Best of New Hampshire skiing

Looking for a few inside tips? The Globe has surveyed the scene from top to bottom and taken notes:

Best day trip for animal lovers

If you're looking for a family-friendly alternative to standing in a weekend lift line, why not take in a sled dog race? The New England Sled Dog Club has been hosting races since 1924, and the trials on Chocorua Lake in Tamworth (Jan. 31 and Feb. 1) is the oldest continuous sled dog meet in the Northeast. There is no admission fee, parking is first-come along Route 16, and fans are welcome to interact with the drivers and dog handlers in the holding area. You can get close to the start and finish lines, or hike into the woods beyond the lake to watch from trailside. The approachable, gregarious club members are eager to teach newcomers about the sport, and children are allowed to pet the dogs with permission. A spectator guide and full schedule is available at www.nesdc.org.
- T.D. THORNTON

Best backcountry access

Ever stood at the Wildcat Mountain summit and wondered where that trail down the back of the mountain goes? That's the backcountry Wildcat Valley Trail, and it snakes a challenging 11 miles through the woods to Jackson Village. Experienced out-of-bounds trekkers can buy a single-use lift ticket up the Wildcat quad for $6. There's also a separate $8 pass to access the lower Jackson Ski Touring Foundation trails (you can buy both at the mountain). The Jackson foundation cautions that "skiers should be in top physical condition and thoroughly prepared" before attempting the difficult descent, and you have to figure out your own transportation up to Wildcat.
- T.D. THORNTON

Best collection of moguls

Got bumps? Waterville Valley does. Even groms (and kids at heart) can start out on mini-moguls at the Lower Meadows learning area and digest those first turns. Intermediate mounds are located on Rock Island off Valley Run plus And Tyler Too (with a groomed bailout for unsure schussers). The Sunnyside lift is home to the tough stuff with Ciao and double black diamond steep True Grit under the chair. True Grit's the place for freestyle events and a training ground for Waterville Valley Academy's Black and Blue Trail Smashers. You better be that good.
- MARTY BASCH

Best value for a morning excursion

Why don't more mountains offer half-day lift tickets for morning skiing? Gunstock does, and it's an addictive option if you live in metro Boston. For $38 on weekdays, you get a lift ticket that runs from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. It's rarely crowded, you get to enjoy the best snow conditions of the day, and if you ride the Panorama high-speed quad, you can rack up a serious amount of runs. Best of all, it's a two-hour commute from the city, and you're back at home or work long before afternoon traffic.
- T.D. THORNTON

Best resort reinvention

Whaleback's the compact ski area seen from Interstate 89 in Enfield. Since its rebirth in 2005, the 30-trail hill has morphed into a new-school, action sports-oriented retreat. Co-owner Evan Dybvig, a two-time Olympian in moguls, mingles with the young masses during his free ski tip sessions Tuesday through Thursday at 1 p.m. There's a solid emphasis on terrain parks while still offering the classic, winding trails traditionalists love. Whaleback is rolling out $15 lift tickets during the last two hours of the day (there's night skiing), Sunday mornings from 9 a.m. to noon, and for the lower mountain, which includes park features and the bunny slope.
- MARTY BASCH

Best bet for night owls

On Fridays and Saturdays from Dec. 26 to Feb. 28, Crotched Mountain keeps its lifts running to 3 a.m. with its Midnight Madness program, featuring live music, slopeside bonfires, and other events. Fridays are discounted for college kids (with student I.D.), a lift pass starting at 5 p.m. for just $29. For groups of 15 or more, Crotched offers an "overnight lockup" promotion ($55) that includes night lift tickets, a sleepover in the main lodge, a breakfast buffet, and more time on the slopes the next morning.
- T.D. THORNTON

Best dinner destination

Cranmore is expanding on a summit top idea that debuted last winter: the Meister Hut Wine Dinner. The rustic log cabin on the summit will be open five Saturday nights - up from three - with fireplace aglow and live entertainment to enhance a four-course dinner and wine pairing. The hut itself is a worthy day destination with old ski photos, hot chocolate, and valley vistas. Be sure to bring a sweater and maybe even wear woolies for the $150 dinner. Pricey? Perhaps. But the chilly chairlift ride following the meal, with the twinkling lights of North Conway below, is priceless.
- MARTY BASCH

