Pat's Peak

Pat's Peak, Inc. was incorporated on December 20, 1962 by attorneys John Barto and Ronald Snow and Loralee Jackson, with Merle Patenaude Jr. ("Joe") as treasurer and David and Stuart Patenaude as directors, per New England Ski History's Pat's Peak page. The ski area opened to the public on January 5, 1963, with a T-Bar and rope tow on a thin natural snow base. Per the Concord Monitor as quoted by New England Ski History, building the ski area was a Patenaude family effort: "Merle was responsible for building the base lodge, Joe helped with carpentry and trail cutting, Stuart was 'the mechanical one' involved in lift construction, and Wayne handled the well drilling with his Contoocook Artesian Well Company." Longtime Pat's Peak owner Wayne Patenaude, born January 22, 1938 and raised in Henniker, died on December 4, 2025 at age 87, per NewEnglandSkiIndustry.com's December 5, 2025 report. Reporting on his death, NewEnglandSkiIndustry.com wrote that "in a world of corporate consolidation, Pats Peak has remained under the ownership of the Patenaude family for over 60 years."