The headline in The Conway Daily Sun promised a new era for King Pine and Purity Spring. The list behind it includes a new base lodge, expanded trails, multimillion-dollar guest room renovations and new live music and event spaces. The two biggest items on that list, the lodge and the trails, have a target date of 2030.
So the King Pine that opens in East Madison this December will mostly be the hill Madison already knows, with a handful of upgrades. The largest change this season is a pass deal. King Pine has joined the Indy Pass as a full member, and that decides who else can show up with a ticket, and on which days.
The List That Arrives on Dec. 11
King Pine's season is scheduled to start Friday, Dec. 11, 2026, and end Sunday, March 28, 2027. Both dates are targets, and like everything in a New Hampshire winter, they depend on the weather. Here is what the resort says guests will find this winter:
- Upgraded snowmaking. No acreage or equipment count has been published.
- A refreshed tavern.
- New guest lockers.
- Updated trail signage.
- New family après-ski experiences.
- Full Indy Pass membership.
All of these are upgrades to the guest experience, and none of them changes the mountain itself. No new lift was announced, and trail expansion belongs to the longer plan. The current layout stays in place: 17 downhill trails, night skiing, five tubing lanes, cross-country and snowshoe trails, and covered skating. If the hill opens on schedule, it will have the same shape as last winter, with better snowmaking behind it and a different tavern at the end of the day.
What Has a 2030 Date, and Who Is Building Toward It
The physical overhaul at King Pine is planned as expanded trails plus a new base lodge with live music and event space, targeted for completion by 2030. At Purity Spring and the other properties, the work runs on a mixed schedule:
| Property | Already done | Planned |
|---|---|---|
| The Inn at Purity Spring Resort | Fall 2026 landscaping, fencing, signage and exterior paint | Multimillion-dollar guest room renovation, no date given |
| Traditions restaurant | Interior renovation in the coming year | |
| King Pine | Winter 2026–27 upgrades listed above | Expanded trails and new base lodge by 2030 |
| Danforth Bay Camping & RV Resort, Freedom | No specific project announced |
The people delivering this are part of what's new. King Pine's Oct. 13 announcement set up a managing-partner structure for the Hoyt family businesses, which include King Pine, Purity Spring, Danforth Bay and Tohkomeupog Summer Camp for Boys. Ali Hoyt is managing partner for hospitality and strategy. She is a Cornell School of Hotel Administration graduate who spent much of her career at STR, the hospitality data and benchmarking firm. Paul "PJ" Morra is managing partner for development, design and brand. He is a two-time Emmy-winning producer who started attending Tohkomeupog at age 11 and has kept a family home in Madison for decades. They join Steven Hoyt, who handles property systems and administration, and Andrew Mahoney, who handles recreation and guest experience. Steven Hoyt and Mahoney have each spent more than 30 years in the family business.
Morra will run capital planning and master planning across all the properties, so the 2030 lodge is his to deliver. He told the Daily Sun:
"These properties have a special history and a loyal following going back more than 115 years. Now is the time to build on that foundation with fresh energy, purpose, and improved guest amenities that create an unforgettable experience."
The history behind that line is long. The family's history page dates Tohkomeupog to June 26, 1935. King Pine opened with three trails in 1962, and Purity Spring Resort was incorporated in 1967.
Indy Pass Is the Change You Will Notice First
Every Indy Pass holder gets two all-day or all-night tickets at each partner resort. King Pine is now on that list for 2026–27, and it joins valley neighbors already on Indy's East roster: Black Mountain Ski Area in Jackson, Jackson XC and Great Glen Trails. Cannon Mountain and Black Mountain of Maine are also on the list.
The Base Pass comes with blackout dates, and each resort sets its own. The Indy+ tier has none. King Pine's choices on Indy's 2026–27 master blackout sheet are unusual:
| Indy-wide blackout window | Blacked out at King Pine? |
|---|---|
| Christmas/New Year's, Dec. 19 – Jan. 3 | No |
| MLK weekend, Jan. 16–18 | Yes |
| Presidents' weekend, Feb. 13–15 | Yes |
| Peak Saturdays, Jan. 9 – March 6 | No |
| Peak Sundays, Jan. 10 – March 7 | No |
| Additional dates | Feb. 16–20, 2027 |
Read together, those rows close one solid stretch to Base Pass holders. It starts with Presidents' weekend and runs straight through Saturday, Feb. 20. The holiday week and regular winter weekends stay open. Cannon, listed on the same sheet, blacks out every column. King Pine also isn't on Indy's published list of resorts that require advance reservations. Indy says that list can change, so check it before a planned visit.
For a Madison family with a King Pine season pass, this means the open days are open to visitors too. Base Pass holders can use their two King Pine days during the Dec. 19 to Jan. 3 holiday week and on regular weekends through early March. MLK weekend and the Feb. 13 to 20 stretch are the exceptions.
Your Winter at King Pine, by the Numbers
The new structure doesn't change the passes and day tickets locals rely on. The 2026–27 adult anytime pass is $710. A teen pass is $595, and a junior or age 65–69 senior pass is $485. Seniors 70 to 79 pay $145, and children 5 and under and seniors 80 and up pay $50. The anytime pass includes five half-price weekday non-holiday friend tickets, 20 percent off winter lodging at Purity Spring, and 10 percent off food and drink at the Pine Cone Cafe, Trail's End Tavern and Traditions. Holders also get priority registration for a new adult seasonal program that the resort hasn't detailed yet.
The midweek pass costs $340 for adults. The local student pass is $340 for ages 6 to 12, $400 for ages 13 to 18, and $425 for a parent or guardian. It is open to students who live and attend school full time in Carroll, Grafton, Belknap or Strafford County in New Hampshire, or in York or Oxford County in Maine.
Day tickets have a few fixed prices worth knowing:
- Tuesday nights. Skiing runs until 8 p.m., and non-holiday Tuesday night tickets start Jan. 5, 2027, at $20 for adults, juniors, seniors and seniors 70 and up. The youngest and oldest age groups ski free.
- Tubing. A one-hour session is $24.
- Nordic, snowshoeing or skating alone. $15 for any age. A lift ticket already covers both.
The Nordic network has 20 kilometers of trails around Purity Lake, the resort grounds and the neighboring Hoyt/Audubon sanctuary. The resort describes its grooming as modest, with no classic track set, and its terrain as intermediate to advanced, not ideal for beginners. The Tohko Dome rink sits across the road from the base lodge and is open on weekends and holidays when the weather allows. Skate rentals are limited, and skating is included with lift tickets and season passes.
None of these prices or programs appears on the list of things being reworked for 2030. The tavern, the lockers and the snowmaking will be new on Dec. 11. A Madison skier deciding between Saturday and a Tuesday night will also be choosing between a day open to Indy holders and a night ticket that costs $20.
Have questions about life near King Pine, or about how the 2030 plans could shape East Madison's next few winters? Pinkham Real Estate has followed Madison and the Mount Washington Valley for a long time, and our team is glad to talk through what is coming at the resorts in your corner of the Valley.