MT. SUNAPEE: A nice short day trip, but nonetheless a decent mountain. Sunapee has five chairlifts and a variety of slopes. It gets crowded on weekends. 100 miles from Boston.
RAGGED MT.: A neat little area tucked in Southern New Hampshire. Even though it has only one chairlift, it rarely gets crowded, so it might just be the best place to try on Washington's Birthday.
MAINE
SUGARLOAF: Sugarloaf is sort of a sleeping giant; it has the potential to be one-hell of a mountain. With a good hefty snowfall one of these winters, skiers are going to see (or hear) why. Sugarloaf has the only open snowfields in the east (aside from Tuckerman's Ravine). The trouble in recent years is that they've rarely been open. Also, Sugarloaf, in a decent winter, has been known to stay open long into May for spring skiers. Even if the snowfields aren't open. Sugarloaf is one of the best in the East and is worth the trip. They say that New Years eve is always quite a bash up there, even though it is pretty isolated. 233 miles from Boston.
SUNDAY RIVER: Sunday River is another unsung mountain that is at least worth trying. It claims to have a vertical drop of 1500 ft. (under the 2000 ft. plus of the giants, but larger than most in the East) and gets a lot of snow because of its proximity to the Mt. Washington Valley. For Harvard students, there is one more attractive feature: If you're wondering what to do with the extra week of vacation in January (5-11), it just happens to be half-price week for anyone sporting Massachusetts I.D.
EQUIPMENT
If you're looking to buy ski equipment as a holiday gift for someone, you're best bet is to try the Ski Market on Commonwealth Ave. Right now, Ski Market is ofering several ski-boot-binding-pole packages starting at $109. The savings on these packages range up to $150 and the equipment is name-brand. These packages are particularly good buys for the intermediate skier looking to step up from cheap or rental equipment. Ski Market also has some of the best bargains around on skis, boots and clothing.
As for the best equipment to buy, here are a few suggestions on skis. Good skis abound these days, including those made by k-2, Rossignol, Hexcel, Head, Dynastar, and Kneissel. Of this lot, it's difficult to say which are the best, since each ski manufacturer makes a number of different lines. It may be that you'll do best by shopping the sales and taking the best buy. Nevertheless, all other things being equal, I'd have to say that K-2 skis are probably the best all-around skis available. Unlike some of the others, K-2 has maintained a high reputation for quality over a number of years; they have yet to put out a ski that is prone to breakage or just not up to snuff. In addition, K-2's new lines, the 233, 244 and 255, (in shorts or conventional lengths) stand out as all-round skis in an extremely flooded market. And anyway, if you care about such things, the K-2 is a subsidiary of Cummins Engine Co., by far the most progressively managed major corporation in the country in terms of social responsibility