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Crotched Mountain Ski & Ride facts for kids

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Crotched Mountain Ski & Ride
Crotched Mountain Logo 2015-16.jpg
View of ski area from Francestown Road
View of ski area from Francestown Road
Location Francestown/Bennington, New Hampshire, US
Nearest city Manchester
Coordinates 43°0′8.21″N 71°52′42.81″W / 43.0022806°N 71.8785583°W / 43.0022806; -71.8785583
Top elevation 2066 ft (630 m)
Base elevation 1050 ft (320 m)
Skiable area 75 acres (300,000 m2)
Runs 23
Ski trail rating symbol-green circle.svg 32% Beginner
Ski trail rating symbol-blue square.svg 36% Intermediate
Ski trail rating symbol-black diamond.svg 32% Expert
Lift system 1 HSQ, 1 quad, 1 triple, 1 double, 1 magic carpet

Crotched Mountain Ski & Ride is a medium-sized ski area located on Crotched Mountain in Bennington and Francestown, New Hampshire. The ski area reopened in 2003 after having been closed for 13 years. Crotched Mountain is 30 miles (48 km) east of Keene, 26 miles (42 km) west of Manchester, and 77 miles (124 km) northwest of Boston.

As of late 2019, it is owned by Colorado-based Vail Resorts.

History

The original Crotched Mountain Ski Area opened in 1964 on a different face of the mountain - the northeast side, entirely in Francestown. In 1970, a second area opened on the north side with the name Onset, later changed to Bobcat. Bobcat and the original Crotched Mountain merged in 1980 and operated jointly as Crotched Mountain. More than 100 adjacent condominium units were constructed in the late 1980s, creating a burden of debt that contributed to the demise of the resort in 1989.

The resort was bought in 2002 by St. Louis-based Peak Resorts, a company that ran a few North American ski areas, including Attitash Mountain Resort and Wildcat Mountain Ski Area in New Hampshire. The company spent an estimated $9 million to build a new lodge, install new, state of the art snowmaking equipment and chairlifts, and to recut trails, and in 2003 reopened what had been the Onset/Bobcat side as Crotched Mountain Ski Area.

In 2012, the resort installed a high-speed quad, bought from Ascutney Mountain Resort in Vermont.

The portion of the mountain with the original Crotched Mountain ski area is now largely owned by the town of Francestown.

In October 2019, Vail Resorts became the owner when it closed on a deal to buy Peak Resorts and all of its 17 ski areas.

  • Crotched Mountain NH

    View from mountain towards Manchester

  • Crotched Mountain Sunset (IMG 0776)

    View from mountain towards Bennington

  • Old Crotched West Summit T-bar Lift (IMG 0770)

    Old Summit T-bar