Overall a good mountain. The staff was helpful. Lines were not bad until 1 ish. Good groomers.

Ski resort reviews can be helpful only if you know the skill level and skiing perspective of the person authoring the review. My perspective is focused on the actual skiing experience (terrain, crowd, and snow factors). I am a middle-age advanced skier, lacking the courage and/or interest in jumping off cornices or cliffs. I enjoy cruising at relatively high speeds and once in a while popping a little bit of air. I love moderately spaced glades, but shy away from the dangers of extremely tight glades. I will also jump in and out of moderate bump runs. If a ski resort has all the varying types of terrain such as; above tree-line skiing, steeps, difficult bump runs, glades, cruising runs, and trails with “character” (twists, turns, dips, and lips), then, and only then will I feel that the skiing/riding experience has the potential for being complete. The terrain would therefore deserve a complete or perfect score of 5, when using the 1 to 5 rating scale. If any one or several of those factors are missing, then it deserves a lesser score to the degree of what is lacking.

It was time for my annual March trip with by buddies, so we decided to ski the two large New Hampshire Mountains of Bretton Woods and Waterville Valley, and the three smaller mountains of Tenney Mountain, and Ragged Mountain, while also including Shawnee Peak which was just across the New Hampshire border into Maine. With that said, here are my impressions of Waterville Valley (Waterville).

Terrain: Rated 3.0:
My first visit to Waterville was almost 30 years ago. If my memory serves me correctly, the trails have not changed significantly since then. As you face the mountain, the right side tends to be the land of the intermediate terrain, while the left side is where you find the advanced/expert terrain. On my first visit I recall sticking to the right side of the mountain, and feeling quite uneasy concerning the difficulty of these so-called “intermediate” trails. I remember venturing onto one diamonded trail and feeling completely out of my element. Almost 30 years have elapse, and I would like to think that my skiing has improved significantly for the better. On this current trip, the first thing that we did was to ride the White Peak Express Quad almost to the summit, and then hung a right to sample those intermediate runs that I vividly remembered. What I found was that they were relatively narrow, and some of the sides of the trails appeared to be slightly banked. This creates a double fall line. Combine that with some twists and turns, and you have some cruising trails that have character and are a great deal of fun. Next we took the “Quadzilla” quad to the left of the mountain where we could view the single and double diamond trails. “True Grit”, their signature double diamond looked extremely steep while viewing it from the quad. The right side of it was bumped-up with some extremely tight moguls. You could tell mogul competitions were held in that area due to the presence of two freestyle ramps in the middle of the bumps. The left side of the trail was not bumped-up. We rode the “Sunnyside Triple” to get to the top of True Grit. Needless to say, we chose the left side of “True Grit”, and because the snow was good the steepness became a non-issue. Pure beginner terrain is rather sparse at Waterville, and like many resorts, it is confined to a learning area close to the base lodge. The trail called "Lower Valley Run was the one exception to this premise. This run is a long run that returns you to the base lodge, and gives you the opportunity to really step on the gas. The only problem for rank beginners is that one has to access this trail by taking “Upper Valley Run”, which is designated as an intermediate trail. I did enjoy myself at Waterville, but what sticks out like a sore thumb is the lack of some decent glades as an importance determinant of excellent terrain.

Service: Rated 4.0:
The day we skied Waterville was technically a two-for-one day, meaning two lift tickets for the price of one. There were three of us, so I volunteered to be the odd man out. I figured I had to wait by the ticket window until a single person approached, and then we could purchase two tickets at the price of one. Next to the ticket agent was a large roulette type spinning wheel. The ticket person called me over and said, “You don’t have to wait around for another warm body, we are giving the 50% discount regardless, but first spend the wheel.” The wheel had various prizes that could be won, such as a free lift ticket and food vouchers. I didn’t win anything, but my buddies won food vouchers. When I entered the main lodge, Waterville had what every ski lodge should have, which are several large closed door changing booths for those who need to change in or out of ski clothes. You no longer had to put up with wet, stinky bathroom floors, where no matter what you do, you manage to drop an article of clothing on the floor directly in the midst of the ever present slime. There was also parking for a limited time by the main lodge, so that you can load or unload your ski gear comfortably. This is true customer service.

Crowds: Rated 5.0:
There were no lift lines and a wide open cafeteria where you can pick your dining spot.

Activities: Rated 4.0:
Waterville claims to have four terrain parks. I didn’t see them. But it is possible that I could have missed them, since I am not into terrain parks. Also, there was no evidence of tubing .Waterville is fairly close to Plymouth, NH, as well as not being too far from North Conway; which is the queen of apré ski, dining, and shopping activities.

Value: Rated 5.0:
Two-for-one lift ticket day, as well as the opportunity to win your lunch, all equates to a very inexpensive day.

In summary, I enjoyed Waterville for that day. But surprisingly for a big mountain, I am not so sure how long it could sustain my interest after a second day of skiing.