Summer means different ways to go downhill at ski areas on both sides of the Connecticut River. What was once thought of as the off-season is now the full-on adventure season.
Mount Sunapee’s Adventure Park in Newbury continues to grow since it opened in 2012 with a canopy zip tour, a couple of aerial challenge loops, 9-hole disc golf course and chairlift rides. This summer the park will feature open with a canopy zip tour, four aerial challenge loops, 18-holes of both disc golf and mini-golf, a climbing wall tower, airbag jump, chairlift rides, bike park and mining flume where kids can mine for gems and fossils.
The lift-served Evolution Bike Park opened last summer at Sunapee with a single downhill trail from the South Peak summit and by season’s end there were four trails. Look for two more trails this summer.
Snow’s Mountain and its chairlift is a good option for downhill mountain bikers. Waterville Valley caters to both mountain bikers and fat bikes. Another cool option at Waterville is the skateboard camp for kids 8-17. Overnight camp focuses on kids ages 11-17. Not only do they ride at Waterville, but they also travel to one of southern New Hampshire’s parks for a session.
Mountain biking takes Attitash by storm, both downhill with lift service and singletrack for cross-country riding. The XC’s Thorne Pond Trail network has about 16 miles of singletrack and doubletrack pathways along the Saco River catering to beginners and intermediates. The ski area has many other activities including a zip tour from the Bear Peak summit.
Bretton Woods serves up lift-serviced mountain biking and cross-country on both sides of Route 302. Look for fat bikes this year. Their canopy tours are classic and they have other activities like guided rock climbing and the indoor climbing wall in the base lodge.
Gunstock and Cranmore offer zip lines and tree courses as part of their offerings while Loon has a climbing wall, maze, aerial forest with various elements and mountaintop caves to explore.
Cannon’s tram runs to the far-reaching summit while leisurely cyclists will enjoy pedaling the bike path through Franconia Notch State Park and viewing its myriad of natural attractions.
Hiking trails around General Stark Mountain, home of Mad River Glen in Fayston, Vt., are overseen by the nonprofit Stark Mountain Foundation. Trails lead by a nature center, waterfall, by chairlifts and to the mountain’s 3,644-foot summit. The ski area’s General Stark’s Pub is open for the summer.
Hikers on quests for 4,000-footers will summit several ski area mountains in the region. They are Cannon, Wildcat, Tecumseh (Waterville Valley) in New Hampshire and Mount Mansfield (Stowe), Killington and Mount Ellen (Sugarbush) in Vermont, all offering several options given those downhill pathways.
Mountain bikers have everything from twisting singletrack to lift-serviced mountain biking at both downhill and cross-country ski centers. Okemo, Killington and Smugglers’ Notch are adding more trails and options for mountain bikers this summer.
Sugarbush Resort linked up with the Vermont Mountain Bike Association to connect nearly 60 miles of mapped trails to their own trails. Sugarbush, which also has lift-served downhill biking on Lincoln Peak, is hosting the Vermont Bike Festival from July 22-24.
The mountain bike trail network at Trapp Family Lodge in Stowe is getting bigger with more singletrack and multi-use trails, plus guided tours.
Ski areas are also stops on the Vittoria Eastern States Cup series for both downhill and enduro (timed downhill, untimed uphill stages) mountain bike racing. Downhill stops include competitions at Pats Peak (June 12 along with its mountain bike festival), Killington (July 2 and 31), Mount Snow (July 10), Attitash (July 24) and Sugarbush (Aug. 21). Killington, Attitash and Sugarbush also host enduro racing.
Stowe Mountain Resort is upping its summer game with its $80 million Adventure Center. There’s an indoor year-round rock-climbing gym called Stowe Rocks. The center is also the gateway to adrenaline inducing activities. High fliers can take a zip tour that begins with a ride in the gondola up Mount Mansfield before launching onto three lines for the trip to the bottom. Spend time among the trees during a tree-top adventure with courses containing a multitude of challenging surprises.
Want to try something different? Fly over water while flyboarding in Bootleggers Basin at Smuggs. Flyboarders are thrust into the air in a system using a board, jet pack, hose and jet ski.
(Marty Basch can be reached through onetankaway.com.)