Franconia Cross-Country Skiing 2025: A Season to Remember

December started slow. It was fairly warm, and the occassional flurries left us wondering if we could expect another lost xc ski season here at the Inn. After the holidays, we had just enough coverage to groom some of our trails, but it was still a light month, especially for those who shared a not-so-white Christmas with us.  Our singletrack trails are far from perfect. Without machinery to level the surface, rocks, roots, and uneven terrain can be common occurance in unfavorable conditions. 

Like December, January also got off to a slow start. Meteorologists' predictions fell short of expectations, and there was not much skiing to be had until the very end of the month. On the last few days of January, we were blessed with a major snowstorm which dropped almost a foot of snow in Franconia. The entire network of trails were quickly covered and groomed, and by February 1st, cross-country skiing was in full swing. Mother Nature answered our snow dances, and the community responded. On the last weekend of January we had over 100 skiers, skaters, and snow tubers all enjoying the fresh powder.

January's strong finish rolled right along into February. Every weekend saw an additional 6+ inches of snow blanketing the trails creating a well-packed base and a beauful skiing surface. Once problematic obstacles dissappeared into the deep powder. Troublesome wet spots froze so thick that we could drive the ATV over them. Skiers enjoyed the tireless efforts of our groomers who groomed an estimated 200+km of trails and spent over 30 hours maintaining the network -most of this work coming in February. Not including our in-house guests, season passholders, and Adaptive Sports athletes, we had more than 300 skiers over the course of the month! After a long day on the trails, skiers enjoyed our Apres Ski Saturdays in our rustic pub featuring live music, a warm fire, and tasty snacks.

All good things must come to an end, and our skiing came to an abrupt halt in March. We saw a few days pushing 70 degrees and heavy rainfall washed all of our beautiful snow away. Our groomers will get some well-earned rest, and we will start preparing for next season. In the offseason, we will be working on continued trail maintence, more signage, and xc ski events. Stay tuned, we have some exciting things planned for 2025 and 2026!