With sunshine in the forecast for today and early Tuesday, and mixed precipitation called for later this week, the Skimeister and I took the afternoon off to go play at Bolton Valley, Vt. I took my Völkl skis out for some exercise and he sharpened up his Burton snowboard.
I knew the scenery would be terrific because of the clear skies and the ice-covered trees I had seen the day before, but I thought the skiing would be only mediocre. On this point I was pleasantly surprised. There were up to three inches of fresh snow and in the places where people hadn't skied it was great!
We started out on Vista Glade from the top of the Vista quad and we enjoyed swooping around the trees and the irregular bumps. The trees on the top half of the mountain were covered in ice and the sky was blue, making for a gorgeous view toward Mt. Mansfield. In some of the most-traveled sections of this gladed run it was icy. Thankfully, the next bump usually had some fresh snow on it to keep you moving along smoothly.
After Vista Glade, we cut over to the trails that lead toward the Wilderness Chair. I wanted to see if there were still some freshies to be had on the sides of these trails. The Skimeister went into the woods from time to time and I played near the edge of the trail to get my share of powdery turns. It was fun!
After a couple of these laps, with absolutely no lift line at all, we decided to give Cobrass a try. This trail, usually quite popular, was in great condition with good packed powder. Only in a few places did my skis skid on the icy linoleum that was hiding under the fresh snow.
Still, Vista Glade was the most fun for us so we finished up over there and got down to the bottom of the mountain at about 4:15. The moon was rising on our last runs. The full moon is coming up later this week—oh I see it's on Good Friday. Hope it's clear so we can enjoy it.
We packed up our gear in the car and headed to the Bridge Street Café in Richmond for an early dinner. My lunchtime bowl of soup just wasn't holding up. I had a burger (as I usually do when I go there) and the Skimeister celebrated St. Patrick's Day with a cold beer, bangers and potatoes. Sláinte!
This low-key café is a comfortable place to meet friends for breakfast before skiing or hiking, or for a quick dinner. They also make pizzas, although I have not had one there. It's located right on Bridge Street in the center of Richmond, Vt.
We'll see what the <link http: forecast.weather.gov external-link-new-window external link in new>weather holds for Vermont this week. I still have some more skiing to do, so I'm hoping for the best. And after the nice snow conditions I experienced at Bolton Valley today, I have reason to be hopeful!
