Cranmore - The Place to Learn to Ski for Over 70 Years

NORTH CONWAY, NH - Cranmore Mountain has a strong history of ski instruction that dates back to 1939 with the arrival of Austrian Ski Meister Hannes Schneider. Today, Cranmore offers the same level of dedication and modern teaching techniques as pioneered by Schneider over 70 years ago.

When Schneider came to the United States from Austria, his revolutionary teaching techniques dubbed him as the father of modern skiing and Cranmore, the birthplace of modern ski instruction in America. Schneider took over leadership of the ski school at Lookout Mountain, now known as Cranmore Mountain Resort, and taught millions of skiers from around the world the Arlberg Technique. Today, that quality of instruction continues at Cranmore.

Cranmore offers daily and seasonal snowsports lessons for skiers and riders. Children as young as three years old can enjoy their first turns on snow. Private lessons and group lessons are offered every day of the season for all ages and abilities. Most popular are the resort's kids camps, which are taught based on age and ability.

One of the leading factors driving a parent toward a particular mountain is not how close or convenient it is. It's whether or not that mountain has adequate snowsports lessons for their children.

That's why Cranmore - a mountain with 70 years of family ski instruction under its belt - puts extra emphasis on their children's programs. The most popular lessons? The daily children's programs, the Penguin (ages 4 to 7) and Adventure (ages 8 to 14) Camps. "The majority of the lessons we do here are children's lessons," says Cranmore's snowsports program coordinator, Mary Miller. It's simply a telltale sign that Cranmore is a family mountain and has been so for a long time.

Probably the easiest part of enrolling your kids in the Penguin (ski only) and Adventure (ski or snowboard) camps is that there's always a lesson to suit them. "We've had kids who have never seen snow before, so they're learning how to put on boots and how to walk around in them," says Miller. "Then we have kids that are more upper level - skiing moguls, or riding more difficult terrain. It all just depends on their level, but there's always a lesson."

Beginner level groups spend most of their time in Beginner Basin, serviced by the flying carpet and magic carpet lifts. Those who graduate from Beginner Basin head next to the gentle green terrain of the South Slope. And when it's lunchtime, kids enjoy juice, milk, and pizza from the Flatbread Company in North Conway - all of which (in addition to rentals) are included in the program's price.

Then when the lesson (scheduled from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.) ends, kids still have plenty of time to show their parents what they learned that day - and that's the stuff of memorable vacations.

Cranmore also offers snowboarders top-notch instruction, as the resort is an official Learn to Ride Center, a program provided by Burton Snowboards. Burton's Learn To Ride program incorporates the right equipment with proven teaching methods to make learning to snowboard easy and fun for everyone. Cranmore rents genuine Burton boots and boards to all lesson-takers.

Not only does Cranmore offer one of the industry's longest-running lesson programs, they also give families remarkable value for their skiing dollars. Three then Free and Reach the Peak are also great options for beginner and intermediate lesson packages. Guests who take three beginner or intermediate group lessons packages get a free season pass (ages 13 & up). Cranmore's Kids Rule package gives parents savings on group ski lessons for kids ages 6-14 when 4 lessons are purchased.

Cranmore gives parents the most convenient way possible to reserve kids' camps with online reservations at www.cranmore.com. Kids camps and adult group lessons for ages 13 and up can all be booked ahead of time to ensure space is available. Day care can also be reserved in advance.

Cranmore has been operating for 72 consecutive years in the heart of North Conway Village, NH. In 2009, Cranmore was named Tourism & Hospitality Business of the Year by Business NH Magazine. Snoweast magazine readers recently rated Cranmore #5 for best ski area and #3 for best terrain parks in the East.