As we approach the 2025/26 ski season, Waterville Valley Resort is thrilled to announce the brand-new Exhibition T-Bar, a project that not only unlocks more alpine access but also marks the highly anticipated return of the Exhibition Terrain Park—a legendary piece of New England freestyle history. With the removal of the Exhibition Platter Lift, the whole Exhibition trail has been reshaped. It is now the home to both NASTAR races and the terrain park, side-by-side, paying homage to the trail's multiple uses and Waterville Valley Resort’s freestyle and racing history.

During the 1968 season, Waterville Valley hosted the first official NASTAR races after Waterville Valley Resort’s founder Tom Corcoran and John Fry created the first amateur junior racing program. The following year, Waterville Valley formed the first freestyle skiing instruction program, coining Waterville Valley “The Birthplace of Freestyle Skiing.” The Valley hosted several different freestyle events in the late sixties and early seventies, including the first ever “Hot Dog Competition: National Championships of Exhibition Skiing,” where the trail gets its name.

When the Exhibition trail debuted in the 1980s, it was designed to turn slalom racing into a true spectator sport at Waterville. With wide-open sightlines and high-energy action, it gave guests a front-row view of the excitement on the snow. By the late ’80s, snowboarding arrived at Waterville Valley, setting the stage for another revolution—terrain parks. Home to New Hampshire’s first-ever park, The Boneyard, Waterville quickly became a hub for freestyle innovation. And by the mid-1990s, the Exhibition Terrain Park was born.

With the installation of the T-Bar, we're taking Exhibition back to its multifaceted roots. The Exhibition Poma lift has been removed, and in its place, a reshaped, revitalized Exhibition trail will rise—reconfigured to have both a Terrain Park and the resort’s NASTAR course side by side. The NASTAR starting hut has been relocated, moving up the hill, to better integrate with the new layout. To make room for NASTAR and the terrain park both had to give a little to get a lot. The NASTAR course has moved up hill 160 feet and gained 45 feet of vertical. It will wind down the skiers right of the trail and finish on the skiers’ right side. The terrain park will take the place left open by the removal of the platter lift. This will allow the park to stay on fall line in the first half of the run and open on the bottom half where we have removed trees to maximize the potential of the slope. Exhibition can now host countless terrain park events as well as the NASTAR races day or night, a perfect blend of nostalgia and new age competitions.

In recent years, the Exhibition trail has been the home for NASTAR races as well as week-night racing leagues. Night skiing took place on Exhibition and Lower White Caps, accessible via the Exhibition Poma Lift. With this new T-Bar, night skiing will not only continue but expand! The new T-Bar doubles the access to terrain for nighttime use. Permanent lighting fixtures are currently being installed to enhance the experience for Night Racing Leagues, Terrain Park laps, and other special after-dark events.

To make this vision a reality, our mountain operations team has been working hard all offseason long. The T-Bar construction and trail reconfiguration has taken months of planning and labor—from rock blasting and tree cutting to concrete pouring and tower foundations. Trees are being selectively removed to enhance the trail’s accessibility, while the removal of the Exhibition Surface Lift and World Cup T-Bar will open fresh possibilities across the slope. With the debut of the new Exhibition T-Bar, we’re elevating the Waterville Valley experience to the Next Level, honoring the past while building for what’s next!