Update: trip was cancelled due to unsafe snow conditions.

Our prayers for snow have been heard! There is finally enough snow in the NH woods for backcountry skiing! That said, there will likely still be exposed roots and rocks in many areas, sections of ice - and lots of trees! This is why we will focus on taking our time on the downhills, to make sure we all (and our gear) have fun and most importantly make it down safely.

Maple Villa Glade is a Granite Backcountry Alliance area with multiple glade zones and lots of variety in the trails. It is important that you have extensive downhill experience feeling in control of your skis even on double black diamonds and are comfortable skiing in trees with bumps. Maple Villa is a gladed area with trails, but there are tight tree sections and the snowpack will be variable. We are limiting the trip size so we can make sure to pair each participant with a leader with a radio to more easily stay together and avoid getting lost in the trees.

For those that are newer to backcountry skiing, please be aware of the following: -You will not get to “warm up on a green” and may have to start off on black-level (steeper) terrain with many tree hazards. -Conditions are unknown and objective hazards (exposed rocks, bushes, etc.) may make runs narrower or more difficult than slope indicates. For instance, you may have to navigate a slope that has exposed rocks because of low snow coverage. -Skinning up is equal in difficulty to a strenuous hike (i.e. a continuously steep uphill climb) with the extra weight of skis on your feet, so good fitness is important.

Please note that we will have an early start in Boston (5am-ish) as there is a very small parking lot for the glade and we want to make sure we can park.

Trail Info: This is an advanced ski trip through a gladed tree area. The full skin track to the top of the east zone is about 2 miles long with 1700’ of elevation gain. There are three glade zones with multiple trails down the mountain of varying difficulties that all drain to the main skin track. We have the option to lap the upper sections of the glade before making our way down to the parking lot.

(If the weather conditions don't allow for skiing Maple Villa (foggy, intense snow fall), our backup option is to skin and ski the John Sherburne Trail.)