2013/14 ski deals
 

Its that time of year again. With snow predicted for Monday (12/9), where are the deals? To me, it has to be under $40 or is no deal. Here's a start to the list:

Cannon Mountain: Tuesday and Thursday - Twofer day, 2 for $72. Wednesday is NH day. Show a NH drivers license and get a ticket for $25.

Bretton Woods: not confirmed for this season, but last year, they sold Sunday afternoon tickets for $25, if you showed a Carroll County drivers license.

Gunstock: Monday - two tickets for $65

Wildcat: Sunday afternoon for $30.

Cannon: NH resident over 65 Monday-Friday FREE, just show your license and they hand you a ticket.

Gunstock: over 65 season pass Monday-Friday $129. Over 70 and a Belknap County resident one $10 fee for a lifetime Prime Time pass.

Ski Deals
 

I'll count anything under $60.00 as a deal, Loon charged me $69.00 for last Friday. I believe they will be $81.00 on weekends (no I don't ski there regularly). For those of us who are mostly skiing on weekends any relief is a deal. If I remember correctly Gunstock was +$70.00 last season

Friends of a BAE Systems employee will get $39 tickets on certain Friday's at Crotched Mountain.

Appreciation Days: Dec20|Jan3|Jan17|Jan31|Feb14|Feb28|Mar14|Mar28

$39 Adult All Day Ticket

$33 Junior All Day Ticket

Anyone with the flyer will get the discount, send me a PM if interested.

Just got my Ride and Ski card this week with my free ticket to Ragged! Been doing this since they started.

www.rideandskine.com

$30 and a free ticket to Ragged, not to mention some pretty deep discounts to some of my favorites!

If you find some better bargains out there, let's here em!

Don't forget Waterville's Patriot's Tuesday where you pay what the Pats opponent is held to. Last week was kind of high at $31 but you should see much lower numbers coming up!

..... $24.00/W.V. Tuesday, December 17
 

24-dollars to ski www.waterville.com tomorrow on Tuesday, December 17 .....having something to do with the Patriots football game, or something.

Lately, the price for a WV lift ticket has been 55-dollars which seems absolutely incredibly expensive considering that Valley Run, the huge and very popular beginner-low intermediate wide slope is not yet open, and a lot less than 25% of the ski trails were open.....but 24-dollars for tomorrow Tuesday with about 22 trails out of 52-total may be worth the trip......especially if the weather is nice?

And, don't forget to pack a bag lunch with a peanut butter sandwich or something, otherwise you may get stuck paying 7-dollars for a cheeseburger.

$7 for a cheeseburger wouldn't be bad if you could return it when you are done with it.:laugh:

...Tuesday, December 24 at Waterville?
 

....ok....so the Pats beat the Ravens by 41-7, so how does this translate for a Patriots Tuesday discount lift ticket......am not seeing any info at www.waterville.com ... the regular lift ticket price for an adult, under age 65, would be the incredibly expensive, and totally not-worth-it price of .... gulp....$75.00....yikes.......who are they kidding with that price, only 30-trails....and a rainy soggy mountain.....but......at seven dollars....that would be my type of a price!!!

....u-know Waterville has a freebie cross country ski area within the WV X-C system thanks to a "multiple trail use" designation by the White Mountain National Forest ....of about six or seven miles of very scenic trails that start at the Depot Camp parking lot....so one gets to chose between paying twenty-dollars for the groomed and tracked trails, or paying nothing except for the three-dollar parking voucher/sticker and joining the locals from Campton-Thornton-Plymouth-Waterville Valley & Holderness at the free x-c ski party......guess which trails do more "business"?

....by the way the waffles at the Waffle-Cat up at the main lodge cost four dollars and I have no idea how many waffles one gets for four dollars....could be just one waffle.....while u can get an eight-pak of toaster waffles for about $1.25 at the Plymouth Wal-Mart!

from WV twitter feed:
 

Good morning skiers and riders! In the spirit of Christmas, we're breaking our $10 minimum. $7 lift tickets for all on Patriots Tuesday!

Pretty sure its 1 waffle FLL.

Bruce the Moose cut the ribbon today at the grand opening of the new Waffle Cat! Located slopeside at the Base Lodge, just follow your nose!

