Jan Stearns, Marketing Dir. 1-888-987-8333

Good morning, winter...we've missed you!

When you live and work in a four-season mountain community like Waterville Valley, you can't help but get excited as you welcome each new season.

This morning I woke to snow covered mountains that grew more beautiful as the sun rose.

Enjoy!

Photos taken Friday, Oct. 28, at 8 a.m.

At Waterville Valley Resort we believe in the power of mixing meetings with pleasure!

Waterville Valley, New Hampshire's popular 4-season mountain community, has launched new initiatives to add versatility to their conference facilities. The changes include renovations to the Waterville Valley Conference Center and the Brookside Bistro located in Town Square. New outdoor venues for groups have been added, including a gazebo and a larger four-season tent for events.

The Waterville Valley Conference Center has more than 15,500 sq. ft. of function space with 12 meeting rooms that can accommodate groups of 25 to 1,000. The Conference Center's largest meeting room, the Waterville Room, is being expanded and renovated with work expected to be completed by spring of 2012.

The new Brookside Bistro in Town Square will offer smaller events a more intimate venue along the Snows Brook in the center of Waterville Valley.

The investment in conference and group services includes newly hired staff, including Conrad Oldenburg, the new Director of Resort Sales, and Justin Guilbert, Sales Manager (formerly having been at The Mountain Club on Loon).

One of Waterville Valley’s key attraction as a meeting location is its setting, which is a 2-hour drive from Boston and close to Southern New Hampshire. Located in the heart of the White Mountains and surrounded by 700,000 acres of National Forest, Waterville Valley provides activities for all seasons and plenty of inspiration for meetings.

There are extensive hiking trails, golf courses, skiing and snowboarding and a list of outdoor activities. The easily accessible Town Square offers shops, restaurants and outfitters. Accommodation in the resort offers a wide variety of options to visitors, from lodges to condominiums and inns. With more than 500 guest rooms available throughout the resort town the location has worked well for four decades for conferences, weddings, and other gatherings of all sizes.

Check out the new Conference Center and weddings websites.

Once you've fallen in love with Waterville Valley Resort, you'll want to call it home! The Waterville Valley Realty team has been connecting Waterville Valley buyers and sellers for over 40 years. There is a Waterville Valley home for your lifestyle and budget. 1-888-987-8333.

Waterville Valley Ski Resort, New Hampshire just launched their new website waterville.com and released their Winter 2011-12 newsletter.

In the newsletter, Chris Sununu (right), chief executive officer of Waterville Valley Ski Resort, writes, "...For over 30 years my family has been enjoying Waterville Valley's natural beauty, big mountain skiing and the wonderful camaraderie of the resort's guests, homeowners and residents.

"As the new owners of the resort, our goal is to preserve all that is so special about Waterville Valley and to begin to invest in the entire resort to ensure the best possible winter and summer mountain vacation experience for all of our guests.

"During our first year we have focused on a few key areas of the resort that needed the greatest help in terms of upgrades. First and foremost we have invested in our employees to help ensure a great customer experience. Our capital campaign, the most aggressive in 20 years, has included everything from upgrading lifts and snowmaking to lodging and food services. And most important of all, we have worked with our partners at the U.S. Forest Service to begin the permitting process for the first trail expansion on the mountain since 1980. Our vision is to continue responsible and sustainable development of new lifts, trails, and base facilities on the mountain. We want to make sure Waterville Valley continues to develop as the premier New England family resort of the 21st century.

"We know how much all of you care about this very special place and always appreciate your ideas and suggestions to help us improve your resort experience." ~ Chris Sununu

What's Happening at Waterville Valley?

Snowmaking & Grooming. On the mountain a new BR350W Sherpa Tower snow cat groomer with tower winch equipment will enable improved grooming on the variety of steeper trails that are so popular with Waterville Valley skiers and riders. The addition of new snowmaking pumps will increase capacity to make snow on the 4,004-foot summit elevations and top parts of the mountain by 33%. Four new SMI Fan Sno-Guns have been added to the arsenal and will be dedicated to the Waterville Valley terrain parks, allowing for an earlier opening of the parks with a variety of features.

High Country Lift. The High Country chairlift that brings skiers and riders to the summit has been converted from diesel to an electric power drive, not only reducing engine noise and exhaust emissions but also increasing capacity and shortening ride time with the electric drive providing a higher rope speed.

Restaurants. In the mountain base lodge an expanded Pizza Cafe is planned that will feature popular thin crust pizza, sandwiches, Pepsi products and draft Harpoon Ale, UFO and Coors Light beers. The third floor restaurant, lounge and outside dining deck will offer new menu items as well as the continuation of the popular affordable menu items introduced last winter.

Season Ski Locker Room. The popular seasonal guest locker room area has been completely renovated, including new rest rooms and flat screen televisions.

