Crotched Mountain
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| Crotched Mountain | |
|---|---|
| Location: | |
| Nearest city: | Francestown |
| Coordinates: | Coordinates: |
| Top elevation: | 2066 ft (630 m) |
| Base elevation: | 1050 ft (320 m) |
| Skiable area: | 75 acres |
| Runs: | 20[1] |
| Lift system: | 4 chairs, 1 magic carpet |
| Web site: | Crotched Mountain Ski & Ride |
Crotched Mountain is a small, isolated mountain in western Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, in the United States. The 2,066-foot (630 m) summit of the mountain is in the town of Francestown, while the western slopes of the mountain rise in the town of Bennington, and a long southern ridge of the mountain is in Greenfield.
The Crotched Mountain Ski & Ride Area occupies the northern slopes of the mountain, and the Crotched Mountain Rehabilitation Center occupies a portion of the mountain's southern ridge in Greenfield.
Contents |
[edit] Ski area
Crotched Mountain Ski & Ride Area is a small ski area on the border between Francestown and Bennington. The ski area reopened in the 2003-2004 winter after having been closed for 13 years. This bucked a trend in the downhill ski industry, which has seen hundreds of small ski areas close due to high costs and increased competition.
The resort was bought in 2002 by St. Louis-based Peak Resorts, a company that runs ski areas in the American Midwest. The company spent an estimated $9 million to build a new lodge, install new snowmaking equipment and chairlifts, and to recut trails.
The snowmaking system claims the highest snow production capacity of any ski area in New England at 200 US gallons per minute per acre (11 cm/h).[2]
[edit] Ski area history
The original Crotched Mountain Ski Area operated on a different face of the mountain - the northeast side, entirely in Francestown. It opened in 1964. In 1970 a second area opened on the north side with the name Onset, later changed to Bobcat. Bobcat and the original Crotched Mountain merged in 1980 and operated jointly as Crotched Mountain. More than 100 adjacent condominium units were constructed in the late 1980s, creating a burden of debt that contributed to the demise of the resort in 1989. [1]
The area lay dormant until bought by Peak Resorts in 2002, and what had been the Onset/Bobcat side was reopened the next winter as Crotched Mountain Ski Area.
The portion of the mountain with the original Crotched Mountain ski area is now largely owned by the town of Francestown, and Peak Resorts has made no statement about expanding into it.
[edit] Rehabilitation Center
The Crotched Mountain Rehabilitation Center began operation in 1953. It was established by Harry Gregg, the father of former New Hampshire governor Hugh Gregg and grandfather of current U.S. Senator Judd Gregg.
The facility originally treated people for polio, cerebral palsy, spina bifida and other physical and neurological disabilities. A center for adult rehabilitation opened in 1961, and a rehabilitation center for adults with brain injuries in 1986. It operated a school for the deaf from 1955 to the early 1970s. [2]
The complex today provides service to over 2,000 children and adults. Crotched Mountain has more than 900 employees and an annual budget of more than $42 million. [3]
In 2004, it unveiled the first wheelchair-accessible treehouse in New Hampshire.
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Crotched Mountain Ski & Ride official website
- Crotched Mountain Rehabilitation Center
- [4] PDF - business school analysis of Crotched Mountain Rehabilitation Center.