....... like wow!
 

.....like wow.....and holy cowabunga Buffalo Bob! ....... they ain't just whistling Dixie.....because the www.waterville.com confirms the price at SEVEN BUCKS for tomorrow, Tuesday-December 24, gotta love those Patriots even if I hate watching football at this low-ball price of seven bucks.....about the same price as one of the cheeseburgers in the main lodge cafeteria!


....what's the weather forecast for tomorrow?.....a high of 18-degrees with partly sunny skies......sounds like winter to me!


....what with all the rainy, soaking wet snow turning into ice.....it seems like it could be a busy day for the http://www.wvpublicsafety.com/ems.htm ambulance carting away injured skiers on an expensive ride to the Speare Memorial Hospital emergency room in Plymouth, about 20-miles to the south....and ....as a totally un-insured local-loser, this is not a ride that I want to take!



....and, as Chris Sununu, WV-General Manager said towards the end of last year's ski season; "when you sell lift tickets for just ten dollars, what you get is a ten-dollar skier!" ..........ho-ho-ho........well Merry Christmas to all the seven-dollar skiers out there who show up tomorrow on Tuesday, Dec 24!

.....just seven dollars....such-a-deal!!!
 

....ok....so yesterday for just seven dollars I took the plunge.....simply could not resist.....and went skiing for the first time since about March, 2010 .... took the blue free schuss bus up to the mountain at noon.....that blue bus is a super-duper ride .....lets you off right at the entry like a vip or someone .....conditions were not very good.....and huge areas of the WV mountain are still closed with very little natural snow coverage what with the prior three days of rain...on a scale from one to ten....I give it about a three-rating....the man-made stuff on the slopes is called loose granular/over frozen granular and conditions varied quite a bit from one trail to another.....Oblivion and Valley Run had better grip with more powdery loose granular.....while Tippiecanoe was more frozen granular with almost no loose powdery granular......so that was sketchy what with not really having any confidence to hold an edge on that hard icy surface...and worried about falling and sliding down...

....I even lost my lift ticket on the first chairlift ride thanks to the red plastic tie thingy used to hold the ticket to your jacket zipper.....but it did not make any difference as the ticket checkers on the two main lifts......a young man and young woman from Lima, Peru, according to their nameplates, let me go past onto the chairlift get-on entry....and seemed like it was maybe not too uncommon to loose a ticket(?)......later on ....I returned to the ticket window with the stub receipt and was quickly issued a replacement ticket....via the ticket computer or something?

.....so's I still got the ski bug!.....and starting on January 2.....I expect to shell out the big bucks.....and splurge $579 for a WV value pass......if I bought it today December 25.....it would not be any good till January 2 anyway......and hopefully by Jan 2.....the mountain will be having lots more coverage and better conditions!


....u-know....even at the price of seven dollars yesterday.....there was plenty plenty empty chairlift seats on both big lifts.....which was a surprise to me.....I was thinking it would be a mad-house at that low price but that was not the case......so's....just like the ski conditions.....one never knows until you actually hit the mountain?

Out of state deals.
 

Check out Killington 50+ Fridays, tickets are $49.

Saddleback Mountain in Maine is $49 Sunday-Friday. Ski and stay for $69.
I use to travel to Sugarloaf, but since the Kennebago Steeps open, Saddleback has been my favorite. :)

I doubt FLL is traveling to the Loaf or Saddleback. Tough to beat Cannons $25 NH resident Wednesdays.

Any idea if Cannon will honor that $25 Wednesday deal tomorrow?

Edit: think I found my answer. I think they screwed up on the site as 1/1/13 did not fall on a Wednesday....

NH Resident Wednesdays: Every Wednesday* present a valid NH ID and get a $25 lift ticket!
(*Not valid 1/1/13)

Huh. But 1-1-14 did fall on a Wednesday.:eek:

I'm confused.
 

I skied Cannon yesterday so the grandkids can try out the new family area between Cannon and Mittersell. I was impressed with the new area and the grandkids agree with me. This little gem is a lot more fun than the one at Gunstock and a lot less crowded!

The top was a balmy 4 degrees. Luckily there weren't too much wind.

