Ski Bretton Woods, A NH Best
From Expert to Toddler This New Hampshire Resort Has Top Trails
From the mountain top to the valley, this is one of the biggest in the state and it is blessed with huge views and a wide range of challenging slopes.
From the top of the mountain skiers can look out at the Presidential Range spread below, Mt. Washington in the middle, Clay and Jefferson to its left and Monroe, Franklin, Clinton, Jackson and Webster to the right. Big mountain, big view.
This is a good family area, with enough variety of terrain and skill level to keep everyone interested. Most of the mountain is solidly intermediate with more challenging spots on most trails to challenge all but the most expert.
For real beginners, the Rosebrook Lane and Rosebrook Meadow have their own quad, out of the way of other skiers. For a mountain experience beginners should try the Bethlehem Express Quad and take the Bigger than Ben and Bretton's Woods trails.
But, skiers should know that from the top of the quad lift the start is steep enough to frighten a beginner. It isn’t too hard to handle but for a first timer it can cause a moment of – concern. Go ahead and try it, the experience will make you proud of yourself and after the initial steep slope the rest of the trails are very do-able.
If you take the same quad, Mountain Road Traverse is an easy run. It has with small up and down sections that take you to the lower section of the Two Miles Home trail. This trail is great fun, not overly steep and very scenic as it winds through snow-covered woods.
Some of the best liked trails are on Rosebrook Mountain. Look particularly for Perimeter, Sawyers Swoop, Watertank, Fabyan's Express and In-Between. No Regrets was aptly named. In the section between Mount Rosebrook and West Mountain try Grannie's Grit and Herb's Secret. These can get very icy when wind has blown away the snow but Bretton Woods is good about fixing such problems. These are more challenging upper-end intermediate trails.
West Mountain is served by its own high-speed quad and is where you will find some of the more challenging slopes. Experts and intermediates will have fun on Jacob's Ladder and on Rag's Run. West has several series of single and double diamond glade areas, as does the Rosebrook Canyon area on the east part of the mountain.
The best runs for fun? Go to the top of the Bethlehem quad and ski down Fabyan's Express, taking the Fabyan's Express Triple to the top and ski Outer Bounds across the saddle to Avalon. Then follow Crawford Ridge, to the right of the West Mountain quad, then Range View to the bottom. An easy sequence, good for beginners and still interesting for intermediates.
The best views are from the top of the Fabyan's Triple. Take Two Miles Home, marked intermediate but even beginners with a little experience will have fun too. This trail has spectacular views of the Mount Washington Hotel and of the Presidentials.
To get there follow I-93 north through Franconia Notch, exiting onto Route 3 toward Twin Mountain. From there, Route 302 goes straight to Bretton Woods.
