Skiing Pats Peak
Saturday, February 7th, 2026
Runs: 16
Distance: 11.27 miles
Elevation: 9,245 feet
Max Speed: 27.9 mph
Avg. Speed: 11.0 mph
Moving Time: 1hour, 1 minutes, 38 seconds
Total Time: 4 hours, 29 minutes, 6 seconds
Time for Gen's return to skiing! After our Maine vacation last year, her granfather got injured, and then became sick, and then... well, you know, so her season was over without her really knowing. This year, she wasn't able to start skiing with the rest of us because of a wrist injury that required surgery, but she texted me asking if I'd be down to go skiing with her before vacation next week so she can dust off the cobwebs, and of course I said yes! We decided to hit up Pats Peak, one because of its accessibility (driving & skiing-wise), but also because that's famously where we were headed when my car flew off the highway last winter - redemption part two!
Our drive was dreadfully slow due to a surprise few inches of snow that New Hampshire seemed to ignore - it took us about two hours to get to Hooksett (and I was having a CODE: BROWN for the last hour, it was stressful!) with about three decently bad accidents on the way. Hooksett to Pats was much better, but the back roads to the ski area were still decently slippery. I did not get the princess parking I had last time, which was a bummer that I accepted. We waited in a long line of cars to park, grabbed our gear, got our Indy's, and then booted up in the Valley Lodge and left our bags outside - it was snowing the whole time, which was exciting! After a slow boot up we headed outside and had our eyes set on the Triple! We were on the lookout for Sarah, her Mom, her brother, and his girlfriend, too!
Snow Report
The hard work of our snowmaking team throughout the season, combined with nightly grooming, has the mountain in great shape for mid-winter skiing and riding. With colder temperatures, please remember to bundle up and protect exposed skin.
Runs 1-3
Run 1: Peak Triple Chair - Breeze - Zephyr - Blast
[1.08 mi; 5:56; 751 feet; 19.4 mph max; 10.9 mph avg]
Run 2: Peak Triple Chair - Backdraft
[0.43 mi; 2:33; 289 feet; 17.3 mph max; 10.2 mph avg]
Run 3: Cascade Basin Triple Chair - Crosswind - Zephyr - Zephyr Woods - Blast
[1.25 mi; 6:05; 827 feet; 21.1 mph max; 12.4 mph avg]
Run #1 and Goal #1 was for Gen to remember how to ski (and have a good time getting down the hill!). We followed the easiest way down down Breezy, Zephyr, and Blast. To my delight, the snow was absolutely wonderful! We'd ski one segment at a time and see how it goes. The first third of the run Gen skied super cautiously but started to get her groove back for the second half. The runout of Blast is beautiful with some tree islands, but otherwise pretty flat and slow, so nothing crazy there!
It was after 10:00am when it was time for Run #2, so we headed down Backdraft to Cascade Basin, which was a mistake! Everyone else had our idea, so we waited in a long line for the Cascade Basin Triple and then skied back via Crosswind, Zephyr, Zephyr Woods, and Blast. Since I was going slower waiting for Gen (not mad about it in the slightest!), I was really focusing on making good turns in both short and wide radiuses (radii?) - the snow was NICE. The Zephyr Woods were even easier than last time since the trenches were filled in - I love that they're a signed double black - they're flat and WIDE open. I guess a good deterrent for fearless kids, though (maybe...)!
Runs 4-6
Run 4: Hurricane Quad Chair - East Wind - Lower East Wind - Lower Tornado
[0.86 mi; 4:22; 758 feet; 24.1 mph max; 11.9 mph avg]
Run 5: Peak Triple Chair - Breeze - Squall Line - Lower Tornado
[0.97 mi; 4:43; 751 feet; 22.2 mph max; 12.3 mph avg]
We found Sarah and company at the top of Run #4! They were all super excited to see Gen since it had been so long. Initially we thought about skiing together, but I told them we were going to be slow slow and to not wait for us. Mom said we could all rendez-vous at the bottom. We went down Gen's first blue of her great return - East Wind, and it went well! She said it was a good challenge. I enjoyed it for the deeper snow on the edges of the trail. We maneuvered our way down and I was going to tell Sarah and family to not wait for us and we'd see them later, and they got the memo because they were already on the lift! I waved to them as they went up.