Best upgrade for casual X-C skiers

The Jackson Ski Touring Foundation will unveil a world-class race trail this season that will make Jackson only the sixth cross-country area in the country to meet International Ski Federation trail standards. The upgrade ensures the venue's eligibility to host high-level competitions, but will also be open for regular use by recreational skiers. A portion of the Eagle Mountain Golf Course will be used as a stadium area, and the race course incorporates private land into Jackson's signature Wave trail. Two new loops lengthen the run to 5 kilometers, and a new sprint course measures up to 9 meters wide in some parts.
- T.D. THORNTON

Best bet for the intrepid set

Tuckerman Ravine is indeed the backcountry spring mecca for the intrepid set. But why wait? If the snow gods are kind, journey to Pinkham Notch for the stimulating Sherburne Ski Trail. The Sherbie, cut in 1934, is a narrow and curving pathway between the Hermit Lake Shelter - a.k.a. Hojo's - and the Pinkham Notch Visitor Center. You start with a 2.4-mile trek up the Tuckerman Ravine Trail (since there's no hiking on the Sherbie). The nearly 2,000-vertical foot track has ever-changing conditions, from sensational powder to wind-blown hard pack and ice. Rock skis aren't a bad idea during boney times. The US Forest Service posts conditions at www.tuckerman.org.
- MARTY BASCH

Best snowshoeing adventure

There aren't many recreational trails where you can set foot in both the US and Canada, but that's possible at the Fourth Connecticut Lake Preserve, located at the northernmost tip of the Granite State in Pittsburg. Winter hikers (and backcountry skiers) can embark from the trail at the Route 3 customs station, and one of the highlights of the trip is posing for photographs while straddling the markers that delineate the international border. The forest surrounds an ancient bog whose outflow is the source of the Connecticut River, the longest waterway in New England before it empties 410 miles south into the estuaries of Long Island Sound.
- T.D. THORNTON

Best 2-for-1 deals

If you're a weekday skier or boarder, be ready to double up and save on 2-for-1 lift ticket deals in the Granite State. Prices quoted are for two adult tickets, and the usual vacation and holiday-period disclaimers apply: Waterville Valley ($65, Monday and Friday); Ragged ($49, Tuesday); Cannon ($64, Tuesday and Thursday); King Pine ($42, Tuesday through Thursday); Sunapee ($62, Wednesday); and Wildcat ($65, Wednesday).
- T.D. THORNTON

Best low-profile resort

King Pine at Purity Spring Resort is one of those under-the-radar ski areas. The vertical isn't much, but it's a self-contained countrified resort along Route 153 in East Madison, frequented by families and students after school. Much of the terrain at the 17-trail hill is benign but there are a handful of zingers - Pitch Pine and double black Pine Bruele - that can pose a challenge. Cross-country, night skiing, tubing, and ice skating compliment the area, and in addition to 2-for-1 Tuesday through Thursday, there are reduced tickets ($18 for adults, $12 for juniors) on Sunday afternoons (non-holiday).
- MARTY BASCH

Best double diamonds at night

Pats Peak has added lights on its Tornado trail, and the scrappy, mid-size mountain in Henniker boasts that it has "the most lit double-diamond terrain and glades in northern New England." All 22 trails are open for night skiing, and a new snowmaking-enhanced glade (the mountain's seventh) has been cut between East Wind and Duster.
- T.D. THORNTON

Best areas for tubing

Tubing might not demand a great skill set, but it does demand having a good time. Groomed tubing lanes with lifts have become as much a fixture at Granite State resorts as terrain parks. Areas with tubing include Cranmore and fellow Mount Washington Valley ski area King Pine. Gunstock touts the state's longest tubing run, while Keene's Granite Gorge serves tubing with a conveyor type of lift. Tubers can also get a lift up at Loon and Pats Peak.
- MARTY BASCH

Best way to make Loon even better

What's Loon getting that it doesn't already have? The continued South Peak expansion means two new trails, including the Lincoln area's first double black diamond plunge, Rip Saw. Accessed from blue square Boom Run, the hold-on-to-your-hat, nearly 1-mile run has a 70 percent grade at its headwall before passing under the Lincoln Express Quad. The other newbie, Escape Route, is a wider cruiser down to the South Peak parking area (an option on those busy days). - MARTY BASCH