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North Conway, NH – More than 3500 readers voted for their favorites in the 2009 SNOWEAST Magazine reader survey, and Mt Washington Valley ski resorts and towns came out on top.  North Conway was named the second out of ten favorite ski towns while Cranmore, Wildcat, King Pine, and Black Mountain, Bretton Woods and Attitash all took honors.

Cranmore racked up the votes in the 2009 SNOWEAST 2009 reader survey, coming in at #5 for the favorite Eastern ski resort, and #3 for terrain parks.  Wildcat did equally well, and was named #1 for scenic views and #2 for “favorite classic resort”. King Pine came in at #6 for “favorite Eastern resort under 1100 feet”, and Black Mountain made it onto the top ten list of “favorite classic resorts”.

On the state lists, many of Mt Washington Valley’s ski resorts fared well, with Wildcat coming in as the second favorite in New Hampshire, followed by Cranmore, Bretton Woods and Attitash.  North Conway came in right behind Great Barrington, MA as the second favorite destination ski town according to readers of SNOWEAST Magazine. All in all, Mt Washington Valley ski resorts were rated favorably in the annual SNOWEAST readers poll.  For a complete list of winners in the annual 2009 SNOWEAST readers poll, visit  WWW.SNOWEASTMAGAZINE.COM. Read the rest of this entry »

By Tom Eastman
The Valley Voice
The Conway Daily Sun
MOUNT WASHINGTON — Nin the Cat was a fixture on the 6,288-foot  summit of the Rockpile. When he wasn’t venturing outdoors, Nin could be found in his “This  Cat Rules Mount Washington” box in the quarters of the Mount Washington Observatory.
I had the chance to fraternize with Nin during an overnight summit  Edu-Trip visit in April 2004, which is when I snapped the photo  accompanying this article to the non-plussed Nin, who, like most  felines, couldn’t be bothered by our presence. In a tribute this week on the Observatory’s Web page  (www.www.mountwashington.org), executive director Scot Henley wrote:
“A rescued stray cat from Vermont, Nin found his way to the  Observatory in the mid 1990s with former observer Mark Ross-Parent  [now of the Old Village Bakery in North Conway]. Over the 12 years  that Nin ruled the summit, his furry face became nearly as well known  as the mountain’s weather itself. He brought joy to weather  observers, interns, volunteers, visitors, website viewers and fans  across the country. He certainly brought smiles and laughs to  thousands of Mount Washington State Park visitors, who undoubtedly  scratched their heads with bewilderment when they noticed a rotund  white cat patrolling the top of the tallest mountain in New England. Read the rest of this entry »

By Tom Eastman
The Conway Daily Sun
(Photo by Jamie Gemmiti/Conway Daily Sun)

CONWAY - Local playwright, musician, Realtor and former innkeeper  has long been something of a Renaissance man  and now, for the second time over, he is also a suspense novel author.
Pinkham appeared at White Birch Books in North Conway Tuesday from 4 to 6 p.m. to sign copies of his second thriller, Killer Mountain.
The new thriller picks up where his first one, The Hidden Mountain, left off.
While my new book is a stand-alone book, it is a sequel to the first one  but you need not have read the first one to enjoy the second. The background of the first is provided where needed, however.
The new book is set in the White Mountains as well as in Arizona and Mount Ranier in Washington State.
Praised by many as a real page-turner, Pinkham said the new book has the same two lead characters  newlyweds Hudson and Cilla Rodgers, who reside in Bartlett.
The plot?
According to the liner notes:
The threat of attack from foreign terrorists bent on damage to the United States has hung over the nation for years, bringing fear to many, opportunity for profit to others.
Killer Mountain begins with Preston Sturgis, a Boston developer and lower echelon drug dealer, who mistakenly learns a deadly secret and flees for his life to his lawyer, Wally Carver, in Bartlett. Former Carver son-in-law, Hudson Rogers, and his new wife, Cilla, are innocently pulled into the murderous pursuit when the gang attempts to kidnap Cilla, more skilled at self-defense than they know. Failing to capture her, the relentless hunters destroy the Rogers’ Bartlett home. Hudson decides he must go on the offensive. A clue to the source of the assaults leads him to Washington’s Mount Ranier. And trouble. Read the rest of this entry »

LINCOLN, N.H. - One of the most beautiful stretches of highway in the entire Northeast marks a milestone this summer and a two-day celebration is planned for the 50th anniversary of the opening of the Kancamagus Highway.

“The story of The Kancamagus Highway  is one that has not really been told over the years and, as we have discovered in our research, there was never a celebration of its opening,” said Jayne O’Connor, president of White Mountains Attractions in North Woodstock, which, along with the U.S. Forest Service, is coordinating a celebration of the anniversary. “It is very appropriate that, for the half century mark of this remarkable road, we do take time and celebrate it.”

It will take place from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Aug. 14. From 9 a.m. to noon, there will interpretive programs at the Lincoln Woods Visitors Center, the Discovery Trail, the Pemigewasset Overlook, C.L. Graham Wangan Ground Overlook, the Albany Covered Bridge and Blackberry Crossing Campground.

