Bretton Woods Ski Resort
Resort Overview
Michael Fulton
45+ resortsMelbourne-based ski expert with 45+ resorts across 5 continents. Specialises in Australian skiing and riding and international resort comparisons.
Skiing for 14 years and visited resorts in:
🇦🇺 Australia (6) • 🇺🇸 USA (15) • 🇯🇵 Japan (5) • 🇪🇺 Europe (10)
Bretton Woods ski resort commands 464 acres of skiable terrain across three distinct mountain areas in New Hampshire’s legendary White Mountains, making it the largest ski area in the state. Established in December 1973 and now celebrating over 50 years of operation, the resort sprawls across Mount Rosebrook, West Mountain, and Mount Stickney with a vertical drop of 1,500 feet from its 3,100-foot summit to its 1,600-foot base.
The mountain features 63 named trails complemented by 35 glades that add another dimension to the skiing experience, with terrain distributed as 25% beginner, 29% intermediate, and 46% advanced to expert runs.
What truly distinguishes Bretton Woods is its dramatic setting in the shadow of the Presidential Range, offering unobstructed views of Mount Washington and the surrounding peaks from virtually every run. The resort’s 92% snowmaking coverage across 428 acres ensures consistent conditions throughout its mid-November to mid-April season, whilst annual natural snowfall exceeding 200 inches provides regular powder refreshers.
Bretton Woods has earned SKI Magazine’s award for Best Grooming in the East for six consecutive years, alongside rankings as the top resort in New Hampshire for overall satisfaction, family friendliness, and guest services. The mountain’s north-facing orientation and sheltered position provide excellent snow preservation and wind protection, creating reliably comfortable skiing conditions.
Located directly across from the historic Omni Mount Washington Resort—site of the famous 1944 Bretton Woods Conference that established the World Bank and International Monetary Fund—the ski area benefits from integration with one of New England’s grandest hotels whilst maintaining its own distinct character as a spacious, uncrowded destination surrounded by the 800,000-acre White Mountain National Forest.
Live Bretton Woods Webcams
Trails & Terrain
Trails
Total Runs
63
Total Area
467 ac
189.0 ha
Bretton Woods Lift System
Bretton Woods operates a modern 10-lift system with a combined uphill capacity of 14,000 to 15,700 skiers per hour, anchored by New Hampshire’s only eight-passenger gondola and four high-speed detachable quad chairlifts that provide efficient access across the mountain’s three distinct terrain pods.
The Bretton Woods Skyway Gondola, installed for the 2019-20 season, serves the majority of Mount Rosebrook’s vertical rise with capacity for 2,600 passengers per hour, offering enclosed comfort during cold weather whilst providing spectacular Presidential Range views during the scenic ascent.
Four high-speed quads—Bethlehem Express, Zephyr Express, Rosebrook Summit Express, and West Mountain Express—fan out across the terrain, with the Bethlehem Express scheduled for replacement with an upgraded Leitner-Poma detachable quad for the 2025-26 season.
This lift infrastructure creates remarkable redundancy, with multiple routes to access the same terrain zones and virtually eliminating bottlenecks even on busy weekends. The system is rounded out by Crawford fixed-grip quad, Fabyan’s triple chair (which rarely operates as it duplicates the gondola’s upper section), Telegraph T-Bar serving advanced glades on Mount Stickney when conditions permit, and two magic carpets in the isolated Learning Centre for absolute beginners.
Every lift except the T-Bar provides green trail descent options, allowing novice skiers to explore the entire mountain whilst high-speed lift coverage ensures experienced skiers maximise their vertical.
The strategic lift placement across three mountain areas—Mount Rosebrook as the main terrain hub, West Mountain offering its own distinct character, and Mount Stickney providing glade-focused advanced terrain—creates natural crowd dispersion and maintains the resort’s reputation for minimal lift queues.
On-mountain facilities include the striking Rosebrook Lodge at the gondola summit, considered one of the Northeast’s finest mountaintop buildings, alongside Top O’ Quad Restaurant, Stickney Cabin, and Chutters candy cabin at the Zephyr Express summit.
Lifts
Total Lifts
10
Lift Types
5
Location & Getting There
Bretton Woods ski resort sits at 99 Ski Area Road in the White Mountains of New Hampshire, positioned in the dramatic shadow of the Presidential Range where Mount Washington—New England’s highest peak at 6,288 feet—dominates the skyline with views visible from across the mountain.
Located in the village of Bretton Woods within Carroll County, the resort occupies a spectacular setting between Crawford Notch and Franconia Notch, virtually surrounded by the White Mountain National Forest’s 800,000 protected acres with minimal visible development beyond the historic Mount Washington Hotel and the Mount Washington Cog Railway.
The resort is named after Bretton Hall in West Yorkshire, England, honouring the 1772 land grant from King George III to Sir Thomas Wentworth, whilst the area gained international recognition in 1944 when the Mount Washington Hotel hosted the United Nations Monetary and Financial Conference that established the Bretton Woods financial system.
Access is straightforward via U.S. Route 302, which runs directly through Bretton Woods as the main east-west scenic highway through Crawford Notch, connecting to Interstate 93—the primary north-south corridor providing direct routes from Boston (157 miles/2.5 hours north via I-93), Portland, Maine (93 miles/2 hours east), Burlington, Vermont (115 miles/2 hours west), and Montreal (187 miles/3 hours north).
The nearest major commercial airport is Manchester-Boston Regional at 105 miles requiring approximately two hours’ drive, whilst Boston Logan International Airport sits 165 miles or 2.5 hours away offering the most extensive flight connections for domestic and international visitors.
Regional towns include Twin Mountain five miles west at the junction of Routes 3 and 302, North Conway 32 miles east through Crawford Notch offering extensive outlet shopping and dining, and Littleton 32 miles west serving as the major regional hub.
The resort’s position in the northwestern White Mountains places it amongst several notable ski areas including Cannon Mountain in Franconia Notch, Loon Mountain 25 miles south in Lincoln, and various Mount Washington Valley resorts, though Bretton Woods’ 464 acres make it New Hampshire’s largest ski area by total terrain.
Bretton Woods
, new-hampshire