“Wow. Holy shit.”– Paul Bourget.

People are starting to assess the damage from the severe rainfall across New England, and it’s not pretty.

Today, WCVB shared videos sent to them by locals Paul Bourget and Joe Smith of one of Sunday River’s roads being washed out. A portion of Summit Road, which leads up to the Grand Summit Hotel, is now impassible and will require a fix before the Maine ski resort’s busy season begins. Based on scrolling through the Sunday River Enthusiasts Facebook page, this is not the only road or area of the ski resort that is facing significant damage.

Sunday River has announced that they won’t be opening tomorrow. This is a developing story, so we’ll keep you posted on the latest developments regarding the floods across the Northeast.

Image/Video Credits: Paul Bourget, Joe Smith, WCVB

Over the past 24 hours, a large number of Northeast ski resorts have posted messages like this on their social media pages:

Currently, a major rainstorm is making its way through the Northeast. With most in the region receiving inches of rain, many ski resorts announced that they won’t be operating today. Other ski resorts, like Killington and Stratton, announced that they’d be closing early due to the deteriorating conditions. A growing amount of mountains, like Saddleback and Pleasant Mountain, have decided to remain closed on Tuesday due to various factors. The snow on natural terrain has melted, and mountain operations will have their work cut out for them on the trails that have relied on snowmaking. In addition, flooding is now an issue, especially at Sunday River.

It’s been a mixed bag for the Northeast this season. The ski season has been great for Northern Vermont, as they’ve had some solid base-building storms. Unfortunately, this hosing is likely going to damage the natural snowpack. Other parts of the region, like where I live in the Upper Valley of New Hampshire, have been less lucky, with more rain than snow.

After the rain comes through, it seems like many ski resorts will have some chances to make snow in the evenings.

Let’s hope the Heat Miser loses this winter. He’s too much.

Image Credits: Loon Mountain Resort (Featured Image), Stratton Mountain Resort (Header Image), Waterville Valley Resort, Magic Mountain, Pats Peak

Throughout my childhood, driving through Franklin, New Hampshire was a bit depressing. Vacant shops and restaurants filled Franklin’s Central Street in what was once a vibrant mill town. The highlight of these drives through the town though was the view of Franklin Falls, which is known as a fast-flowing portion of the Winnipesaukee River.

The river has become known as a challenging whitewater kayaking route. Back in 2022, the first whitewater park in New England opened up in Franklin. This area around Franklin Falls now includes a whitewater wave feature and an amphitheater to view people sending it. Mill City Park at Franklin Falls has led to new shops and restaurants opening on Main Street, revitalizing the town.

But that’s not all that Franklin, New Hampshire offers for outdoor activities, which brings us to the Veteran’s Memorial Recreation Area.

Opened back during the 1960-61 season, the ski area is serviced by a rope tow for beginners, and a t-bar that was originally situated at Mount Sunapee. Over the years, it has become more active during the offseason, with the addition of mountain biking trails, disc golf, and events. Some of the cool things about the ski area are its free ski days, a vintage lodge with a large fireplace, and windy trails. The ambiance is entirely different from what you see in the mountains to the north of it, and that’s what makes it unique. However, its main flaw has been that it didn’t have snowmaking, as the mountain doesn’t see enough snowfall to operate consistently.

This fall, that critical flaw was addressed. Thanks to a grant from the Merrimack County Board of Commissioners, the Veterans Memorial Recreation Area is adding snowmaking, purchasing more kitchen equipment, and updating its septic system.

Since this announcement, they’ve received the snow guns, and they’re now situated on the mountain. These refurbished TechnoAlpine M18 are actually from the Yellowstone Club in Montana. It looks like they’ll be able to use snowmaking for the first time this season. This winter, they’ll be making snow in the rope tow area, which allow them to be operational for longer periods. Expanding their snowmaking operations could be in the works for future years.

Here’s what Timothy Morrill, who’s the President of the Franklin Outing Club, told us about what the addition of snowmaking will mean to the ski area:

“Being able to make snow is going to allow the ski area to open sooner in the year and maintain being open during the season. With marginal snow fall it has been difficult in the past to run programs for ski school, and to commit to school and rec programs. So with the addition of snowmaking we are hoping to be able to have more programming throughout the season.” 

If you’re ever around Franklin, New Hampshire, go check this place out. It’ll change your perspective on what skiing is all about.

Image Credits: Franklin Outing Club

While New Hampshire hasn’t seen the snowfall like its next-door neighbor recently has, its ski resorts are opening at a rapid pace. Currently, Bretton Woods, Loon Mountain Resort, Waterville Valley Resort, and Wildcat Mountain are open in the Granite State. Cranmore opened last weekend but it will be closed until Saturday to expand their terrain. Over the next couple of days, six ski resorts will be opening for the season.