When I got the tickets, the ticket attendance notice my 'white walls' and ask if I was a NH senior and I said yes. She actually handed me a ticket! The grandkids were in my hair so I did not ask about this special. There was nothing on the website about this. It must be a slow day?

If you read my post you will see that on the website they had the following:

NH Resident Wednesdays: Every Wednesday* present a valid NH ID and get a $25 lift ticket!
(*Not valid 1/1/13)

NH Seniors
 

I look in the values and special page and it says NH Seniors 65+ ski free Mon-Fri. Gunstock have the same deal if you are 80+.

See post #2.:D

Broadhopper
 

Glad you checked out the "new" Cannon, wish I was around to meet up with you. I'm being a little sarcastic about what you call the "new" Cannon family area. The Tuckerbrook area first started running in 2003 with the completion of Cannon's phase 2 improvements started in 2000. It really is a great learning area as its all by itself with no traffic coming from above. This is actually where I start my day. I live a few house away in Mittersill and boot up at home and park right by the lift and ski from the car to that lift.:D

SIKSUKR can I send you a pm to ask you some questions about Cannon? I don't want to clutter up this thread.

....twenty dollars - WV - Tuesday, January 7
 

At twenty dollars to ski www.waterville.com on Tuesday, Jan 7 ......that might be worth the 13-mile drive down Rt 49 from Rt 93-Exit 28 ....depending on the weather.....could be icy and windy what with the predicted cold and windy weather plus the rain and 36-degree temps right now on early Monday morning. The regular mid-week price is 65-dollars which is totally way too much money to pay. Like, is down-hill skiing a fun thing to do? You go up....you go down....you go up....you go down....you can freeze your butt on a windy chairlift, and then struggle with icy slopes all the way down. You go into the main lodge, and a cheeseburger will cost you 7-dollars, and the fire burning in the fireplace is no longer a real wood fire......it's a propane phony fireplace.....so's I dunno about skiing.....is skiing fun?

And another thing.....the courtyard area between the WV main lodge and the entry stairs is all concrete and totally empty of any snow because it is heated with snow-melting pipes under the smooth concrete.......so the ski storage racks just outside the main lodge are always snow-free.......i.e. ........... NO SNOW! .....like what brainiac thought up this idea.....it always seems a little bizarre and over-developed for this ski area to design their entry area to be all smooth, grey concrete and totally no-snow.......isn't skiing all about the snow......yet it is the one and only spot in all Waterville Valley that is totally dry and snow free.....all winter long......yikes???

U-know.....I am convinced.....one can never really tell what the trail conditions will be like from reading the WV website.....until you actually get off the chairlift and go ski the trails....and then the trails can vary from trail to trail.....so much website info....but the real trail conditions are not really accurately reported!!!


Here in New Hampshire .....only Wildcat and Cannon are real mountains with that high mountain scenery and big mountain feel.......all the other areas such as Loon, Waterville, Sunapee, Attitash, Cranmore, and Bretton Woods are just big hills, but not mountains.

Anytime WBB. Sorry for the delay.

I have not skied Cannon since the lay off. I use to race a lot there. My race days are over now that I lost my 'Cadillac' health insurance.

I have not skied the Tuckerbrook area as I have not need to. Nor do I frequent the nearby 'bar' lodge. Now that I have discovered Tuckerbrook, you are right, it is a nice warmup in the morning and the parking is much better!

I will let you know when I hit Cannon. If you like Cannon your would love the 'Kennebec Steeps' at Saddleback!

...... 22-dollars to ski Waterville tomorrow, Tuesday-January 14......dunno about tomorrow's weather.....but with some sun....it could be worth the 22-dollars......otherwise I believe a midweek ticket cost the incredibly expensive price of 55 or 65-dollars or so......now.....if only they could get the Stillness Trail open......like when is the predicted opening for Stillness?

The trail count has dropped from 40 to 35, out of a total 50-trails, due to all the rain on Saturday and Sunday ...... but who knows......I wonder how's the skiing conditions.....it's always tough to predict until you actually hit the slopes.....the website www.waterville.com calls it loose granular and the weather is pretty warm at about 30-degrees.....so who knows....but if it is a good sunny day.....at 22-dollars it could be something to do for half the day......... go skiing???? ..... is down hill skiing any fun??????

