LEBANON — For the first time, the volunteer-run Storrs Hill Ski Area will offer free skiing and riding all winter.

Heading into its 102nd season, the seven-trail nonprofit ski area received a grant from the Jack and Dorothy Byrne Foundation to cover all admission costs, according to a news release.

With the grant, Storrs Hill will offer free skiing all season and the hill’s organizers hope that the move will inspire more donors to contribute to the ski area to keep tickets free in future seasons.

The Outing Club reported about $290,000 in operating and administrative expenses for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2023. The ski area was funded entirely by donations, grants, lesson and ticket sales, and about $40,000 from the City of Lebanon in 2023. The nonprofit has to reapply for city funding annually.

“This is kind of an amazing thing really to be able to throw this out, especially at times of need with current city funding and stuff like that. This might give people a positive outlook,” Cory Grant, president of the Lebanon Outing Club and hill manager, said.

In most seasons, ski passes cost $10 per child and $15 per adult on weekends, and $5 per child and $10 per adult on Friday nights. This year, visitors will only have to pay for optional lessons and special registration fees for activities such as alpine racing.

Grant declined to share the value of the grant, saying only “it was enough to help out with covering our operating costs.”

Beginning this week and as conditions allow, the hill is scheduled to be open on Friday nights from 5 to 9 p.m. on Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. and on Sundays from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. During school vacations, the hill also is open from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. on weekdays.

The outing club hopes to continue offering free skiing in future years if donations and grants allow.

“This is the challenge … to keep something like this going for next year and the year after that. It’s a nonprofit area that solely relies on donations; the more we can get the more we can do stuff like this for our community,” Grant said.

Across New England and the Upper Valley, milder winters have forced ski areas to adapt by producing more snow artificially and bringing in funding in other ways. While Storrs Hill has had a snowmaking operation since the 1980s, the outing club hosts a summer concert series and other events during the off-season to help fund operating costs.

Donations can be made online at skistorrshill.com/shop or potential donors can reach out to contactus@skistorrshill.com to learn more about a planned community sponsorship campaign for free skiing in future seasons.

Clare Shanahan can be reached at cshanahan@vnews.com or 603-727-3216.