Crotched Mountain, New Hampshire

Crotched Mountain Ski & Ride Area is a small ski area on the border between Francestown and Bennington, New Hampshire. The resort is unusual because it reopened in the 2003-2004 winter after having been closed for 13 years. This bucked a trend in the downhill ski industry, which has seen hundreds of small ski areas close due to high costs and increased competition.

The mountain was bought in 2002 by St. Louis-based Peak Resorts, a company that runs ski areas in the American Midwest. The company spent an estimated $9 million to build a new lodge, install new snowmaking equipment and chairlifts and to recut trails.

The first winter, in which the area opened slightly late due to construction, saw a reported 40,000 skier visits, about one-third that of similar sized and nearby Pat's Peak. The number rose to 88,000 visits the second winter (2004-2005).

Crotched Mountain claims its snowmaking system has the highest snow production capacity per acre of any ski area in New England.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Uses material from the article Crotched Mountain, New Hampshire.