Been there a few times. Really like Saddleback but its hard to travel 4 hours vs 1 1/2. The travel is not bad if I start from Franconia though.

.....26-dollars....Tuesday, January 21....WV....whoopeee!!!
 

....ok.....so the Pats lose to the Broncos by 26 to 16 ....and that translates to a 26-dollar ticket to ski today, Tuesday, January 21 at www.waterville.com ...... is it worth 26-dollars what with the cold and the wind today? ....probably not??? ...my idea of good skiing is about 25-degrees, sunny and no wind......oh well!

......11-dollars...Tuesday.....January 28 at WV
 

Since the Patriots got beat, the Tuesday promos are now called Temperature Tuesdays, and are priced according to the predicted temperature, or something. So, today it would have cost 11-dollars for an all-day, all-lift ticket, which considering the ski conditions and today's sunny weather, made it the #1 best WV ski deal of the season so far!!!

Did many show up for 11-dollars deals today? I have no clue! Did I go skiing today? .....nope.....but it could have been a super-duper day out there today, in my opinion, if I went?


Now, unless you looked at their Facebook page and know about this eleven-dollar deal, the ticket window will still be charging you the regular 65-dollar price. The Temperature Tuesday deal is not mentioned at all on the www.waterville.com front page ..... you need to click on the Facebook link and find the Temperature Tuesday info which is priced at the predicted temperature. On Tuesday, January 28, it was eleven-dollars....... how good is that!!! ....plus maybe the person in front or behind you who is un-informed just paid 65-dollars while you, you big-smarty you, just paid only 11-dollars for the same ticket. Is that right......holy cowabunga Buffalo Bob.....who's a ever thunk that lift ticket pricing could be like this!!!


Say, didn't the WV base lodge have a big vertically positioned wheel-of-fortune, roulette style wheel last season for a you-spin-the-wheel lift ticket price last year on Wednesdays, or something, so this type of pricing, whatever it is called, is not too new........oh well?

Nice advertisement for WV!

Cannon Super Bowl 2-fur $72
 

Looks like the storm will be mid next week, but something might happen Saturday nite. Cannon has a discount for Super Bowl Sunday, with two-fur $72.

.......snow making all finished?
 

Today is February 1, 2014, and it certainly looks like the snow making is all done for the season here at Waterville Valley, www.waterville.com , as the snowmaking crew has been laid off...... so's that's it for snow making.....here we go.....am still trying to decide if I want to spend the $579 for a value season pass or just go sking on the greatly discounted Temperature Tuesdays.....like 11-dollars (my type of a price!) on last Tuesday.....will probably just stick with the Tuesdays....or something?

Why would you buy a season pass now with 1/2 the season over?

...with 52 trails total on the hill...so far this season.....43 trails has been the most that are open....and there is no more snow making ..... many years ago....when Tom Corcoran was in charge....the price of a season ski ticket would be lowered by 25%-50%-75% as the season went by......but that practice was dropped....so that's a fact.....why would anyone pay $579 for a value pass now what with the season half done?


....on Tuesday, February 4, it cost 27-dollars, and the ski area was very empty with many many empty quad chairs, and the weather was sunny with good skiing conditions.....if this place had to survive on the week day business, it would be out of business.....it gets the business on the weekends and holidays regardless the weather....

Waterville Valley Adaptive Program
 

Folks, The adaptive program is hosting the Boston Marathon participants who were effected by the BM bombing this weekend. Take a moment to give them a hand if you happen to be at WV. Later in the season we will participate in the Wounded Warriors Project.

Just thirteen dollars to ski here at www.waterville.com today, Tuesday, February 11.....that's a super-duper steal of a deal......which is probably why it is not really promoted too much on the website and u need to click onto facebook to find that out....thirteen dollars for the whole mountain on a sunny and calm day....my type of a price!!! .....and don't forget to make up some tuna sandwiches or something because a cheeseburger will coast you seven dollars in the base lodge cafeteria....ouch!.