Here’s a rundown of who’s opening in The Shire this week…

Mount Sunapee opened today for the season. They are starting with one top-to-bottom run: Bonanza, Westside, Toboggan Chute, and Lower Blast Off, which is being serviced by the Sunapee Express.

Up in the Mt. Washington Valley, Attitash Mountain Resort is opening tomorrow, December 1st. They’ll have the Progression Quad and Snowbelt lifts spinning. Work continues on the Mountaineer chairlift, which is expected to open during the Christmas holiday week.

Down in Southern New Hampshire, Crotched Mountain will begin spinning its lifts on December 1st. They announced their imminent opening with a cool space-themed pump-up video. Crotched will open on Friday with six trails and two lifts.

In Southern New Hampshire, Pats Peak will start its season with an impressive trail lineup. Nine trails and four lifts will be open this weekend. However, Friday will be only for season pass holders, then they’ll be open to the public on Saturday & Sunday.

Over at Ragged Mountain, their season will begin on Friday. Ragged will start out with five trails and two lifts (Summit Six and Carpet 1 surface lift). On Friday, the first fifty people in the Summit Six line will receive a limited edition custom neck tube from BlackStrap.

The last ski resort that will open this week in New Hampshire is the living legend: Cannon Mountain. They are opening up with sixteen trails. They will have a small terrain park on Tossup.

Image/Video Credits: Cannon Mountain, Bretton Woods (Featured Image), Mount Sunapee Resort, Attitash Mountain Resort, Crotched Mountain Resort, Pats Peak, Ragged Mountain Resort

Less than one year after opening its first bubble chairlift, Sunday River will debut its second bubble chairlift on December 9th.

The Maine ski resort announced on Monday that they’ll be opening the Barker 6 on Saturday, December 9th. The opening ceremony will begin at 8:30 a.m., with the first chair scheduled at 9 a.m. If you’re interested in grabbing the inaugural first chair, they’re hosting a raffle. The procceds from the $5 raffle tickets will go towards the Bethel Food Pantry.

Over the offseason, the Barker Express was replaced by a Doppelmayr D-Line high-speed detachable six-pack bubble chairlift. The Barker 6, will have heated seats with head and footrests, red-tinted bubble covers, an uphill capacity of 3250 riders per hour, and a ride time of 4.68 minutes. 

An opening date has yet to be announced for Sunday River’s other new chairlift, which will service the Merrill Hill real estate development. According to Donny Pelletier, both lifts are going to be pretty mint, bub.

Image Credits: Sunday River Resort

In honor of their fiftieth anniversary, Bretton Woods in New Hampshire is auctioning off chairs from one of their vintage chairlifts.

This winter, Bretton Woods is auctioning off fifty chairs from the original B-Lift. Bids for the chairs start at $500, and they’re going towards fifty great causes. The proceeds from the auction will go towards 50 local organizations. This includes ski areas like Mt. Eustis and Whaleback Mountain. What also distinguishes this from other chairlift auctions is that you can place a bid until March 4, 2024. In comparison, other chairlift auctions tend to last only a couple of days.

First opened back in Bretton Wood’s debut season, the B-Lift serviced Bretton Woods for 45 years. This 1973 double chairlift from Heron Poma serviced the Bretton’s Wood trail, home to their racing program and terrain park. In order to make enough room for Bretton Wood’s signature lift, the Skyway Gondola, the chairlift was removed in 2018.

Click here to place a bid.

Image Credits: Bretton Woods, Skimap.org

“Everybody knows Brodie Mountain. We’ve got big plans for it. … Brodie’s going to be back.”-Todd Oifer, an investor of Brodie Mountain Development LLC.

Is Brodie Mountain in Massachusetts going to come back from the dead?

The Berkshire Eagle reports that the famous lost Massachusetts ski area was purchased for $975,000 at an auction. The new ownership group, which is made up of four investors from Florida, will announce their official plans in the Spring of 2024. While they are adamant about bringing Brodie Mountain back, there’s one thing that they probably can’t do: The deed that was a part of the purchase bars the owners from reopening it as a public downhill ski resort.

Todd Oifer, who’s one of the four investors, described what their mindset is regarding the mountain’s future:

“We’re very interested in the Berkshire area and New Ashford, and the history of Brodie Mountain, [we’re] working very closely with the town and the state to bring as much economic impact to the town and to everyone.”