Nordic. At the Nordic Center, a new PB100 Piston Bull cross-country snow grooming cat will improve surface conditions for both traditional and skating tracks on Waterville Valley Resort's vast network of over 70 kilometers of groomed trails in the White Mountain National Forest. A Nordic Center season pass is included with the purchase of a full season alpine pass.

Shuttle & Trolley. Resort shuttle and trolley service will be upgraded with the addition of a new shuttle bus to the fleet that provides shuttle service throughout the resort. A new trolley will also be added to increase capacity to move guests form the mountain parking lots to the slopes.

The North Face Store. At the Town Square in the Waterville Valley resort village a new store called "1829 Outfitters" opened on Columbus Day weekend featuring The North Face clothing, footwear and accessories, Timberland boots, Swix Nordic apparel and Oakley sunglasses and goggles.

Frequent Skier/Rider Card. A frequent skier/rider card will offer special lift ticket rates for visits to Waterville Valley Resort.

Season Passes. Waterville Valley Resort 2011/2012 season passes offering over 140 scheduled days of skiing and riding, now include two lift tickets to enjoy New Hampshire's Cannon Mountain, a companion lift ticket for a day at Waterville Valley Resort, a season pass for the Nordic Center, allowing access to the vast network of cross-country trails, and a summer season pass valid on Snows Mountain Chairlift for lift-served hiking and mountain biking.

Resort Master Development Plan. Long-term master development in cooperation with the US Forest Service has been initiated to explore the addition of more lifts, trails and day lodges to the resort. Environmental Assessment is currently underway as part of the permit process to build a new high speed quad chairlift and new trails in the near future on Green Peak, located just to the east of the Valley Run trails.

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Waterville Valley Resort is a vacation destination offering world-class alpine & Nordic skiing and riding just a short drive from Boston via Interstate 93 (Exit 28). Completely surrounded by the 4,000-foot peaks of the White Mountain National Forest, Waterville Valley guests enjoy relaxing, family-friendly fun in one of New England's premier 4-season resort communities. In winter, you'll find an indoor athletic club with indoor & outdoor pools, a full line of exercise equipment, sauna, steam room and whirlpool tub, indoor tennis, racquetball, and squash, an indoor ice arena, sleigh rides, award-winning recreation department, cultural, educational & arts programs, guided hikes, horse drawn sleigh rides, and more. Waterville Valley is home to the renowned Waterville Valley BBTS Ski & Snowsports Club and Waterville Valley Academy, a five-month snowsports academy allowing students to further their athletic goals with a full-time training program, all while keeping a focus on their academics.

Stay connected to Waterville Valley by checking in daily with Jan's Blog at jansblog.co. Download The Resort Insider each week for a comprehensive activities and events calendar at wvnh.com/resort-insider.

Dave Cummings of Hoops for Heroes was in Waterville Valley, New Hampshire for the annual Fall Foliage Festival. You may have read in my blog that Dave has been on an amazing two year mission to shoot one million free throws and raise funds and awareness for the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund.

He's nearing the end of his journey and the one millionth shot will be made at the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, MA on Veterans Day (November 11) beginning at 9 a.m. Hall of Fame President John Doleva (pictured at left below, with Dave in the middle) has pledged that half of all the day's Hall of Fame proceeds will go to the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund.

I wanted to share one of Dave's recent blogs in which he talks about Waterville Valley and one of his inspirations as he's shooting for a million baskets.

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This is one of my very favorite photos from the nearly two years we’ve been shooting these shots, and that makes sense, because Waterville Valley is one of my very favorite places.

From left, that’s Betty Martin, Tiffany Bean, ‘lil Jack Kay, Chris Hodges (who I just noticed appears ready to stomp on my head), Sarah Kay and daredevil Drew Hodges. We’re on the playground out behind the Waterville Valley Recreation Department. On the other side of the building stands a flagpole with the Stars & Stripes, along with a memorial flag to Army Specialist Marc Decoteau, who was killed in action on Jan. 29, 2010 — about two and a half months after we began.

The Decoteau family continues to be a great source of inspiration.

Our love for Waterville Valley runs deep, and last week it got even deeper, as recreation director Rachel Gasowski had recently decided to make Hoops For Heroes the beneficiary of the annual Fall Foliage Foot Race.

She had asked a month back if I would be interested in coming up for the event, and gave me the option of participating in the 5k race, as I had done a year ago.

“Don’t feel like you have to,” she said, sounding an awful lot like she had seen me do my impersonation of a runner on that very same course in 2010 (not pretty).

But because I am still 24, not the 44 that my birth certificate would lead you to believe, I told Rachel that of course I would run.

Long story short: That was an ego-driven mistake.

The shooting was first, and the indefatigable and ever-supportive Hodgeseses — along with Chris’s mom Betty Martin, his sister Sarah Kay, and his nephew Jack Kay — showed up to take care of that business, assisting on 1,500 made shots (for a total of 968,507 down) before we got to watch little Jack belt a whiffle ball all over the gym. Drew pitched. I was the fielder. My hands still hurt.

