here.
The podcast is let's move to New Hampshire. So let's
talk about some people that are moving to New Hampshire. First,
let's talk about perhaps a family that's moving from a
warm weather location and and they either haven't been skiing
in a while or they've never been skiing. What what
would uh skiing New Hampshire advise for folks moving to
(11:22):
New Hampshire and just starting out in the path of skiing?
Speaker 2 (11:26):
For the love of all that is good, please get
a lesson.
As the best way to be successful, and therefore, if
you've got something you're successful at, you're gonna like it,
you're gonna enjoy winter a whole lot better if you've
got something fun to do. So I highly encourage a lesson, and, um,
you know, certainly there's, uh, a whole list of things
(11:48):
that you should purchase or rent and bring and other
things that make your day a successful day, but
I say, be prepared, plan ahead, definitely get a lesson,
and you will thank me for it.
Speaker 1 (12:03):
Are there any mountains that you would perhaps recommend for
a family of novice skiers?
Speaker 2 (12:10):
Oh, absolutely. If you're a novice, um, you aren't necessarily
looking for the steeps, and because of that, you know,
the smaller areas offer a little bit more beginner terrain
in general. So you could save some money by going
to a smaller resort and therefore, it's a little bit
more attainable. I would also recommend everybody start out at
(12:32):
a smaller resort, just so that, you know, you feel
comfortable and not over.
overwhelmed. And once you build your confidence and skills there,
you can move on up if you so desire to
more challenging terrain.
Speaker 1 (12:45):
Let's go to the other end of the scale now.
Somebody's moving here from, oh, I don't know, Colorado or
or Switzerland, and they're Rico Suave on the slopes already.
They know everything there is to know. Where would you
send those folks?
Speaker 2 (12:58):
Well, some of the bigger mountains that offer the more
challenging terrain.
Or certainly I could name them, but like, uh, on
the flip side of the coin, there are some smaller
areas that really have steep trails and black diamonds.
So it's hard to carve out, so to speak, which
ones wouldn't be a good choice. So the, the top mountains,
(13:21):
I would say, you know, Loon, Cannon, Waterville, Bretton Woods, Wildcat, Absash,
I can keep going. There's so many good ones with
lots of great varied terrain. Yes. Even, um, little Dartmouth
Ski Way has some pretty cool, um, steeps too. So,
I think your point is well taken, Kathleen, in terms
(13:43):
of different mountains often have a variety of slopes for
different levels, but the thing to look for would be,
you know, certainly the
The names that Kathleen mentioned makes sense, and then just
going on to the resort website to see what, do
they have some black diamonds, do they have, you know,
(14:05):
a lot of intermediate, or is it, you know, a
combination of
Speaker 1 (14:09):
Obviously the ski season is somewhat dependent on the weather.
Assuming an average weather season, there's enough snow to go around,
it's cold enough to make snow and and things are
going well for for the season.
There's still a certain ebb and flow to sort of
the crowds and and the dates that are busy and
the dates that are a little less busy. What would
(14:31):
be some advice you would give folks if, if maybe
they wanted to not hit the mountains and the slopes
on very crowded days?
Speaker 2 (14:38):
That would be a good option for Tuesday through Thursday.
If they can ski midweek, that's smart, um, if they're
able to do it.
And, um, otherwise, come early or try night skiing. Night
skiing is a really fun time to go explore a mountain.
It's a different vibe. Kids love it. And, um, I
(15:01):
like it too. I think it's fun. It gives you
a different perspective. And the ski areas that are offering it,
you know, have done a good job with the lighting.
So it's really fun time to go. Those would be
the things I would suggest.
Speaker 1 (15:15):
A few minutes ago, one of you mentioned uh a
ski area with Dartmouth in the name. Talk a little
bit about some of the ski areas that perhaps are
a little bit smaller and and you you don't hear
an awful lot about but are still a great value
and a great
Speaker 2 (15:28):
time. A smaller mountain, you know, for beginners or a
great time. OK, so you know, McIntyre ski area is
a place um in Manchester that is, you know,
A small local hill with a lot of beginner terrain
and some varied terrain. It's about 90% beginner. So that's
a smaller mountain. Granite Gorge Mountain Park, I mentioned them earlier.
