Attended my first freestyle moguls cup event at Waterville Valley on Friday (1/16/2026) where the winners qualify for the olympics in Italy next month! One thing about me is I love a good ski day and love the Olympic games so this was a fantastic opportunity for me to attend. At the end of 2025, the US Ski & Snowboard changed the location of the Freestyle events from Deer Valley in Utah to Waterville Valley in New Hampshire (moguls) and Lake Placid in New York (aerials). I was stoked to hear these Olympic qualifying events were going to take place only a few hours drive from where I live. Although the event at Lake Placid would have been amazing to see, Waterville Valley was closer and was offering a full day lift ticket for only $26! Typically most big ski areas in the Northeast on average range between $60-200 for a single day ticket, and sometimes only covering 4 hours or specific time slots at that price. The drive up from Massachusetts was quick, I made a pit stop at my favorite rest area, the Hooksett rest stop, and got a latte from the Common Man. I arrived at Waterville Valley around 9:30am and took the first parking spot I saw. Thankfully this resort has a large parking area, but to my disadvantage had to walk a far way to the lodge up an incline on slippery pathways. Regardless I made it to the lodge and checked in.
I started my day off by doing some warm up runs down the green slopes at Progression Park. I was shocked to see how open it was at the lifts, the parking lots were pretty full when I got there yet the lift lines were practically non-existent. I would ski down my warm up runs and go straight onto the lift chair, there were no lines! After taking the time to practice, I went on to the Valley Run Quad skied down some of the trails from there. Again, the line at this lift took only a minute or so to get on, the slopes were also not crowded so I had a lot of freedom to move which was a nice change. At the top of the Valley Run Quad lift, you could see the Freestyle cup course and it was incredibly steep. Overtime the wind started to pick up more, it was intense and extremely cold. So much so it was starting to affect my vision while skiing, I had to stop a few times as I was getting whipped in the face by icicles and snow. I think at one point my phone said the temperature was 20F and with the windchill, was most likely below zero. The conditions of the snow also started to change, by mid afternoon, the trails were starting to get a little icy. I decided to take a lunch break and eat at the Lodge. The lodge was packed, I think maybe part of the reason there were no lines for the chair lifts was due to the freezing winds and everyone went inside to get warm. After lunch, I went up the Valley Run Quad one more time to watch the Women's and Men's finals. It was epic, watching how these athletes make it look so easy going down a double black diamond moguls course, doing flips and landing perfectly without pause or fail! I was in awe, it was also amazing to see the different countries that were competing, a small town in New Hampshire hosting athletes from around the world including Australia, Japan, and Kazakhstan! It was neat to see, also made me wonder what the athletes thought considering some of their home countries have taller mountain ranges in comparison to the White Mountains which are only 4000-6000 ft in elevation.
After the event concluded, I skied down one last time and went back to the lodge. Unfortunately I did not get to go up Tecumseh Express to the top of the mountain, the conditions were getting worse and it may have been icy up there and I wouldn't enjoy it as much. I do regret not having tried, as it would have been neat to be at the top of the mountain in winter since I hiked it this past summer. Perhaps another day I'll come back and hopefully the weather will be a little warmer and a little less icy. And maybe I'll be able to attend an Après ski party too. One thing I did appreciate while skiing was the view, the mountains were beautiful in the setting sun with their tops covered in snow.
The 2026 ski season already off to a good start I'd say though! Cant wait for more adventures and ski trips :)
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