January 26, 2020
Day 13
Skiers: Carla & Tim
Lucky 13! Today we visited Ragged Mountain in Danbury NH for our Talls & Smalls Adventure. Ragged is located in the central-west part of NH and is easily accessible by either Rt 93 or Rt 89. Ragged first opened in 1965, and boasts a vertical drop of 1250” and 250 skiable acres. It is similar in size to Gunstock. Today 30/57 trails were open and 5/5 lifts were running. Temps were in the upper 30’s and skies were mostly cloudy.
Base area L to R: Meetinghouse Lodge, Guest Services, Elmwood Lodge, Red Barn
Red barn & silo as seen from the parking area
Tim & I have never skied Ragged before and were excited to use our free passes won at the Boston Ski Expo. My first impression as we drove up Ragged Mountain Road was WOW! The view before us was quintessential New England and totally breathtaking. From the red barn that flanks the Elmwood lodge (think Sugarbush), to the classic grandeur of the Meetinghouse Lodge, Ragged has to be by far the prettiest base area in NH!
Loading area of the Summit Six Express and Waffle cabin. Ski school is located in the Meetinghouse Lodge
Last night rain was abundant throughout the region, but oddly I think it actually enhanced the surface as temps did not fall below freezing. The snow was firm but had bounce, no ice, and skied smooth like velvet. We started our day on the Summit Six Express and explored all the terrain to skiers right off of Ragged Summit. Our favorite run was Upper Ridge (blue) to Headwall (black) to Lower Chute & Main Street (greens). Also open off of Ragged Summit was Upper Exhibition (blue) to Birches (black).
Base area, last night’s rain kept the crowds away, look how few pairs of skis are in the racks
View looking down from Headwall
Carla skiing over the lip of Headwall
Thin cover under the Summit Six Express
We worked our way over to the Spear Mountain Express Quad and accessed all terrain here to skiers left. Cardigan is a fun green trail that flanks the perimeter. Jug Handle back to Cardigan offered some really great banking turns. Showboat (black) has a great steep pitch and skied fast due to the velvety surface. The trail was wide open with little to no other skiers, allowing us to rip it full throttle. We had a nice rivalry going between us who could go faster. It was pretty close…. Unfortunately, I can’t fully claim bragging rights as the GPS tracker I was using did not record speed, just trails accessed. Due to low snow cover, the black glades that nestle the ravine between the two summits were closed.
Skiing down Cardigan. View of the mountains looking north towards Mount Moosilauke, the Kinsman Range, and the Franconia Range
View looking down Showboat towards base
How enticing skiing off into the Abyss! These glades look amazing
We had close to 15 runs in before lunch, and were pretty hungry despite the having a mid-morning snack at Waffle Cabin. We enjoyed brick-oven flatbreads and local brews at the Stone Heath Bar. I thought it was cool that they had signs posted stating the bar was closing early today at 430 for a staff appreciation event. The culture was inviting and you could clearly tell that Ragged is a fun place to work.
Local brews on tap. Rags to Riches is the signature glade at Ragged. Note mug club hanging in the background
Stone hearth fireplace, upper level inside the red barn. Old double chair above the fireplace.
Open beams upper level of the red barn. This area is expansive with ample seating and large windows to overlook the mountain. Flows into the Elmwood Lodge.
We headed back out for the afternoon and were excited to find blue trail Flying Yankee now open (closed earlier for race training). This trail became the highlight of our day! Not as steep as Showboat, but much more playful with sweet little turns and dips. Totally reminded me of Barons Run at Cannon. We pretty much bounced back and forth between both summits for another 10 runs.
Sun peeking through the trees
The Pinnacle Summit expansion can be seen in the background behind closed trail Cemetery Gates. Once complete this will add an additional 30% of new terrain.
Overall impression: Ragged is an amazing medium size mountain that completely knocked my socks off! The terrain was fun, engaging, and satisfied a need to let my legs stretch with speed. The glades look so enticing that we are anticipating a return visit when they fill in with some natural snowfall. If anyone is looking to try a new mountain in NH this is it- I can’t believe what I have been missing out on all these years!
Snowy Wishes,
Carla Frontfive
Ragged is easily accessible from both interstate 93 & 89. We drove both today, one route each way
Another view of base from green trail Main Street. Ragged Mountain was purchased in 2007 by Salt Lake City based developer Pacific Group. Since the purchase of Ragged Mountain, Pacific Group has invested more than $25 million in improvements, including lodge renovations and a new high speed detachable quad chairlift for the 2014-2015 ski season, with the ultimate goal of developing a year-round resort with up to 900 residential and second home properties.
