SKIING THROUGH A BARN AT RAGGED MOUNTAIN
For Day 43 of my ski season, I headed to where the license plates say “LIVE FREE OR DIE.” If you didn't know, that’s New Hampshire’s state motto, and it’s printed on their license plates.
The decision to head to New Hampshire to ski Ragged Mountain was made late last night. Ragged is located in Danbury, New Hampshire. It was about a 160-mile drive for me, which took 2 hours and 50 minutes. I drove home afterward, and I’m currently writing this in my basement. Ragged is within my 3-hour limit, which is the maximum distance I’ll drive one-way to ski for a day. Any longer, and I’ll stay the night, probably.
A map of the ski area at the base.
The lodge at the base.
Looking up at the ski area from the base.
Ragged Mountain is the 10th ski area I’ve visited this season, and it was actually my first time ever there. I have a Jay Peak season pass and, up until this past November, when Ragged was sold, the two ski areas were owned by the same company. Anyways, at least for this season, my Jay Peak pass works at Ragged. With Ragged being sold, I’m assuming this won’t be the case for next season, so naturally, I’d been planning to make it there this season to ski it, and today was that day.
For those not familiar with Ragged Mountain, this ski resort has two mountains: Ragged Mountain and Spear Mountain. Each mountain is serviced by a high-speed lift, which is a really nice setup. The ski resort has a vertical of 1,250 ft. There are 57 runs, including a number of glades, which weren’t open today, but they did look like a lot of fun.
Showboat.
I’m not sure what the name of this run is.
I’m not sure what the name of this run is.
I skied Ragged with none other than Pro Skier Darren White, as well as Bryan from New Hampshire and his daughter. We spent the day alternating between the two mountains. Unfortunately, we just had a warm up to end the work week, followed by a freeze last night, and though it was a mild day on the mountain, that wasn’t enough to soften the snow up from last night’s freeze.
Riding the Summit Six Express.
Blueberry Patch.
I think this is Cardigan or Turnpike.
Admittedly, conditions weren’t amazing, and there were only around 25 runs open. Basically every run was icy, though some of the heavily trafficked ones, like Cardigan and Turnpike, were a little softer. The firmest run we skied was probably Showboat. Funnily enough, we skied it 3–4 times despite the conditions. Go figure. Another run we all agreed was decent, conditions-wise, was Blueberry Patch to Lower Ridge.
The top of Spear Mountain.
Pro Skier Darren White skiing through the barn.
Seeing as I’d never been to Ragged, I made everyone join me in checking out the beginner area. It’s a good thing I did, because we would’ve missed out on something fairly unique otherwise. As we rode up the Barnyard Triple, something caught my eye: a barn you could ski through. Now, this isn’t a huge barn or anything, but still. When given the option to ski through a barn, you ski through the barn. It lasted all of five seconds, but it was pretty cool, and it’s certainly a unique aspect of Ragged Mountain that I’ll remember.
Never Quit Skiing,
Lincoln