Adventures in Snowboarding at Pat’s Peak!

Yesterday we took the Outdoor Adventure Club to Pat’s Peak in Henniker, NH. I work at an inner-city high school, so most of my kids have never been skiing or snowboarding – it’s too expensive. Access is something I struggle with on a regular basis – just finding the resources and transportation to get the kids into nature for a hike is difficult and expensive, let alone adding the cost of equipment and lift tickets that come with ski/snowboarding trips. (I devote a lot of time to grant writing and fundraising.) However, my friend Meg, who runs an Outdoors Club at another local inner-city high school, found a great deal at Pat’s Peak, so we teamed up and took our clubs on a joint outing.

I spent the morning getting food for the kids. Rather than have them waste their money on over-priced fried food in the ski lodge, we opted to bring healthy alternatives – peanut butter, jelly and fluff with whole wheat bread, oranges, apples, bananas, granola bars, string cheeses, and peanut butter crackers. We also got banana chips, dried pineapples, dried cranberries, cashews, almonds, chocolate chips, cheerios, and m&m’s, and let the kids make their own granola. It was a hit!

Taking a break to adjust my bindings while snowboarding at Pat’s Peak.

The folks at Pat’s Peak were great- everyone was super-friendly and accommodating. The price for 7 hours of skiing/snowboarding/tubing was just $38, and included the lift ticket and rental. The kids had the option to do any of the three activities, and could even try all three if they wanted. That worked out really well, as most of them had never been on a snowboard before, so after a few hours of banging up their bodies on the bunny hills, they were able to switch to tubing.

Though lessons were not available, there were many instructors spread throughout the beginner’s area who were giving impromptu instruction. Again, this was incredibly valuable for my kids – adding the cost of a lesson would be a financial strain, so this free instruction was awesome. They made great use of it, and by the end of the night, most of them were hopping on the lifts to bigger and longer runs.

By the time 10pm rolled around, everyone was tuckered out! It was a great trip, one that we will definitely do again!