Whaleback Mountain, which is like 10 seconds off Interstate 89 in Enfield, NH, is not your average ski resort. Sure, it looks a lot like a typical small New England ski hill. There are, after all, 30 trails, evenly divided between green, blue and (serious!) black and double-black diamonds, and a vintage chairlift to the top. They also boast two killer terrain parks, 85% snowmaking and they’ve got a rope tow and magic carpet for beginners.
The mission of the mountain and its owners—two-time Olympian Evan Dybvig and his partners Frank Sparrow, the former operator of the Zero Gravity skate park in Rutland VT, and experienced coach Dylan Goodspeed— is “to create a year round action sports facility.” They truly deliver with summer kid camps for paintball, biking, inline skating and skateboarding, and a huge skatepark in nearby Hartford, VT.
But Whaleback also has a shiny white little secret for those of us who dream about snow all the time. They’ve been offering jibbers sessions of on-snow terrain park skiing and snowboarding, all summer long! Once a month they truck in shavings from a local ice rink, shovel them around their awesome features and let the shredders take it to the next level from there. Picture prime spring conditions- soft snow, warm sunshine – and serious ramps, rails and boxes to style away the day. Judging by the videos on their website, these sessions are completely awesome.
Whaleback has two more on-snow sessions scheduled before the snowmakers can even dream of doing their thing. September 4 and October 30 (jibbing on Halloween!) are the two dates set. The sessions cost $10 for the three hour session in September or $15 for four hours in October. Bring your helmet if you plan on biking or skating!
Once you’ve figured out how good the jibbing (and regular skiing and riding) at Whaleback is, you are gonna love the prices. A day of skiing or riding last year was only $40 on weekends and holidays, $20 mid-week. And season passes are only $370 for adults, $ 315 for youths 13-18, and $290 for kids 6-12 and seniors 65+. But if you want to save even more, their Early Bird Season Pass Sale starts August 29 and season passes are 25% off all through September. College passes and High School Honor and Achievement passes are only $99 and a third grader skis all season for $30 (how cool is that for families on a budget!)
On September 19 you can run in their big “Dash For a Pass” race for a chance to win a free season pass. First one up the mountain in each category skis or rides free all winter!
Like all local ski areas, Whaleback works hard to keep prices low. They’ve asked their loyal customers to step up and help out. Check out the Paint-A-Chair fundraiser, an ingenious way to pretty up the chair lift and involve the community. You can “buy” a chair for $450, paint it to reflect your own creative personality with the supplied paints or have Whaleback do it to your specifications. Imagine having your own chair to ride up on! Or you can buy a plaque for $275 to be mounted on the chair in honor of you, your business, or even your dog if that’s what you want. Everyone who buys a chair or a plaque gets entered in a raffle, or you can buy a raffle ticket for $100. Prizes include a trip for two to Jay Peak, a Whaleback season pass and a $400 shopping spree at the Golf and Ski Warehouse. The raffle drawing is on September 12.
Skiing and riding in September! And again on Halloween! Why wait for winter?