It’s been a few weeks since I wrote about one of my ski weekends. I had been back to Waterville a few times and didn’t want to write essentially the same blog post. But, I’m back with two new mountains! This weekend trip my girlfriend and I hit two mountains I hadn’t been to in years and two she had never skied! Mount Sunapee and Ragged Mountain both in central New Hampshire.
Day 1: Mount Sunapee
(Here's a photo I shot in 2019)
The first day of the weekend trip was an early wake up, but a shorter drive than I am used to which is why Sunapee is a great day trip destination. We arrived at the mountain around 8:00 and were on the slopes by 8:30. The weather was brutally cold; an air temperature of 8 degrees and a reel feel of -4 --- but the snow was amazing! Some of the best I’ve skied on all year. The corduroy was both firm and soft, the fresh snow really helped fill in and freshen up the surface. Plus, natural snow started to fall as the day went on, maybe up to an inch!
We made our way around each area of the mountain, to experience everything that Mount Sunapee has to offer. I definitely recommend this if you aren’t a frequent flier of this ski hill. You’ll really get a good feel of the classic New England skiing here.
We started our day with a trip up the North Peak Triple and made our way to the learning area. We took the route of Toboggan Chute to Beck Brook to Lower Ridge. The combination of these trails is a great beginner friendly option on the main mountain. The South Peak Learning Area at Sunapee was a great place to warm up. We skied a few trails in that area to start our day. Green trails Province, Explorer, Sunnyside Down, and Fin. I am a big advocate for knowing your limits while skiing and also working your way up by testing your abilities in a smart way, the learning area was a great place for that.
Once we felt good with where we were, we flew up the Sunappe Express Quad and got our first glimpse of the iconic view of Lake Sunapee. We took a few runs down Upper Ridge and Lower Ridge which is the easiest way down the mountain but a very fun way down too! I took a solo run right before lunch down Skyway Ledges, Westside, cut over to Lower Blast-Off. I met up with my ski partner in crime before heading up to the summit lodge for lunch. We took a few more runs down the ridge trials, then back up the North Peak Triple and hit Fox Run, Sundance, and Lower Cataract in the Sun Bowl! At this point it was getting late, we were cold, and still had an hour and half drive to Lincoln. So we took one final run down Upper and Lower Ridge, and called it a day!
Trails of the Day
Upper and Lower Ridge. This combination of a blue square and green circle run makes for a very friendly and inviting top to bottom run for all abilities and especially for families wanting to ski together! We certainly enjoyed this run.
Lower Blast-Off. This blue square wider intermediate run is a great stepping stone before making your way to their blue runs on the mountain and even before heading onto a black diamond!
Province. This green circle beginner friendly run is a great place to start your day and warm up or teach the little shredders how to properly make turns and learn skier etiquette.
All in all, a great day at Sunapee!
Saturday Night we made our way to Apres ski at the Woodstock Station Inn & Brewery for some beers and great vibes before heading over to the Ice Castles. They were cool, let's not overlook that, pricey for what was there / offered. I feel it’s something you can go to every few years, but not every year.
Day 2: Ragged Mountain
The often overlooked, snow filled, glade packed Ragged Mountain is a true New Hampshire gem. Special thanks to my friend Kyle Matzke for hooking us with tickets for the day! This was arguably one of the best ski days I have had this season, and the last few seasons to! The Danbury Snowbelt was certainly in action dropping an unexpected 4” of fluffy snow on the trails all day. Driving in was a bit sketchy but my girlfriend handled it like at true pro behind the wheel!
We had a later start to the day but that was okay, Ragged has arguably the best uphill capacity in the state with a high speed six person chair and a high speed express quad. We started with a fast ride up the Spear Mountain Quad. To put this into perspective the last time I was at Ragged the spear mountain triple chair was still there, and that took almost 20 minutes to ride. This express quad took 4-5 minutes. We cruised down Cardigan - Turnpike a few times and jumped in and out of Jug Handle. All green trails, but extremely fun, friendly, and inviting!
After about 4 trips up and down Spear, we made our way to the top of Ragged. More quick rides up allowed for even more runs down. We skied Blueberry Patch to Raggedy Andy / Upper Chute to Main Street. This was a really fun combination of green trails! Prior to lunch, I took a solo trip down Upper and Lower Exhibition. This was definitely a step up for me since I am more on the beginner side when I am on skis, but I was feeling really confident and wanted to step it up a bit. I’m sure glad I did too!
After lunch, building our confidence we hit some more blues, Upper Ridge, New Found Ridge (which made me starting singing New Found Glory songs) and our favorite of the day Lower Ridge.
The base lodge at Ragged is one of the best. Spacious with plenty of spots to store bags and spread out to be comfortable. Short walks to the parking lot before and after make it that much better and the lifts are literally right outside the doors.
Trails of the Day:
Lower Ridge. The gradual, winding blue square run was filled with soft fluffy snow and really helped us build confidence in our skiing. It seemed like people were gravitating towards the glade, because this trial was empty all day! Which, we didn't complain about.
Blueberry Patch - Upper Chute - Main Street. The combination of three green trails made a great run down the mountain. Each trail was different in their own ways so you got to experience different feelings and different areas of the mountain. These trails given the level were a bit more crowded, but they were not scrapped off at all. Main street was a lot of fun. The wide open trail really allowed you to work on your turns and get a good grasp of what to do. Plus looking down towards the barn silo baselodge was really cool also.
Cardigan - Turnpike. We really enjoyed this winding and roller filled green from the summit of Spear. It’s a great run to start your day or even lap all day. The only reason I have it listed at number 3 on my list is because on a powder day like we had it was tough to get enough speed to make it through the flat portions of the trail. Once you got past that the trail was so much fun! You were able to essentially ski right onto the lifts because there were seemingly no lines at all!
This was a fabulous ski day at Ragged, the perfect conditions to ski. Again, thank you to Kyle Matzke for getting us out and to the entire Ragged team for providing a safe and friendly ski and snowboard environment.
A weekend well spent!
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