(15:51):
That's a smaller community ski area with more modest opportunities
for skiing. It can be less intimidating for new skiers.
King Pine is another one. Kathleen, did I miss any
That Whaleback Mountain. What's different about Whaleback Mountain in Enfield
is the fact that it's a nonprofit and that's a
(16:13):
different model than some of our ski areas. So it's
definitely community-focused and a great place that's smaller that people
wouldn't think about.
Speaker 1 (16:23):
Let's go to the other end of the scale. What's,
what's a big, beautiful mountain in New Hampshire?
Speaker 2 (16:30):
Big Blue Mountain resort, um, has a lot of sea terrain.
Bretton Woods has a lot of terrain. Those are probably
two of the bigger ones. What am I missing, Kathleen?
I think's quite large, and that has, uh, quite a
few trails and super popular. There's Shannon, obviously, Waterville, Waterville. Mhm. Yeah. And,
(16:53):
you know, I think a cool little secret place is, uh,
Ragged Mountain over in Danbury.
That's a beautiful, I feel like yet discovered place by many,
worth a trip.
Speaker 1 (17:04):
I'm going to ask the same question of each of you,
so we'll put Kathleen on the spot first here. Kathleen,
in your experience skiing in the state of New Hampshire,
what what's a more unique ski area that you've seen?
Oh
Speaker 2 (17:18):
boy, let's think about that.
I have more. They, yeah, right. They have, um, every
one of them is so different. It's hard to answer
that question. But, you know, some of them, you know,
it might draw me there because they have an incredible
deck where you can enjoy the sun during your break.
(17:40):
And other ones, like, you know, I'm on a snowboard,
so I really like the way that the trails are
laid out, so you're not skating from here to there
all the time.
The views, stunning views.
Can like, unbelievable, and I can't say one's better than another,
(18:01):
you know, like, cause there's so many different ones. Have
you ever been to the top of Gunstock? That view
to the lake, Winnipesaukee, it's, it's just crazy. And on
a very clear day you can see all the way
up to Mount Washington. It is an incredible view up there.
And then speaking of Mount Washington, Wildcat Mountain, and Attictash
are across the street from it, so is Bretton Woods.
(18:24):
In their own right, you know, they're bordering on three sides,
and you look down the ski slope and beyond, and
you're looking at an incredible peak with all the white
mountains around it.
We've got some great, great views. I think that that's
probably one of those things, like, I wish every, every
one of our ski areas had a mountaintop restaurant. Some do, and, uh,
(18:48):
it's worth, it's worth a stop in a, in a
deep breath or two up there.
You know, Cranmar is awfully close to our offices and,
and we live in Conway, so, um, I think we've
all spent an awful lot of time there, and, uh,
you know, once you get to know a mountain,
Really well, like where all the trails go to, uh,
(19:08):
that makes it so easy to go to, and, and
that familiarity makes you feel like, at ease with everything. And,
you know, all the secrets are laid out for you,
all the little nooks and crannies in the woods. That's
what makes a place unique, I guess. Melody,
Speaker 1 (19:26):
how about you?
Speaker 2 (19:28):
Well, I guess I, when I do go to a
new mountain, um, to your question about haven't you skied
them all? Well, last year, I skied Dartmouth skiway for
the first time, and I thought it was a super cold,
unique mountain for a couple of reasons. One, half of
it was on one side of the road, the other
half on the other. Um, and you had to cross
(19:50):
the road, a very
You know, not a well traveled road. So it was,
it was safe. So I thought that was really unique.
I also loved the diversity there with all the college
students from all over, you know, from everywhere. And I
thought that was really, really nice. I, in fact, speaking
of inclusivity, I, I like some of the programs that
(20:13):
have come into our mountains to encourage diversity at the mountain.
A number of them have been doing that. And I,
I think that's really a unique and wonderful program that's
coming to a lot of our mountains. And then just
one last thing I wanted to say about unique too.
We haven't really talked about cross country a whole lot, but,
(20:35):
you know, there are some, a very different feel at
all of our cross country areas. So I would send unique,
a unique.
This is vote to them as well.
