In an industry dominated by ever-bigger, ever-faster gondolas and $300 lift tickets, one New England ski hill is taking the opposite approach. For the second consecutive year, Storrs Hill Ski Area in Lebanon, New Hampshire—a more than 100-year-old, largely volunteer-run hill roughly two hours from Boston—will offer free skiing and riding for the 2025-26 season. The Jack & Dorothy Byrne Foundation supports the sophomore initiative, reflecting Storrs Hill’s broader mission: to keep skiing accessible for the local community. And here, that extends to visitors willing to trade high-tech frills for a taste of pure, old-school winter fun.
Storrs Hill opened in 1923 and remains almost entirely powered by volunteers. In a typical year, about 50 volunteers handle everything from lift operations to grooming runs and social media; this season, the nonprofit Lebanon Outing Club, which operates the ski hill, added another 10 in anticipation of increased demand. The addition is justified. “Last season saw around 2,500 skiers and snowboarders—four times as many compared to the year prior, when adult passes cost $10 to $15,” Cory Grant, Lebanon Outing Club president and the general manager of Storrs Hill, said in a statement. That surge illustrates precisely why Storrs Hill has lasted over a century. When skiing is just, well, skiing, and you remove one of its biggest barriers to entry—cost—people show up.
Brett Sowerby/Lebanon Outing Club
With a 300-foot vertical drop, 20 skiable acres, and seven trails (one green, four blue, a black-diamond glade, and one double-black), the terrain is modest but respectably varied. The hill’s lone lift, a platter-style Poma lift, pulls riders uphill the same way many New England ski areas have done for decades. That nostalgic charm extends to Heistad Hill, the 50-meter ski jump Storrs Hill is best known for, and to the flood-lit slopes that began hosting night skiing in 1939.
Despite its retro setup, or perhaps partly because of it, Storrs Hill continues to shape the sport’s future. Alpine superstar Mikaela Shiffrin trained here as a child, and the hill’s small-scale programs still introduce many children and beginners to downhill skiing, snowboarding, telemark skiing, ski jumping, and backcountry skiing. Lessons start as young as age 4 with the Sno-Puppies program and scale up to advanced instruction, including jump training. One-hour lessons begin at $75, with nonresident rates $30 higher across the board.
Storrs Hill doesn’t offer equipment rentals, but several local partner shops do. Bob Skinner’s Ski & Sport in nearby Sunapee and Henderson’s Ski & Snowboard in Quechee, Vermont, rent by the day or season, while Lebanon’s Golf & Ski Warehouse and Omer and Bob’s offer season-long leases only.
The ski area is accessible to the public Friday through Sunday, opening for the season on Dec. 26 and wrapping up in mid-March. To get your 100 percent free lift ticket, simply stop by the ticket booth.
Other Ways to Ski Free
Not in New England, or just wanting to plan a winter trip built around low-cost skiing? Steamboat Springs’ historic Howelsen Hill Ski Area, the oldest continuously operated ski area in North America (opened in 1915), offers free skiing on Sundays all season. Bonus: Get a free beer or popcorn at Mountain Tap Brewery with your same-day Ski Free Sunday lift ticket. And although it’s not technically free, ski apparel brand Helly Hansen also offers free lift tickets at over 80 participating resorts around the world when you buy a ski jacket or pants.
Read the full article here