New Hampshire

Trip Report: Skiing Opening Day At New Hampshire's Largest Ski Area

Published

2 years ago

November 18, 2024

Trip Report: Skiing Opening Day At New Hampshire's Largest Ski Area

New Hampshire – The Northeast’s ski season officially kicked off last week.

After a warm start to the month, a cold stretch last week across the Northeast allowed various ski areas to open up for the season or temporarily. This included Killington, Sunday River, Sommet Saint Sauveur, Belleayre, Gore, Whiteface, and Bretton Woods. Situated across the street from the famous Omni Mt. Washington Resort, the New Hampshire ski area opened on Saturday with two trails and two lifts operating.

I decided to head up to Bretton Woods to experience their opening day. I decided over Killington because while its my favorite ski resort in New England, it can be a crowded experience during those first couple of days.

Lift tickets at Bretton Woods this past weekend were $72. This is a bit pricey for opening day, but they offered a $10 discount if you brought a non-perishable food item as part of their “Say Goodbye to Hunger” Food Drive.

One of the lifts that was open was the Learning Center Quad. This lift services Rosebrook Meadow, a mellow beginner trail. It’s nice to get your sea legs back on this run, but it kind of gets boring for more tenured skiers and riders after a few turns.

The main trail that was open was Range View, which was serviced by the Zephyr High-Speed Quad. It has two small steep sections, but its relative mellowness makes it a beginner piste. The snow was soft and buttery. Crowds were minimal across the ski area, so it allowed for peace of mind.

As the photos show, there was a small snowpack. However, there wasn’t any indication of a thin base (e.g., grass and rocks) on the slopes.

Overall, I was impressed by the snow quality for opening day. These early-season days are typically icy endeavors, but this wasn’t close to that. The above-average temperatures helped with the snowpack’s quality, but the conditions also showed the strength of Bretton Woods’ snowmaking and grooming team.

Bretton Woods will be closed for the next several days. Conditions permitting, the New Hampshire ski area aims to reopen this weekend.

Image/Video Credits: Ian Wood, Bretton Woods

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New Hampshire

National Guard Helicopter Rescues 80-Year-Old Canadian Hiker From New Hampshire Peak

Published

1 hour ago

June 25, 2026

Press Room

National Guard Helicopter Rescues 80-Year-Old Canadian Hiker From New Hampshire Peak

An 80-year-old Canadian hiker required a military helicopter rescue from Franconia Ridge Wednesday afternoon after suffering chest pains near the summit of Mount Lincoln in New Hampshire.

The New Hampshire Fish and Game Department received a call at 4pm on June 24th, 2026, reporting that Andre Bissonnette, 80, of Orford Township, Quebec, was experiencing a medical emergency while hiking the ridge with his son Vincent Bissonnette, 45, of Drummondville, Quebec.

The two had ascended via the Falling Waters Trail when Andre began experiencing chest pains while traversing the ridge near Mount Lincoln. Vincent called 911 and a New Hampshire Fish and Game Conservation Officer spoke with the hikers by phone, confirming Andre was unable to continue under his own power.

After determining that rescuers were still hours away and a ground carry-out would take several hours more, officials contacted the New Hampshire Army National Guard to coordinate a helicopter hoist.

A flight crew departed Concord and reached Mount Lincoln just before 6pm. Crew members lowered a medic to the hikers and hoisted both men into the helicopter. By 6:05pm, the aircraft was en route to Littleton Regional Hospital for further treatment.

New Hampshire Fish and Game reminds hikers that mountain weather can change rapidly and extreme conditions can develop without warning. Hikers are encouraged to check the Higher Summits Forecast at MountWashington.org before heading out and to carry the ten essentials: map, compass, warm clothing, extra food and water, headlamp, fire starter, first aid kit, whistle, rain and wind jacket and pants, and a knife. Additional preparedness information is available at HikeSafe.com.

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New Hampshire

New Hampshire has highest share of adults who identify as atheists

Published

11 hours ago

June 25, 2026

Press Room

New Hampshire has highest share of adults who identify as atheists

New Hampshire has the highest share of adults who identify as atheists in the U.S., at about 11%, according to a Pew Research Center study.

Nearly half of adults in the Granite State (48%) identify as religiously unaffiliated, a group that includes atheists, agnostics, and people who describe their religion as “nothing in particular.”

In the U.S. overall, 5% of adults identify as atheists, meaning New Hampshire’s share is more than twice the national average. About 29% of U.S. adults identify as religiously unaffiliated.

However, regionally, the West has the highest share of adults who identify as atheists among the four major U.S. regions – Northeast, Midwest, South, and West – according to the data.

The Pew Research Center’s Religious Landscape Study (RLS) regarding Americans’ beliefs was conducted in English and Spanish from July 17, 2023, to March 4, 2024, among a nationally representative sample of 36,908 U.S. adults.

What is atheism? 10 US states with the highest percentage of atheists

Atheism is defined by Merriam-Webster as “a lack of belief or a strong disbelief in the existence of a god or any gods.” However, people may interpret and describe the term in different ways.

Here are the 10 U.S. states with the highest shares of adults who identify as atheists, according to data from the Pew Research Center:

New Hampshire – 11% of residents
Washington – 9% of residents
Colorado – 8% of residents
Massachusetts – 8% of residents
Montana – 8% of residents
Oregon – 8% of residents
Vermont – 8% of residents
California – 6% of residents
Idaho – 6% of residents
Maryland – 6% of residents

New Hampshire religious composition

About 45% of adults in New Hampshire identify as Christian, 5% identify with other religions, and 48% as religiously unaffiliated, according to the Pew Research Center.

Breaking it down even further, 20% identify as Catholic, 13% as Mainline Protestant, 10% as Evangelical Protestant, 1% as Historically Black Protestant, 1% as Latter-day Saint (Mormon), 1% as Orthodox Christian, and less than 1% as Jehovah’s Witnesses or other Christian groups.

Roughly 1% identify as Jewish, less than 1% as Muslim, less than 1% as Buddhist, less than 1% as Hindu, less than 1% as Native American religions, and less than 1% as other world religions. About 1% identify with Unitarian and other liberal faiths, and 1% with New Age beliefs.

Among all adults in New Hampshire, 11% of all adults in New Hampshire identify as atheists, 1% as agnostics, and 29% with “nothing in particular.”

About 3% of respondents did not answer the question, the survey said. Additionally, the margin of error for the 2023-24 figures among adults in New Hampshire is plus or minus 8.0 percentage points.

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