Speaker 1 (20:46):
On the Ski New Hampshire website, SkiNH.com, SkiNH.com, I'm one
of those people that likes to scroll down to the
bottom and see what else is going on on the
website that isn't really necessarily always right up top and
and in your face when the home page opens up.
I love the fact that you guys have a link
to the job seeker sites of all of your member
(21:09):
ski areas.
Speaker 2 (21:10):
Yes.
Yes. I love that too. One of our efforts really
is to help the industry be healthy. And to do that, it, it,
you know, part of doing that is making sure that
they have the workforce that they need. And, and certainly
that's a challenge for all industries. But
(21:31):
Where, you know, part of that is, is, we want
it to be easy for people who are typing in,
where can I work at a ski, you know, whatever
the Google search term is for them to find us,
and then for us to link out to all of
our members and, um, you know, help them.
And part of that too is we've been doing a
(21:53):
lot of outreach around that with schools and also promotions that,
you know, help people to realize that not only can
you find a job at a ski area, but you
can actually make a career there if you're willing to try.
So yeah, thank you for pointing that out.
Speaker 1 (22:10):
If you're considering moving to New Hampshire and you are
a skier or a
Wannabe skier, then you want to check out SkiNH.com. That
is your first place to go skiNH.com for all things
skiing in the Granite State. Kathleen Harrigan, Melody Nestor, skiNH.com.
Thank you for spending time with us.
Speaker 2 (22:28):
Oh thank you. It was our pleasure. Absolutely enjoy and
have a great winter
ahead. For let's
Speaker 1 (22:35):
move to New Hampshire, I'm Mark Erickson.
Let's move to New Hampshire today. We're talking about skiing,
specifically skiing New Hampshire. Kathleen Harrigan and Melody Nestor join us. Kathleen, Melody,
hello and and happy almost winter time.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Yes, hello. Yeah, thanks, thanks for having us. We're happy
to talk about winter. It's the best season.
Speaker 1 (00:20):
Give us sort of a thumbnail description of of exactly
what ski New Hampshire is, what ski New Hampshire does,
and how it came to
be.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
If you don't mind, Melanie, I'll start and you can wrap.
With anything that I might have missed, but Ski New
Hampshire is a trade organization for the sports skiing in
the state of New Hampshire. Basically, we're like a chamber
of commerce, but just for ski areas. We help promote them.
We help support them in a number of ways with
(00:48):
education and legislative assistance. And in general, we have a
lot to offer ski areas and our other associate members.
So it's a
Nonprofit organization and it is also not a charitable one,
but a nonprofit all the same, and, uh, our members
pay dues to be in the membership and, um, we do,
(01:11):
we obviously also do a lot of marketing for the
ski areas as well. So marketing education and advocacy is
what we do on behalf of our ski area members.
Speaker 1 (01:22):
And for the general public, you're kind of one stop
shopping for many of the best ski areas in the state, right?
Speaker 2 (01:28):
Yes, most ski.
areas in New Hampshire, the, the larger ones for sure are,
for the most part, are members of ski New Hampshire.
And so if someone's out there just going, where do
I go skiing in New Hampshire, they'll, um, usually land
on our website or give us a call most often,
you know, everything's through the, uh, computers, electronics now. So, uh,
(01:50):
we will get calls or if they land on our website,
pretty much, we have all information related to anything skiing
in New Hampshire. And
Speaker 1 (01:58):
as we look
Forward to the 2025, 2026 ski season. What seems to
be on the horizon for ski New Hampshire this year?
Speaker 2 (02:05):
We never know every year it's unique, but we've geared
up with a lot of new things, certainly, um, a
lot of ski areas during the summer and even into
the fall end up making a lot of capital improvements.
There are certainly a lot of thousands and thousands of
dollars invested in snowmaking every year. There
(02:28):
there's new lighting as well, new programs come out. Cranmore
has a new Arctic lights, um, that will be coming
to tubing, to the tubing hill there, and there's lots
of new things. Bretton Woods has developed some new trails.
There's brand new lifts at a variety of our ski areas,
and we have all that information as everything that we, uh,
(02:51):
put out is on our website, skiNH.com.
