New Hampshire: Ski Free or Die

Live Free or Die, New Hampshire's state motto since 1945, isn't exactly the envy of other state tourism departments, so the Granite State decided to double down on that harsh declaration by emblazoning it on their license plates in 1969. It sits in stark contrast (see what we did there - "Live Free or Die" was originally uttered by Revolutionary War hero General John Stark in a toast) to the more agreeable license plate banners like Vermont's "Green Mountain State" and Maine's "Vacationland." Apparently folks got agitated about this car-mounted directive under the conviction that it was some kind of endorsement of the Vietnam war, leading to a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in 1977 allowing them to cover it with duct tape. Meanwhile in Vermont, we once had "See Vermont" for all the world to admire on our cars' tooshies - no duct tape, no lawyers, just great scenery, skiing and maple syrup.

This is not to take anything from New Hampshire's ski-conomy that draws roughly half the ski crowd that flocks to Vermont. So with a recent press group junket to the White Mountains on a balmy March weekend, we ventured from our bucolic Vermont World HQ and headed to some of the bucket list Granite State ski areas to see what all this fuss is about with income tax-free skiing. The North American Snowsports Journalists Association is a solid posse of ski writers where the powers that be lined up the very welcome first on-snow outing since before the 2020 pandemic, with the iconic and historic Black Mountain in Jackson, NH as our base of operations.

Black Mountain is an absolute gem of a ski area dating back to 1935 when its humble beginnings included one notably snow-less season in the early years where they resorted to spreading apple cores and frozen sheep dung pellets in order to schuss down a lower learning slope. It was also among the first - if not the very first - ski area to have night skiing in 1937 for the denizens of eager participants in the newborn sensation of being able to ski with lift-assisted transport back up the hill, which at Black Mountain included the cutting-edge technology of an overhead cable with grab-ropes dangling down, rather than having to stoop and wrestle with the glove-and-jacket-destroying rope tows spinning up hill at ground level. The historic J-Bar lift remains the oldest operating overhead cable lift in the country, while a 1965 double chair and somewhat newer triple chair round out the uphill infrastructure for accessing Black's classically New England-style narrow and windy trails for all ages and levels of stoke. Our host, Erik Mogensen, who recently acquired the mountain as well as the very innovative Indy Pass (which offers two days each at over 300 independent ski areas across North America, Europe, Japan and South America), is a non-stop whirling dervish with enthusiasm matched only by his commitment to the mountain and innovative ideas for making it thrive, not just survive. Take for example the Alpine Cabin that sits at the top of the triple chair and is also accessible by the mid-mountain off-ramp from the fabled red double chair. This love shack with a deck once housed ski patrol storage and a hot dog snack spot, but Erik has transformed it into a European-style destination, complete with champagne and fondue along with a full bar and all the other fuel you could want, while re-charging in the sun on Alps-inspired red lounge chairs.

The mid-ski and Après-ski stoke are high and bubbly at the Alpine Cabin

The historic J-Bar gives newbies a gentle taste of what's to come on upper terrain

We had originally planned to next venture to nearby Wildcat for their much-hyped terrain but the thaw-freeze Gods were not so agreeable to these plans, leaving all but the lower mountain baby lifts locked up and inaccessible. With the impressive concentration of ski areas in this area of New Hampshire under the watchful gaze of Mount Washington, we gladly shifted gears to check out Attitash, just 10 minutes away and with exponentially more terrain available with virtually the entire hefty mountain groomed and polished through whatever Mother Nature threw at us overnight. We soon learned from a friendly local on the chairlift that Wildcat and Attitash, both in the Epic-verse of Vail Resort ownership, have the same General Manager. We immediately assumed that this GM must have their home at Attitash since it was night and day compared to the ice-shuttered Wildcat. We spent over four hours ripping up everything this impressive mountain had to offer in the spring-skiing warmth of the sun with high-speed lifts at every launch point and non-existent Monday crowds.

All sunny smiles on an Epic Attitash day

After reluctantly checking out of the cozy Whitney's Inn at the base of Black Mountain, we ventured to the buffed and polished Bretton Woods on the way home to Vermont. An Omni Resort destination in ownership with the nearby Mount Washington Hotel evoking the Overlook Hotel vibe from The Shining, Bretton Woods was everything my fellow ski writers described it to be: luxurious high speed lifts complete with a gondola accessing wide open velvety smooth terrain with corduroy like an '80s professor's jacket. The early March spring skiing came on in full throttle with a bluebird sky and barely a crowd for a Tuesday when many customers were already on to golf season in their posh home climes. The best part about that day on groomed perfection was skiing with Johnny Damon - no, not the long-haired adonis Red Sox slugger, but a 72-year old version who's in a long line of Johnny Damons, dating back to the first one who arrived on our side of the Atlantic in 1676. Johnny was the consummate host, having met him just minutes after lining up for first chair and asking what's what with this place. Johnny guided us across all of the crushable terrain there was to sample, over to the West Mountain area and back, sharing history and insights with his Damon-worthy Boston accent. Johnny was just our kind of ski buddy - stopping only for the lift line and calling it quits just a few runs before we were ready to pack up and head home as well, noting that the better option for next time would be to head back to a luxurious room at the Mount Washington Hotel for a pint in the hot tub -- with no creepy twins in the hallways.

Keeping up with Johnny Damon on Bluebird Bretton Cord