— by Beatrice Burack

Enfield, NH 3/7/24

Late last December, just before Christmas and only four days after historic floods ripped across New Hampshire, Pats Peak Ski Area in Henniker was a veritable winter wonderland—with a packed parking lot. That was no thanks to Mother Nature. Instead, General Manager Kris Blomback could point to his 12-member snowmaking staff, $5 million snowmaking system, and 610 snow guns.

“We got our face kicked in for 24 hours, and then we came right back and within 48 hours it was a distant memory,” Blomback said, referring to the December 18th storm.

Steve Tanner, a Massachusetts resident who’d brought his three and seven-year-olds skiing at Pats Peak for the day, was surprised to see so much snow on the trails. “I didn’t even bring my stuff this time because I didn’t think there would be this much open [...] I just assumed we’re just gonna do the magic carpets. In hindsight,” he said, “I should’ve brought my stuff.”

But if Tanner had driven another 50 minutes northeast to Veterans Memorial Recreation Area in Franklin or northwest to Whaleback Mountain in Enfield that same week, he’d have found slopes nowhere near ready for skiers.

The Vets, Franklin, New Hampshire

On December 21st, Tim Morrill’s white Chevy Silverado struggled through deep ruts left by the storm, as he made his way to the top of Veterans Memorial in Franklin. There, he walked along trails he’s skied since childhood, naming them as he went: Wilderness, Drake’s Drop, Race Trail. The White Mountains stood in the distance, fading from green, to purple, to blue. Two bright yellow snow guns, bought second-hand from the exclusive Yellowstone Club in Montana, shone incandescent at the bottom of the hill. Nowhere on the grassy hill was a speck of snow to be found.

Morrill is the president of the Franklin Outing Club, which operates the non-profit Veterans Memorial ski hill (called ‘The Vets’ by locals). The Vets offers 230 vertical feet of skiing and is one of a few remaining community ski hills in the state. Its $15 adult nighttime tickets and frequent free ski days are almost unheard of in an industry dominated by the $1,000 dollar Epic and Ikon passes. The Vets gets by with help from donations, an all-volunteer maintenance and patrol crew, and local business sponsorships.

Morrill and his brother are the third generation in their family to be involved at the hill. “I’ve been up here my whole life,” he said. “My grandfather was one of the original members and my folks were involved, so I’ve been here, I love it, and we’re trying to stay focused and keep it going with the changes in the world.”

These changes, including warming winters, are hitting small community ski hills like The Vets hard. It’s not unusual for The Vets to be closed for the first couple months of “winter”. Until now, they have relied only on natural snow, meaning they’re usually only open for the months of February and March, Morrill said. With snowmaking, he hopes they’ll be able to move opening day to January some years. But this season, he bided his time.

Franklin Outing Club President Timothy Morrill poses with The Vets’ two snow guns, which the ski area acquired last year with county funding.

The Vets bought their new snow guns with funding from the Merrimack County Board of Commissioners earlier in 2023, but as of late December, Morrill had yet to fire them up for the season.

“We’re watching the weather. We’re going to see what happens [...] next week. We don’t want to spend all this money and then lose it,” he explained. “We would’ve lost it all last week.”

The Vets, with an operating budget of about $40,000 dollars a year, can’t afford to rack up a high energy bill making snow just to see the new white gold wash away a few days later.

Morrill says he’d like eventually to be able to make snow on the whole mountain, but that would have to happen in stages, with more grant funding. Asked if he’s considered raising ticket prices to pay for operations, Morrill says that’s not in his plans: “We’re trying to stay as low [on ticket prices] as we can.”

As Morrill sees it, The Vets’ chief value is in making skiing more affordable: “The biggest thing I see at this mountain is families coming, people coming that could not [otherwise] afford it. And we do a donation room so there’s free gear. If you become a member, you can come grab gear, go get it tuned up, and then you can ski. And in a world where skis are not cheap, the equipment is not cheap, that helps out a lot.”

The sense of community The Vets adds to Franklin, he adds, is also key. “I think having this place keeps us part of that small-city community still in our area [...] everybody knows everybody, everybody’s friendly, everybody helps everyone out.”

Morrill stands next to The Vets’ 1940s-era T-bar, pointing out mountains in the distance. Morrill has been skiing at The Vets since his childhood.