Speaker 1 (02:54):
Across the winter, you've got the holidays and and people
are on
Vacation around many of those holidays, perhaps even more importantly
to the ski areas, you've got school vacation weeks and
those are busy, busy times, aren't they?
Speaker 2 (03:06):
They sure are, yes. And yeah, we, again, uh, a
lot of the capital improvements too, is investments in helping
move the guests around the mountain in an efficient way
so that we can accommodate all those guests. And there's
a lot of events to both on slope and off
slope that happen.
(03:27):
Especially at the holidays, but all throughout the, the winter
year as well. And we also have, um, night skiing,
which is a great way for people to enjoy, you know,
an extended ski day or just go in the evening
when it might not be as busy.
Speaker 1 (03:42):
And what does skiing New Hampshire have for school-age children
and of course their parents on on school vacation weeks
uh coming up this year?
Speaker 2 (03:51):
For school kids, I'm gonna let Kathleen jump in about
our passport program, and that's certainly um a big thing
that we're offering school kids. Um, did you wanna talk
about that now, Kathleen?
Yeah, sure, um, but it's pretty specific. It's the GNH
4th or 5th grade passport. It's a junior ticket program
(04:12):
that um kids from anywhere, not just New Hampshire.
Um, they buy into the program for one price of
$59 and they get one ticket to each one of
our 32 different participating ski areas. And a bunch of
those are downhill and a few less than that are
(04:32):
cross country areas. So it's a great time for kids
to learn that sport if they haven't done that yet.
There are blackout.
Dates. So sometimes during vacation periods, there are some blackout dates,
so you have to be aware of that. But that is,
there are some dates available during vacation periods. And, um,
so that's a savings for the parents so that at least,
you know, their kids are getting a really good deal.
(04:53):
And it helps encourage them to discover new areas around
the
state.
Speaker 1 (04:57):
And that's specifically for 4th and 5th graders,
Speaker 2 (04:59):
right?
Exactly.
Speaker 1 (05:01):
What about uh and and certainly in a post-COVID world,
I think more kids are probably being homeschooled these days
and and in that situation, the grades aren't always as
quite cut and dry as they are in an actual
school brick and mortar kind of setting. What do you
do about homeschooled kids? Yeah,
Speaker 2 (05:18):
that's a hot question because there are quite a few
homeschoolers and
You know, we basically, uh, if they're working at a
4th or 5th grade level, um, all the proof that
they need to have is like a letter from the
homeschool program administrator or a report card or product report
from a previous year when they might have been in
(05:40):
a public school. They could also provide a document showing their,
their um age because uh we would accept a copy
of a birth certificate or a government-issued actual passport.
Those things can also, you know, we're pretty flexible, and I,
I often encourage homeschool parents to just contact us and
we can talk about what they have for proof of
(06:01):
grade and work through it that way.
Speaker 1 (06:03):
Talk a little bit about blackout dates and and how
does that work and and are they common between the
ski areas or do they vary from area uh to
mountain and to mountain?
Speaker 2 (06:13):
The passport program is specifically what we're talking about here.
The passport program for the 4th and 5th grade students,
once they buy into the program, the blackout dates that
they need to be aware of are Friday, December 26th
through Wednesday, December 31st, and uh over Martin Luther King weekend,
(06:36):
Saturday through Monday, the 17th through the 19th, and President's Weekend,
Saturday through Monday, the 14th through the 16th of February.
And then one more day, Saturday, February 21st. Now, that's
a crossover Saturday between the Massachusetts and the New Hampshire
vacation weeks. And with this free program, the ski areas
(07:00):
wanted to mitigate some of the extra, like students that
would come through this program.
And just let them come on other days and not
add to the crowds on those days. So that's why
we have blackout dates, but all the other days are
free to go for the rest of the
season.
Speaker 1 (07:18):
One of the things New Hampshire is blessed with is
a whole lot of mountains and the passport allows for
some multi-mountain kind of trips, doesn't it?
Speaker 2 (07:27):
Yes, it definitely does. There's 32 mountains, and we encourage
through the passport program and in general for any adult too,
to try out the different ski experiences at the different mountains.
And in doing that, it really does spread.
