December 17, 2008 E-MAIL PRINT

Plan a family-style New Year's on the slopes

by Heather Burke/

Cranmore, Sunday River and Wachusett all celebrate New Year's Eve with night skiing, special family-friendly events and fireworks. (photo: Greg Burke)

Cranmore, Sunday River and Wachusett all celebrate New Year's Eve with night skiing, special family-friendly events and fireworks. (photo: Greg Burke)

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I know you haven’t even celebrated Christmas yet, but it’s not too soon to plan New Year's Eve. Once you have a family, New Year’s takes on new meaning. Forget the tuxedo and the fancy dinner-dance tickets. Getting a babysitter on this big night is as big a stretch as finding an affordable limo.

Still, you want to celebrate the first night, right? Ski resorts want you to party, too — on snow, that it is. Several New England ski resorts are ringing in the New Year with all-inclusive family parties.

Here are some resorts that will be rockin’ on Dec. 31:

► Gunstock rocks New Year's, a catchy slogan for this New Hampshire ski area. It's called "Magic Mountain Eve," and the all-inclusive price of $40 for adults and teens, $30 for children and seniors (5 and under free), gets you skiing till 11:30 p.m., sleigh rides, tubing, snowshoeing, live music, a DJ and entertainment, plus child care at the Buckaroos for your littlest one (must reserve in advance). Food and beverage is extra, and available at the Powder Keg Lounge and the Main Hall of the grand old base lodge. What a cool way to spend the last night of the year, skiing and tubing under the lights, rockin’ to music at Gunstock.

► Cranmore, in North Conway, N.H., will hold a special edition of its popular all-inclusive Cranapalooza event on Dec. 31, called "Crantastic New Year." The cost is $59 for children, $69 for 13 and up, and includes skiing and riding plus rental equipment from 2 p.m. until 9 p.m., Arctic Blast snow tubing, face painting with C-more the Penguin, a DJ dance party in the Fun Zone, dinner plus live music, a bonfire, and fireworks at 7:30 p.m. for the younger set and again at midnight.

► Sunday River, and the bustling little town of Bethel, Maine, has a fun-filled New Year’s Eve planned. After skiing, take your family into town on the free Mountain Explorer shuttle for the 11th annual New Year’s Bethel. The good old-fashioned free fun starts with a classic Maine Potluck supper from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. (just bring a dish), followed by a Children's Dragon Parade at 6 p.m., and a bonfire with marshmallow roasting at 7 p.m. on the Town Common. Then, back at the mountain, there’s night skiing with Sunday River’s new chondola till 9 p.m., followed by a fireworks show to light up the night sky.

► Wachusett has a $59 all-inclusive night of skiing 'til midnight, fireworks, live music and a magician, karaoke and Guitar Hero for the kids, plus a balloon drop when the clock strikes 12. If you bag skiing at 10 p.m., you get $10 back.

► Or, stay in, watch a video of Dick Clark from the good old days, and pop the cork with the kids (sparkling cider) at 9 p.m., so you can get up and ski the open slopes on New Year’s Day — when last night’s revelers are sleeping off their raucous ringing in of the New Year. Here’s to no lift lines Jan. 1, 2009!

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