RFID, new maintenance garage highlight Pats Peak upgrades

Pats Peak in Henniker, N.H., will debut a 19,000-square foot maintenance barn this season. (Pats Peak)

Nothing builds excitement for the upcoming season quite like hearing about what mountains have been busy doing over the summer to make the experience better than last year.

Pats Peak in Henniker, N.H., recently announced what kind of projects they have been up to.

Skiers and riders will immediately notice the switch to RFID for lift tickets, allowing for one stop at the ticket window at the start of the year and then being able to reload your ticket remotely.

It will not be the Entabeni Systems program, however, according to Pats Peak director of marketing and sales Lori Rowell. While Pats will still be part of the Entabeni-owned Indy Pass, users will continue to need to stop at a ticket window to pick up a day pass for each redemption.

Pats Peak is a popular day-trip destination for Boston area residents, so it will continue to require Indy Pass users to make reservations for weekends and holiday periods to help alleviate crowd control.

Looking to try skiing for the first time? The gear you get to choose from will be better than ever as more than 400 pairs of new skis and 600 pairs of boots are part of the upgrades at the Starting Gate Rental Shop.

On the mountain, Pats Peak already had 100 percent snowmaking coverage, but they added four new semi-automatic fan guns from HKD, which allows for more snow to get put down faster. A dozen new HKD Impulse Snow Guns, which allow for better snow to be put down in marginal conditions, have been added to the intermediate trail, Downdraft.

Off the mountain, the final touches are being put on a 19,000-square foot, six-bay mountain operations building. In a release, the mountain said that “it will expand the maintenance capabilities by over 400 percent and streamline operations.”

With a vertical drop of 770 feet, Pats Peak has 28 trails (22 with night skiing), nine glades, theree terrain parks and a snowtubing park serviced by 11 lifts. Located less than 30 minutes west of Concord, N.H. and 40 minutes from Manchester, N.H., it is popular with school programs and adult racing leagues.

An adult season pass (ages 30-64) runs $569, while the adult (18-64) Powder Pass Club season pass, which includes on-mountain discounts and discounted rates at other mountains, is $619. Those rates, however, are only good through Sept. 4, when all passes will go up between $30-60.