It gives a variety of experiences, as well as it's
(07:50):
supporting all the different mountains in New Hampshire. So it's,
it's a win-win. I have yet to ski all the
ski areas in New Hampshire, though I've skied a lot
of them, and I always have a great time experiencing
a different mountain.
Speaker 1 (08:06):
Now technically, don't you have to ski all of them
for your job?
Speaker 2 (08:10):
Oh, we do. Um, but there's, there's so many of them.
It's not, we, I've skied, I think I've skied all
the downhill, but, and I think we have as a team, um,
cross-country A is just still hitting a few of them.
And we, we actually have a few new mountains that are,
are new to ski New Hampshire this year. So I
(08:30):
have not skied those. And, um,
That's um might as well say who they are. um
Tenney Mountain and Granite Gorge Mountain Park are 22 new
members to ski New Hampshire, not new mountains, just new
to our membership.
Speaker 1 (08:47):
In regards to the passport program, I've done a fair
amount of work with Special Olympics and I'm I'm always
amazed at at the adaptive uh ski programs and and
the people that run those programs. God love them for
doing uh what they do, it's it's amazing to watch. Uh,
how does the passport intersect with adaptive, uh, with ski
New Hampshire?
Speaker 2 (09:09):
Well, the passport provides the free day pass. However, the
adaptive program, if certain, um, equipment or lessons are required,
that would, we would suggest regardless giving a call or
reaching out to the mountain that you're going to ski at,
but almost all of our areas do have adaptive programs
(09:32):
if they want to combine the passport with a lesson
or rental equipment.
So there's a, a huge number of services and most
of them are separate services that are provided at mountains, although,
you know, Mount uh Waterville provides its own adaptive ski programming,
and we have all the different
(09:53):
Partners and programs listed on SCNH.com. Another reason to go
there so that folks can um reach out ahead to
make sure that if they do need a rental or
a lesson, they can schedule that.
Speaker 1 (10:09):
And talk a little bit about the Winter Kids app.
Speaker 2 (10:12):
Uh-huh, this is the coolest thing because
Now this whole program is so much easier to operate
and access because it's all on your phone. So parents
that sign their kids up, they are then welcome to
the program and given instructions to go to the Google
Store or the app store and download the Winter Kids
(10:35):
app that hosts all of the offers that they are
now entitled to.
The parents bring the child and the phone up to
the ticket booth and they present the offer, the ticket
agent scans their phone or records the number that is
there for areas that don't use barcodes, it's all still tracked.
(10:56):
And they are in turn presented with a ski ticket
for the day for their kiddo.
Speaker 1 (11:01):
Let's go to both ends of the respective scale here.
The podcast is let's move to New Hampshire. So let's
talk about some people that are moving to New Hampshire. First,
let's talk about perhaps a family that's moving from a
warm weather location and and they either haven't been skiing
in a while or they've never been skiing. What what
would uh skiing New Hampshire advise for folks moving to
(11:22):
New Hampshire and just starting out in the path of skiing?
Speaker 2 (11:26):
For the love of all that is good, please get
a lesson.
As the best way to be successful, and therefore, if
you've got something you're successful at, you're gonna like it,
you're gonna enjoy winter a whole lot better if you've
got something fun to do. So I highly encourage a lesson, and, um,
you know, certainly there's, uh, a whole list of things
(11:48):
that you should purchase or rent and bring and other
things that make your day a successful day, but
I say, be prepared, plan ahead, definitely get a lesson,
and you will thank me for it.
Speaker 1 (12:03):
Are there any mountains that you would perhaps recommend for
a family of novice skiers?
Speaker 2 (12:10):
Oh, absolutely. If you're a novice, um, you aren't necessarily
looking for the steeps, and because of that, you know,
the smaller areas offer a little bit more beginner terrain
in general. So you could save some money by going
to a smaller resort and therefore, it's a little bit
more attainable. I would also recommend everybody start out at
(12:32):
a smaller resort, just so that, you know, you feel
comfortable and not over.
overwhelmed. And once you build your confidence and skills there,
you can move on up if you so desire to
more challenging terrain.
Speaker 1 (12:45):
Let's go to the other end of the scale now.
