This composition is what you see when you get off at the top of the main ski lift at Waterville Valley Resort in New Hampshire. The elevation is 3,840 feet, just short of the 4,004 foot peak of Mt. Tecumseh. Partly out of sight to the right is a short chair lift going to the very tip-top of the mountain. It is one of the original double chairlifts from when the mountain was opened in 1966.
The red “hut” is my absolute favorite ski area upper lodge. It’s called the “Schwendi Hutte“, which I am told is a made-up name. Its sounds very alpine, doesn’t it.
"Schwendi Hutte"
Panasonic Point and Shoot "Tough" Style TS3 Camera @28mm equivalent
1/250sec, F10, ISO100, +.3EV
The view off to the left of the hutte is wonderful, the coffee served is excellent and bold enough for my taste, and the warm frosted cinnamon buns are extraordinary. I check the Waterville website whenever I want to make a skiing day-trip , but if the hut is not open, I sometimes decide to ski elsewhere. My normal Waterville routine is to stop at the hutte for a cup of coffee (and cinnamon bun!) at about 11am and enjoy a relaxing 30 minutes, usually finding someone interesting to talk to. I then ski until about 1:30 before going into the base lodge for lunch, thus avoiding the lunch crowd.
I have great memories of Waterville Valley. I first skied there in 1967. About two weeks after it closed in April that year it reopened after the top of the mountain received about 2 feet of snow (as I recall). My brother and I drive up in my dad’s 1966 (?) Volkswagon Karmann Ghia for the day. There was snow only at the elevation above the hutte, so we skied only the upper lift. When we were done at the end of the day, we had to take the main lift back to the bottom.
1 comment:
your blogs not only show case beautiful photos from the present and the past, but the accompanying stories make me feel i am there. thanks. manohar
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