Danbury, NH – Ragged Mountain, a ski area in southern New Hampshire, is taking an aggressive new tack to attracting skiers to its slopes this winter.

Calling it “Mission: Affordable”, Ragged Mountain officials have dropped the season pass price to only $349, with no blackout dates. To purchase a Ragged Mountain season pass at this price, skiers need to call the mountain’s Guest Services office at (603) 768-3053, between the hours of 7:30 a.m. and 3 p.m. Monday through Friday. This deal is not available online, and the price will increase to $449 after October 31. Numbers of passes sold at each price point may be limited.

To attract new skiers and riders to the sport, Ragged Mountain is also offering free lessons this winter to those who wish to try skiing or snowboarding for the first time. And unlike very few similar programs at other resorts, Ragged Mountain’s free first-timer lessons aren’t limited to a few specific days during the season.

Ragged Mountain snowmakers will have more water to work with this winter, as the resort is expanding its lower snowmaking pond from four million gallons to 24 million.

“We’re very excited that this project has started,” sats Ryan Schramm, General Manager at Ragged Mountain. “This expansion will add 20 million gallons to the current four million gallon pond, allowing us to more readily open terrain in the early season and help out Mother Nature when we need to.”

The new 24 million gallon pond, located on the site of the old golf course near the intersection of Ragged Mountain Road and New Canada Road, will feed into the existing 10 million gallon pond at the base of the mountain.

Situated in the southern New Hampshire town of Danbury less than 100 miles from Boston, Ragged Mountain offers 57 slopes and trails spanning a 1,250-foot vertical drop, serviced by seven lifts including a high-speed base-to-summit six-pack and a high-speed quad.