Snow Business: A Pat On The Back For Pats Peak

HENNIKER, NH — It was time for something different last week — a bold move to try a new ski area toward the end of a restriction-laden, pandemic-hindered snow sports season — and Pats Peak Seemed the perfect destination.

And it turned out to be just that.

Let's go over the reasoning. First of all, Pats is in New Hampshire, one of the consistent open states in the season of the pandemic. Yes, the ride to Hennicker is about two-and-a-half hours from the Greater Hartford area, but again, one must venture to venture.

Pats Peak is by no means huge with a summit elevation of 1,460 feet, a base Elevation of 690 feet and a vertical drop of 770 feet, but it also has one of the highest capacity computer-controlled snowmaking systems per acre in the Northeast, so the base is usually there, especially at that spot in New England.

A trail system that makes the mountain play larger than it measures more than makes up for any supposed lack of vertical. Pats is definitely user-friendly for families with a consistent distribution of green and blue cruisers, but it also satisfies the more advanced skiers and snowboarders with stellar glades and blacks and doubled blacks with varying types of terrain.

Pats really is a complete mountain.

With it being mid-March, the glades (and they are oh-so-tempting even with spot coverage) were out, so the concentration — especially with school-aged kids in tow — was on the blues and greens with the occasional black diamond and terrain park venture mixed in.

Pats is named after the Patenaude brothers, who opened the place on Jan. 5, 1963. The four of them spent a lot of time skiing and began to grow tired of standing standing in lift lines after a long drive.

They decided to "go home to Henniker" and build their own ski mountain with a family theme and a wide array of terrain.

Most of the trails are named after the wind.

A few runs stood out. Breeze, Zephyr and Blast are greens that provide a meandering cruise for all ages and the interspersed tree groves add a touch of extra scenery to the run.

Duster was perhaps the best run of the day. It's a blue trail with varying pitches. Last month it was even better when the glades that run parallel to it were open.

Psst ... the black cruiser Cyclone was a good bomb run to do quickly when the kids were taking a break.

Another great option was to take Backdraft into the Cascade Basin, an isolated, sun-drenched lift-serviced section off the back side of the mountain that caters to all abilities.

Pats, as with most snow sports areas this season, has been creative in adapting to things like social distancing and virus protocol.

The lodges are open, but there are timers to remind folks not to hog the spaced-out tables inside.

Feel safer outside? There are plenty of picnic tables and benches at the base area and dining partitions that resemble greenhouses.

There are plenty of bag racks outside.

A visit to Pats is not complete without at least one of the trademark M&M cookies. They are the size of Frisbees and the smell alone will make one ponder finishing on the mountain early.

OK, we won't finish early because Pats is that much fun. But the cookies are the perfect way to end what is inevitably a good day.

Yes, heading to Pats was the right move, maybe even the perfect move.

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Chris Dehnel is a Patch editor who has been writing about skiing and snowboarding for more than two decades. He is a past-president of the Eastern Ski Writers Association and former board member of the North American Snowsports Journalists Association. The Snow Business column runs periodically during the season.