Ski Country

Jackson epitomizes small-town New Hampshire. The picture-postcard, red covered bridge serves as an entranceway to a village complete with white-steepled church, small shops, cascades, and a collection of inviting inns and bed and breakfasts. The surrounding White Mountains have been inspiring artists, vacationers, and outdoors lovers for more than a century. There is a country charm to be found walking along Main Street and in the hills, farms, hidden homes, and mountain vistas abound.

Gee, where could this be? Wildcat Mountain doesn't win annual awards for being the most scenic ski area in the Northeast by default. As always, the Pinkham Notch locale is a bevy of views that vary not only day by day or hour by hour, but sometimes minute by minute. One moment you'll be standing directly in the sight of the majesty of Tuckerman Ravine, the next Mount Washington will be shrouded in clouds, simply peeking out of them with what almost seems a knowing wink.

Waterville Valley, which sits at the end of a nearly 12-mile-long road that follows the chilly Mad River , has been attracting mountain travelers since 1829 . Surrounded by the White Mountain National Forest, skiers began cutting trails in the 1930s. The valley received a face lift in 1965, when Olympic skier Tom Corcoran and his Waterville Co. purchased about 450 acres of land for a four-season resort, which opened a year later . The self-contained, pedestrian-friendly village two miles from the ski area contains the Waterville Valley Conference and Event Center and is anchored by the shops, hotels, condos, and...

KILLINGTON, Vt. - For New England parents, the February vacation playbook is pretty standard. You embrace the winter weather, and take the kids sledding or skiing or skating. Or you flee it, and head to a warmer locale, even if it's just a library or the mall. But in 2012, the year winter forgot, there is nothing to embrace, and nothing to flee. Instead, many families are doing something that would ordinarily seem ludicrous for late February: They're trying to find winter, chasing one good taste of it before it is officially off the calendar.

Despite Dan Shaughnessy's claim  today that the "Sox are the only folks having a worse winter than New England ski resorts," the truth is, skiing a riding conditions have improved dramatically over the past 10 days. Last week's snow was a bounty for the resorts leading up to the long weekend, and last night, a number of spots saw significant accumulation heading into what should be another storm tomorrow. Here are some of the reported overnight accumulations: Bolton Valley: 4-6 inches Smugglers' Notch Resort: 5-6 inches Stowe Mountain Resort: 5-7...

This week, north is good, and north with elevation is better. This is only a general rule, of course, as storms hit different areas. But Maine's Sunday River and Sugarloaf are in good shape, according to several people who skied them in the last 36 hours. But for a real change of pace in Maine, check out Saddleback in Rangeley. Though this area has been around since the early '60s, a prolonged fight with the US Forest Service and the Appalachian Mountain Club kept the area from developing in the era of big expansion that hit ski country throughout the 1980s and...

Gee, where could this be? Wildcat Mountain doesn't win annual awards for being the most scenic ski area in the Northeast by default. As always, the Pinkham Notch locale is a bevy of views that vary not only day by day or hour by hour, but sometimes minute by minute. One moment you'll be standing directly in the sight of the majesty of Tuckerman Ravine, the next Mount Washington will be shrouded in clouds, simply peeking out of them with what almost seems a knowing wink.

KILLINGTON, Vt. - For New England parents, the February vacation playbook is pretty standard. You embrace the winter weather, and take the kids sledding or skiing or skating. Or you flee it, and head to a warmer locale, even if it's just a library or the mall. But in 2012, the year winter forgot, there is nothing to embrace, and nothing to flee. Instead, many families are doing something that would ordinarily seem ludicrous for late February: They're trying to find winter, chasing one good taste of it before it is officially off the calendar.

Three-time Olympian Dorcas Wonsavage still experiences the thrill of the free-heel. A former six-year member of the US Ski Team, she says skiing for her is now about fitness, friends, and family. She can still pretend she's going for Olympic gold, but it could be on the trails at Titcomb Mountain in Farmington, Maine, instead of where she competed: Calgary, Alberta (1988); Albertville, France (1992); and Lillehammer, Norway (1994). She, her husband, Paul, and their 5-year-old son, Max, might stay at a cabin at Vermont's Craftsbury Outdoor Center and take turns skiing...