Ski art life-size figure
Day 13
Skiers: Carla & Tim
Lucky 13! Today we visited Ragged Mountain in Danbury NH for our Talls & Smalls Adventure. Ragged is located in the central-west part of NH and is easily accessible by either Rt 93 or Rt 89. Ragged first opened in 1965, and boasts a vertical drop of 1250” and 250 skiable acres. It is similar in size to Gunstock. Today 30/57 trails were open and 5/5 lifts were running. Temps were in the upper 30’s and skies were mostly cloudy.
Base area L to R: Meetinghouse Lodge, Guest Services, Elmwood Lodge, Red Barn
Red barn & silo as seen from the parking area
Tim & I have never skied Ragged before and were excited to use our free passes won at the Boston Ski Expo. My first impression as we drove up Ragged Mountain Road was WOW! The view before us was quintessential New England and totally breathtaking. From the red barn that flanks the Elmwood lodge (think Sugarbush), to the classic grandeur of the Meetinghouse Lodge, Ragged has to be by far the prettiest base area in NH!
Loading area of the Summit Six Express and Waffle cabin. Ski school is located in the Meetinghouse Lodge
Last night rain was abundant throughout the region, but oddly I think it actually enhanced the surface as temps did not fall below freezing. The snow was firm but had bounce, no ice, and skied smooth like velvet. We started our day on the Summit Six Express and explored all the terrain to skiers right off of Ragged Summit. Our favorite run was Upper Ridge (blue) to Headwall (black) to Lower Chute & Main Street (greens). Also open off of Ragged Summit was Upper Exhibition (blue) to Birches (black).
Base area, last night’s rain kept the crowds away, look how few pairs of skis are in the racks
View looking down from Headwall
Carla skiing over the lip of Headwall
Thin cover under the Summit Six Express
We worked our way over to the Spear Mountain Express Quad and accessed all terrain here to skiers left. Cardigan is a fun green trail that flanks the perimeter. Jug Handle back to Cardigan offered some really great banking turns. Showboat (black) has a great steep pitch and skied fast due to the velvety surface. The trail was wide open with little to no other skiers, allowing us to rip it full throttle. We had a nice rivalry going between us who could go faster. It was pretty close…. Unfortunately, I can’t fully claim bragging rights as the GPS tracker I was using did not record speed, just trails accessed. Due to low snow cover, the black glades that nestle the ravine between the two summits were closed.
Skiing down Cardigan. View of the mountains looking north towards Mount Moosilauke, the Kinsman Range, and the Franconia Range
View looking down Showboat towards base
How enticing skiing off into the Abyss! These glades look amazing
We had close to 15 runs in before lunch, and were pretty hungry despite the having a mid-morning snack at Waffle Cabin. We enjoyed brick-oven flatbreads and local brews at the Stone Heath Bar. I thought it was cool that they had signs posted stating the bar was closing early today at 430 for a staff appreciation event. The culture was inviting and you could clearly tell that Ragged is a fun place to work.
Local brews on tap. Rags to Riches is the signature glade at Ragged. Note mug club hanging in the background
Stone hearth fireplace, upper level inside the red barn. Old double chair above the fireplace.
Open beams upper level of the red barn. This area is expansive with ample seating and large windows to overlook the mountain. Flows into the Elmwood Lodge.
We headed back out for the afternoon and were excited to find blue trail Flying Yankee now open (closed earlier for race training). This trail became the highlight of our day! Not as steep as Showboat, but much more playful with sweet little turns and dips. Totally reminded me of Barons Run at Cannon. We pretty much bounced back and forth between both summits for another 10 runs.
Sun peeking through the trees
The Pinnacle Summit expansion can be seen in the background behind closed trail Cemetery Gates. Once complete this will add an additional 30% of new terrain.
Overall impression: Ragged is an amazing medium size mountain that completely knocked my socks off! The terrain was fun, engaging, and satisfied a need to let my legs stretch with speed. The glades look so enticing that we are anticipating a return visit when they fill in with some natural snowfall. If anyone is looking to try a new mountain in NH this is it- I can’t believe what I have been missing out on all these years!
Snowy Wishes,
Carla Frontfive
Ragged is easily accessible from both interstate 93 & 89. We drove both today, one route each way
Another view of base from green trail Main Street. Ragged Mountain was purchased in 2007 by Salt Lake City based developer Pacific Group. Since the purchase of Ragged Mountain, Pacific Group has invested more than $25 million in improvements, including lodge renovations and a new high speed detachable quad chairlift for the 2014-2015 ski season, with the ultimate goal of developing a year-round resort with up to 900 residential and second home properties.
Ski art life-size figure
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