The best ski areas in the White Mountains are Cannon Mountain, Loon Mountain, Waterville Valley, Wildcat, and Attitash Bear Peak, with vertical drops of 2,000 feet, offering services one would expect of a professional ski resort.
The most impressive ski run in New Hampshire isn't served by a lift. Tuckerman Ravine drops 3,400 feet from a lip on the shoulder of Mount Washington down to the valley floor. Skiers arrive from all over to venture here in the early spring (it's dangerously avalanche-prone during the depths of winter), first hiking to the top and then speeding to the bottom of this dramatic glacial cirque. The slope is sheer and unforgiving; only very advanced skiers should attempt it. Careless or cocky skiers are hauled out every year on stretchers, and few years seem to go by without at least one skier's death. Contact the AMC's Pinkham Notch Camp (tel. 603/466-2727) for information on current conditions.
The state boasts some 26 cross-country ski centers, which groom a combined total of more than 500 miles of trails. The state's premier cross-country destination is the Jackson (tel. 800/XC-SNOWS), with 55 miles of groomed trails in and around an exceptionally scenic village in a valley near the base of Mount Washington. Other favorites include Bretton Woods Resort (tel. 800/314-1752 or 603/278-3322) at the western entrance to Crawford Notch, also with more than 55 miles of groomed trails, and the spectacularly remote Balsams/Wilderness cross-country ski center (tel. 800/255-0600 or 603/255-3400) in the northerly reaches of the state.
