Before I arrived at Dartmouth last fall, I had not skied in over four years. Nonetheless, I eagerly bought a discounted student pass to the Dartmouth Skiway over winterim. I was ready to embrace the icy New England winter and revive my rusty skiing skills at a mountain just 13 miles away from campus. Sure enough, escaping to the Skiway, whether on a cloudy Tuesday morning or a bustling Saturday afternoon, has been a highlight of my term and made the season feel much less dreary.
This term, I have patted myself on the back for spending time outdoors and taking advantage of Dartmouth’s access to winter activities. However, when my friends and I go to the Skiway, we often stick to the beginner and intermediate trails, and I was curious how advanced Dartmouth skiers take advantage of the myriad of skiing opportunities across New England.
While the Dartmouth Skiway provides access to lessons and a bunny hill for beginners, many experienced skiers can still be found hitting the slopes. Elliot Alberts ’25, who works at the mountain as a ski instructor, said that “the culture is terrific,” adding that the Skiway’s history makes it particularly unique.
“I love walking around the Dartmouth Skiway lodge and looking at the history there,” Alberts said. “World champions and Olympians [skied here], and it’s super inspiring.”
Similarly, club alpine ski team captain Mia Steinberg ’25 frequents the Skiway at least once or twice a week for team practices.
“It definitely is a small mountain, but they’ve been great with the club ski team,” Steinberg said. “They’ve let us train and have good terrain for that, and it kind of helps you get out the itch to ski without it being a whole day event.”
Having grown up skiing in Ohio and Montana, Katie Wilson ’27 made it a priority to ski at least once or twice per week during the two winters she has spent on campus. However, unlike many Dartmouth skiers, Wilson has never visited the Skiway, instead frequenting resorts like Sugarbush in Vermont.
“The people that I would ski with [freshman year] all had Ikon passes or Sugarbush passes, so we would go off campus,” Wilson said.
Because the Ikon pass — a multi-resort ski season pass— offers a discount for college students, Wilson said that she believes the investment is “so worth it.”
In addition to the picturesque views they typically offer, larger mountains and ski areas give skiers the opportunity to explore new terrain, steeper slopes and sharper turns. Unlike the limitations a smaller mountain like the Skiway might face, many larger ski areas in New England offer diverse trails and longer seasons. Though he works at the Skiway, Alberts said that visiting other ski areas has also allowed him to “explor[e] New England.” So far, he has traveled to ski areas like Mad River Glen in Vermont and backcountry trails at Mount Cardigan and Mount Washington in New Hampshire and Brandon Gap in Vermont.
“Being able to go to other resorts just opens so many doors for trying new skills of skiing moguls or steeper runs or longer runs,” Alberts said. “There’s so many cool mountains, and that’s fun to get to see.”
For Wilson, the opportunity to explore mountains beyond the Skiway has been an essential part of her winters at Dartmouth so far.
“Because I’ve been skiing since I was pretty young, I’d rather go somewhere more spread out with more varieties [of trails],” Wilson said. “I think that skiing super frequently and having so many different [terrains] has been helping me to work on different things and focus on my skiing in different regards.”
While Steinberg said it can be difficult to commit to traveling to a mountain that is farther away, she thinks it can be “nice to get off campus to ski.” She makes an effort to visit Killington, which is located 26 miles west of campus in Vermont, at least once or twice every winter term.
“It’s just another good place to go and hang out,” Steinberg said. “Also, the skiing there is much better — much bigger mountains, much more trails, much more terrain. So overall, it’s more of an exciting thing.”
In addition to a greater time commitment, trips to faraway ski locations often necessitate more intentional planning, time and energy. Alberts notes that going to his favorite area, Mad River Glen, is typically a full-day endeavor because of “all the time spent driving.” Wilson echoed Alberts’s sentiments about the commitment required to pursue skiing outside of the Upper Valley.
“When I go skiing, that’s my whole day. It’s such a haul that it’s only worth it if I ski the whole day,” Wilson said. “To get to some places, like Sugarbush, you need snow tires or winter tires, because it’s all mountain roads, so it’s not the easiest to get to.”
At the end of January, Alberts went with a friend to backcountry ski Mount Washington, the highest peak in the Northeastern United States. Despite the fact that the weather there is “normally crazy” and the summit had gusts of winds forcing them to “stand at a 45-degree angle,” Alberts said the experience was a “really fun day.”
“We were able to summit Mount Washington, which is not something I ever imagined myself doing in January,” Alberts said.
For students who might be looking for more beginner-friendly options or don’t want to commit to planning these bigger ski trips, Alberts recommends “starting with the [Dartmouth] Outing Club and taking advantage of any opportunities the school offers.” He has gone on skiing trips with the Winter Sports Club, a sub-club of the DOC, which provides students with free gear for winter-related activities.
Although the ski backgrounds of students at Dartmouth vary widely — some students have never donned a pair of skis in their life, while others grew up shredding powder — there are trails and slopes for everyone. The Dartmouth Skiway and other local spots might not consistently boast the powdery trails of a resort in Colorado or Montana, but they offer a nearby community eager to embrace New England winters and encourage skiers of all levels.
“People told me so much that East Coast skiing was going to be all ice, and I think that East Coast skiing really holds its own,” Wilson said. “I think it’s great being here and having this opportunity.”
