Mohawk Mountain in Cornwall the Place to be Presidents Week

The skiing is terrific at Mohawk Mountain Ski Area located in the heart of the Litchfield Hills in Cornwall Connecticut. The lifts are running and 24 slopes are open and covered with over 14 inches of fresh new white powder on top of an amazing base making this year a perfect time to go skiing. 

Mohawk has big plans for Presidents week holiday, starting on Saturday, Feb. 15 and running through Sunday, Feb. 23, the ski lifts will start turning at 8:30 a.m.  For you early birds, the lodge will be open at 7:30 a.m. for your convenience.

If you are renting skis, it is easy to convert your single day rental to a multi-day rental, which will save you time and money. Multi-day rentals are simply daily rentals that you keep for the length of your visit.  You are required to take your equipment home with you which saves you time picking them up the next day when you want to hit the slopes again. Best of all if you rent skis for three days, you get a 10% discount on all three days, rent them for 5 days and get 15% off.

Mohawk's Snowsports Discovery Center is offering ski and snowboard lessons for kids from 5-12 every day at 10 am for first timers and 1 pm for all levels of skiers.  All levels of snowboarders are welcome at either session. This program has an excellent teacher -student ratio and is never overbooked making it a popular and worthwhile program. To reserve a spot call 860-672-6100 x 133 or email snowsports@mohawkmtn.com.

Mohawk Mountain Ski Area is located on 46 Great Hollow Road Cornwall Connecticut for information www.mohawkmtn.com.  For information on Litchfield Hills - where to stay, dine and shop visit www.litchifeldhills.com

This years schedule for President's week holiday at Mohawk is:

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2014

• Midweek prices, open 9:30 am to 10:00 pm
• PINE LODGE open 11 am to 7 pm
• Triple Espresso open 3 to 9 pm
• Learn to ski or board with a sweetheart deal!  Our SATURDAY NIGHT SPECIAL is available on this Valentine’s Friday night! Lift/lesson/rental package for only $45.00 per person. It’s everything you need to get out on the snow – ski or snowboard options available.  Lesson offered at 6:30 pm.  No pre-registration required!  Forget about love – ski or board with the one you’re with!

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2014

• Holiday prices, open 8:30 am to 10:00 pm
• PINE LODGE open 9 am to 7 pm
• Triple Espresso open 9 am to 6 pm
• No Yeti Club or Mountain Division program

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2014

• Holiday prices, open 8:30 am to 4:00 pm
• PINE LODGE open 9 am to 3:30 pm
• Triple Espresso open 9 am to 3:30 pm
• No Yeti Club or Mountain Division program

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2014

• Holiday prices, open 8:30 am to 10:00 pm
• PINE LODGE open 9 am to 6 pm/ Triple Espresso open 9-6 pm

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2014

• Holiday prices, open 8:30 am to 10:00 pm
• PINE LODGE open 9 am to 6 pm/ Triple Espresso open 9 am – 6 pm
• PAY A VISIT TO THE LL BEAN BOOTMOBILE! The bootmobile will be parked near the Main Lodge from 11 am to 2 pm! Come say hi to our friends from LL Bean, take some great photos, play games and win great prizes!  It’s a very cool vehicle, and gets a ton of SMILES per GALLON!

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2014

• Holiday prices, open 8:30 am to 10:00 pm
• PINE LODGE closed for private function
• Triple Espresso open 9 am to 6 pm

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2014

• Holiday prices, open 8:30 am to 10:00 pm
• PINE LODGE closed
• Triple Espresso open 9 am to 6 pm

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2014

• Holiday prices, open 8:30 am to 10:00 pm
• PINE LODGE open 11 am to 7 pm
• Triple Espresso open 9 am to 6 pm

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2014

• Holiday prices, open 8:30 am to 10:00 pm
• OLYMPIC TORCH RUN! Show your pride in Team USA and join us in an Olympic style Torch Run down Arrowhead at dusk. We’ll gather at the top of Arrowhead as soon as darkness falls, extinguish the trail lights, and ski or ride down in formation. Each person will carry a foam light-up tube that they can take home. We will have an option for joining the parade near the top of the Nutmeg chair for those skiers and boarders that have not yet mastered blue trails. Limited to first 600 participants. Registration required/participant must be wearing a lift ticket or season pass/ no additional fees. 
• PINE LODGE open 9 am to 7 pm
• Triple Espresso open 9 am to 6 pm

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 2014

·                Holiday prices, open 8:30 am to 4:00 pm

·                PINE LODGE open 9 am to 3:30 pm

·                Triple Espresso open 9 am to 3:30 pm

Cross Country Skiing in Litchfield Hills

A snowy winter means mountains of fun in Connecticut's Litchfield Hills, where opportunities for many kinds of outdoor recreation abound.

Imagine the quiet swoosh of a cross country skier gliding across the winter landscape in one of the many state parks and nature centers that abound in this unspoiled northwest corner of the state.  Here are a few of our favorite spots to cross country ski.

White Memorial Foundation, on 71 Whitehall Rd. (off Rte. 202) in Litchfield offers 35 pristine miles of trails to explore.  The Apple Hill Trail is especially scenic for x-country skiing as it meanders for approximately two miles from Laurel Hill to the summit of Apple Hill, the highest point around Bantam Lake.   An observation platform located on top of Apple Hill provides stunning views of the lake, hills and unspoiled countryside as far as the eye can see.  Gliding through open fields and forests you may catch a glimpse of a white tailed deer or a red fox.

