Shawnee Peak in Bridgton, Maine - Night Skiing and Less Crowds
Written: Dec 04 '07 (Updated Nov 05 '09)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: nice terrain, good conditions, lift ticket prices
Cons: smaller mountain, parking, lodge
The Bottom Line: A great mountain that many people miss. It's worth taking the time to go here as it's less crowded with great conditions.
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| AliventiAsylum's Full Review: Shawnee Peak |
At the end of the last ski season, I received passes to Shawnee Peak as a bonus. Fine with me - I got to take the five kids skiing at no cost. I wish I had them earlier when conditions were better, but it was still nice.
LOCATION & PARKING
Shawnee Peak is located in Bridgton, Maine. If you don’t think that sounds, familiar, chances are you’ve never heard of it. I hadn’t either until I moved up here. It’s located just off of Route 302, about an hour north of Portland, Maine and 20 minutes east of the Mount Washington Valley. From Boston, it would take about 2 1/2 hours to get here. The mountain is in full view from Route 302, despite the fact that you need to take a side road to get to it. The signage is great.
The parking situation did not impress me. Right by the lodge and in front of the mountain is the main parking, with auxiliary parking a bit away down the road. The lot was sort of awkward to move around in as well. A shuttle does run between the parking areas, but some have said it’s faster to just walk.
FACTS
Shawnee Peak has 40 daytime trails and 19 nighttime. That’s right, this small mountain (compared to some other Main ski resorts) has night-skiing six nights a week, seven during holiday periods. The trails cover every ability, with 7 designated for beginners, 23 for intermediate skiers, and 14 advanced.
There are 4 glades, 3 of which are double black diamond and one classified as intermediate. There are also two terrain parks and a 400 foot-long half-pipe. There is a total of 239 skiable acreage.
The mountain elevation is 1900 feet. Not a tremendous height, but good enough for some terrific runs. It also faces the north/north-east which means it’s a bit sheltered from the westerly winds which seem to prevail most of ski season, except for when Nor’easter storms move through. However, when those do, it means this mountain will get a good dumping of snow!
Five lifts service the mountain, giving it a capacity to handle 7,200 skiers per hour. The view from the summit is really nice as well.
CONDITIONS
With the mountain having a north/north-east exposure, that means in those winter storms called Nor’Easters up here it will get a good deal of natural snow. Less snow is dropped by storms that come out of the west. However, with the winds usually coming from that direction, it keeps Shawnee Peak from having that biting cold present at other resorts.
When the season doesn’t start off so spectacular, Shawnee Peak is able to generate man-made snow on 98% of it’s non-gladed trails. Lately, that’s been important with global warming and two ski seasons that were less than spectacular. When we were there is was rather slushy, but I know from watching the ski reports all season that they usually have packed powder surface and people who went there once were eager to go back again because they were so impressed with the conditions here. The terrain is well taken care of with grooming done overnight as well as in the afternoon.
There’s a good mixture of terrain. My son is a relatively new skier and not at all confident yet. Many times, he’s content to be on the carpet. At Shawnee Peak, he would go up the beginner lifts and cruise down trails like Rabbit Run, Happiness and Evergreen with no problem.
At the same time, my older kids thrilled themselves all over the mountain. That late in the season, the glades were already closed, but trails like Upper Kancamangus and Peter’s Plunge were plenty satisfying to them. They also enjoyed skiing right down the mountain following the straight path of the lift to the summit with no curves to get a lot of speed.
There are two lodges at Shawnee Peak , although the East Lodge is generally only open weekends and holidays. Skiers in the ski school and the kids program ski from the Base Lodge.
RATES
Shawnee Peak has some of the more reasonable lift ticket prices around. One-day lift tickets which are valid from 8:30 in the morning until they close (so this includes night skiing) is $49 for adults and $34 for those 6-12 or over 65 on weekends and holiday weeks. Mid-week they are just $34 and $23. A second consecutive day can be added to any full-price lift ticket for just $26.
Mid-day tickets which are valid from 12:30 to closing are a great value on the nights they have night skiing and let you not feel like you have to race to the mountain to make the most of your day. Those cost $42 and $29 on weekends and holiday weeks, and $28 and $21 mid-week.
