Tourism officials predict three million people will hit New Hampshire’s slopes and Nordic ski trails this winter. And thanks to a chilly November, a few ski resorts are already open —and others will be soon.
Cannon Mountain began running a pair of lifts a week earlier than last year, thanks to more than a foot of snow and snowmaking.
“We're open top to bottom, so folks can ride up to the summit and take it all the way down multiple routes,” said Jennifer Karnan, head of marketing and sales at Cannon. The mountain is closed Thanksgiving Day.
Loon Mountain Resort is also open a few days ahead of last year. Taylor Siewierski, Loon’s communications manager, said that’s due in part to its investment since last season in snowmaking equipment.
“We're seeing that pay off, and it's delivering consistent wall-to-wall coverage on our trails,” she said.
Melody Nestor, assistant director of Ski New Hampshire, which tracks conditions at many resorts, said the biggest challenge right now is convincing skiers that it’s really winter in the mountains.
“That’s a perennial problem,” Nestor said. “Certainly a lot of people who ski our mountains come from south of the mountains, and it's not snowy in their backyard, so they assume there's no snow.”
Nestor and the others suggested checking resorts’ websites and social media pages for the latest conditions. Ski New Hampshire is tracking opening dates on its website. Cranmore Mountain and Waterville Valley Resort plan to open this week. Most of the other resorts expect to open trails in early to mid-December.