Crotched Mountain Reviews

• Overall Rating 5
• Family Friendly 5
• Downhill Terrain 5
• Terrain Park 5
• Nightlife

Pros: evrything except the cons!

Cons: 2 man chair, "grunge" website

Recommended Skill Level: Beginner, Intermediate
Recommended For: Single/Newlyweds, Families, Empty Nesters
Date Visited: Feb, 2009

0 out of 0 users found this review helpful.

Full review

An absolutely brilliant find! This place was the best fun we have had yet!!

When I saw their website I got the impression that they were a snowboarding grunge outfit, and was completely put off.
However, as it is so close to other good places we thought we would give it a try; the web-site does them a HUGE disservice! It is a family run, family orientated ski resort!
I have skied for 35 years and learnt to ski in the Alps, have skied all over Europe and we've tried out loads of resorts in NH, VT and ME and this is honestly the most PERFECT place for learner skiers wanting to transition from greens to blues and blacks, jumps and fore-line skiing.
All the blacks are very short, so you can see where they join the easier trails, so really fun to try, but not frightening.
The blues are all wide and criss-cross the greens, so you can take it bit by bit, and really let go if you want to.
There are large areas of woodland trails with little bumps, and we had great fun "bunny-hopping" through the trees with all the other kiddies.
There is a HUGE snowboarding park, with a seperate lift, so snow boarders go one way and skiers another, but you can drop onto bits of it to try a jump if you want.
ALso, there is also a lovely mogul run, which is crossed by a green and a blue, so again something to try out, but you can drop off it gets too much
The views at the top are amazing; you can see right across to Sunapee and beyond, and the greens are lovely and long, wide and run right along the ridges, so views all the way down.
We did night skiing for the first time (and my 5 year boy was SO excited!) a timed slalom, and the lodge is really clean and tidy, with a good restaurant.
The only tricky bit is that the "green" chair lift is a 2-man which is tough if you have more than 1-to-1 ratio of kids to adults, and you don't want to pass your kids over to strangers. But it is slow enough for older or competent children to use, and the attendants are very helpful.

All the skiers seemd to be locals with families and everyone was really relaxed and considerate.
No aggresive speeding...and NO lines at the lifts, we skied straight on!
My children have gained such confidence and are thrilled to have done their "first black"!

Car parking is spread out across the base, so easy to get to and from cars.

Do NOT go to Crotched mountain if you like your children to DDblacks backwards with a hat over their eyes; as apart from the terrain park, there is NOTHING on this mountain for the adrenalin junky!
Maybe that is why I had the most fun seeing my children really relax, enjoy themselves and get the confidence to try out all the new things, and I didn't have to worry about a thing.
However, Pats Peak and Granite Gorge are 10 mins away, and Sunapee is 20 mins away, so for a long w/e it is a great place to go to for one day, and then if bored, try somewhere else down the road the next day, or split the party.

We were told that after 13 years of hard times the current owners relaunched it 3 years ago.
The north side is open, and when they get more money they will open the south side (which you can get to with a short walk, but ungroomed/ powder skiing).
So I just thought I would do my bit to support them as it really was the most fun time we have had yet and they deserve to do well!
Such a well-thought out set of trails. A brilliant w/e and I am still on a high!
We are going back next week.