Waterville Valley, NH, Report: Fresh Corduroy on Opening Weekend

Report from Sunday, December 1

After about a foot of snow blanketed the White Mountains of New Hampshire on Thanksgiving, skiers and riders were getting in the mood to start their ski seasons. They didn’t have many resorts to choose from. Bretton Woods, Cannon, and Waterville Valley had all recently opened, and each had about an equal amount of open terrain. We chose to visit Waterville Valley as it was the closest to us, at only about a one and three-quarter hour drive.

We rolled into the Waterville Valley parking lot at around 8:00 a.m., after a drive that took a little longer than anticipated. After quickly putting on our gear and grabbing our tickets, we walked over to the Tecumseh Express lift and put our skis on. The Tecumseh Express took us up about 1,500 vertical feet to almost the top of the mountain, giving us a view of some of the open terrain along the way.

Riding up the Tecumseh Express.| Credit: Author

After offloading Tecumseh, we could either venture another 400 vertical feet up the High-Country T-bar, or ski down about 800 vertical feet to the bottom of the Northside Chair. Top-to-bottom skiing was sadly not available, but the resort hopes to provide this in the next couple of days. Downloading on the Tecumseh Express with skis off was mandatory at the end of the day. High Country T-bar provided access to a park, boarder-cross course, and one groomed trail. The boarder-cross course was sadly closed, as it was being used for race training, but the park was still open, with one large jump and a few rails. Northside gave access to the other remaining few trails.

Riding up the Northside Chair. | Credit: Author

The coverage at the top of the mountain was great on all 12 groomed trails that were open. Two more natural runs, Tangent and Periphery, were left ungroomed, perfect for shaking the dust off of those bump skills. The coverage on the natural runs was a bit thin, but that was to be expected, as the mountain had only received about two feet of natural accumulation this season. They were still a blast to ski, and it was a treat to have access to them this early in the season.

An off-trail extravaganza. | Credit: Author

There were a few options for lunch, including the Schwendi Hutte at the top of the mountain, and the Freestyle Lounge and Marketplace at the base area. We had a great lunch at the Freestyle Lounge, which offered a great menu composed of different gourmet sandwiches.

By the end of the day, we had tried out every trail offered, with the natural trails being my favorite by far. My skis had a few close calls with rocks and roots, but the bases were still fine at the end of the day. We called it quits by around 2:30 p.m. when the groomers were starting to get a little scraped off in spots from skier traffic. We rode the Northside Chair to the top of the mountain once more, removed our skis, and downloaded on the Tecumseh Express.

Downloading on Tecumseh. | Credit: Author

Looking ahead, Waterville Valley aims to open top to bottom this week. Snowmaking efforts, combined with the possibility of natural snow accumulation this Thursday/Friday should allow them to expand terrain quickly. Tickets will still be priced at early season rates, with an adult day ticket and a child day ticket currently costing $74 online and $63, respectively. Take advantage of these early season rates and get out on the mountain!