Interview with Ragged's Marketing Manager Stacey Lopes

Before I started skiing on Ragged Mountain, I sat down with the Marketing Manager for Ragged Mountain, Stacy Lopes. I got to learn a lot about the history of Ragged Mountain, but also what some of the future plans are for it. Needless to say, this mountain is just in the very beginning stages of becoming one of the best resorts in all of New Hampshire.

EB- Eric Brill

SL- Stacy Lopes

EB- What makes Ragged Mountain different from any other mountain?

SL- Well, this is a really unique area. When I told my friends I was going to work at Ragged, they were saying, "Oh my gosh, they have incredible glades, the terrain is great!" Unfortunately, we haven't been able to open our glades (from the lack of natural snow). We have had a couple of powder days, and since we have opened this year, we have had only 24 inches of natural snow to go along with four inches of rain, unfortunately. I think a lot of people think of us as a hidden gem, and there are some other resorts that are bigger that surround us that get a bigger draw, but when people come to Ragged and they experience it, and experience the terrain, and customer service they want to come back. They are always amazed at how great the terrain is. That is the word that we are trying to get out.

EB- When I was coming down here, I didn't really know what to anticipate. When I was coming down Route 104, you get to see a glimpse of the mountain, and I was like, "Oh wow, this is a lot bigger than I thought it was!"

SL- It is like going to Sugarloaf. When you come around a corner, they call it the "Uh ha" corner, and you get to see the mountain. We have that when you are coming from Bristol, where you have your Sugarloaf moment, and you say "Uh ha!" That is one of the great things about coming into work every morning, you see that every morning and you say, "Oh, I get to work at a ski resort. This is awesome!"

EB- If there was one thing you could change here, besides the amount of natural snow this winter, what would it be?

SL- We keep investing in snowmaking because that is so important, especially in a year like this. Over the past few years, we have invested in snowmaking. It is all about lifts and snow. You need to have great lifts, and you need to have great snow. We are looking to add a high speed quad or another six-pack, and replace some of the older lifts. We will continue to invest in snowmaking, because we don't have 100% snowmaking over all of our trails that are non-gladed trails.

EB- Where did the idea of a six-pack chairlift come from instead of the traditional four chairlift?

SL-It has probably been in place for about 10 years now. At the time, as well as now, we have New Hampshire's only six-pack chairlift. When you add two more people to the chair every time it goes up, you allow more people to go up the mountain quicker.

EB- I was talking to Heidi (who was one of the customer service employees), and she said that one of the things that you guys wanted to improve was the triple chairlift (the Spear Mountain Triple).

SL- That is the one that we are hoping to replace with a quad or a six-pack.

EB- One thing that I like about Ragged is how in the base, it feels like an older-school atmosphere, and I personally think that is pretty cool as far as it feels more "homie".

SL- A lot of people love the red barn, and the whole base area is as you said, very old-school. It brings you back, kind of nostalgic and makes you think about when, maybe not when you were growing up, but when I was growing up, when some of the resorts during the ‘80s and early ‘90s were when the ski resort industry exploded. The fact that we have been able to keep this base lodge, the atmosphere of it, is something that is very unique.

EB- When I was talking to Jeanne (another customer service employee), she said that, well I said a more experienced, but she said older crowd, come to Ragged. Why do you think they come here as oppose to somewhere else?

SL- Well, I think that we get a lot of people from the Lake Sunapee area, the Plymouth area, and Newfound Lake area that are retired, but still very active. They are looking for stuff to do in the Winter time, and they want to be outside, and they want to ski and snowboard. I think that it is a great activity for people to meet each other, and you can keep that whole social scene going.

EB- Are there any events coming to Ragged Mountain soon?

SL- One thing that we are going to be doing that will be really cool is that on March 24^th, we are hosting an event called Grommageddon. That is a fund raiser for the skate park of Plymouth. We are working with the skate park of Pymouth, but we are going to have a ski/snowboard rail jam here. It is a $10 registration fee, and all of the money we are donating back to the Plymouth skate park. That should be a good event. Kids in our area, or kids in Plymouth that may not be as great snowboarders as they think they are, so this will be a good event for them to dial in their skills. We have a decent sized park, but we are about being able to dial in your skills, and we have solid terrain that you are able to do that.

EB- If there is one more thing to add as far as someone to come to Ragged, what would it be?

SL- I think you are going to be really surprised when you get here as far as how great the terrain is. The snow has been great this year (due to the snowmaking), but the terrain is really awesome. There is a lot of variety of terrain. If you come with a group of friends, everyone will find terrain that suits them. We aren't as big as some of the other resorts so it is really easy to find each other and meet at the bottom at the base lodge.

EB- Something that I saw on the trail map that you don't see at some of the other mountains around here is that there is a green from the summit down to the base. Being able to have a green all the way down to the bottom is big.

SL- At least once a week, ski patrol will help someone that went up to the top with a friend, or "significant other" convinced them that could make it down. Usually it is a girl, who is now crying because her boyfriend said, "Come to the top of the mountain".

EB- (me into the camera that is recording)- REMEMBER THAT!

EB- Any last comments or is there anything else to add on?

RL- Well, we are currently going through a development that is very similar to what Jay Peak just went through. You are going to see Ragged explode in the next few years, in a good way. This means new chairlifts and expanding onto Pinnacle Peak (the mountain to the East of Ragged Mountain). I was just in my boss's office, and we were looking at a trail map. There is a lot to offer, and we aren't that far away. It is 10 minutes from Interstate 93 to Bristol, and then 15 minutes until you get here.