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Attitash Mountain Resort

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Coordinates: 44°04′56″N 71°13′47″W / 44.08222°N 71.22972°W / 44.08222; -71.22972
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"Attitash" redirects here. For the lake in Amesbury and Merrimac, Massachusetts, see Lake Attitash.
Attitash Mountain Resort
A view of Attitash and Bear Peak
A view of Attitash and Bear Peak
LocationBartlett, New Hampshire, US
Nearest major cityNorth Conway
Coordinates44°04′56″N 71°13′47″W / 44.08222°N 71.22972°W / 44.08222; -71.22972
Vertical1,750 ft (530 m)
Trails68
: 29% beginner
: 44% intermediate
: 27% advanced
Longest run1.34 mi (2.16 km)[1]
Lift system8 Chairlifts: 2 High Speed Quads, 2 Fixed Grip Quads, 3 Triples, and 1 Surface Lift.
Snowmaking98%
Websitewww.attitash.com
Skiing at Attitash

Attitash Mountain Resort is a ski area located on U.S. Route 302 in Bartlett, New Hampshire, near North Conway. Constructed in 1938 by the Works Progress Administration,[2] as of October 2019, Attitash is operated by Vail Resorts (after being purchased from the previous owners, Peak Resorts).[3] It operates under a special-use permit with the White Mountain National Forest.[4]

Located in the heart of the White Mountains, Attitash is home to two mountains, Attitash and Bear Peak. Attitash/Bear Peak has a total of 68 ski runs. It is a resort that appeals to all skill levels.

It was announced that starting in the 2023-2024 ski season, both peaks will have a high speed quad going from the base to summit (Presently only Bear Peak does). Attitash means "blueberry" in the Abenaki language.[5]

Mountain statistics

  • Vertical drop: 1,750 ft (530 m) (Attitash); 1,450 ft (440 m) (Bear Peak)
  • Base elevation: 600 ft (180 m) (Attitash); 600 ft (180 m) (Bear Peak)
  • Summit elevation: 2,350 ft (720 m) (Attitash); 2,050 ft (620 m) (Bear Peak)
  • Trails and glades: 68; most difficult 27%; more difficult 44%; easiest 29%[6]
  • Total skiable area: 311 acres (1.26 km2)
  • Trail length: 23 miles (37 km)
  • Tree skiing: 60 acres (240,000 m2) of terrain in different glades across Attitash and Bear Peak
  • Average annual snowfall: 120 inches (3,000 mm)
  • Typical season length: Early December through Early April (actual dates subject to change)
  • Hours of operation: 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. weekends and holidays, EST; 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. mid-week, EST; Times may vary early season: Nov to Dec - 3:30 PM
  • Uphill lift capacity: 14,385 people per hour

Lifts

  • Attitash currently has 7 lifts,[7] and 1 magic carpet.
Name Type Manufacturer Built Vertical
(feet)		 Length
(feet)		 Notes
Flying Bear High Speed Quad Doppelmayr 1995 1467 5215 Main lift to Bear Peak summit.
Flying Yankee Garaventa CTEC 1998 883 3070 Named after the Flying Yankee locomotive. Travels under the summit triple.
Abenki Quad 1994 1020 3825 Extended downhill in 2007.
Progression Quad Doppelmayr 2022 Currently under construction, it will open in 2022.
Summit Triple CTEC 1986 1672 6205 Longest lift at Attitash, goes over the Flying Yankee Express. After years of technical issues, including one where it had to halt operations, 2022-2023 is planned to be it's final season before being replaced by a High Speed Quad in Summer 2023 (as announced in June 2022).
Kanchia Triple Borvig 1997 512 2200 Relocated from Sunday River in 1997.[8] Technical issues prevented it from operating in the 2021-22 season, but it was repaired in summer 2022 in time for the next year.
Learning Center Triple CTEC 1988 263 1210

Winter

A view of the slopes of Attitash in summer

Attitash has two peaks, Attitash and Bear Peak, both of which offer a variety of terrain. Attitash consists of old New England-style trails. The more challenging terrain on this mountain are narrow trails with challenging fall lines. It also offers a learning center, featuring a Snowbelt, Learning Center chairlift and the Progression Quad (Formerly home to the Double Double chairlift, which served 627 vertical feet in 11 minutes),[9] which provided access to longer greens trails. Exact data on the Progression Quad is not yet know as it is being built currently, but it is planned to serve the same area. Bear Peak was developed by the American Ski Company and features wider trails and glades. Both mountains have high-speed quads, with the Flying Bear at Bear Peak taking skiers straight to the summit (1,462 vertical feet in 8 minutes), and the Flying Yankee at Attitash taking skiers halfway up the mountain (860 vertical feet in 6 minutes).[10] The Summit Triple (1,659 vertical feet) takes about 11.5 minutes to get to the top with no pauses (On average with pauses it is more like 16 minutes).[11] Many skiers hated the lift and desired it's replacement, but the Chapter 11 bankruptcy prevented this.

