Crotched Mountain Ski & Ride facts for kids

Crotched Mountain Ski & Ride
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 32% Beginner 36% Intermediate 32% Expert
Lift system	1 HSQ, 1 quad, 1 triple, 1 double, 1 magic carpet

Crotched Mountain Ski & Ride is a fun place to ski and snowboard in New Hampshire. It's a medium-sized ski area located on Crotched Mountain. You can find it in the towns of Bennington and Francestown.

This ski area reopened in 2003. It had been closed for 13 years before that! Crotched Mountain is about 30 miles east of Keene. It's also 26 miles west of Manchester. If you're coming from Boston, it's about 77 miles northwest.

Since late 2019, a company called Vail Resorts owns Crotched Mountain. They are based in Colorado and own many ski resorts.

History of Crotched Mountain

The first Crotched Mountain Ski Area opened in 1964. It was on a different part of the mountain. This original area was entirely in Francestown.

In 1970, a second ski area opened nearby. It was called Onset, then later Bobcat. In 1980, Bobcat and the first Crotched Mountain joined together. They operated as one big ski area.

Many condominium homes were built next to the resort in the late 1980s. This created money problems for the resort. Because of these challenges, the resort closed in 1989.

Reopening the Ski Area

In 2002, a company called Peak Resorts bought the resort. Peak Resorts ran several ski areas in North America. These included Attitash Mountain Resort and Wildcat Mountain Ski Area in New Hampshire.

Peak Resorts spent about $9 million to rebuild the ski area. They built a new lodge and installed modern snowmaking equipment. They also put in new chairlifts and recut the ski trails. In 2003, they reopened the area. This new Crotched Mountain Ski Area was on the side that used to be Onset/Bobcat.

In 2012, the resort added a fast new chairlift. It was a high-speed quad chairlift. They bought it from Ascutney Mountain Resort in Vermont.

The part of the mountain where the very first ski area was is now owned by the town of Francestown.

In October 2019, Vail Resorts became the new owner. They bought Peak Resorts and all 17 of its ski areas. This included Crotched Mountain.

Images for kids

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  View from mountain towards Manchester

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  View from mountain towards Bennington

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  Old Summit T-bar