As it turns out, you don’t have to spend $40 on gas and $80 on a lift ticket to slide down some good slopes this winter. With lots of fluffy white stuff spiraling from the sky in December, there are a number of local hills—some better known than others—where sledding, snowboarding and skiing are welcome. The key is keeping your eyes peeled for a snowy slope with a steep grade.

Even before the ground was covered with snow this year, some young folks were finding ways to enjoy winter sports right in their own backyards. One day in early December, a skier and a snowboarder pulled up on Rockland Street in Portsmouth with a trunk full of snow. Where they acquired the snow is uncertain, but they proceeded to spread it in a trail down the short slope that overlooks the tennis courts behind South Mill Pond. They then erected a makeshift rail, and, after setting up a tripod with a video camera, took turns launching down the slope and sliding across the rail. (On his first try, the skier made it across the rail but spilled hard when he landed on dry grass on the other side.)

Late on the evening of Thursday, Dec. 13, after a hefty snowstorm buried much of the region, a few extreme local sportsmen bundled up and gathered behind those same tennis courts. This time, with fresh powder abounding, a snowmobile towed a skier in circles before whipping him toward a huge pile of snow created by a plow in the adjacent parking lot. The skier soared gleefully into the air on the other side, pulling off various tricks before landing in a cushion of snow.

For those seeking larger hills, Garrison Hill Park in Dover is a local gem. The park includes two steep trails, one designated for sledding and the other for snowboarding and skiing. The sledding hill is flat and straight, while the snowboard park is filled with large jumps and rails, providing prime practice ground for big-air tricks.

On the afternoon of Wednesday, Dec. 12, Dover residents Jojo Roberts and Justin Goodwin strapped on their boards for a few early season runs at Garrison Hill, located off of Central Avenue just before Wentworth-Douglass Hospital. After a warm-up run down the sledding hill, they climbed up the snowboard park, eying a large rail that was only partially covered with snow. On his first attempt, Roberts jumped up onto the rail but came to a dead stop on its surface, slowed by the lack of snow. On his second try, he turned perpendicular to the rail and began to slide, only to topple over halfway across and fall upside-down to the Earth.

Roberts and Goodwin said they also frequent Nippo Lake Golf Club on Province Road in Barrington, another significant hill where Seacoast snowboarders gather close to home. But, for those looking for something milder, there are plenty of soft hills for sledding on the Seacoast. On Saturday, Dec. 15, a couple dozen people brought their sleds to Exeter Country Club on Jady Hill Road in Exeter. Mostly children between the ages of six and 12, accompanied by equally exuberant parents, they slid down a long hill with a fairly steep grade on the snow-covered golf course.

Exeter Country Club offers a relatively short, mild ride on one side and a steeper, longer run on the other. Adults and kids alike shot down the steeper track on sleds and snow tubes, many of them aiming for a large jump and competing to see how high they could vault into the air. The adults seemed more competitive than the children, cheering each other on and shouting after particularly successful jumps. “Man, you were this high off the ground!”

Another popular sledding spot is Wagon Hill, on Route 4 in Durham. The 130-acre former farm was converted by the town into a system of fields and trails for hiking and sledding, complete with free parking, porto-lets and beautiful views of the area. Technically designated for Durham residents, the long hill is popular with children, college students and adults, alike.
In Epping, good sledding can be found at Brown’s Hill, located just east of the intersection of Route 125 and Hedding Road. Supposedly a former ski slope where athletes from the UNH ski team once trained, it is now popular for both sledding and snowmobiling. To find it, take the third right off of Hedding Road and go to the top of the rise.

If you’re willing to drive a little ways and cough up a few dollars, a couple of area hills offer stellar snow tubing. Pats Peak in Henniker includes a 600-foot tubing park, with $16 tickets for a two-hour session. (Pats Peak also offers 22 trails for skiing and snowboarding.) For more information, go to www.patspeak.com.

A slightly cheaper and closer option is Amesbury Sports Park in Amesbury, Mass., which offers three-hour snow tubing passes for $15 or five-hour passes for $20. The hill is considered too challenging for toddlers but is open to youngsters with adult supervision and helmets, which are supplied at the mountain. For ages eight and up, helmets are optional and are not provided. For more info, go to www.goslide.com. 

Plenty of other gems can be found if you poke around a little. Mount Agamenticus in York offers some sledding jewels, as well as Kendall Hill or Shaw’s Hill Farm in Kensington. Even at Strawbery Banke in Portsmouth, a couple of gentle slopes can be found that are open to sledding in the winter. But, as Jojo Roberts advises, if you want to find a really secluded spot, it’s all in the searching.