Attitash 12/24 and 25

[long island boarder]

did a spur of the moment trip to NH. Uncrowded both days and put in plenty of vertical on my new board. Found a nice path from the summit triple taking Saco to Northwest, did that a bunch of times. Got icy in the afternoon as to be expected with the lack of snow this year but overall not too bad. Summit triple is a very slow lift and the high speed quad only goes to mid-mountain which I thought was odd. First trip of the year for me, felt great to be up in the mountains again!

 

[riverc0il]

That is definitely one of the slowest fixed grip lifts around. Not quite Waterville High Country slow. But it feels like it given how long that lift is!

 

[Warp Daddy]

Summit triple is a very slow lift and the high speed quad only goes to mid-mountain

Had the same impression odd that was done like that . The ride to the top was slooow. Nice once you got up there but took a long time

 

[deadheadskier]

I think it's fairly well documented that the lack of a high speed lift to the summit at Attistash proper is the most common complaint for the area.

Haven't ridden Attitash since before Bear Peak was developed. My family went every winter for about four years when I was in grade school. Maybe this winter I'll make the pilgrimage back. Tough to do with Wildcat and Black up the road; both I'm a big fan of.

 

[StealthEldorado]

Bear is where it's at...

Haven't ridden Attitash since before Bear Peak was developed.

Bear is what makes Attitash worth visiting.

I'd agree it's a tough call with Wildcat up the road. But Bear has 4 glades, with one triple chair serving three of them. Lots of fun lapping those trails. Not as much vertical as Attitash, but more challenging, especially when the snow falls. Whereas Wildcat will get all their cover blown off, Bear will hold it and be bliss.

Definitely worth a re-visit if you haven't been in a while. The base lodge is relatively new, family friendly, and occasionally some good deals at the new adjacent hotel.

Beginning boarders beware the traverse is KILLER getting from Attitash over to Bear; ride the shuttle.

 

[neil]

Beginning boarders beware the traverse is KILLER getting from Attitash over to Bear; ride the shuttle.

I can attest to that. Had my skier friend give me a tow :lol:

 

[frozencorn]

I can't understand why after all these years they don't do something about the summit chair as well as the traverse over to Bear. I also used to ski there all the time, but since the demise of ASC, and the big pass, I haven't thought twice about returning, which is too bad because I do enjoy the place. But their inability to dramatically improve the place is a downer.

 

[long island boarder]

Yes, I was told Bear had wider trails that I like but I also was warned about the traverse. Plus my buddies would have never found me over there(they slept in) as their cell phone had no service (Nextel?), my Verizon phone worked well.

 

[kickstand]

I can't understand why after all these years they don't do something about the summit chair as well as the traverse over to Bear. I also used to ski there all the time, but since the demise of ASC, and the big pass, I haven't thought twice about returning, which is too bad because I do enjoy the place. But their inability to dramatically improve the place is a downer.

2 big reasons for not replacing the triple - 1, skier traffic. That hill already sees a ton of traffic and gets skied off very quickly. Put a HSQ in there and you've increased uphill capacity by a few hundred per hour. Everything would be skied off by 10, if not earlier. 2, top half of Attitash is owned by the Forest Service. There is quite a bit of red tape to go thru to replace that chair.

As for the traverse, if you hit it from Snow Dancer, it's not as bad as if you miss it and have to take Bear Right. But what do you do once you get near the learning area? It's flat. Not much you can do about that. Even if you do come down Snow Dancer, it's impossible to make it to the triple. If I don't want to skate/pole or if there are too many people, I'll jump on the double, get off at the mid-station and cut thru the park to get to the triple.

Yes, I was told Bear had wider trails that I like but I also was warned about the traverse. Plus my buddies would have never found me over there(they slept in) as their cell phone had no service (Nextel?), my Verizon phone worked well.

I had to get rid of my Nextel many years ago in favor of Verizon. If I stood in one spot out on the porch and didn't move, I could get reception.

 

[deadheadskier]

2 big reasons for not replacing the triple - 1, skier traffic. That hill already sees a ton of traffic and gets skied off very quickly. Put a HSQ in there and you've increased uphill capacity by a few hundred per hour. Everything would be skied off by 10, if not earlier.

Wouldn't it make sense replace both the double and triple with one HSQ? Outside of a couple of trails, they essentially service the same terrain. A HSQ would still likely have more uphill capacity than the two lifts combined, but it would definitely make for a better experience.......at least to me anyhow. Outside of a couple of exceptions, I can't stand dreadfully slow lifts.

 

[midd]

Wouldn't it make sense replace both the double and triple with one HSQ? Outside of a couple of trails, they essentially service the same terrain. A HSQ would still likely have more uphill capacity than the two lifts combined, but it would definitely make for a better experience.......at least to me anyhow. Outside of a couple of exceptions, I can't stand dreadfully slow lifts.

I'd be surprised if the double ran more than 10 days a year, so I don't know if they're incentivized to do anything to improve it.


attitash to bear is a breeze. northwest->bear notch pass->abenaki quad and you're skiing the best stuff on the mountain.

 

[Edd]

I used to ski Attitash during the ASC days and I did prefer skiing and, more importantly, parking at Bear Peak. It's the shortest, flattest, car to lodge walk I have ever seen. It's baffling more people don't park there when you consider the long walk to Attitash from across the street.

After losing them from my pass I saw no reason to pay to ski Attitash. Not worth it it you live 2 hours or more away. For the money, better mountains are calling my name.

 

[kickstand]

Wouldn't it make sense replace both the double and triple with one HSQ? Outside of a couple of trails, they essentially service the same terrain. A HSQ would still likely have more uphill capacity than the two lifts combined, but it would definitely make for a better experience.......at least to me anyhow. Outside of a couple of exceptions, I can't stand dreadfully slow lifts.

Not sure that I've ever seen both the double and triple run at the same time, so I don't think that buys you anything. If they ran both lifts at the same time, I would agree with you. I think they use the double when the triple is on wind hold. I believe the double is a little less exposed.

 

[deadheadskier]

Gotcha. As previously mentioned, I haven't skied there since Bear was put in. Back in the day, they ran both lifts every time I went.

 

[kickstand]

Gotcha. As previously mentioned, I haven't skied there since Bear was put in. Back in the day, they ran both lifts every time I went.

I think the HSQ took the place of running the double. By shortening it, you lessen the crowds on the upper half of the mountain. It terminates before the Forest Service land, allows easy access to the terrain park and half pipe (if they ever get it opened again), and provides a quick way to get back to Bear without having to go to the summit or ride one of the doubles in the beginner area, which are a pain to get to from the left side of the mountain.

As silly as I thought it was to put in a HSQ that only went half way up the mountain, I can totally understand why they did it.

And Bear is worth a visit on a powder day. We have a house 10 minutes away, so Attitash - particularly Bear - is where I do most of my skiing.