Somebody's moving here from, oh, I don't know, Colorado or
or Switzerland, and they're Rico Suave on the slopes already.
They know everything there is to know. Where would you
send those folks?
Speaker 2 (12:58):
Well, some of the bigger mountains that offer the more
challenging terrain.
Or certainly I could name them, but like, uh, on
the flip side of the coin, there are some smaller
areas that really have steep trails and black diamonds.
So it's hard to carve out, so to speak, which
ones wouldn't be a good choice. So the, the top mountains,
(13:21):
I would say, you know, Loon, Cannon, Waterville, Bretton Woods, Wildcat, Absash,
I can keep going. There's so many good ones with
lots of great varied terrain. Yes. Even, um, little Dartmouth
Ski Way has some pretty cool, um, steeps too. So,
I think your point is well taken, Kathleen, in terms
(13:43):
of different mountains often have a variety of slopes for
different levels, but the thing to look for would be,
you know, certainly the
The names that Kathleen mentioned makes sense, and then just
going on to the resort website to see what, do
they have some black diamonds, do they have, you know,
(14:05):
a lot of intermediate, or is it, you know, a
combination of
Speaker 1 (14:09):
Obviously the ski season is somewhat dependent on the weather.
Assuming an average weather season, there's enough snow to go around,
it's cold enough to make snow and and things are
going well for for the season.
There's still a certain ebb and flow to sort of
the crowds and and the dates that are busy and
the dates that are a little less busy. What would
(14:31):
be some advice you would give folks if, if maybe
they wanted to not hit the mountains and the slopes
on very crowded days?
Speaker 2 (14:38):
That would be a good option for Tuesday through Thursday.
If they can ski midweek, that's smart, um, if they're
able to do it.
And, um, otherwise, come early or try night skiing. Night
skiing is a really fun time to go explore a mountain.
It's a different vibe. Kids love it. And, um, I
(15:01):
like it too. I think it's fun. It gives you
a different perspective. And the ski areas that are offering it,
you know, have done a good job with the lighting.
So it's really fun time to go. Those would be
the things I would suggest.
Speaker 1 (15:15):
A few minutes ago, one of you mentioned uh a
ski area with Dartmouth in the name. Talk a little
bit about some of the ski areas that perhaps are
a little bit smaller and and you you don't hear
an awful lot about but are still a great value
and a great
Speaker 2 (15:28):
time. A smaller mountain, you know, for beginners or a
great time. OK, so you know, McIntyre ski area is
a place um in Manchester that is, you know,
A small local hill with a lot of beginner terrain
and some varied terrain. It's about 90% beginner. So that's
a smaller mountain. Granite Gorge Mountain Park, I mentioned them earlier.
(15:51):
That's a smaller community ski area with more modest opportunities
for skiing. It can be less intimidating for new skiers.
King Pine is another one. Kathleen, did I miss any
That Whaleback Mountain. What's different about Whaleback Mountain in Enfield
is the fact that it's a nonprofit and that's a
(16:13):
different model than some of our ski areas. So it's
definitely community-focused and a great place that's smaller that people
wouldn't think about.
Speaker 1 (16:23):
Let's go to the other end of the scale. What's,
what's a big, beautiful mountain in New Hampshire?
Speaker 2 (16:30):
Big Blue Mountain resort, um, has a lot of sea terrain.
Bretton Woods has a lot of terrain. Those are probably
two of the bigger ones. What am I missing, Kathleen?
I think's quite large, and that has, uh, quite a
few trails and super popular. There's Shannon, obviously, Waterville, Waterville. Mhm. Yeah. And,
(16:53):
you know, I think a cool little secret place is, uh,
Ragged Mountain over in Danbury.
That's a beautiful, I feel like yet discovered place by many,
worth a trip.
Speaker 1 (17:04):
I'm going to ask the same question of each of you,
so we'll put Kathleen on the spot first here. Kathleen,
in your experience skiing in the state of New Hampshire,
what what's a more unique ski area that you've seen?
Oh
Speaker 2 (17:18):
boy, let's think about that.
I have more. They, yeah, right. They have, um, every
one of them is so different. It's hard to answer
that question. But, you know, some of them, you know,
it might draw me there because they have an incredible
deck where you can enjoy the sun during your break.
