January 9, 2009 E-MAIL PRINT

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Simple fun for kids and adults

Tubing lanes are groomed, banked and filled with fast-flying action. Tubing is an affordable alternative to skiing and snowboarding. (photo: Nashoba Valley)

When I first witnessed tubing parks popping up on ski slopes, I thought it a shameful waste of snow space. Ski slopes are for skiing and snowboarding. That was a decade ago, and now the majority of New England ski areas devote a snow-covered incline that’s groomed and banked for the senseless sport of tubing. I finally caved in and tubed with my kids. Now I see the beauty of bounding down the hill on an overblown tube. I defy you to try tubing without laughing, or at least smiling. It really is fun in its simplicity and silliness.

Tubing requires very little athletic ability. If you can walk and sit, you can be a “tuber.” Many resorts have taken the hike up the hill out of the equation with lifts that pull you and your tube back to the top.

Tubing is affordable (averaging about $12 for an hour of fun). Tubing can be enjoyed in lieu of skiing or after skiing. Many tubing facilities are lighted at night. Tubing can be multi-generational — grandma, mom and daughter can slide simultaneously. Like Disney’s rides, some height restrictions apply (must be 42 inches or taller, typically).

Tubing doesn’t require special attire. You can tube in jeans, although I recommend waterproof pants and a parka. Hat and gloves are prudent. Goggles are a smart idea if you choose the seal-on-its-stomach position (this face-first technique is best saved for the more experienced uber-tuber). It can’t hurt to have a helmet, either. Ski boots are not recommended, and often against tubing hill rules. Isn’t that a kick in the head? Or perhaps that’s what they are trying to prevent.

Today’s tubes are a distant cousin to the cafeteria trays we used to sneak out of the lodge to slide on. Tubes are now high-tech and custom-designed for optimum sliding. Some are even equipped with hand brakes, which beats dragging your feet to slow down. Snow tubes, like their summer water sports model, come complete with hand grips and a hook that attaches to the surface lift to haul them back up the hill.

Tubing park conditions are dramatically better than the icy, lumpy, bumpy sledding backyard hills of yore. Ski resorts groom to perfection their parks so you can slide uninterrupted (no rocks, stumps or bare spots). Some resorts have cranked up your careen down the hill with elaborate swerving tracks and banked turns to add to the thrill of the ride. So when you plunk down the cash, take comfort that you are buying snowmaking, sophisticated grooming and a couch-like ride for your bottom half. A ride back up at the end, instead of schlepping your sled, is a bonus.

Here are some area resorts that offer tubing on their slopes:

Massachusetts

Nashoba Valley has the largest tubing park in New England, with 15 lanes and four lifts, and a separate lodge and entrance from the ski area. It’s open daily.

Ski Butternut has five chutes for tubing and a designated handle tow at its ski area.

Ski Ward has the TubaSlide Park, with five lanes and a tow lift.

Maine

Sugarloaf has Turbo Tubing, with a new venue called The Landing in front of the base lodge, and new tubes with hand brakes and steering.

Sunday River has tubing most evenings at White Cap Fun Center, a good pick on nights when there are fireworks, or if the parents want to go inside the Brewpub opting for a ’tini instead of a tube.

Mt. Abram has the longest tubing hill in Maine at 1,325 feet. Called the Flying Squirrel Tubing Hill, it has a tow and three runs.

Black Mountain has “The Edge” tubing park, with four lanes.

New Hampshire

Gunstock has New Hampshire’s longest tubing hill. The Thrill Hill is 825 feet with a handle tow and costs $15 for two hours.

Pat’s Peak has a 600-foot Tubing Park on the Gutsy Trail served by a J-Bar, and it’s open Friday to Sunday. To put a cool spin on your kid’s winter birthday, Pat’s Peak hosts Snow Tubing Birthday Parties.

King Pine’s Pine Meadows Tubing Park is open Friday nights, Saturdays, Sundays and holidays, and costs $15 for two hours of lift-serviced tubing.

Cranmore has a seven-lane Arctic Blast Tubing Center with two lifts and lights. Cranmore sells a $99 season pass for tubing. Thursday nights, Cranmore hosts “Tubin’ for a Cause,” where ticket proceeds go to a local charity.

Loon offers steerable and stoppable tubes for rent daily in front of the Octagon Lodge, with lift service on the Little Sister Chair. For kids under 8, Loon has Tot Tubing at the base.

Vermont

Magic Mountain in Londonderry has the Alakazam Tubing Park.
Smugglers’ Notch offers Sir Henry’s Tubing Hill, with two lanes and a conveyor lift, open and lighted daily from 5-9 p.m. Tubing is included in all Club Smugglers’ Advantage lodging packages.

Try tubing this winter with your family. Don’t overthink it. Just sit on the spongy, inflated ring and start sliding and giggling. You don’t have to be a genius, or genetically predisposed, to enjoy this funny, fun, family activity. And don’t forget to yell as you tube — Wahoo!

Heather Burke is a ski columnist, former ski instructor, and mother of two teens. She and her husband/photographer, Greg, hit the slopes with the kids every weekend.

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