Skiing Black Mountain (NH)
Saturday, March 8th, 2025
Runs: 15
Distance: 11.66 miles
Elevation: 11,587 feet
Max Speed: 30.7 mph
Avg. Speed: 12.2 mph
Moving Time: 58 minutes, 47 seconds
Total Time: 4 hours, 58 minutes, 47 seconds
I had a super easy drive from the Black Mountain Ski Trail to the Black Mountain Ski Area. It continued to flurry on-and-off, and somehow Sarah and I timed our drives so we landed within 2 minutes of each other and getting to park right next to each other! We first went inside to take care of our chores - passes and potty - and then got booted up in the car. The parking lot barely had any cars, and it was looking to be a great day! The snow report sounded promising - they said great conditions, advertised most trails to be open, and there was a DJ Party at the Alpine Cabin from 1-6pm!
Today's Report at Black Mountain
We are OPEN! All trails and lifts are operating today with great conditions. We expect to have normal operations all day and no wind holds. It's currently lightly snowing, mixed with occasional sunshine, making for a perfect day on the slopes.
Since we missed FNL last night, we're extra excited to kick off our first-ever DJ Party at the ALpine Cabin from 1-6pm! Then, don't miss our Saturday Sunset Ski Event - enjoy late lift rides until 4:15pm while we groom a fresh trail just for you. Ski or ride under the sunset, starting at 5pm. Lift access is included with all pass types, including day and uphill passes. Not a pass holder? No problem! You can ride on the lift for just $10 with a single-ride ticket.
Runs 1-3
Run 1: Summit Double - Upper Black Beauty - Black Beauty - Beauty Loop - Black Beauty - Juniper
[1.16 mi; 5:19; 1,076 ft; 23.1 mph avg; 12.6 mph max]
Run 2: East Bowl Triple - East Bowl - Juniper - Spruce - Juniper - Goose Pitch - Juniper
[0.79 mi; 3:40; 781 ft; 21.1 mph avg; 12.2 mph max]
Run 3: Platter Pull Surface Lift - Ninow - Davis
[0.26 mi; 1:11; 220 ft; 20.3 mph max; 12.3 mph avg]
Once we were booted up we headed right to the Summit Double, which had no line. It was warmed than expected, and we only felt any wind at the very top of the double. Sadly, there were no views from the top, but that was okay! The Maple Slalom was closed for snowmaking, which was surprising, so we followed Upper Black Beauty off the top, which was in... okay condition. Hopefully it would soften as the day went on. Black beauty proper was skiing better, and then we followed Beauty Loop, which was the kind of frozen corduroy that shakes your whole body. The bottom stretch of the run - Black Beauty to Juniper - was MUCH better!
We hit the East Bowl Triple next. Sadly, Jackson Standard was also closed for snowmaking, along with a few of its connector trails. I understood why there were doing this, and impressed they were still making snow in March, but bummed it was happening on a Saturday! We followed East Bowl to Juniper to Spruce to Juniper, which all skied well. Only hurdle was dodging people, which I remember from last time. We decided to get adventerous and follow Goose Pitch from Juniper, which was... unpleasant. Frozen thin cover.
Run #3 was also lift #3 - we hit Ninow and Davis from the Platter Pull Surface Lift, which actually skied the best of any trail so far!
Runs 4-7
Run 4: East Bowl Triple - East Bowl - Galloping Goose - Juniper
[0.84 mi; 4:52; 797 ft; 22.0 mph max; 10.1 mph avg]
Run 5: Summit Double - Maple Chute - Upper Speedwell - Lower Speedwell - Jubilee
[0.76 mi; 3:41; 810 ft; 27.4 mph max; 12.4 mph avg]
Run 6: Summit Double - Maple Chute - Sun Valley - Valley View - Big Dipper - Davis
[0.77 mi; 3:45; 827 ft; 28.1 mph max; 12.3 mph avg]
Run 7: Summit Double - Maple Chute - Upper Speedwell - Lower Speedwell - Jubilee
[0.73 mi; 3:00; 823 ft; 30.7 mph max; 14.5 mph avg]
We continued onto the East Bowl Triple. We noticed that Black Mountain was functioning similarly to Magic and Jay in terms of what defines an "open" trail, which we respected. Basically, if there was at least a single line of connecting snow, it was open (minus snowmaking, though). Run #4 followed East Bowl and then down Gallopping Goose, which wasn't bumpy... more of a lumpy frozen run down to Juniper.
Our next three runs werre of the mid-station of the Summit Double. We made the sharp left turn down the comically steep and long exit ramp to the Maple Chute, which skied super nicely. Run #5 went down Upper and Lower Speedwell, which were both a little icy, but overall skied nicely, and Jubilee was in great shape.
#6 was down Sun Valley to Valley View, both of which were hard and fast, and then we went down Big Dipper and Davis. Big Dipper was simialr to my last visit - with the headwall being a glacier, but Davis was delightful! Sarah was getting a little tired of the double chair, which kept stopping and bouncing. We did a repeat of the Speedwells for #7 before a quick potty break and heading up for lunch!
