January 1, 2010 E-MAIL PRINT

Happy campers

by Brion O'Connor/

King Pine Purity Spring Resort

King Pine Purity Spring Resort

Every summer, thousands of girls and boys prepare for the annual ritual of a week or two away at a sleepover camp. Far fewer have the chance to do the same during the winter months. Except, that is, if they’re lucky enough to be heading to Purity Spring Resort in New Hampshire during February vacation, where kids have been attending the Ski and Snowboard Camp for the past seven decades.

“It’s just one week out of the year, but it’s such an energetic, fun, ridiculous week,” says Steve Harding, a former camper and currently the camp’s coordinator. “It ends up being a craving that you have when the next year rolls around.”

The East Madison resort, home to King Pine ski area, will open the doors to the co-ed Ski and Snowboard Camp for its 72nd season during the Massachusetts school vacation week of Feb. 15-21. Judging from the return rate (roughly 80 percent, says Harding), those who attend the camp once are eager to come back for more. The camp director, Cathi Harris, went to the camp during the 1980s along with Harding (both also served as counselors) and now has three children of her own attending. Clearly, the camp’s longevity is a telltale sign of its success, but the secret to its longevity is that it offers a unique experience that the campers, once they become parents, want to pass on to their children.

“It’s really the friendships and the relationships that set us apart,” says Harding. “It’s the hand-me-down tradition of parent to kids to grandkids, which is passed on from year to year.”

Due to popular demand, the Ski and Snowboard Camp is adding a second session the following week (Feb. 21-26), to accommodate the school vacation recognized in New Hampshire as well as other parts of New England and New York. “That’s a big thing,” says Harding. “The second week is geared toward New Hampshire specifically, because they don’t have the traditional vacation week. Last year, a lot of people from New Hampshire were asking about it, and we just didn’t have anything for them.”

The sleepover ski camp was founded in 1939, a year after Edward Milton Hoyt, the owner of Purity Spring Resort, rigged up a rope tow near Bald Ledge. The winter camp, says Harding, was a natural outgrowth of the resort’s successful boys summer program, Camp Tohkomeupog, which started in 1932. Not to be confused with the typical daylong camps offered at many resorts, the Ski and Snowboard Camp is a true overnight experience, with campers arriving on Monday and staying through to Sunday (the second week this year will be a Sunday through Friday schedule). Ages of the campers range between 8 and 17 (“Eight can be a little young for a week away from home, at an overnight camp, so I like to talk to the parents first,” says Harding), while counselors are typically college students and adults. Most counselors-in-training, or CITs, are high school students and former campers who have been hand-selected by the camp staff.

“This is not a day camp, and it’s not run through the ski school,” says Harding. “This is a separate entity that exists on the property. We have our own lodging, our own ski instructors.”

Even in this day and age of the Internet and cyber shopping, the camp’s greatest selling point is still word-of-mouth recommendations. Oftentimes, says Harding, a camper will return from the previous year with a friend in tow. However, cyberspace, and particularly sites such as Facebook and MySpace, has provided the camp the added benefit of allowing campers to keep in touch on a regular basis, which generates excitement for the following year.

“It’s a unique enough thing in these kids’ lives that they really look forward to it,” says Harding. “They treasure it. When their parents say, ‘Let’s go to Disney World this year,’ they say, ‘Are you kidding me? We’re going to ski camp.’

“The relationships they form, the bonds they form, are so tight. They keep the energy going all year long, which is very cool.”

For parents worried about structure and “idle hands,” there’s precious little downtime during camp. A typical day has the campers out of bed at 7:30, eating a buffet-style breakfast by 8, and at their first lesson at King Pine by 9 (campers are placed in classes based on ability, using the six traditional levels established by the PSIA). A free-ski or free-ride period follows the day’s first lesson and goes until noon, when the campers gather for lunch and a short rest period. The day’s second lesson starts at 2, followed be a second free-ski session (campers select whether they want to ski or snowboard beforehand but can try their hand at the other during free-ski periods). Before dinner, kids can go ice skating, tubing, cross-country skiing or swimming. Post-dinner activities include night skiing, tubing, skating and swimming, as well as social activities such as movies, dances and skit nights.

“The dances are very popular,” says Harding, laughing. “Obviously, that social part of camp is big.”

Lodging is on the Purity Spring Resort campus, but the buildings are separate for other resort accommodations. Older boys and girls are housed in separate buildings, while younger campers might share a facility but are housed on separate floors. All the rooms, which fit between four and seven campers in sturdy, wooden bunk beds, also have a counselor and private baths. The counselor-to-camper ratio is roughly 1:5, ensuring no one gets lost in the shuffle. “The area is a very comfortable, safe area for kids,” says Harding.

The camp’s basic structure, says Harding, has remained relatively unchanged over time. “The traditional ski camp has been very steadfast,” he says. “The idea has always been come and learn how to ski, whatever the equipment and technology is at the time.” Changes, such as the addition of “snowboard” to the camp’s name five years ago to reflect the rising popularity of snowboarding, have been minor. But more than names, the camp embodies the Hoyt family’s commitment to creating a welcoming atmosphere at Purity Spring.

“The whole company is a family-owned business,” says Harding. “The family is in their sixth generation (at Purity Spring), and they run their business geared toward families.”

The camp has a capacity of up to 140 youngsters but typically averages close to 115 per session. The cost of the traditional camp (Feb. 15-21) is $768, which includes three big meals a day, lift tickets, ski lessons, free skiing, après ski activities and overnight lodging. The second week (Feb. 21-26) costs $595, since it runs just six days. The only items not covered are rentals and bus fare, if required, and pocket money. The bus leaves from Harris’ hometown of Mountain Lakes, N.J., and will pick up campers along the way to New Hampshire. Youngsters also can fly into Boston, Manchester or Portland airports and the camp will arrange to pick them up (at an additional cost).

“I look at the camps as the difference between an investment in your kids, vs. a luxury for your kids,” says Harding. “If you’re going to spend money on things, when things are tight, you’re going to prioritize. I try very hard to show that this is an investment and not a luxury. We know what we can do with these kids.

“It’s such an important thing for these kids, such a cool part of their childhood. It’s an investment in their childhood, certainly.”
Just ask any returning camper.

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