Opening day at Waterville Valley isn’t quite here, but the New Hampshire ski area is already hosting the U.S. Snowboard team for some early season training.
The slopestyle course is home to what Waterville is calling the largest big air jump currently built in North America. Charles Beckinsale, one of the most sought-after park builders around, is responsible for bringing that to life.
The boardercross team has also been training in Waterville Valley. The training areas are all located in an area of the resort dubbed High Country, which is a 12-acre area in which management invested snowmaking infrastructure in order to test out just how early it could start making snow.
Photo: Courtesy Waterville Valley
“We have about 30 fan guns up there that are permanently placed, that we can really just flip the switch on that once we get temp temperatures, and within 48 to 72 hours, we can have enough snow to build what's up there currently,” marketing director Jamie Cobbett said in a call on Wednesday.
As of Wednesday, the resort had a moguls course, a full slopestyle course, a boardercross track and four lanes of alpine space. The entire area is serviced by a t-bar. Cobbett said that the opportunity to host the U.S. team arose out of Waterville’s history with snowboarding, in which several events a year were held there.
It’s where Arbor team rider Pat Moore got his start, and so did slopestyle rider Chas Guldemond. The Waterville Valley Academy has been home to some of the best snowboarders to come out of New Hampshire. And this week, riders like Red Gerard and Judd Henkes will start their training before they’re off to early-season contests.
Photo: Courtesy Waterville Valley
Photo: Courtesy Waterville Valley
“The resort itself is really set up to do these type of things. I mean, we have a full functioning conference event center. We own condos, we own a traditional style of hotel,” Cobbett said. “We got plenty of space in town square for the teams to tune wax and do everything that they need to do to prepare to be on the hill. So, you know, we're really, really fortunate to be set up the way we are.”
The first events of the season are set to kick off in China on November 30.
The U.S. Paralympic ski and snowboard team has also been training in the High Country training area. Waterville Valley has also been hosting ski and snowboarding teams from schools, like Holderness Academy, Harvard, Middlebury College.
"We're kind of the mecca of the northeast at the moment," Cobbett said.
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