Brodie Mountain was very beloved among guests and is specifically remembered for its St. Patrick’s Day festivities. In 1999, the original owners sold it to the Fairbank family, which owns the nearby Jiminy Peak. Based on visitation numbers and the need for significant investments to keep it competitive, the Fairbanks couldn’t justify investing in the place further, and thus shut it down in the early 2000s.

For more information, you can support local journalism by picking up an affordable Berkshire Eagle subscription to check out its various articles about the place. Another great resource on Brodie Mountain is New England Ski History.

In terms of what it looks like today, check out this abandoned exploration video by Lindsey D.

Image/Video Credits: Muroff Hospitality Group, Skimap.org, Lindsey D.

Do you know the movie Anchorman? You probably don’t, as not many people know about it or reference it. There’s a certain scene near the climax of the film in which Ron Burgandy blows into a conch shell and screams out: “News team, ASSEMBLE!”

It turns out the movie can still be used for some solid meme fodder. Berkshire East posted a video yesterday that replicates the famous scene. Jon Schaefer, who’s the owner of Berkshire East and Catamount, announced they have commenced snowmaking by evoking the famous scene from Anchorman.

After being asked in the video when snowmaking would start, he blows into a snowmaking hydrant, replicating the conch sound. He then screams out: “CATAMOUNT & BERKSHIRE EAST SNOWMAKING TEAMS, ASSEMBLE!” This video was posted to announce that they started making snow at Berkshire East and Catamount last night.

I’d give this a 7/10 execution of this specific Anchorman meme thanks to Jon recreating it with snowmaking equipment. 60% of the time, it works every time.

Image/Video Credits: Berkshire East, Dreamworks Pictures/thespaff

One of New Hampshire’s most epic mountains (pun intended) is opening on Wednesday.

Throughout November, Wildcat Mountain has been making snow. On Saturday, Wildcat Mountain GM JD Crichton announced they’ll be opening this week. Lift operations will start Wednesday from 9 am to 3:30 pm. The trail and lift lineup has yet to be announced.

Wildcat will likely be the second ski resort to open in New Hampshire, as Bretton Woods became the first to open last week. Loon Mountain will likely be opening soon, but an official date has yet to be announced.

In terms of other Vail properties in New Hampshire, their opening dates have yet to be announced. Based on historical trends, Sunapee would seem like the next Vail mountain in New Hampshire to open. Chris Corliss, who’s the Director of Operations at Mount Sunapee, gave a snowmaking update last Friday. They believe that the cold weather required for snowmaking is coming later today. Sunapee tends to open in late November.

Attitash has done some snowmaking, but a lot of their focus right now is understandably on the completion of the Mountaineer Express chairlift. They typically open in early December.

Over at Crotched Mountain, which usually opens in December, they recently released a quirky video showing their crews doing a snowmaking test. That’s pretty cool!

Image/Video Credits: Wildcat Mountain, Mount Sunapee, Attitash Mountain Resort, Crotched Mountain Resort

After another cold stretch of snowmaking, more Vermont ski resorts are getting ready to open for the season. Currently, Killington is only open ski resort in the Green Mountain State. That is about to change, as Okemo, Stowe, and Sugarbush are getting ready to open on Friday. Here’s a breakdown of what their trail and lift count will be this weekend.

Okemo: Over the years, Okemo has become known for its snowmaking might, and they took care of business over the past couple of weeks. Earlier this week, Okemo announced they’ll be opening on Friday, November 17th.

The opening trail lineup will include Count Down, Upper World Cup, Lower Chief, Lower Mt Road, and Fairway. For lifts, they’ll be spinning the A Quad and Sunburst Six. I like how they’re going to have a black diamond trail (Upper World Cup) open, and also have an area for beginners to work on their skills. Shoutout to Okemo for getting open after what was a rough beginning of the summer in Ludlow.

Stowe: Up north, Stowe Mountain Resort will also be opening on Friday, November 17th at 9 am.

These runs will be serviced by the FourRunner Lift and the Sunrise Chairlift. The open runs will include Upper Lord, Lord, Ridge View, Lower Ridge View, North Slope, and Lower North Slope. After Friday, FourRunner will begin spinning daily at 8 a.m. For parking, it will remain free until December.

Sugarbush: In terms of Alterra mountains, Sugarbush will begin its season on Friday. They’ll start the season on Lincoln Peak, with lift operations starting at the Gate House Express Quad. The Bush will have four trails open: Pushover, Slowpoke, Lower Pushover, and Sugarbear Road. For the first two hundred guests on Friday, they’ll have free hats and breakfast sandwiches.

Image/Video Credits: Sugarbush Resort (Featured & Header Image), Okemo Mountain Resort, Stowe Mountain Resort