Waterville Valley, NH - Jan 16, 2011

Day 2 this season - Waterville Valley, NH. It's mid January, and I've really got to get on the ball and start getting some more days in!

This was the first time I've been to Waterville Valley, and even though it's not a big mountain, I have to say I liked it. MLK weekend is not generally the best time to go skiing, just because of the crowds, but it was alright. The weather was perfect (if a bit windy and a little cold), and the conditions were really good. I'm not sure how much snow Waterville got in last week's blizzard, but they were blowing fresh snow on several trails, and there was plenty of tracked (and a tiny bit of untracked) powder on the edges of most of the trails we were on.

The mountain itself isn't large, but it's broken up in kind of an interesting way - with lifts that go to various points, but nothing directly from base to peak, and a couple of on-mountain lodges to warm up in. This is nice, because you can spend the day in one section of the mountain without having to worry about the big lift lines at the base.

Warming up is something we definitely had to do because it was really cold the day we were there. The Warming Hut (Schwendi Hütte) at the top of the White Peak Express quad sits at 4000' and was, in fact, very warm inside. $15 for two small pastries and two hot drinks is kind of criminal, but then all the food here seems to be really expensive. The bar at the base lodge was actually selling a $14 burrito. not kidding.

As always in the White Mountains - really spectacular views.

In any case, Megan is steadily improving, and can now ski most blue runs without threatening to stab me with her ski pole. I take this as a positive sign. Next up on our tour of small Northeast ski areas - Whaleback Mountain, NH.