From 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., there will be exhibits and historic house tours at the Russell Colbath Historic Site near the halfway point in Albany, as well as an official celebration ceremony there from 2 to 4 p.m.

Vintage cars from the era will also be a part of the observance, as a Scenic Driving Tour of The Kancamagus Highway is planned for Saturday, adding an historic ambiance in a setting that is largely unchanged since the first motorists passed over the road. Read the rest of this entry »

The 21st Annual Bach Festival, presented by the White Mountain Musical Arts, returns to North Conway Sunday, Aug. 23, and Friday through Sunday, Aug. 28 through 30. Approximately 80 musicians, professional and amateur, will gather for the four-day event to perform the great instrumental and vocal works of the Baroque masters.

The festival opens with a concert preview at 7 p.m. Aug. 23 at Christ Church, Episcopal, Main Street, North Conway, followed at 7:30 p.m. by a concert featuring Ray Cornils, municipal organist for the city of Portland, performing on the church’s on the Casavant free-standing, two manual tracker organ.

The festival continues at Cranmore Mountain Resort’s air-conditioned 10th Mt. Pavilion at Cranmore, Aug. 28 through 30, with concerts Friday and Saturday evening at 7:30 p.m., and a show Sunday at 4 p.m. Each of the concerts will feature a concert preview one-half hour before the concert begins. Both works for soloists and small ensembles as well as larger works for full chamber orchestra and chorus are scheduled for performance at this year’s festival.

On Aug. 30, a Sunday Morning Bach Service will be held at First Church of Christ, Congregational, North Conway, with a Pre-Service Prelude Music at 9:30 a.m., followed by the Worship Service at 10 a.m.
The full Bach Festival Chorus, soloists and orchestra will bring the 2009 Bach Festival to a close on Sunday afternoon.

For further information and tickets, go to www.mwvevents.com/WMMABach or email to info@mwvevents.com, or for information about Cranmore events, call 356-5543.

Come late July and all throughout August, the best of the season kicks in. You’ll find your summer oasis here in Mount Washington Valley, whether on top of 6288-foot Mount Washington, or along the riverbanks and paddling lakes and ponds of this four-season resort area, located on the eastern side of the White Mountains.

You’ll find information about how to enjoy all the season has to offer in this July-August edition of the Conway Daily Sun’s all-new monthly Valley Fun.

From outdoor summer concerts under the stars and on-stage plays to zip rides, alpine slides, treetop tours, scenic train rides, hiking, golf, horseback rides and summer tubing parks and other family attractions, you’ll find it all in the valley, a place where the outdoors and the arts are truly celebrated to the fullest.

For a memorable adventure, try a guided moose tour with North Conway’s Moose Safari (662-3159), during which you’re almost certain to get up-close and personal with one of the region’s commanding and impressive Bullwinkle J’s.

A great way to spend a summer’s day is to go for a canoe, tubing or kayak outing on the clean and sandy-bottomed Saco River. The valley is home to several canoe liveries who fund the Saco River Recreation Council, a group working with law enforcement officials this summer to enhance and promote family enjoyment of the river. For a list of local liveries, go to the Mount Washington Valley Chamber of Commerce’s Web site (www.mtwashingtonvalley.org) or call 356-5701.

Looking for a fun way to cool off all summer long? Aside from the valley’s great swimming holes and the Saco River, explore the valley’s Ham Ice Arena (447-5886; www.hamarena.com), a state-of-the-art indoor ice skating rink located in Conway Village on West Main Street, offering public skating, skating and hockey camps and stick-and-puck sessions.
Another indoor activity is the Saco Valley Sports Center (207-935-3777) which offers bowling and indoor golf in Fryeburg, Maine.

MUSEUMS AND ATTRACTIONS: For those interested in weather, the Mount Washington Observatory Weather Discovery Center (356-8345; mountwashington.org) in North Conway is a must-see while visiting the valley. Open daily 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., the center will feature a slate of new exhibits (including a tornado machine) as well as daily hook-ups to the summit of Mount Washington at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. The Obs and the Mount Washington Valley Arts Association are presenting an exhibit at the Weather Discovery Center through Aug. 22 of “Visions of the Rockpile.”