Runs 8-10
Run 8: East Bowl Triple - East Bowl - Juniper
[0.79 mi; 4:17; 846 ft; 27.2 mph max; 11.1 mph avg]
Run 9: East Bowl Triple - East Bowl - Black Beauty - Juniper
[0.79 mi; 3:13; 804 ft; 25.6 mph max; 14.8 mph avg]
Run 10: Platter Pull Surface Lift - Jubilee
[0.24 mi; 1:11; 220 ft; 20.3 mph max; 12.3 mph avg]
We took the East Bowl Triple up for what was my favorite ski day lunch of all time. We went to the Alpine Cabin and I said "I keep seeing signs for champagne and fondue?" She said "excellent choice!" While not cheap, it also wasn't as expensive as I had thought. The fondue was $20, which is actually reasonable for a lift-served eatery, and the 375mL bottle of Veuve Cliquot was $60, which retails for $40, so I was thrilled (a full bottle was $120). With tip, lunch was $50/each. We got a table outside and enjoyed our lunch which was so fun and silly! Music was playing outside the cabin, which was super fun. Only qualm for us was the snowmaking guns, which were right next to the cabin and super loud, but hey, gotta do what you gotta do! We chilled for a bit after lunch, just enjoying the sights and sounds. We watched the DJ get set up, and decided we'd ski some more before coming back to enjoy his music and some warm beverages.
After lunch, we did an easy run down Juniper, which was the most fun run of the day, mostly just because we now had a glass of wine in our systems. We did a quick bathroom break and then did another lap down Black Beauty and Juniper - we only did part of Black Beauty becuase it was still pretty frozen. We were hoping for some more sun to soften things up, but we accepted that we wouldn't be getting that.
Run #10 was another lap on the Platter Pull Surface Lift for fun, and we went left this time down Jubilee.
Runs 11-14
Run 11: Summit Double - Upper Black Beauty - Black Beauty - Spruce - Juniper
[1.21 mi; 5:07; 1,129 ft; 25.1 mph max; 7.7 mph avg]
Run 12: Summit Double - Maple Chute - Sun Valley - Valley View - Big Dipper - Davis - Outback
[0.81 mi; 3:55; 830 ft; 23.1 mph max; 12.4 mph avg]
Run 13: East Bowl Triple - Maple Chute - Upper Speedwell - Lower Speedwell - Davis
[0.73 mi; 3:17; 814 ft; 22.5 mph max; 11.8 mph avg]
Run 14: East Bowl Triple - East Bowl - Sugarbush - Sugar Loop - Sugarbush - Juniper
[0.95 mi; 4:57; 764 ft; 20.1 mph max; 10.8 mph avg]
We got two more runs off of the Summit Double - Sarah was such a trooper! Some of the bounces were intense, in fairness. Run #11 was back to the tippy top and down the Black Beauties, which were in rough shape, especially the stretch of Upper Black Beauty after turning a corner. We basically picked an edge and rode it down, only turning for the novelty of it. Sarah joked that she would turn just to look at some different trees. The lower half was in better shape, thankfully, and then we made it down.
Back to the mid-station for Run #12, we followed Maple Chute to Big Dipper again. We noticed from the Triple there were a few pretty trails that were really only accessible via some of the gnarlier "open" trails, but we were able to cut over from Davis to Outback, which was... fine. Just more ice skating!
At this point, we were all done with the double chair and went back to the Triple for one more run on the left side of the map, back to the Speedwells, which I think were my favorites of the day. While icy, they still skied decently. In reflection, I also have over 20 days without doing anything to my edges, which was not helping my cause.
We were getting ready for hot chocolate o'clock, so we called three more skip the last with a BIG break in between. Run #14 was up the Triple, where we saw three snowboarders duck the rope and suffer the consequences. Snowboarder #1 fell immedaitely on the headwall of Jackson Standard, slid off the groomed run, hit an iceberg, and FLEW through the air. Snowboarder #2 fell on his butt and slid all the way down, slowly rotating as he slid. Somehow Snowboarder #3 survived and watched his friends. Thankfully all three were fine, and we hope they got yelled at! We went down Sugarbush and Sugar Loop, which were THIN cover. There was a large family exploring some of the blues and glades off this side, which was an interesting choice. Not great skiing, but fun to see a new terrain pod. After this run we went in for another potty break, added a layer, and then it was time to head up!
Run 15
Run 15: East Bowl Triple - East Bowl - Juniper
[0.83 mi; 2:50; 846 ft; 29.1 mph max; 16.4 mph avg]
Back up the Triple, we stopped back at the Alpine Cabin, which was busy now! Inside, there was a hefty line for drinks, and the deck was pretty packed, but there were seats available. Sarah got a hot cider and I got a hot chocolate (with my own Baileys added). The DJ's theme was essentailly "Prom is 2012," which was EXCELLENT. The general manager went around refilling people's champagne and mingled, and at one point he got a little crazy and did the thing rich people do where they put their thumb over the champagne bottle and shake it. The vibes here were EXCELLENT. A few normal people took a chair ride up too to join in on the fun. Sarah and I stayed for a little over an hour, eventually getting a second round of hot drinks (this time she got hot chocolate and I got the hot cider with a shot of rum). It was DEVINE. A little after 4pm we made the call to ski down, even though the DJ went until 6pm and they were permitting folks to ski at the end!
Our final was down East Bowl and Juniper and was lovely. I will say, though, going from a loud DJ and snowguns to only hearing the sounds of your skis is a JARRING transition!
We wrapped up at our cars and met Sarah's parents at the Wildcat Inn (we got some AMAZING ravioli!). After we parted ways, I drove to the Lakes Region to meet Emma, Snowboard Emma, and Elizabeth at the Twin Barns Brewery for a drink and then we all went to Fun Spot (which was a WILD experience). We spent the night at Snowboard Emma's parents' lake house and Ragged Mountain was on the list for tomorrow!
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