January 27, 2009 E-MAIL PRINT

Pass through the covered bridge to Jackson's charms

by Tony Chamberlain/

Black Mountain's terrain features twists, glades and something for all abilities. (photo: Black Mountain)

Black Mountain's terrain features twists, glades and something for all abilities. (photo: Black Mountain)

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If there is one physical portal that takes visitors from ordinary life into the magic of snow world — like a physical metaphor — it has to be the red covered bridge into Jackson, N.H.

Honeymoon Bridge.

That was my childish impression of this motif No. 1 of White Mountain ski towns, and it still comes back every time I turn off Route 16 and cross its 120-foot span across the Ellis River.

I suggest this as a family all-purpose ski town, a microcosm of the entire sweep of the snowsports — alpine, nordic, backcountry tele skiing — and enough variety to hold the interest of any group or family.

If Black Mountain was one of the first alpine areas I brought kids to learn, then the Jackson Ski Touring Foundation has a network of the highest-rated cross-country trails anywhere.

Stretching the Jackson experience up the road some, Wildcat technically fits into this orbit, and that takes in a lot of backcountry experience, especially Wildcat’s backside.

As alpine skiing goes, Black was in the Mount Washington Valley before Hannes Schneider, opening operations in 1937. For younger families it is a spectacular spot which has been pretty changeless through the years.

Again, the focus here is on young families, especially with some novice learners in the mix. Where the bigger mountains can be intimidating, Black has a very low-pressure feel to it, a first-rate ski school, and a sunny southern exposure — no small feature in January.

Black has 1,100 vertical feet, which is about as much as most people ever ski on, even on mountains with twice the vert. The 40 trails are split toward easier terrain — novice and blue cruising — while the expert terrain off the top is not overwhelmingly challenging.

But historic it is. The trails still have that windy, switch-backing quality that survived the movement to straighten trails out with chainsaws a couple of decades back. These trails wind through spruce forest, and the top, black diamond runs bump up pretty well for some great thigh-burn runs.

Our family liked to mix up the alpine with some cross country through the season, one of the reasons that drew us to Jackson, where nordic skiing is such a large part of the culture that the local grammar school incorporates the sport into its regular winter phys ed package.

What most people love about cross country skiing is the sense of traveling through woods and meadows, progressing through the miles toward another destination.

One of my favorites at Jackson is the Ellis River trail, a 7.5-kilometer run through woods along the river, then lifting after an underpass to a high rolling meadow with a sudden glimpse of Mount Washington.

Of course, this is just one of dozens of trails on a 155-kilometer network, 93 of them tracked, and nearly as many skate-groomed. And if you think your kids will be unimpressed with “pain” skiing — as one youngster in my care once called it — get them into skating, a fast, exhilarating form of the sport that emerged with the rivalry of Sweden’s Gunde Svan and Vermont’s own Bill Koch in the early '80s.

Within Jackson, there are at least 10 inns and B&Bs — Christmas Farm high on Route 16A is one of my own favorites, as is Nestlenook. Many of them feature the amenities such as sleigh rides and ice skating and lots of amazing food which, after a day of hard skiing, you don’t feel too guilty about.

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