This post was originally published in February of 2016 on another platform:
Recently I had half a day in Burlington, Vermont to do some turns. Looking for something close to the city, and limited to sites that were actually open, I chose Bolton Valley. This was my first venture into east-coast skiing. Until now my experience has been confined to Utah and Colorado.
Vermont in February was much like the end of the season in the Rockies. The snow was icy and groomed. There really was no going off the groomed areas. Even if I had tried it the slope conditions in the open were bare of snow, under the snow making machines, or solid ice. Slipping into the trees offered a few short, well-packed trails or heavy mashed potatoes. All but two of the black diamond runs were closed. The open ones I would have rated more like a steep blue run.
The weather was very cold, single digit temps with a mix of overcast and sunny sky. The bottom half of the mountain was windy so all the trees had their snow blown off. The top half of the mountain was very calm so the trees were covered in frost. The site of the frozen trees at the top was beautiful.
There were really no lift lines, not surprising for a Thursday in the off-season. Since I had to catch a plane that afternoon I was not able to check out their night skiing.
The Wilderness Peak lift section was completely closed. Timberline Peak was open, but only offered two green runs and one blue. The rest was closed. I took one jaunt over to Timberline just to check it out.
I spent most of my time on the Vista Peak section of the mountain. The longest runs were there. The only black diamond section open in that part of the mountain was Hard Luck. It was fun but not challenging, even to an old-guy mediocre skier like me. The most fun I had was hitting a series of bumps along the side of Sherman's Pass and lower down on Deer Run. They came about every 50 feet just at the edge of the trees. I could just keep moving from one jump to the next. I wasn't getting huge air or traveling all that fast, but for an old man, six or seven foot jumps are enough fun.
I took the pic below from the lift.
Recently I had half a day in Burlington, Vermont to do some turns. Looking for something close to the city, and limited to sites that were actually open, I chose Bolton Valley. This was my first venture into east-coast skiing. Until now my experience has been confined to Utah and Colorado.
Vermont in February was much like the end of the season in the Rockies. The snow was icy and groomed. There really was no going off the groomed areas. Even if I had tried it the slope conditions in the open were bare of snow, under the snow making machines, or solid ice. Slipping into the trees offered a few short, well-packed trails or heavy mashed potatoes. All but two of the black diamond runs were closed. The open ones I would have rated more like a steep blue run.
The weather was very cold, single digit temps with a mix of overcast and sunny sky. The bottom half of the mountain was windy so all the trees had their snow blown off. The top half of the mountain was very calm so the trees were covered in frost. The site of the frozen trees at the top was beautiful.
There were really no lift lines, not surprising for a Thursday in the off-season. Since I had to catch a plane that afternoon I was not able to check out their night skiing.
The Wilderness Peak lift section was completely closed. Timberline Peak was open, but only offered two green runs and one blue. The rest was closed. I took one jaunt over to Timberline just to check it out.
I spent most of my time on the Vista Peak section of the mountain. The longest runs were there. The only black diamond section open in that part of the mountain was Hard Luck. It was fun but not challenging, even to an old-guy mediocre skier like me. The most fun I had was hitting a series of bumps along the side of Sherman's Pass and lower down on Deer Run. They came about every 50 feet just at the edge of the trees. I could just keep moving from one jump to the next. I wasn't getting huge air or traveling all that fast, but for an old man, six or seven foot jumps are enough fun.
I took the pic below from the lift.
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