Then it was race time, and without going into all the gory details … let’s just say I wasn’t a threat to win. Chris, who has done everything for HFH other than make the shots (and only because that’s against the rules), was a wonderful host. You may remember that it was just a month earlier that he had broken the north-to-south New Hampshire cycling record (230 miles in 12 hours, 38 minutes), so he’s actually an athlete. Even so, he was kind enough to hang back with me in a pretty casual jog.

The run itself was uneventful other that the brief moment of panic when I heard a “CLINK” a little after the 1 mile mark, then felt my chest and realized the Marc Decoteau memorial dog tag I’ve been wearing for about 20 months was missing.

I stopped and went back about 20 yards to look. Naturally, so did Chris. Probably 30 seconds later, there was Marc. Phew.

Chris stayed by my side throughout, and clearly could have gone way out in front. Then came the finish line, and 10 feet before he was set to cross in front of me, he stopped, and pushed me ahead. I had considered earlier that he might do this, and I had debated whether I would stand there and debate it with him, or just go.

I just went.

We finished about 25 minutes after we’d begun, which was probably a couple minutes slower than Chris should have finished, were he not waiting for the old guy.

Of course, it was a great day all-around, as it always is up there. The check to HFH was for $725 (Thanks again, Rachel!), the weather was absolutely perfect, and I even won a bag of Mad River coffee grounds in the raffle … which kind of makes up for the $10 parking ticket we’d gotten a couple weeks earlier at the State House.

Sure, I was barely able to get out of bed for the next three mornings (pathetically, that’s not an exaggeration), but hey … that’s the price of being 24 years old in a 44-year-old body.

Thanks again, Waterville Valley.

For more on Hoops For Heroes, with a goal of 1 million made foul shots and $1 million raised for the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund, visit www.hoopsforheroes.com or contact Dave Cummings at 603-554-7855.

Here is the latest blog from Andy Knight, Waterville Valley Resort's blogger laureate and president of the Waterville Valley Foundation.

Last Friday night was the grand opening of the new 1829 boutique in [Waterville Valley, NH] Town Square. As happens a lot around here, the faithful were out in force, shopping, chatting, hanging. It is a lovely store — a harbinger of the future, I hope — and the welcoming crowd brought a positive vibe. As I scanned around at all the familiar faces, some weekenders and some residents, I thought about the strange gravity that brings us all back here, or makes us stay. The old marketing campaign, “Love”, really wasn’t too far off the mark. With that thought, I give you the first twenty-one reasons I could think of why you should abandon the comforts of the suburbs and move to Waterville Valley full time. Or, as I say in my more candid moments, “Brains… more brains… fresh brains…”

1. You ask your friends what time they’re arriving Friday night, because it never occurs to you that they might not actually be coming up.

2. You hit refresh more than three times on the Resort webcam during a conference call.

3. You know where Swazeytown is.

4. You care where Swazeytown is.

5. You smell woodsmoke and leaf mold and your Pavlovian response is to start waxing your skis.

6. You feel just a little better when you put on your WV fleece or baseball cap.

7. You know exactly when it’s time to say goodbye in Thornton, because you know exactly where your cell phone will drop on Rt. 49 on the way in.

8. Your server at the Coyote [Grill Restaurant] says, “I won’t bother with tonight’s specials. The Buffalo Meatloaf and a very dry Grey Goose Martini, super cold, slightly dirty.” And she doesn’t wait for confirmation.

9. You stop in the middle of Lower Bobby’s [ski slope], and you can pick out your condo.

10. You hear Warren Miller intone “I’ve been telling you, move to a ski resort this year. If you don’t, you’ll be one year older when you do”… and in your heart of hearts, you know he’s right.

11. The sight of a moose thrills you nearly as much as the sight of your bride/groom standing at the altar. Nearly.

12. The thought of running into a bear on the trail secretly pleases you.

13. The idea that a family of red foxes might be your closest neighbors seems pretty good to you.

14. You wonder why Real Life can’t be like this.

15. You scheme on Sunday nights for a reason to stay.

16. You realize that “work-from-home” Fridays can mean “work-from-the-Valley”. And then you actually work, so you get to do it again.

17. Your kids’ best friends are the kids they ski with every weekend.

18. Your best friends are the grown-up kids you ski with every weekend.

19. You know what time the Saturday morning warm-up crowd at the Schwendi [Hutte mountaintop restaurant] breaks, so you can always get a table. No, I am not sharing.

20. You recognize and appreciate the fact that Steve, the Schwendi chef, will always play four songs you know and one you don’t, but love, in his house music mix.

21. Regardless of where you spend your weekdays, you only truly feel at home when you’re in the Valley.

If more than a few of these ring a bell for you, you have my condolences… what time do you want to meet for coffee on Tuesday morning?

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Interested in learning how YOU, too, can own a piece of paradise at Waterville Valley, New Hampshire?

Call the Waterville Valley Realty team at 1-888-987-8333 or visit us online at wvnh.com.