Those hoping to explore Mount Washington in person can choose from hiking (go to the Appalachian Mountain Club’s site, www.outdoors.org, for all the essential information — always hike prepared, as the weather can change in a second above treeline). Read the rest of this entry »

NORTH CONWAY - The Mount Washington Valley Arts Association has partnered with the Mount Washington Observatory to present this unique exhibit, “Visions of the Rockpile.”
The juried artists have interpreted “The Rockpile” in watercolor, oil, fiber mixed media, glass, pastel, acrylic and photographs. The exhibit is on display through Aug. 22 at the Weather Discovery Center on Main Street in North Conway.
All work on display is for sale. To purchase the art, contact the association at 603 356-2787 to make arrangements.
In other arts association news, the group will present its second annual Fresh Paint Art Auction Aug. 1 at 6 p.m. at Cranmore Mountain Resort.
Thirty-six invited artists will be displaying work created in the month of July, reflecting the theme, “Scenes of Summer.”
Auctioneer George Cleveland will entertain and delight as he auctions all original work. A cash bar, hors d’oeuvres and entertainment will be featured.
Tickets are $25 per person. Call 356-2787 for tickets

(by Tom Eastman)
North Conway NH - If you’ll pardon the pun, with all due respect to Maine singer- songwriter Dave Mallett, I have never “cultivated” my green thumb,  but thanks to the Mount Washington Valley Chamber of Commerce’s Green  Team Community Garden Subcommittee, I have taken the gardening plunge  into the rich and fertile ground of the group’s new community garden.
On Sunday, May 26, at an open house held from noon to 5 p.m. at a   sunny 100-foot-by-100-foot corner lot donated by Russ and Joan Lanoie  on their property off Tasker Hill Road, I joined 27 other gardening  wannabe’s to buy a community garden plot for $25 — a real bargain for  the opportunity to get down and dirty by gardening all summer long.As the ever-community-minded Russ and Joan pitched in, gardening  chair Jenn Andrews, Becky Mulkern and several other Green Team  members set up raised garden beds and spread the fertile compost from  Russ’s pile of leaves, mixed in with some horse manure from a nearby  barn.

The best part (other than remembering to bring along plenty of bug  dope, that is) — no matter your level of gardening experience, there  were gardening guides on hand to help answer your questions and help  plant the seedlings that had been graciously donated by Tom and Ruth  Earle of the Earle Family Farm of South Conway. We planted cherry tomatoes. Peppers. Cauliflower. Lettuce. Zucchini.  Summer squash … and other things that I have unfortunately not yet  recorded to memory as of this early writing. The prospect of having such fresh produce for summer salads and dinners is part of the lure — the other is the idea that I’m finally  chalking off one of those must things to do on the list of life. Plus, as Jenn Andrews said, it makes economic sense while also making  you feel like you’re doing your small part to make this world a better place.
“I was overwhelmed by the turnout, and by the number of new  gardeners. We sold out all of our plots, and we have a waiting list  of five or six people if somehow something doesn’t work out,” said  Jenn this week, still abuzz with the response (and the sound of those  bugs).

North Conway, NH – After weeks of anticipation, Cranmore Mountain is on schedule to open its new summer tubing park on July 1. The tubing park will be offered along with Fun Zone activities, including bouncy house, disc golf and other fun and games for families.
The summer tubing operation uses a special matting to provide a sliding surface on the slope. The park will be situated on the resort’s South Slope.

The Cranmore Tubing Park is serviced by a Magic Carpet style lift. Visitors pick up their tube at the base and carry it as they effortlessly ride the surface lift to the top of the tubing park. From there, the tube is placed at the top of the matting and the person sits down on the tube and pushes off down the slope. The tubing surface is dry, non-mechanized and is gravity driven. Because there is no water involved, no swim suits or special clothing or gear is necessary. Anyone can tube regardless of age, ability or skill.
This type of tubing park is the only one of its kind in New Hampshire. Cranmore already attracts more visitors to its winter tubing park operation than any other operation in the state.

Fun Zone activities bring back the popular concept launched last winter at Cranmore, with a 20×20 foot bouncy house, giant inflated slide, plus pick up games of volley ball, tether ball, whiffle ball, sandbox and other activities. A 9-hole disc golf course is also set up, winding in and around Cranmore’s slopes and glades. A large jungle gym with slide and climbing surface completes the area. Fun Zone activities take place at the base of the South Slope as well and vary from day to day based on weather and business levels. Read the rest of this entry »

North Conway, NH June 2, 2009 For more than seven decades, the nonprofit Mount Washington Observatory has been bringing the science and wonder of Mount Washington to the world, helping connect countless individuals to this incredible mountain peak. On July 25, more than 300 passionate Observatory fans will show their appreciation and support by climbing Mount Washington in the Observatory s 9th annual Seek the Peak hike-a-thon fundraiser.

Seek the Peak has grown to become New England s premier hiking event, notes Mount Washington Observatory Executive Director Scot Henley. It combines the immense satisfaction of completing a demanding physical challenge, with helping to support a legendary cause.

Seek the Peak is a classic participant-driven fundraising event. Hikers register in advance, and then raise a minimum of $100 in donations. The night before the hike, a kick-off party is held at Flatbread Pizza Company to collect funds and get things rolling. Then, on Seek the Peak Saturday, participants embark for the 6,288-foot summit of Mount Washington, enjoying a day-long adventure on the northeast s tallest peak. Afterwards, they are invited to a huge awards bash, featuring a turkey dinner by Hart s Turkey Farm, live music, and thousands of dollars in prize giveaways. Read the rest of this entry »