Burr Pond State Park, on Burr Mountain Rd. in Torrington offers a lovely blue blazed three mile trail with very little elevation that circles Burr Pond making it easy to ski on.  The trail takes you through a portion of Paugnut State Forest with its sheltering pines and hemlocks.  In addition to including many fine views of the pond – popular with ice fishermen, you will also glide through a variety of habitats.

Collis P. Huntington State Park on Sunset Hill Rd., in Redding is a quiet hideaway park that offers several unexpected charms.  The hill at this park is excellent for sledding and sliding and the network of trails here, most were former roads offer excellent and easy cross -country skiing.   The Blue Trail circles the park in a 5.7-mile loop that is perfect for an afternoon excursion.  A highlight of the park is the unique bronze animal sculptures made by Anna Vaughn Hyatt, one of America's most prolific sculptors.

Housatonic Meadows State Park located one mile north of Cornwall Bridge on Rte. 7 offers idyllic cross country skiing along the Housatonic River.  Swoosh through pine scented trails along the river keeping  your eye peeled on wildlife that makes this area their home.

Perhaps one of the most scenic parks for cross country skiing is Topsmeade State Park located on Buell Road off East Litchifeld Rd. of Rte. 118 in LItchfield.  Nestled in a setting of great natural beauty you will find a maganificent Tudor style home that was once the summer estate of Miss Edith Morton Chase, heiress to a brass family fortune in Waterbury.  There are numerous trails to explore here as well as a number of unpaved roads.  Look of rhte 7/10 of a mile nature walk with interpretive signs.

n 1917, Miss Chase received from her father approximately 16 acres on Jefferson Hill in Litchfield. Here she built a rustic cabin, which was replaced with a more substantial summer home in 1923. She hired noted architect Richard Henry Dana, Jr. to help her design and build the English Tudor style house which was completed in 1925. The exterior woodwork is of cypress, the downspouts are lead, the walls of brick and stucco, and the roof is slate.  Upon her death in 1972, Edith Chase left her beloved country estate to the people of Connecticut and to be known as Topsmead State Forest. In her will, Miss Chase requested that Topsmead State Forest "be kept in a state of natural beauty". To ensure that Topsmead would remain undisturbed, Miss Chase left an endowment to be used toward maintaining and operating the buildings and grounds as they were upon her death.

For more information about crossing country and down hill skiing in Litchfield Hills, visit www.litchfieldhills.com.

Kick off the Winter Season at Mohawk Ski Area!

To kick off the winter season, Mohawk Mountain Ski Area is presenting Warren Miller's 63rd  film called Flow State on Friday, November 9 and Sat. November 10 at 7 p.m at the Ski Lodge located on 46 Great Hollow Rd. in Cornwall CT.  The doors open at 6 p.m. and tickets are $12. Buy your tickets by visiting www.mohawkmtn.com by phone at 860.672.6100 or at the door.

 Warren Miller’s Flow State  kicksoff the winter sports season for the 63rd time and will  connect audiences with inspiring mountains and sensational athletes from around the globe. If you love ski or snowboard action of amazing magnitude this show is a must see. 

Flow State gives viewers the ultimate experience and is where the mountain meets the mind. An instant classic, Flow State takes its viewers to the tallest peaks and most extreme climates for the most exhilarating action possible on snow. Skiers and snowboarders of all ages will be inspired, entertained and motivated to get out on the snow - and to win great prizes in our door prize drawings!  

Best of all your admission ticket is  a BUY ONE, GET ONE COUPON Lift Ticket offer valid at Mohawk Mountain Ski Area, through April 1, 2013.

For regional information visit www.litchfieldhills.com.

Winter Carnival Hi-Jinks in Salisbury CT Jan. 28 and 29

A new Winter Carnival Weekend January 28th and 29th will be a festive prelude to the annual Jumpfest Ski Jumping Championships in Salisbury, the town in Connecticut's Litchfield Hills that has been a mecca for ski jumping for nearly a century.

The Carnival Weekend highlight will be a wacky Gelande Jumping Exhibition, from 5 pm – 7 pm on Jan. 28th and from 11 am – 2 pm on Sun., Jan. 29. This event, also known as "Alpine Skiing" is where skiers burdened with downhill equipment try to emulate the ski jumpers who will soon be showing for real what it takes to excel at this challenging sport.

Another new event debuting during Winter Carnival will be the Human Dogsled Race that will feature five people pulling a sixth on a sled over a .5 k course. The race will be held around 2 pm on Sunday after the Gelande Jumping event ends. In addition, activities for youngsters such as ice carving and the Children's Ski Jumping Meet from 1pm – 3 pm have been planned.

Admission to all events is $10 for adults, children 12 years old and under free. For happy viewing, the Association recommends that spectators dress warmly in lots of layers. Satre Hill is on Indian Cave Road, off Route 44 in Salisbury. Signs in the center of Salisbury point the way to ample free parking. For up to the minute information, please visit: http://www.jumpfest.org. For dining and lodging information visit www.litchfieldhills.com.

About SWSA

A Salisbury Connecticut tradition for 80 years, this all-volunteer organization has fostered the exhilarating sport of ski jumping among all ages and generations. SWSA continues to improve its snowmaking capabilities, ensuring that the Eastern National Ski Jumping Championships will remain an annual event in Salisbury, CT.