Pleasant Mountain Ski Area — Attraction in Bridgton

The ski mountain itself is okay, except I have learned to not go during school vacation week. I sign the kids up for junior mountaineer ski lessons at a small fortune, and the instructors admit at the end of the day the classes were overcrowded and my kids got basically no personal attention. Instructors also admitted to me that they have complained that they are understaffed and overbooked during February vacation, but they are powerless to deal with it. Not their faults, I understand, but Shawnee Peak managements fault for sure. . My kids advanced further by just skiing on their own. I go to buy extremely expensive tickets the next day and lady in front of me not charged for children's helmets but I am, even though we both asked for children's helmets, so weird inconsistencies at the ticket windows. I go to Blizzard Pub during lunchtime on school vacation week. I get it, crazy busy time. I asked to get a burger with a different cheese on it and they said absolutely no substitutions during school vacation week. I was mildly annoyed but did understand that the cooks are probably in robot mode, so I had another beer and kept thinking. Decided on a chicken sandwich. No substitutions asked for, just no mayo on it. That appears to also be impossible. The act of saving the kitchen the 10 seconds to skip a step was also unacceptable. It's way too unaccommodating when busy. Ridiculous and not customer friendly at all. Again, not the bar tenders fault, but Shawnee Peak management sure is good at driving a wedge between the customer and the mountain experience. Maybe everything is smoother and nicer on a random Tuesday in January, but when they are swamped during vacation week they are poorly prepared from ticket window to restaurant to ski lessons to everything possible. They want the vacation crowd but can't really...

Giving them 5* because the ski patrol staff were really nice on my visit. Thank you Eric for all the tips and tricks. Most of the staff were very friendly in fact.

Smaller mountain, but they do offer part-time day/night passes and student discounts, so it was worth making the trip.

More experienced skiers may not find this place challenging enough, but then again I visited on the weekend in March, so conditions on the slopes were all over the place (I kid you not, it was 43° when we started the day, we got rain showers right before lunch and by the afternoon it had turned from a combination of sleet/hail to powdery snow and temp dropped to 28°, wind was causing white-out conditions on the Easiest Way Down. Again, thank you to ski patrol staff!). Anyway bring layers, just in case, and a dry change of clothes.

The cafeteria selection is limited, but you'll find the usual sandwiches, burgers, chicken tenders, chips, cookies, etc.

They have restrooms upstairs and down stairs. I heard there was a bar area upstairs as well for 21+, so if you got tired of skiing you could warm up with a drink.

Overall, had a good time and would probably go back with any friends who want to try skiing for...

Our entire experience at Shawnee Peak was horrible. I just wanted to provide my son a positive first experience skiing, but instead he witnessed me cry after one too many negative interactions with Shawnee Peak staff. Every employee I encountered was aggressive and unsupportive of a single parent with two children. Employees started every conversation of me asking for help with an explanation of why I was wrong - about a multitude of things that I simply was unfamiliar with - and why they were right and how the procedures must be followed. (Outside skis can't come into the rental shop, you have to pay at a different location, there is no way to connect your child with your instructor if you are late to a lesson, no instructor had my son's name on their list even though ski school had his on their list, nobody could direct us as to where to get help.) We spent two hours in the car, over $100, and a stranger finally took my son for one run. Then we left. Stay away. If you work there, think about how you treat your customers. Staff training for empathy and setting a goal for positive customer experience has clearly not been made a priority...