Resorts & Mountains > Catamount

Cross-country skiing in a snowy Vermont woodland

This afternoon I took a ski tour on the outer-most trails on the wooded side (north side) of Catamount Outdoor Center's nordic trails in Williston, Vermont. It was my first time in the woods here this season, and it was very pretty.

Soft powdery snow blanketed the side of the trails and it clung to tree branches. The ski trails had pretty good coverage. There were some icy-wet spots to contend with here and there, and a few rocks to avoid as well.

I had heard that Catamount had...[Read more]

Sunday, December 26, 2010 No Comments Filed in: Catamount, Cross-country skiing

First skinny-ski skiing of the year at Catamount

Thanks to a persistent snowstorm this past week, the Prospect, Catamount, Bolton Valley and Stowe Mountain nordic centers joined Trapp Family and Sleepy Hollow nordic skiing centers to open for cross-country skiing in Vermont.

I took my skinny skis out for the first time today. I enjoyed the trails at Catamount Outdoor Center in Williston, which is the closest nordic center to the Burlington area. Despite a shaky start -- it took a bit to get my balance at first -- I would catch a good...[Read more]

Saturday, December 11, 2010 No Comments Filed in: Catamount, Cross-country skiing, Ticket discounts

Pre-lunch cross-country skiing in the sunshine

Gorgeous day here in Vermont's Champlain Valley. Bright sun, blue skies. The snow had frost on top of it this morning at Catamount cross-country ski center, making for some fast skiing. We stayed on the meadow trails to make the most of the sunshine. Here are a few shots from the ski.

What's on tap for this weekend? We're going to mix it up by doing some nordic skiing and some alpine skiing.

Saturday looks like it will be a gorgeous, sunny day in the 20s or so, and Vermont ski resorts were...[Read more]

Friday, January 22, 2010 No Comments Filed in: Catamount, Cross-country skiing

Cross-country skiing at Catamount today

We did some skating at Catamount nordic center today in Williston. It was our version of a jog.

We skied on about 1.5 inches of new snow. The temperatures were warmer today, so the snow was quite soft.

We skied on the hill on the south side of the cross-country center and only passed one person. The coverage was good and we were out among the milkweed.[Read more]

Thursday, January 14, 2010 No Comments Filed in: Catamount, Cross-country skiing

Fun skate skiing at Catamount today

Remember that snowstorm a few days ago? Well it dumped a lot of snow on the cross-country ski trails at Catamount Outdoor Center in Williston, Vermont.

We took a late lunch break and hit the trails for some skate skiing. It was our first this season so we just did one big loop. We skied Night Trail to 3 Rivers to Sandman's.

I felt really out of balance to start. I laughed a lot as I nearly wiped out a few times! The snow was soft so I wasn't feeling super steady until the end of the...[Read more]

Wednesday, January 6, 2010 No Comments Filed in: Catamount, Cross-country skiing

A lunchtime cross-country outing with tough conditions

The sun shone brightly today on northern Vermont, so the Skimeister and I burned off some steam by taking a lunchtime nordic ski at Catamount Cross-Country Center in Williston, Vermont.

What a gorgeous afternoon it was. The blue skies and the warmth of the sun were fantastic. The snow coverage—not so good. Unfortunately Catamount is at a lower elevation here in the Champlain Valley so it got a few inches of that fluffy snow yesterday, but there was nothing underneath it. The previous warm,...[Read more]

Tuesday, March 3, 2009 No Comments Filed in: Alpine / downhill skiing, Catamount, Cross-country skiing

Photos from a lovely nordic ski at sunset

[Read more]

Friday, February 6, 2009 No Comments Filed in: Catamount, Cross-country skiing

Well-covered cross-country trails at Vermont's Catamount Outdoor Center

The Skimeister and I had some work and house chores to do this weekend. We felt a bit guilty about skiing on Thursday, so this was our penance. But all work and no play makes the Skimaven cranky, so we made time to do some cross-country skiing this afternoon in nearby Williston, Vermont, at the Catamount Outdoor Center.

