Although Ala-Bye members are active in a wide variety of winter and summer activities, the primary focus of the club is Alpine skiing/riding. The Ala-Bye is within a one hour drive of eleven ski areas:
- Attitash
- Black Mountain
- Bretton Woods
- Cannon
- Cranmore
- King Pine
- Loon
- Mt. Abram
- Shawnee Peak
- Sunday River
- Wildcat
Our members spend most of their time at Wildcat, Bretton Woods and Attitash. Discount tickets programs have been offered through EICSL, but most of our members find that Ala Bye membership lowers the cost of skiing enough to consider a season pass at their favorite area.
Several of our members teach alpine, telemark and adaptive skiing at local snowsports schools and serve as a good source of advice for inexperienced skiers. Boarders, racers and backcountry skiers are also found among our membership. Skiing Tuckerman (remember, it's Tuckerman, not Tuckerman's..it was named after botanist Edward Tuckerman, but he never owned it!) is a long standing tradition with Ala-Bye members¦.Well, at least the younger ones! For a complete guide to skiing Tuckerman, go to www.timefortuckerman.com and don't stop skiing just because the lifts close!
Equipment can be purchased or rented at a variety of excellent local shops. Some are discount/value oriented, while others offer technical products and services such as custom boot fitting, footbeds and base structuring.
Andes Ski and Board Shop Boarder Patrol Eastern Mountain Sports Great American Ski Rental Ski Works Stan and Dan's *All of these shops offer EICSL discounts. Visit the EICSL page for more information.
Mt. Washington Valley is a popular center of Nordic skiing activity with over 405 km. of cross country and back country trails, 270 km. of which are groomed for skate and classic skiing.
The Jackson Ski Touring Foundation is the largest cross country ski area in the eastern United States. It incorporates their own superbly groomed trails with White Mountain National Forest backcountry trails that total 154 km. of great skiing. The trail system ranges from the top of Wildcat Mountain to Jackson Village via the Wildcat Valley trail, which several Ala-Bye members ski in the spring. If JSTF were an Alpine ski area, it would have the seventh highest vertical drop in the United States. They offer FIS homologated race trails and serve as a venue for national and international racing events. Night skiing is allowed on most trails, and some of our members have been known to ski with headlamps into the evening hours. Jackson offers EICSL club group discounts on inexpensive season passes. They currently give a 33% discount on trail passes, rentals and lessons on Sundays to anyone who can show a Saturday lift ticket from an Alpine ski area!
Bretton Woods Ski Touring Center, and Great Glen Ski Touring Center, have good early season snow due to their high base elevations. They offer great views of Mt. Washington from opposite sides of the mountain. Bear Notch Ski Touring Center, provides a good trail network a short drive past Attitash Ski Area. Mt. Washington Valley Ski Touring and Snowshoe Center has trails that start ½ mile from the Ala-Bye lodge and connect with the Whittaker Woods trails in North Conway. King Pine Ski Area, has 15 km. of trails at the base of their alpine ski area that make a good stop on the way home Sunday morning.
The Ala-Bye is located in an ideal location for four season hiking as well as summer rock climbing and winter ice climbing. Several of our members hike year-round, and include an AMC group leader. The majority of the trailheads for the 48 New Hampshire 4000 footers are within a one hour drive of the club making it a great place for day hikes or a Friday night stay before a weekend hike. More leisurely local climbs include Kearsarge, Doublehead or The Moats. Services are provided by the following vendors.
Appalachian Mountain Club
Eastern Mountain Sports
International Mountain Equipment
Bold print indicates EICSL member discounts