In the era of Peak Resorts, snowmaking and grooming were vastly improved. Despite concerns from locals, Peak was the company that managed to finally get the resort out of their long Chapter 11 Bankruptcy. While the half pipe was removed, the terrain park was arguably improved by splitting it into three separate parks and moving them all to Bear Peak, allowing the blue they originally occupied to be used for the ski school.

In the second half of the 2018/2019 season, the top half of Attitash was closed due to major problems with the Summit Triple. Despite a fairly new bull wheel (replaced just a few years earlier to prevent further breakdowns), it was found to also be in need of massive repair to the gear box, including a replacement "planetary gear". [12] The triple's replacement had long been a hot topic, but no owner had been able to get it done yet, and Peak Resorts was unwilling to attempt it despite the resort once again turning a profit. This finally changed when Vail Resorts purchased the resort in 2019.

Things started in the 2021-2022 ski season. Thanks to even further snowmaking improvements, trails were opened fast despite poor snowfall. However when technical issues plagued the Double Double and Kachina Triple (The Summit Triple was fine that year, besides the usual complaints about the ride time), Vail was unable to operate either, meaning the other lifts now had more people to handle, including more beginners. They announced the replacement of the two doubles with a fixed-quip quad (not high speed), and repairs to the Kachina, both to be completed by the start of the 2022-23 ski season.

In January 2022, rumors were once again going around that Summit Triple would finally be replaced, as Vail had applied for the needed permits. Unfortunately due to past experience, many people assumed this would fail. However in June 2022, an official announcement from the General Manager on the Attitash Facebook Page clarified that while the project was still pending final approval from the US Forest Service, they were confident it would be approved.

If so, the hated lift would finally be replaced in Summer 2023, and done in time for the 2023-2024 ski season. The final confirmation will be it being listed in Vail's 2023 lift upgrade announcements, as the Progression Quad was in 2022.[13]

Summer

Attitash also has summer activities, including an alpine slide, mountain biking, and horseback riding. Peak Resorts had brought new attractions like a mountain coaster (a faster, powered version of the alpine slide), a climbing wall, four Euro bungee trampolines, a giant air bag jump, and the newest attraction, the East Coast's longest single-span zip-line.[14]

They also used to have 4 water slides, but these were shut down after Summer 2019. In fact in Summer 2021 and Summer 2022, the resort did not open Summer operations at all, instead choosing to focus on improvements for Winter. Furthermore the reason for removing the water slides was the new high speed quad, planned to be built in Summer 2023, would be too difficult to install with the water slides present.

The new General Manager Brandon Swartz announced plans to resume summer operations in Summer 2023, despite that also being the time planned to replace the Summit Triple. He also announced in place of the water slides, new summer attractions were being discussed. [15]

References

  1. ^ "Attitash Bear Peak: Wandering Skis". Jollyturns.com. Retrieved March 26, 2019.
  2. ^ "Attitash Mountain Resort". The Living New Deal. Department of Geography, University of California, Berkeley. Retrieved 2016-06-23.
  3. ^ "Vail Resorts Closes its Acquisition of Peak Resorts; Adds 17 U.S. Ski Areas Near Major Metropolitan Areas to Portfolio" (Press release). PR Newswire. September 24, 2019. Retrieved April 6, 2020.
  4. ^ "Attitash Mountain Resort". Peak Resorts. Retrieved 2016-06-23.
  5. ^ "About the Wonderful NH Seasons".
  6. ^ "Mountain Stats". Attitash Mountain Resort. Retrieved 2016-06-24.
  7. ^ "Attitash, NH". 25 October 2015.
  8. ^ https://www.newenglandskihistory.com/lifts/viewlift.php?id=711
  9. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2016-09-24. Retrieved 2016-09-06.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  10. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2016-09-24. Retrieved 2016-09-06.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  11. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2016-09-24. Retrieved 2016-09-06.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  12. ^ {{cite web | url=https://www.conwaydailysun.com/news/local/attitash-fixing-its-summit-triple-chairlift-woes/article_44061e84-3af2-11e9-a703-7715ccd6d2c6.html
  13. ^ "Vail Applies to Replace Attitash Summit Triple".
  14. ^ http://attitash.com/ziptour.html. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  15. ^ "Attitash won't be offering summer attractions for a second-straight year". 14 April 2022.
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