Black Mountain, Jackson NH

There are two Black Mountain ski resorts in New England. This was probably the first because it may claim the title of oldest ski resort in NH. The other Black Mountain ski area is just over the border in ME.

It took four tries to ski this mountain. The first time I had come up for the weekend and skied Wildcat one day and the following day woke up to a pounding rain. Drove home dejected, but as I gained elevation on the Kancamagus it turned into quite a blizzard. Very impressed that my fiery red Pontiac Grand Am cleared the summit. A 5 hour drive home turned in to an 8 hour ordeal.

Only the beginner chair was open the second time I went.

The third time was a beautiful sunny blue sky day with a pleasant winter temperature. Perfect. We arrived and the lot was empty. Fire in the snow making shed had shut everything down.

Black Mountain is a classic mountain - narrow long runs with limited trail merges and an intentionally (?) slow chairlift. Speaking of the chairlift, I had quite an interesting experience. It was mid-week so the mountain was relatively quiet and apparently so quiet that the chairlift operator up and left mid-morning. It was rather bizarre. I pulled up to the boarding line. Kicked some snow off my board. Adjusted my goggles. Tugged on my jacket. Tightened up my gloves. Hmmm. Still no lift attendant. Well, the chair is moving rather slowly and nobody is lining up behind me. Hmmm. So I slid in to position and went for it. Chair came around the bend and I plopped down heavily onto the chair and was whisked away. That's a first.

This continued for an hour. I saw other skiers on the hill so they must have been doing the same thing but I never saw them getting on to the chairlift. It's a little disconcerting to approach a chairlift without an attendant. Sort of the like the world came to an end except for the incessant chairlift.

At 12:30pm a school bus appeared with children and skis spilling forth and the long awaited return of the chairlift operator.