February 4, 2009 E-MAIL PRINT

Huge cruising at Attitash

by Tony Chamberlain/

About half of the trails at Attitash are for intermediate skiers and riders making for some corduroy cruising. (photo: Attitash)

About half of the trails at Attitash are for intermediate skiers and riders making for some corduroy cruising. (photo: Attitash)

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The two coolest experiences I’ve had at Attitash in Bartlett, N.H., were skiing with Dev Jennings and watching the Dartmouth Ski Team in 2007 win its first NCAA national championship in 53 years.

Jennings was a 1948 Olympian from Utah who was 30 years my senior when we skied down a ceremonial opening of Upper Ptarmigan. Well into his 70s, Dev was taking cumin to thin his blood, and every so often he’d have to stop and staunch a nosebleed with a roll of TP he carried with him. Then he’d take off like the wind again, leaving me to try to catch his fast-disappearing back.

He was convinced that, given modern equipment he was using, he could beat his own times that had earned him a case full of trophies 35 years before.

Of course, the Dartmouth ski team triumph speaks for itself: just a sweet, sweet moment for some amazingly dedicated student-athletes.

Here’s something else to celebrate at Attitash: fan gun technology. This has substantially upgraded the snowmaking capabilities at Attitash, boosting the coverage on runs such as Moat, Bear Peak's Illusion and the ATP Fly Zone terrain park top to bottom.

Attitash is one of those truly all-purpose areas with both summits (Attitash and Bear Peak) delivering some huge cruising, starting with that run Dev and I began on those many years back. Upper Ptarmigan is a short steep shelf off Saco, and it sets you flying down to the mid-mountain plateau (Upper Highway) just long enough to reload for lower Ptarmigan.

Tightrope is another of the challenging runs — parallel to Ptarmigan — and a third on the same slope constitutes perhaps the Attitash side’s most popular trail — Northwest Passage.

The lower half of this trail flattens out to a long green side cut, one of three superb novice runs, mirrored on the opposite side of the hill. Attitash rates about 20 percent of its trails as green, but of the nearly 50 percent rated blue, there’s lots of terrain for those still working toward the intermediate plateau.

Bear Peak has fewer offerings but some fine long cruising trails off the high-speed Flying Bear lift. If you’re just getting into the wonders of glades skiing, one fine run begins with Wandering Skis, a sidecut that skirts Broken Arrow Glades, which are not severely challenging. The glade is a short patch, and allows you to bail out back to the perimeter trail. The further you get from the trail, the denser the thicket.

Another bread-and-butter trail is Morning Star to Snow Dancer that lets you opt whether to return to the Attitash side or head down to the base area anchored by Bear Peak Lodge. In the middle of Bear Peak are some more serious glades, such as Fevertrees off Kachina and Lift Line — two steep shots down each side.

Attitash is a solid, medium-size mountain with 1,750 feet of vertical (1,450 at Bear Peak), 70 trails and seven glades, and terrain parks with halfpipe.

The area has slopeside lodging, full base facilities, shopping and restaurants.

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