Stateside skiing

Emma Cullinanwent to New Hampshire expecting a tame experience but came home with a yearning to return

SKIING THROUGH fresh, deep snow on almost empty slopes was an unexpected surprise in east-coast America, because at first appearances New Hampshire’s well-groomed mountains look as if they will be an easy ride.

While skiing in the European Alps typically involves dropping yourself into a sea of sharp, jagged and snowy peaks, US resorts often hug just one, smooth-topped mountain – or large hill by European standards – that seems to appear at random out of a flat landscape.

The benefits of this are that all runs lead to one base, so members of your party who get lost are unlikely to end up in some little-known village down the backside of a mountain. On the Loon Mountain resort in NH, for instance, many pistes terminate at the Loon Lodge hotel and restaurant at the base, enabling people holidaying in groups to ski or chill as they wish.

Reasons for skiing in America – which involves a longer flight and jet lag – are for the US experience and those seeking such will be rewarded. To ski New Hampshire you land in Boston, so it would be worth adding extra days to a ski trip to explore the city and surrounding country.

There are also outlet shopping centres dotted around these parts including one opposite the North Conway Grand Hotel, five minutes’ drive from the Cranmore ski resort.

As you would expect in the land of human comforts, the slopes are very well groomed, customer service is a matter of pride, food is in the usual vast proportions and of good value (it ranges from local chowder to the standard burger, chips and Mexican fare) and accommodation is clean – with nary a speck of dust or unidentified staining.

I stayed in the cute and characterful Woodstock Inn, which has a variety of quirky rooms decked out in a traditional style, but there are no authentic cobwebs and the shower is vast and fast, while the whirlpool bath fizzes and bubbles to perfection.

AMERICANS ARE great at confidence boosting, from ski teachers and guides telling you you’re “doin’ great” to grading ski runs as difficult blacks when they would be classed as a mere red in Switzerland or Italy. In the latter, the classification of pistes errs on the side of macho: those used to cruising American red runs have often been alarmed to find themselves negotiating vertical slopes troubled with moguls on Italian reds.

This all makes for the perfect family ski spot in the US, where kids will relish the food and have their skiing confidence boosted by surprise-free slopes and friendly ski operators and teachers. New Hampshire slopes are very well organised and learners’ slopes are often in their own areas (such as the separated Tuckerbrook Family area in Cannon Mountain) which speed-freaks are not allowed to race through – you either have to slow down upon pain of having your ski pass confiscated, or you need to bypass the beginner’s area altogether.

Such a smooth experience could be off-putting to more experienced skiers, who are used to cruising across Alps for miles, taking ski lift after ski lift, or negotiating rocks and gullies – but NH caters for these skiers too. Understanding that variety makes life spicier, the tourist board suggests that visitors resort-hop – and tour operators such as Topflight will arrange your flexi-package with car hire.

To facilitate this, there is a ski pass that covers five resorts all within about 20 miles of each other: Wildcat, Loon Mountain, Cannon, Waterville and Cranmore.

The variety also means that there is usually somewhere to ski if you are willing to drive: when I went there in late March some of the resorts sat beneath blizzards while Cranmore was melting in the sun.

Another bonus is that the NH resorts are mainly skied by locals who come up for weekends and holidays, leaving them relatively unpopulated during the week and off-peak. That’s why you can ski fresh powder, as it falls, practically all day long.

When I was there, the black slopes were deserted allowing you to go from top to bottom without stopping, a decent smoothed by the lack of rocks. On Loon Mountain this was possible from the top of the North Peak lift or if you take the main gondola you get a mix of blacks and blues to the base.

On Wildcat, whose slopes all have feline monikers, there’s a buzz to be had skiing in one go from the top of the main lift, down the black Upper Wildcat and on down the blue Bobcat. Inexperienced skiers attempting the short black Hairball might find themselves spat out at its base though.

Many runs here wind through trees, including a beginner’s piste, called the Polecat Trail, which descends for a satisfying 4.5km.

The views from the top of Cannon are said to be spectacular, but extreme weather had closed the highest lift leaving us to discover a spread of black and blue runs lower down, with soft, deep powder and some moguls (called “bumps” in these parts). It was perfect practise territory.

ADVENTUROUS skiers can also head into the Cannon wilderness at the newly-opened Mittersill back country (which was sadly shut when we visited) where an old ski resort that had grown over has been sparingly cleared.

This has opened a ski area that is only sparsely groomed, and where nature closes in, in the form of vegetation and rare animals such as the peregrine falcon, Bicknell’s Thrush and, possibly, the Canada Lynx, who call this place home.

I went to New Hampshire expecting a tame experience, and while American comfort and friendliness comes as standard, I went home puffed with the powder experience and a yearning to go back and investigate those wild woods.

• Emma Cullinan was a guest of Topflight, Aer Lingus and the New Hampshire Tourist Board. Topflight's brochure features all five resorts mentioned (the joint lift pass costs €240 for seven days). Call Maurice in Topflight Tailormades on 01-2401701 (topflight.ie) for further details, or a travel agent.