Run #5 was our final run on this side of the hill (aside from the black runs) - Breeze to Squall Line to Lower Tornado. It was a solid run! Snow was still good, the hill wasn't TOO crowded, and Gen was having fun! We skied across the lodge area and ended up at the Turbulance side for a few more runs before lunch.
Runs 7-8
Run 7: Valley Double Chair - Puff - Glades - Puff
[0.56 mi; 2:55; 348 feet; 19.8 mph max; 11.6 mph avg]
Run 8: Turbulance Triple Chair - Turbulance
[0.48 mi; 3:08; 400 feet; 22.7 mph max; 9.3 mph avg]
In the spirit of avoiding parks, we hit just two runs on this half of the hill. Run #7 was up the Valley Double and down Puff (I took a detour through the glades, which was similarly wildly easy), and then we went up the Turbulance Triple and followed Turbulance back to the Valley Lodge, which was a wonderful run with immaculate show! Gen had a good time dodging the lift towers.
Lunch involved sitting, hydrating, and eating my cold breakfast sandwich (our bags were buried in snow being outside all day). Gen was feeling good and said the words "I like skiing," which wasn't a surprise, but good to know that it still reigns true!
Runs 9-13
Run 9: Hurricane Quad Chair - Backdraft
[0.44 mi; 2:57; 292 feet; 20.6 mph max; 8.9 mph avg]
Run 10: Cascade Basin Triple Chair - Cascade Brook
[0.43 mi; 2:19; 371 feet; 18.8 mph max; 11.0 mph avg]
Run 11: Cascade Basin Triple Chair - Blizzard - Blizzard Woods - Cascade Brook
[0.40 mi; 2:40; 364 feet; 19.2 mph max; 9.1 mph avg]
Run 12: Cascade Basin Triple Chair - Temptest (Black)
[0.37 mi; 1:39; 371 feet; 26.7 mph max; 13.4 mph avg
Run 13: Cascade Basin Triple Chair - Crosswind - Zephyr - Lower East Wind - Squall Line - Lower Tornado
[1.28 mi; 6:23; 853 feet; 25.2 mph max; 12.0 mph avg]
Now that we were in the afternoon, it was time to get back to Cascade Basin! It was also at least 10 degrees colder than it was before, which was surprising and uncomfortable. Run #9 was up the Hurricane Quad and down Backdraft, which was still in great shape. Runs #10-13 were all on the Cascade Basin Triple, and all lovely! Cascade Brook continues to be a favorite, although I wish it was longer. Gen and I went down Blizzard, and I jumped into the Blizzard Woods, which was closer to a more traditional glade, but it was at low tide which made for some surprising turns. Run #12 was down Temptest (I encouraged Gen to go down the black side, especially because it was eaiser than many blues she's done at Jay, but she was psyched out - it was FUN), and finally we made the long return trip down Crosswind back to the main area.
Runs 14-16
Run 14: Hurricane Quad Chair - Duster - Squall Line
[0.68 mi; 4:05; 699 feet; 22.2 mph max; 10.0 mph avg]
Run 15: Vortex Double Chair - Cyclone - Squall Line
[0.61 mi; 3:21; 682 feet; 21.4 mph max; 11.0 mph avg]
Run 16: Vortex Double Chair - Tornado - Squall Line
[0.62 mi; 4:01; 738 feet; 27.9 mph max; 9.2 mph avg]
At this point, we were cold and tired. Gen called her two more skip the last and I said "eh maybe." Sarah was able to meet up with us for this run, so it was nice to share Gen's last run with her! For Gen's final run we followed Duster to Squall Line. Duster had some excellent bumps on the right side, but a kid was going super slow so I had to bail on them halfway down. The middle was a bit skied off, but overall it still was a solid run. We said goodbye to Gen, and Sarah and I decided to hop on the Vortex Double to hit a couple steeps before I called it (I was COLD). Run #15 was down Cyclone, which was a little scratchy, but it was fun to go fast! My final run, Run #16, was down Tornado since we saw some bumps from the bottom, and we didn't regret it, but we didn't jump for joy either... The upper half was scratchy and the bumps were skied out in the middle, which made for some adventure skiing.
Afterwards, Gen and I booted... off? and we got a famous BIG cookie (it was DELICIOUS). We did our chores, hit the gift shop (I got a sticker and immediately lost it...) and we slowly made our way back home, with a quick stop to Taco Bell in Lawrence. It was so good to have Gen back, and she seemed to enjoy it just as much, if not more!