After a warm, dry start to the season, snow is finally starting to pile up in the mountains, and not a moment too soon for New England ski areas looking to capitalize on the long holiday weekend. Mad River Glen in Waitsfield, Vt., has been open only sporadically since New Year's weekend due to rain and warm weather. But with about a foot of new snow during the past few days, the ski area expects to have all its trails open this weekend. "Being that we didn't get Christmas, it's just important that we get this holiday in," said marketing director Eric Friedman, who estimates that a...

Here's the most bankable prediction for Super Bowl Sunday: Skiers and boarders will win big, while resort operators will humbly accept the trouncing pro football inflicts on their accounting ledgers with a mixture of resignation and inventiveness. Having long since given up fighting the hype, the region's ski areas now try to market what is essentially an annual black hole for business as a bonanza for diehard customers. Super Bowl Sunday is one of the few weekend days of the season when sparsely populated slopes and quick lift lines are the norm.

Despite Dan Shaughnessy's claim  today that the "Sox are the only folks having a worse winter than New England ski resorts," the truth is, skiing a riding conditions have improved dramatically over the past 10 days. Last week's snow was a bounty for the resorts leading up to the long weekend, and last night, a number of spots saw significant accumulation heading into what should be another storm tomorrow. Here are some of the reported overnight accumulations: Bolton Valley: 4-6 inches Smugglers' Notch Resort: 5-6 inches Stowe Mountain...

After a warm, dry start to the season, snow is finally starting to pile up in the mountains, and not a moment too soon for New England ski areas looking to capitalize on the long holiday weekend. Mad River Glen in Waitsfield, Vt., has been open only sporadically since New Year's weekend due to rain and warm weather. But with about a foot of new snow during the past few days, the ski area expects to have all its trails open this weekend. "Being that we didn't get Christmas, it's just important that we get this holiday in," said marketing director Eric Friedman, who...

After a warm, dry start to the season, snow is finally starting to pile up in the mountains, and not a moment too soon for New England ski areas looking to capitalize on the long holiday weekend. Mad River Glen in Waitsfield, Vt., has been open only sporadically since New Year's weekend due to rain and warm weather. But with about a foot of new snow during the past few days, the ski area expects to have all its trails open this weekend. "Being that we didn't get Christmas, it's just important that we get this holiday in," said marketing director Eric...

While you were stuffing yourself with turkey, ski resort snowmakers were coating the slopes with snow and opening new terrain. Mother Nature helped out with as much as a foot of natural snow as well, allowing a bunch of New England ski resorts to open on Thanksgiving and today. Here is a list of New England ski resorts open for skiing and riding with limited terrain. It's still early-season conditions, intermediate and expert terrain only in most cases, but a nice kick-start to the ski season just the same In Vermont, Killington opened first in the East on Oct 29....

Winter in New England has the potential to bury a budding romance or ice an established friendship. While some folks eagerly grab skis, skates, or snowshoes and head for the hills, those who don’t appreciate deep snow and ice-glazed ponds plan escapes to a climate where they can don a bathing suit and soak in temperate waters. Such divergent desires can stress a relationship, but there is a solution that restores vacation harmony. A getaway to one of New England’s snow-country spas preserves elements of both hot and cold, and while still a splurge, is far...

After a warm, dry start to the season, snow is finally starting to pile up in the mountains, and not a moment too soon for New England ski areas looking to capitalize on the long holiday weekend. Mad River Glen in Waitsfield, Vt., has been open only sporadically since New Year's weekend due to rain and warm weather. But with about a foot of new snow during the past few days, the ski area expects to have all its trails open this weekend. "Being that we didn't get Christmas, it's just important that we get this holiday in," said marketing director Eric Friedman, who estimates that a...

At 71 years old, Dr. Norman Beisaw has been accumulating grandchildren for some time now. He has six between the ages of 12 and 20. Since long before they were born, their parents have unfailingly repeated a family holiday tradition of spending Christmas week at Sugarloaf in western Maine. Which means, says Beisaw, who lives with his wife, Nancy, in Shrewsbury, that not one of the grandchildren has ever known a Christmas season without skiing, boarding, sledding, skating, feasting, pageantry, and plain old kick-back-with-the-family time at Sugarloaf.