WATERVILLE VALLEY, New Hampshire — Waterville Valley Resort has spent over $525,000 this summer on key snowmaking and grooming projects to bring guest’s on-mountain winter experience to a higher level for 2007-08. Here’s a quick look at the top 8 for 2008.

1. Twenty more snowmaking tower guns have been added to Waterville Valley’s existing fleet in addition to an increase in snowmaking capacity. Both will help Waterville Valley leverage its high mountain elevation especially in the early season. Skiers and snowboarders can look for more variety of terrain to open earlier in the season including Exhibition Park and Lower Meadows learning area.
2. A new winch cat has been purchased to help Waterville groom its famous Sunnyside trails like the double black diamond True Grit, home of freestyle skiing, and the headwall leading to expert terrain on Ciao and Gema.
3. Freeskiers and snowboarders get a revamped Street Hubba in Exhibition Park featuring new stairs and all new rails and boxes. The set up will be designed by Waterville ‘s new Terrain Park Manager, Luke Mathison, former pro rider and High Cascade Snowboard Camp coach.
4. Rental customers will find new rental skis and service areas at Top Dog Ski and Snowboard Rentals. Waterville Valley replaced 75% of their ski rental fleet for the coming season and updated all service areas for faster and more efficient tech work.
5. An expanded Buckets Restaurant will now be open every weekend and holidays. What started as a fun outdoor deck for BBQ’s, Buckets became so popular last season that it will now have a full kitchen set-up and expanded menu including pulled pork and shaved steak sandwiches and specialty fries to go with its buckets of ribs.
6. A new Kids Venture Kamp check-in and expanded rentals has been created to streamline the process and better service families with kids in Waterville’s popular Explorer Kamps.
7. New retailer, Sport Thoma is onboard with an extensive fleet of demo equipment to “try before you buy” including women’s specific skis for all ability levels. The Race Room @ Sport Thoma also debuts at Waterville Valley this season with the latest in products and tuning services for competitors.
8. Two new trails at the Waterville Valley Nordic Center will greet cross country skiers. Swayzeytown Trail for intermediate skiers leaves just below the summit chair of Snow’s Mountain and connects with Lower Snow’s Trail. The new Connection Corner Trail provides a neat beginner loop right at the North End Trails parking area, connecting the Greeley Path, Connector, and Livermore Trails.

With its 4,000′ summit, Waterville Valley is one of the first resorts to fire up the snowguns and plans to open Sat., Nov. 17. The 07-08 winter events calendar kicks off opening day with Special Blend’s First Chair/Last Call followed by the Northern Lights Festival over Thanksgiving weekend.