Annual Military Salute Weekend at Attitash

This was the 8th Annual Military Salute Weekend at Attitash and Wildcat. These ski areas were offering free lift tickets to active duty, veterans and retired military members. Today I would be hitting the slopes of Attitash with my youngest son Brandon and middle son Ryan along with his girlfriend Jen. I'm retired from the Navy and both Ryan and Jen are in the Air National Guard so we enjoyed the free lift tickets. Brandon has a season pass.

It was a cold morning with the sun shining in a clear blue sky. The temperatures were supposed to drop throughout the day and a steady wind was blowing. We met in tha parking lot at Bear Peak. After layering up and getting our free lift tickets we were off to the first run of the day. Brandon and I grabbed the first chair and Ryan and Jen caught one behind us. Jen was a beginner skier and she did great getting off the chairlift. We gave her a few quick tips and she started to go straight down the slope toward me. She did the right thing and gracefully fell down before reaching the treeline.

Brandon and I headed down and then up to the summit for a few runs while Ryan and Jen took their time getting down the slope. When we found them after several runs they were still making their way down the first slope which was OK, we were all having fun! We eventually made our way over to Attitash from Bear Peak for several runs. Going back and forth between the two summits is one of the things I enjoy about skiing here.

Now my son Brandon and I had a chairlift experience that we won't soon forget. As we positioned ourselves to get the next chair, around it came...and there was no seat! The seat had somehow been lifted up and secured in place. I tried to pull it down but it wasn't coming. In the meantime it was pushing us along and as it started to rise we both jumped out of the way, this all happened in a matter of seconds. It was finally at this point the lift operator realized what had happened and stopped the lift. He said he knew about that chair but forgot to pay attention and missed it, I replied, "Yea, I noticed...". There were two skiers waiting for the next chair and we hopped on with them. 

The trail conditions were actually better than I thought they would be considering there hasn't been a lot of natural snow so far this winter. There were some sketchy areas on the upper part of both mountains with some areas of boilerplate that made for some interesting skiing and riding. Edges were useless on that stuff and there were some very fast runs on those slopes.

We made our last run around three o'clock and called it a day and a great day it was! Lift lines were minimal which always means lots of skiing and riding. Weather was cold, crisp, clear and sunny just the way I like it when skiing...perfect! And the price was right...free! We appreciate the generosity of Attitash and Wildcat providing free lift tickets to military members this weekend, it's a fantastic display of support!

A top to bottom run on Attitash!

A spectacular day as seen from the summit observation tower.



Having Fun in the Great Outdoors!