Mount Whittier

Skiing at Mt. Whittier began in the 1940s. A 1949 guide listed three rope tows there, and one local history dates the start to that year. Despite the name, the slopes were on Nickerson Mountain, beside the peak called Mount Whittier. A 2,000-foot platter lift began running in February 1956, and new management announced a $400,000 expansion in 1962.^1,2,3,4

Its best-known lift came in 1963: a 6,300-foot gondola with four-person cars. New England Ski History calls it the first four-person gondola in New Hampshire; Wikipedia counts it as the state's second gondola of any kind. It had three stations, one by the highway, one at the ski area's base and one near the summit. No chairlift was ever built; T-bars and rope tows did the rest. Guides gave its vertical as anything from 1,100 to 1,650 feet.^1,2,3,4

The terrain was steep, there was never any snowmaking, and larger resorts to the north drew skiers away. The area was foreclosed on in 1973 and bought by local investors in December 1974. After poor winters in the early 1980s it closed, most likely after the 1984–85 season; NELSAP puts the end at about 1984. In the fall of 1986 the owning company chose to sell what was left.^1,2,3,4

TodayThe land is divided into 14 parcels and was for sale in 2023; a gondola tower still stands in a McDonald's parking lot, and the old lodge holds a post office. (2023)^1,4,5