Trip Report - Windblown (New Hampshire) - 11 Dec 2005

I skied today at the Windblown cross-country ski area in New Ipswich,
New Hampshire. Conditions were fair to good. Just about all the
"green" and "blue" trails were open and groomed. Supposedly the "black"
trails, though ungroomed, were "open", but I think you would have to be
out of your mind to ski those trails right now. Back on the "blue"
trails, a few trails (especially on the bottom right of the map: Back
Forty and Pine Tree) had substantial obstacles (water features, ice
features, rock features, and dirt features). But on most blue trails
you just needed to keep your eyes open for occasional, small obstacles.
On the green trails you could have zoned out altogether without fear
of hitting anything other than snow.

In response to the well-taken point recently made on this newsgroup by
Ken Roberts, I agree that it's very hard to compare different
cross-country ski areas, especially given that there is little overlap
in the experiences of most local-area skiers. (Even just within my
*own* experiences, I can see problems making a comparison to someplace I
enjoyed, say, 20 years ago.) Nonetheless, I think we can do well by
describing in honest detail what we like or do not like.

Having said all that: Windblown is widely beloved by skiers in the
metropolitan Boston area. (And not just because it is only 1 1/2 hours
from Boston.) (In my case, I don't think I'm just reacting to my many
happy memories from my formative years when I was learning to ski.)
Part of the mystique of Windblown is that it is a genuine "Mom and Pop"
shop. (The only other place in New England that was in this category
was the Camel's Hump area, back when the Brautigans still owned and ran
it.) If you ever had the dream of starting your own cross-country ski
area, Al Jenks has been living your dream for over 30 years. He cut all
the trails and built all the trailside shelters and outhouses. (And
he's still out there, selling trail passes or directing cars in the
parking lot.)

It isn't particularly the scenery that draws people to Windblown. Most
of the trails are wooded with no particular views, although there is a
big field surrounding the Jenks' house (the one part of the trail system
that really merits the name "windblown") where, on a clear day, you get
some nice views of Mount Monadnock (said to be the second-most hiked
mountain in the world, behind only Mt. Fuji).

The strong point of the trail system is the range of difficulty.
Beginner skiers and (on a good day) experienced skiers can both be
happy. One nice feature of the topography at Windblown is that there is
a valley in the middle of the trail system, avoiding the "one big hill"
problem. The near side of the central valley has small hills; the far
side of the valley is, in fact, one big hill (known as Barrett
Mountain). Al's original idea was to build an alpine ski area, so the
big hill includes one alpine-style trail, now known as the "Open Slope."
The Open Slope is accessorized with a side trail, known as the ZigZag
trail, which, as its name suggests, is a set of (5) loops that attach to
the Open Slope, and which is more about turns than steepness. The most
difficult trails (other than the Open Slope itself) descend from the top
of the Open Slope to the valley. Windblown calls these "backcountry"
trails, but in fact they are "somewhat groomed." At any rate, they are
as difficult as trails at any cross-country ski area in New England
other than Bolton Valley in Vermont.

This year Windblown features some new trails: two minor trails, and one
major new difficult trail (Barrett's Backbone, following their
predilection for alliterative trail names). As I mentioned, today the
difficult trails were in marginal shape, but I was able to see the
bottom of Barrett's Backbone, looking up from the central valley, and it
looked pretty awesome. It isn't often that we get new trails in New
England, so this is definitely something to look forward to this year.

Lew Lasher
Cambridge, Massachusetts and Stowe, Vermont