....18-dollars -WV- Tues, Feb 25
 

Here we go......18-dollars to ski on Tuesday, Feb 25, at www.waterville.com .....click on the facebook link to verify ....and if tomorrow is a sunny day it could be one of the better ski days to get out and hit the slopes .....and, as already mentioned , maybe u-want to make a p, b, & j, or tuna sandwich or something otherwise a cheeseburger will cost u 7-dollars in the base lodge cafeteria.....omg!:eek:

.....so cold that they pay you today???????
 

Today's Temperature Tuesday, March 4, 2014, is sixteen dollars, and the temperature at 6:25-am is minus twelve degrees ...... so shouldn't the ski area be paying out 12-dollars to each skier using the lift today......don't-cha just know it buddy......ho-ho-ho!!!! A temperature of 16 was probably the predicted high temp for today according to the ski area info......or something like that!


Last February 25, when it cost 18-dollars, the area was very empty of skiers with many many empty chairlift seats.....so what's up with this secret ski promo day.....like maybe it is just a little bit too secret.....since not many are showing up for the low prices??????


When it gets so cold like it is today......twelve below zero......they have a lift attendant waiting with a large crowbar up at the top of the lift at the get-off area who will pry you out of the chairlift seat just in case you get frozen stuck to the seat......they think of everything at www.waterville.com!!!

39-dollars to buy a lift ticket yesterday on Tuesday, March 11, and this promo seems to have had little or no users because the area was very very quiet with many many empty chairs. 39-dollars is simply priced too high for the Tuesday, local-bargain skiers and boarders to want to show up. It seems like the go-no go price line is at about twenty dollars ...... when the Temperature Tuesday price is twenty dollars or more.....nobody seems to be showing up.....and of course the weather makes a big huge difference too.

Monday, March 17 is the Saint Patricks Day 17-dollar special at www.Waterville.com which usually gets a big turnout and has a party type atmosphere.

What-do-ya-know ... on Monday, March 17, Saint Patricks Day: Bretton Woods, Attitash, Wildcat, Ragged, and Waterville Valley will have seventeen dollar lift tickets!

$1 Lift Tickets at Waterville April 01
 

It looks like Waterville will be running their April Fools Day promotion again. Lift tickets for $1.

http://www.waterville.com/events-dea...r.html?id=5929

....27-dollars to ski today at Waterville on Temperature Tuesday, March 25, and the temp right now at 6:45am is about minus nine below zero which seems like a cold temp for March 25.....u-know that on March 23, 2012 the high temp around here was 83-degrees .....hmmmm? So....therefore...shouldn't everyone who shows up to ski get paid nine dollars!

Did they charge $83 in 2012?:laugh:

Super Pass
 

For a few more days you can purchase a Superpass for next year and ski 4 mountains any day for under $1K.

https://store.waterville.com/ItemSho...QS/AJFei69KjQ=

Also, don't forget to put on your calendar for next year around September to get your Ride and Ski Card.

Sunday River
 

'Someday Bigger' will offer free skiing Monday April 21st

New England Rip-off
 

Why is skiing in New England so expensive. While it is almost $1000 for four NH mountains, out in Colorado, things are much different.
- The Colorado SuperPass+ gets you unrestricted to Copper/Winter Park and multiple access to Steamboat, Crested Butte and Mt. Ruapehu. $509
- The Epic Pass - Unlimited, Breckenridge, Keystone, Afton Alps, Mt. Brighton and Arapahoe Basin with limited restrictions at Canyons, Heavenly, Northstar & Kirkwood. Also includes a total of 10 days at Vail and Beaver Creek with holiday restrictions. $549

[QUOTE=Lakegeezer;223068]Why is skiing in New England so expensive. [/QUOTE]
 

Two things come to mind: 1, Elevation 2, Snow making

The elevation in Colorado is way higher then New England. They do not have to relly on big deisel generators and pumps to cover the landscape with snow.

While season passes can be cheaper, day tickets can be way more expensive. Many areas are pushing the $130 a day walk up mark. This probably because most of their bread and butter money comes from people taking trips to theirs resorts while the opposite is true on the east coast.

Correct the package pricing as well is also cheaper. They are banking on the idea that you are likely going to spend a night or two in one of their hotels.

A 3-day pass to Jackson Hole last January (2013) was $180.00, a considerable discount over the walk-on daily ticket price.

No snow making equipment to be seen and coffee with a side of avalanche cannons every morning! Whoo Hoo!