February 4, 2009 E-MAIL PRINT

Cranmore is crazy for kids

by Heather Burke/

Cranmore’s Darkside Terrain Park is even more popular under the lights at night. (photo: Greg Burke)

Cranmore’s Darkside Terrain Park is even more popular under the lights at night. (photo: Greg Burke)

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Kids driving you crazy yet? It’s usually mid-winter when the house starts to feel real small and the kids are climbing the walls. You want to get them outside, but ski trips and tickets are pricey. Cranmore may have the cure, if you can head north to North Conway, N.H.

Cranapalooza is the name, and for a $25 ticket, you’ve got game. Every Saturday, a ski ticket for the whole mountain from 2-9 p.m. is $25 for any age, anyone in the family. Cranmore puts on a party Saturday afternoon into the evening to add to the obvious attraction of skiing and riding for seven hours. But the lift ticket alone is a good value.

Mind you, I am a first-tracks, first-chair kind of skier. I am often clocking out by noon with more than a dozen magnificent morning runs. But now that I have teenagers, I can relate to the benefit of skiing later. The kids can sleep in, and the drive to the slopes is far less frantic and furious, with a leisurely “pack and go” pace to arrive early afternoon.

A $25 ticket accesses skiing and riding from Cranmore’s summit on 12 lit trails (unlike many ski areas where night skiing is limited to the lower mountain). The high-speed SkiMobile quad is a swift lift to the top, so the kids can make plenty of 1,200-foot vertical laps under the lights.

If you have terrain park fans in your family, they can have at two parks. Serious freeriders will love Cranmore’s Darkside, which gets better at night under the lights. There are rails, jumps, picnic tables, even stairs (crazy contraption) emblazoned with skull and crossbones — very edgy. The park is located on the lower part of the mountain, so Mom can always watch (in horror) from the lodge as the kids get their hits.

Little kids will be excited when C-more the Penguin comes out and flaps around for family photos. Magicians, puppets and face-painting are part of the carnival atmosphere of Cranapalooza. You can upgrade your kid’s ticket ($8 more) if they want to go bounce around inside an inflatable Fun Zone from 4:30-9 p.m. (you may need an adult beverage after this). Fireworks fill the sky at 7:30 p.m. many Saturday nights as part of the party, and Cranapalooza also occurs on Wednesday during school vacation week.

As parents, you can ski, too, sit by the outdoor fire pit, or enjoy the entertainment at Zip’s Pub. I suppose if your kids are old enough to ski on their own, you could slip into town for real romantic dinner.

As one Mom told me, “I have a love-hate relationship with Cranapalooza, I hate night skiing myself but I love how much the kids enjoy all the events that go on throughout the evening. They won’t leave till they see C-more and have their s’more by the fire.”

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