HENNIKER, New Hampshire ??” Pats Peak, New Hampshire’s premier family snowsports destination, enters into its 44th consecutive ski and snowboard season under the same local family ownership. Every season Pats Peak continues to improve its facility and experience for their skiers and snowboarders. Pats Peak’s capital improvements have been aggressive in recent years with over $5 million in the past five years. This year is no different.

Improvements for the 2006/2007 season include snowmaking upgrades; increased night lighting; new 500-ft carpet lift; completely reconfigured beginner’s area; new rental equipment; new outdoor employee uniforms; additional seasonal lockers; improved ordering system for pub service; and major renovation to the main cafeteria.

Pats Peak continues to be deeply committed to snowmaking by continually increasing their capabilities and adding to an arsenal that already gives the mountain 100% snow coverage. This year Pats Peak is solidifying its grip on the best steep/bump skiing in Southern New Hampshire. The Hurricane trail will be home to the only fully automatic SMI fan guns in all of New England. Snowmaking pipelines will charge automatically and guns will turn on and off as temps permit. Blizzards will be produced almost every night to keep the best bump run in Southern New Hampshire in great shape all season long. Additionally, some trees have been removed from the Vortex trail and snowmaking pipe has been installed. And to showcase Pats Peak’s obsession with snowmaking, they are also adding two high capacity water pumps to force the snow out even faster??В¦so skip the flight to Utah and enjoy the daily manmade blizzards at Pats Peak.

With the addition of night lighting on the Hurricane trail, it will be open day and night, giving Pats Peak 20 out of 22 trails open for night skiing.

After providing more than 8,000,000 rides in 40 years (with many of those rides quite memorable), it is sad to see it go but needed to be upgraded, the Bluster J-Bar will be retired to the “lift graveyard in the sky”. A new easy to ride 500-ft SunKid Wonder Carpet Lift will whisk skiers and riders effortlessly to the top of the beginner slopes in under 4 minutes!

The Beginner’s Area will be completely reconfigured including the relocation of the existing carpet lift closer to the side of the trail, giving even more open terrain for beginners to learn.

The Rental Shop continues to enhance its already impressive rental fleet with 200 new sets of skis & bindings, 200 pairs of poles, 50 snowboards and 300 snowboard boots & bindings. To give the mountain a “new look”, the ski & snowboard instructors, along with lift operators, will be sporting new black with blue trim uniform jackets.

The Peak will also be addressing customer demand by adding 50 seasonal lockers to the base lodge, where guests can conveniently leave their equipment at the mountain.

Table service in the Sled Pub will see refinements including a new ordering system for even faster food and beverage service.

Conneston Construction from Laconia, NH is completing a multi-million dollar renovation of the main base facilities. This year the main cafeteria will be transformed into an entirely new area. Guests will find the new cafeteria user-friendly, offering various food stations and additional food and drink options, making dining in the cafeteria a mouth-watering experience. The kitchen and prep areas will also be newly designed providing the kitchen staff more space and updated equipment.

Kris Blomback, general manager of PATS PEAK, commented, “We continue our capital improvements every year to provide the best possible guest experience here at Pats Peak. Every change, subtle or dramatic, is targeted to make the guest’s experience better. We are fortunate to have committed ownership that continues to re-invest wisely and in a timely manner allowing us to offer the very best product and service.”

Pats Peak will continue its most popular program, Pay-One-Price (POP) Saturday Nights, whereby one low price on Saturday nights allows access to lesson tips, lifts, tubing, rentals, entertainment, bonfires and more from 3pm to 10pm (tubing hours 5pm to 10pm).

Adult/Corporate Night Racing keeps The Peak hopping during weeknights. The best Pats Peak athletes compete against each other at the end-of-season “King of the Hill Challenge.”