Catamount is the closest cross-country trail network to Burlington. It is pretty fun to ski in Burlington at Red Rocks Park or on the Burlington Country Club, but there are no...[Read more]

Sunday, February 1, 2009 No Comments Filed in: Catamount, Cross-country skiing

Catamount nordic center has decent snow coverage

You know how some people go to the gym at lunchtime? Well I prefer clicking into some skis when I have the time. I took a late lunch today and headed over to the Catamount cross-country center in Williston, Vermont.

Catamount has pretty good snow coverage. It's not at a high elevation, so there isn't as much snow as you'd find in Stowe or at Bolton Valley Resort.

I had my skate skis on and I did a loop up on the hilly meadow before heading over to the wooded side of the nordic network. It...[Read more]

Tuesday, January 13, 2009 3 Comments Filed in: Catamount, Cross-country skiing

Trying to avoid the wild wind while cross-country skiing at Catamount

On the way to Catamount Outdoor Center in Williston, Vermont, today, we saw about four cars off the road. It was quite unexpected. However, we had strong winds today and the main road that takes you to Catamount was drifted over by snow in places. I believe the road is called Mountain View Road. This is where the cars were—even Subarus, which are normally so dependable!

Our Subaru made it through, but we didn't push our luck after our ski. We took another route home!

This was my first classic...[Read more]

Sunday, December 14, 2008 No Comments Filed in: Catamount, Cross-country skiing

Hey all you skiers and riders, the snow is back!

There's snow in them hills!

Don't you love it when the National Weather Service reports:

  ...PERIODS OF MODERATE TO OCCASIONAL HEAVY SNOW EARLY THIS MORNING ACROSS MUCH OF THE NORTH COUNTRY...

It's been snowing this week and things are looking white and beautiful again in the Burlington, Vermont, area. The mountains have received several inches of snow over the last few days. Yee-hah!

Burke Mountain Resort sent out a Powder Alert on Wednesday, encouraging people to play hooky from work. Would have loved to, but...[Read more]

Thursday, February 7, 2008 2 Comments Filed in: Alpine / downhill skiing, Burke, Catamount, Cross-country skiing, Jay Peak, Mad River Glen, Ticket discounts

Snow envy

Snorkeling at the Beav'

If those twits at Heavenly, Vail and Beaver Creek send me one more e-mail ...

Their multimillion-dollar marketing machine keeps sending me mouth-watering photos of the three to 10 feet (that is not a typo) of snow that has piled up on their totally fabulous resorts in the last week. A photo in a Beaver Creek, Colo., e-mail even showed a skier (or what you could see of him) with a snorkel.

Please don't laugh, it just encourages them.

Normally, this would not phase me, but we've been...[Read more]

Friday, January 11, 2008 No Comments Filed in: Alpine / downhill skiing, Bolton Valley, Burke, Catamount, Craftsbury, Cross-country skiing, Jay Peak, Mad River Glen, Stowe, Western skiing

Spring conditions on Catamount's X-C trails today

Views of Camel's Hump from Catamount touring center in Williston, Vt.

Who says you can't get something for nothing?

Just this afternoon I was able to ski for free at Catamount touring center because I accompanied a Catamount center member. They offer this once a month as a membership perk. Sweet!

So off we went on the cross-country trails on the south side of the center. Today was in the low 40s here in Burlington and Williston, so wax-less skis were the order of the day. We had enough kick to move us along, but the downhills were pretty slow because of the...[Read more]

Sunday, January 6, 2008 1 Comment Filed in: Catamount, Cross-country skiing

Cross-country touring at Catamount

Before hitting the road for Christmas, I clicked into skinny skis and had an enjoyable cross-country tour at Catamount. The Skimeister and I met up with Father Skimeister for a 90-minute ski.

If you don't know Catamount, it's a great resource here in Chittenden County. Located in Williston, it features 35 km of groomed trails that cross open fields and snake through the woods. It's very pretty, yet it's only minutes from downtown Burlington.

Catamount now operates as a nonprofit and they...[Read more]

Saturday, December 22, 2007 No Comments Filed in: Catamount, Cross-country skiing


Shoot Like a Maven:
We've enjoyed having a
Canon PowerShot camera to take along on the trail.

 

 

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