So what is it with those Nor'easters? Those darn coastal storms are so fickle and they sometimes wander away from Vermont. Much of Northern Vermont did not get “dumped on” as expected, yet we still had some wonderful turns this morning in about six inches of new snow that had fallen since Thursday. (On snow reports we saw some higher totals in southern Vermont.)
We hit the road early and a snow squall greeted us at Bolton Valley Resort. We were on the fifth chair loaded on the Vista quad and we enjoyed some powder stashes on the sides of the groomed, packed-powder trails and freshies on natural snow trails. With freshly waxed and tuned skis (thanks to the Skimeister!), we were making smooth, silky turns in the powder.
We explored several glades including Vista Glades, Wilderness Woods and Moose Woods — very fun! We even skied Preacher and lower Cobrass Woods. Good stuff!
The coverage is OK in these glades, but some streams and wet spots have yet to fill in with ice and snow so you have to keep your eyes looking for what's ahead! Also, in some places there was a thin crust under the powder, but it was not hard to turn through.
Bolton Valley has an old-school double chair called the Wilderness Chair. It didn't open last year due to low snowfall. But the big news for today: They opened it! Wilderness fans excitedly lined up to ride up to the top of the peak. This side of the ski area has more natural snow trails and there were rocks and things to look out for but it's got such nice terrain. Here again, we ventured into the woods to find powdery turns.
The snow kept coming and going this morning, but the people just kept coming. We were glad we started when the lift opened because by midday we were ready to leave the snow to the many others who were hitting the trails. Nothing like fresh snow to get people excited to ski and ride!
Let's keep thinking snowy thoughts so that Bolton Valley and other resorts can keep opening more terrain, such as Bolton's Timberline Peak.
Bolton Valley Resort, Vermont, at a Glance
- Lifts: 2 fixed quad lifts; 3 doubles; 1 surface lift
- 71 trails
- Easy: 34%
- Intermediate: 38%
- Advanced/Expert: 28%
- 300 skiable acres of trails and glades
- Summit elevation: 3,150 feet
- 1,704-foot vertical drop
- Three terrain parks
- Night skiing Tuesday - Saturday nights
- Adjacent to the ski area are cross-country and backcountry skiing trails, based at the Sports & Nordic Center building.
- Celebrating 50 years of skiing this year!
