Crotched Mountain Ski & Ride
| Crotched Mountain Ski & Ride | |
|---|---|
 | |
 View of ski area from Francestown Road | |
| Location | Francestown/Bennington, New Hampshire, US |
| Nearest city | Manchester |
| Coordinates | 43°0′8.21″N 71°52′42.81″W / 43.0022806°N 71.8785583°W |
| Top elevation | 2066 ft (630 m) |
| Base elevation | 1050 ft (320 m) |
| Skiable area | 75 acres (300,000 m2) |
| Runs |
23 32% Beginner  36% Intermediate  32% Expert |
| Lift system | 1 HSQ, 1 quad, 1 triple, 1 double, 1 magic carpet |
| Website |
www |
Crotched Mountain Ski & Ride is a medium-sized ski area located on Crotched Mountain in Bennington and Francestown, New Hampshire. The ski area reopened in the 2003-2004 winter after having been closed for 13 years. The mountain's snowmaking system claims the highest snow production capacity of any ski area in New England.[1]
Crotched Mountain Ski & Ride is 30 miles (48 km) east of Keene, 38 miles (61 km) southwest of Concord, and 77 miles (124 km) northwest of Boston.
History
The original Crotched Mountain Ski Area opened in 1964 on a different face of the mountain - the northeast side, entirely in Francestown. In 1970, a second area opened on the north side with the name Onset, later changed to Bobcat. Bobcat and the original Crotched Mountain merged in 1980 and operated jointly as Crotched Mountain. More than 100 adjacent condominium units were constructed in the late 1980s, creating a burden of debt that contributed to the demise of the resort in 1989.[2]
The resort was bought in 2002 by St. Louis-based Peak Resorts, a company that runs North American ski areas, including Attitash Mountain Resort and Wildcat Mountain Ski Area in New Hampshire. in the American Midwest. The company spent an estimated $9 million to build a new lodge, install new, state of the art snowmaking equipment and chairlifts, and to recut trails, and in 2003 reopened what had been the Onset/Bobcat side as Crotched Mountain Ski Area.[3]
In February 2012, the resort announced that a new high-speed quad, removed from Ascutney Mountain Resort in Vermont, would be installed for the 2012-2013 season, along with an additional 25 acres (10 ha) of terrain, new snowmaking and new lights for night skiing, at a total cost of more than $3 million.[4]
The portion of the mountain with the original Crotched Mountain ski area is now largely owned by the town of Francestown.
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View from mountain towards Manchester
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View from mountain towards Bennington
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Old Summit T-bar
References
- ↑ "Snowmaking information". Crotched Mountain. Archived from the original on 2006-09-01. Retrieved 2006-09-15.
- ↑ "Onset/Bobcat Ski Area". New England Lost Ski Areas Project. Retrieved November 15, 2010.
- ↑ New England Ski History: Peak Resorts
- ↑ "Crotched Mountain to Get Southern New Hampshire's First Detachable Quad". First Tracks!! Online. 6 February 2012. Archived from the original on 7 February 2012. Retrieved 8 February 2012.