Night skiing only, which is valid from 4:00 until closing is just $23 and $20 on weekends and holiday weeks and $23 and $20 mid-week.
Under 6 skis for free.
Beginners who wish only to ski on the carpet and no chairlifts can do so for just $10. For beginners who are a bit more adventurous, a lift-ticket for just the Rabbit Run area and the carpet is $30 and $25.
Shawnee Peak has some great programs for anyone wishing to learn to ski. There’s a package which includes three lessons and rental equipment, plus a season pass for Shawnee Peak. That’s full days of lessons, not just an hour or so. This and their First Timer packages, which includes lift ticket, rental and an 1 1/2 hour lesson, are available for ages 8 and up. There’s kids program and private lessons available as well.
Equipment rentals are available at Shawnee Peak as well, but I find the price to be high when compared with what I can get at rental locations in North Conway. I always try to rent off-site rather than at the mountain.
MISCELLANEOUS
I found the lodge at Shawnee Peak to be a bit sub-par. I know it was near the end of the season, but it looked like it really took a beating. There was a smell like mold or mildew present, and I ended up seated at a table, rather than having a cozy area to curl up and read. The food selections are typical of ski areas with lots of burgers, hot dogs, chicken and fries on the menu, and prices were also typically high, although maybe a bit lower than others. The best value seemed to be the Daily Specials which change but have a reasonable price.
FINAL THOUGHTS
We’ll definitely head back to Shawnee Peak this season. The terrain was impressive and satisfied everyone, from the teenager on the high school ski team all the way to the 6 year old skiing his first full season. The price was reasonable and it wasn’t far for us to travel. Anyone visiting the Mount Washington Valley is within easy reach of this ski resort, and it doesn’t seem to get as crowded as the resorts which are just surrounding that area.
I also like seeing the amount of terrain that is available for night skiing. Some of the places we have enjoyed don’t have night skiing at all, and some only have a scant few trails. Shawnee Peak seems to have a good amount of terrain open at night for skiing.
I wish they would renovate the lodge a bit, and make it a bit nicer, but for the price we pay, I can deal with it. After all, most people are here for the outdoor activity and don’t care what the lodge is like, and that’s fine with me when it’s worth the price we pay for a lift-ticket.
Other sites to see in the area:
Attitash Bear Peak Ski Resort ~ Bretton Woods Ski Resort ~ Canobie Lake Park ~ Cranmore Mountain Ski Resort ~ Franconia Notch State Park ~ Kancamagus Highway ~ King Pine Ski Resort ~ Loon Mountain ~ Madison Boulder Natural Area ~ Mount Washington Cog Railway ~ North Conway, NH ~ Polar Express Event ~ Six Gun City ~ Story Land ~ Whale's Tale Waterpark ~ White Lake State Park ~ White Mountain National Forest ~ Wildcat Mountain
Some places to stay nearby:
Attitash Mountain Village - Bartlett NH ~ Comfort Inn & Suites - North Conway NH ~ Hampton Inn - Concord/Bow NH ~ Yankee Clipper Motel
Places to eat in nearby:
Bea's Cafe, Conway NH ~ Cafe Noche, Conway NH ~ Decades Steakhouse, North Conway NH ~ Delaney‘s Hole in the Wall, North Conway NH ~ Harts Turkey Farm, Meredith NH ~ May Kelly's Cottage, North Conway NH ~ Merlino's Steakhouse, North Conway NH ~ Moat Mountain Smokehouse, North Conway NH ~ Muddy Moose, North Conway NH ~ Peach's Restauran, North Conway NH ~ Red Parka Steakhouse & Pub, Glen NH ~ Yankee Smokehouse, West Ossipee NH
Books about the area:
Appalachian Mountain Club White Mountain Guide ~ 50 Hikes in the White Mountains
© 2007 Patti Aliventi
Recommended:
Yes
Level of Experience Needed: All
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AliventiAsylum
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Member: Patti Aliventi
Location: Mount Washington Valley, New Hampshire
Reviews written: 2083
Trusted by: 689 members
About Me:
Now writing reviews to pay for the "out of network" costs of our health insurance...
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