Ski Wednesday: NH camp in its 89th year

All season ski and ride programs can be a challenge for families. But wait until you hear about this: There’s a February school break week-long ski and ride camp in New Hampshire that gives kids all the things they get from a season-long program.

Ski & Snowboard Camp at Tohkomeupog, held at King Pine Ski Area (https://www.kingpine.com) in New Hampshire, in its 89th year, is the nation’s longest running ski camp. Taking place this year from Feb. 16-22, this overnight camp continues to do what it did for kids with leather strap skis who hiked trails back at its inception: teach ski and ride technique, encourage appropriate competition and most of all, form bonds that extend through multiple generations.

Ned and Jennifer Lincoln are two of those skiers.

Ned’s parents, who put him on skis as a toddler, first sent him to Tohkomeupog in 1981 when he was nine years old. He’s still a part of it all, having grown up to be a counselor and now doing just that with their three sons and wife doing it as well.

“It’s a week of learning or as I like to call it, ‘structured freedom,’” he said of the camp week.

“We have it set up in a way that kids can be completely free but still closely watched,” he said

Campers, who stay in cabins in groups of six with a counselor in each cabin, range from beginners to hard-core enthusiasts. They take two full lessons a day; one in the morning and one in the afternoon, broken down into groups based on level. Between and after lessons (since King Pine spins lifts under the stars until 6), they free ski, morphing with other level groups for fun free time.

Everyone seems to improve, given the time on snow all week. And while that matters, Jennifer said, they take away much more than that.

“They develop so many life skills,” she said. “Problem-solving is a big one. If they have an issue or challenge, they learn to find the people who can help them solve it.”

Battling homesickness is another good lesson for growing kids, she said. “We help them push through it that first year, and it works. They come back and don’t have to battle it again because they see their resilience.”

They also – and this might come as a shock to parents and kids – learn they can have a full, interesting and exciting week without their phones because (and how about this?) no technology is allowed. Phones are left behind. There’s no Minecraft. There’s not even a television (though they do have a couple of movie nights).

All that is replaced with night hikes, tubing, an uproarious skit night, ski races and more.

The result? Ned says the bonds of friendship form even stronger in that environment.

“It’s kind of cool. This builds a whole different ‘you.’ You have your home friends and life, and then you have your ski camp friends and life. And that camp bond is so strong, even if you don’t see them for years, you pick right up with them when you do. What’s more valuable than that?” he said.

Registration is open for camp now at https://www.tohko.com/ski-snowboard-camp/about-ski-snowboard-camp/.