For little downhill racers

I don't downhill ski myself, at least not well, but because my wife was a racer in high school and college, our two children enjoy practicing S turns and, occasionally, hurtling helter-skelter down the hill.

My son and daughter strapped on skis for the first time two years ago, and for reasons of convenience and cost, we stayed close to home to start. Rather than deal with the big ski areas in New Hampshire and Maine, we headed 30 minutes north to Bradford Mountain, located in Haverhill.

Haverhill, you say? Yup. It isn't Park City, Vail, or even Newry, Maine, and that's good. Bradford, which is celebrating its 60th year in business, is appealing precisely because it's small and doesn't have pretensions of being a resort destination.

There are three chairlifts, three rope tows, one T-bar, and, for the littlest skiers, a magic carpet. Bradford has 13 trails in all, a terrain park for snowboarders, and an excellent snowmaking operation that limits the icy patches. Our kids each took a couple of group lessons at Bradford, and benefited from their time with the instructors. (A group lesson costs $25, but, frequently, there are so few kids in the group that it's like a private lesson.)

A lift ticket costs $30 during the week and $42 on the weekend. (Compare that to, say, Loon Mountain in New Hampshire, which charges between $53 and $73 for a lift ticket.) And, yes, there's night skiing at Bradford, which my 8-year-old daughter did once, and found very exciting.

While it doesn't cater to rich mortgage brokers, Bradford is not without creature comforts. The lodge has a large, open fireplace that's always crackling, and a small canteen that serves an assortment of goodies, our favorites being the pulled-pork sandwiches, homemade chips, and enormous Rice Krispies treats.

Honestly, what more could you ask for?