Waterville Valley is the first “big” resort when heading north on I-93, making it one of the most popular in New Hampshire. Its relatively low ticket prices add to its appeal. The resort built its reputation by staging more than 10 World Cup ski races (Waterville founder Tom Corcoran finished fourth in the 1960 Olympic giant slalom and opened the resort in 1966), but the emphasis now is on family. That has resulted in it becoming a more well-rounded area, as seen by its bountiful terrain parks.

A planned community/resort, Waterville Valley is sufficiently self-contained so that most visitors, once they enter, do not venture any farther than the slopes, just a short shuttlebus ride away from the lodging in and around Town Square, where there are a variety of shops, restaurants and bars. Most of the off-slope activities are in Town Square, including cross-country skiing, sleigh rides, ice skating, and a huge sports complex with pools, tennis, squash and racquetball courts and indoor track. Visitors can enroll in the town’s numerous family-oriented recreation programs, such as ice cream socials.

At the mountain, the single base area is ideal for families who don’t want to get separated amidst multiple base lodges. Two high-speed quads start right outside the base lodge, one being Quadzilla. Despite its scary name, the lift is decorated like a happy dog wearing a whirly-bird beanie. You can tell how windy it is by how fast the propeller turns. New for the 2006-'07 season, an expanded unload area at the top of Quadzilla will give skiers and snowboarders more room to prepare to head down the mountain or meet for snowsports lessons. The other quad, White Peak Express, takes skiers and riders almost to the summit. The High Country Double services the three uppermost intermediate slopes when wind (and snow) conditions are right.

Waterville enjoys significant vertical for an Eastern resort, and it uses it well, although it’s predominantly an intermediate’s mountain. That said, the black diamonds are really black diamonds, and the blue squares are true intermediate runs, making them challenging for beginners, and almost all the trails follow the fall line from top to bottom. Unless you have young children, you might find Waterville a bit limiting for a week’s vacation, but it can be a lot of fun for an extended weekend. There is a little bit of something for everyone.

The area made its name in the race arena, and for the '06-'07 winter, the famous Tommy's World Cup GS Trail has been widened to meet current FIS race course standards. In addition, the Upper Valley Run and the top of Valley Run have also been widened. Waterville recently invested in snowmaking and grooming equipment to improve the on-snow experience, including adding snow guns to provide earlier coverage of learning areas like Lower Meadows, the J-Bar, and expert terrain off Exhibition Terrain Park.

“Old T Trees” is 4.5 acres of mixed hardwoods and evergreens for intermediates between the Old Tecumseh trail, Terry’s trail, Tyler and Siegel Street. The resort has a protected children’s learn-to-ski area with bigger-than-life woodland animal characters and live personal appearances by Snowmonsters characters.

Waterville Valley Ski Resort Facts:

Summit elevation: 4,004 feet
Vertical drop: 2,020 feet
Base elevation: 1,984 feet


Expert: +
Advanced: ++
Intermediate: +++
Beginner: +++
First-timer: +++

Dining:++++
Apres-ski/nightlife:++
Other activities:++

Address: One Ski Area Rd.,
Waterville Valley, NH 03215
Area code: 603
Ski area phone: 236-8311
Snow report: 236-4144
Fax: 236-4344
Toll-free reservations:
(800) 468-2553
E-mail: info@waterville.com
Internet: www.waterville.com

Number and types of lifts: 11—2 high-speed quads, 2 triples, 3 doubles,
5 surface lifts
Skiable acreage: 259 acres
Snowmaking: 100 percent
Uphill capacity: 14,867 per hour
Parks & pipes: 5 parks, 2 pipes
Bed base: 2,500
Nearest lodging: Quarter-mile
Resort child care: Yes, 6 months–4 years
Adult ticket, per day: $61 (07/08 price)

Western White Mountain Facts:

Snow report: (800) 887-5464
Toll-free reservations:
(800) 937-5493 or
(800) 227-4191 (Loon and Cannon areas)
Fax: (603) 745-3002 (Ski NH)
E-mail: info@skinh.com
Internet: www.skinh.com