(17:40):
And other ones, like, you know, I'm on a snowboard,
so I really like the way that the trails are
laid out, so you're not skating from here to there
all the time.
The views, stunning views.
Can like, unbelievable, and I can't say one's better than another,
(18:01):
you know, like, cause there's so many different ones. Have
you ever been to the top of Gunstock? That view
to the lake, Winnipesaukee, it's, it's just crazy. And on
a very clear day you can see all the way
up to Mount Washington. It is an incredible view up there.
And then speaking of Mount Washington, Wildcat Mountain, and Attictash
are across the street from it, so is Bretton Woods.
(18:24):
In their own right, you know, they're bordering on three sides,
and you look down the ski slope and beyond, and
you're looking at an incredible peak with all the white
mountains around it.
We've got some great, great views. I think that that's
probably one of those things, like, I wish every, every
one of our ski areas had a mountaintop restaurant. Some do, and, uh,
(18:48):
it's worth, it's worth a stop in a, in a
deep breath or two up there.
You know, Cranmar is awfully close to our offices and,
and we live in Conway, so, um, I think we've
all spent an awful lot of time there, and, uh,
you know, once you get to know a mountain,
Really well, like where all the trails go to, uh,
(19:08):
that makes it so easy to go to, and, and
that familiarity makes you feel like, at ease with everything. And,
you know, all the secrets are laid out for you,
all the little nooks and crannies in the woods. That's
what makes a place unique, I guess. Melody,
Speaker 1 (19:26):
how about you?
Speaker 2 (19:28):
Well, I guess I, when I do go to a
new mountain, um, to your question about haven't you skied
them all? Well, last year, I skied Dartmouth skiway for
the first time, and I thought it was a super cold,
unique mountain for a couple of reasons. One, half of
it was on one side of the road, the other
half on the other. Um, and you had to cross
(19:50):
the road, a very
You know, not a well traveled road. So it was,
it was safe. So I thought that was really unique.
I also loved the diversity there with all the college
students from all over, you know, from everywhere. And I
thought that was really, really nice. I, in fact, speaking
of inclusivity, I, I like some of the programs that
(20:13):
have come into our mountains to encourage diversity at the mountain.
A number of them have been doing that. And I,
I think that's really a unique and wonderful program that's
coming to a lot of our mountains. And then just
one last thing I wanted to say about unique too.
We haven't really talked about cross country a whole lot, but,
(20:35):
you know, there are some, a very different feel at
all of our cross country areas. So I would send unique,
a unique.
This is vote to them as well.
Speaker 1 (20:46):
On the Ski New Hampshire website, SkiNH.com, SkiNH.com, I'm one
of those people that likes to scroll down to the
bottom and see what else is going on on the
website that isn't really necessarily always right up top and
and in your face when the home page opens up.
I love the fact that you guys have a link
to the job seeker sites of all of your member
(21:09):
ski areas.
Speaker 2 (21:10):
Yes.
Yes. I love that too. One of our efforts really
is to help the industry be healthy. And to do that, it, it,
you know, part of doing that is making sure that
they have the workforce that they need. And, and certainly
that's a challenge for all industries. But
(21:31):
Where, you know, part of that is, is, we want
it to be easy for people who are typing in,
where can I work at a ski, you know, whatever
the Google search term is for them to find us,
and then for us to link out to all of
our members and, um, you know, help them.
And part of that too is we've been doing a
(21:53):
lot of outreach around that with schools and also promotions that,
you know, help people to realize that not only can
you find a job at a ski area, but you
can actually make a career there if you're willing to try.
So yeah, thank you for pointing that out.
Speaker 1 (22:10):
If you're considering moving to New Hampshire and you are
a skier or a
Wannabe skier, then you want to check out SkiNH.com. That
is your first place to go skiNH.com for all things
skiing in the Granite State. Kathleen Harrigan, Melody Nestor, skiNH.com.
Thank you for spending time with us.
Speaker 2 (22:28):
Oh thank you. It was our pleasure. Absolutely enjoy and
have a great winter
ahead. For let's
Speaker 1 (22:35):
move to New Hampshire, I'm Mark Erickson.
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