There’s something happening right now that didn’t happen a whole lot last season: it’s snowing in New England.
The flakes were flying from Rhode Island to Vermont, and everywhere in between on Saturday night. I headed to small-but-mighty Pats Peak in Henniker, New Hampshire to enjoy some turns ahead of the holiday chaos, and I was rewarded.
The ski area with a vertical drop of nearly 800 feet is a popular spot for city dwellers making the short trek from Boston. It is also home to neighborhood park rats, grandma’s cruising groomers, and a devoted splitboarding contingency.
There were 20 trails open and six lifts spinning on Monday. The terrain was mostly comprised of packed powder, with a little bit of leftover fresh stuff from the weekend's snowfall on top. Turbulence terrain park and Microburst mini park were both open, while the Downdraft park was closed. A short cheese wedge jump was atop of Turbulence, with several rollers taking the place of what would typically be Downdraft. It was more than easy enough to catch air off of the rollers and tweak a few grabs along the way. On Microburst, the few rails that were available were close to the ground, but lengthy.
It was a cold one in New Hampshire on Monday. The thermometer in my Subaru read 7 degrees when I headed north from southern New Hampshire at 7:45 a.m., and while it did warm up to around 30 degrees at one point, that didn’t last once the sun went behind the clouds.
With all that being said, conditions weren’t nearly as icy as they could have been considering how cold it was. That might largely be because many of the skiers and riders at Pats on Monday were there for lessons. That kept the longer trails like Twister, Hurricane and Duster free from being skied off.
Photo: Josh Sullivan
One important thing to note— while it is the holidays, blackout days for most ski areas in New England don’t typically take effect until December 26. At Pats Peak, Indy Pass blackout dates have been in effect since December 21, 2024. So unless you’re an Indy Pass+ holder, be prepared to fork over some additional money for a lift ticket today and on Christmas Day.
Night riding and skiing is not quite underway yet at Pats Peak. The snowmaking team is working hard to open the rest of the 30% of terrain that has not been unveiled. Once the rest is open, nights should open up soon.
One note for those who typically head to Henniker for New Year’s Eve: There will not be a party this eyar, just a fireworks display the begins at 9:20 p.m.
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