The Nordic Center at Waterville Valley

While away in NH for a cozy New Year’s Weekend, ladyfriend and I decided to take advantage of all that fluffy white stuff and go play a little. We were torn between cross country skiing and snowshoeing, but the Nordic Center has both options so we headed right over.
With only about two hours of usable daylight, we asked the woman at the front desk what she thought would be more fun and a better use of the little time we had. She was helpful in that no-​bones-​about-​it New England way «well, snowshoeing is like walking and cross country skiing is like skiing. But different.»
Oh.
We chose skiing.
They gave us our rentals and a trail map, demonstrated the bindings, and then sent us out into the wild.
It was pretty easy for both of us to pick up (again for me, for the first time for her), and we had a blast swishing around the pond.
The trails are well marked and the difficulties clearly labeled (also closed trails were obviously marked). Had we had more time, it would have been cool to check out the yurt, but we decided to hang close to the center as daylight was limited.
We made two circuits around the pond loop in about an hour and a half (I recommend going left out of the center around that one, otherwise there’s a pretty big hill that you’ll have to un-​clip and hike up) and came back happy and pleasantly worn out.
Overall it was a great way to spend an afternoon and a fun learning experience for both of us. The equipment is in great condition, the trail system seems ample and well-​mapped, and the prices are very fair. We love Waterville Valley.