Spring skiing
Skiers who took the time to drive to Colorado's Arapahoe Basin on Sunday had a powder day to close out their ski season. Yes, it had snowed a couple of inches the night before at the higher elevations around the Continental Divide, which the ski area straddles.
A-Basin was the first to open for the 2007-2008 season on October 10, 2007, and the last to close.
Sounds like American ski resorts had a great year all around. The National Ski Areas Association reported earlier this month that...[Read more]
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
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Filed in: Alpine skiing, Spring skiing, Western skiing
As I pack to make a short family visit to Colorado, I'm daydreaming of snow-capped peaks and blue skies. The Rocky Mountains are in a league of their own and I can't wait to see them again.
I stumbled across this interesting photo site recently at www.archives.gov/research/ansel-adams/. It's a National Archives site that shares some of Ansel Adams' photos of our national parks in the 1930s and 1940s.
Apparently, the US government commissioned Adams to document the parks, but World War...[Read more]
Friday, May 30, 2008
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Filed in: Spring skiing, Western skiing, Winter photography
We've had a gorgeous morning in northern Vermont. When I drove home yesterday after work, however, I looked toward Bolton Valley ski resort and beneath the lifting clouds I saw ski runs. White ski runs.Turns out the upper elevations were blanketed with snow yesterday. Stowe Mountain Resort reported about 5 inches fell on the top of the mountain. Not that I don't trust them, but I proceeded to the NOAA site and yes, there is about 18 inches at the stake near the summit of Mt. Mansfield. I...[Read more]
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
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Filed in: Mt. Mansfield, Spring skiing, Stowe
"It's not quite over yet." So says Sugarbush ski resort, which will open up on Saturday so they can say that they skied into May. The same goes for Jay Peak resort. Both Vermont ski areas are running a lift and a couple of trails for a spring-skiing ticket price of $25.
Sugarbush will run the Super Bravo lift for skiing on the Valley House Traverse, Stein's Run and Coffee Run. They say that skiers may need to walk a bit at the end of Coffee Run to get back to the lift. They'll be serving up a...[Read more]
Friday, May 2, 2008
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Filed in: Alpine skiing, Food, coffee & aprés, Jay Peak, Spring skiing, Sugarbush, Ticket discounts
If you still haven't got your fill of skiing this season, this is your last weekend to hit the slopes in Vermont. Ski Vermont reports that these areas remain open:
• Jay Peak - Open Sat & Sunday, 4/26 - 4/27 for intermediate and advanced skiers
• Mount Snow - Open Friday, Saturday, Sunday, 4/25 - 4/27
• Sugarbush - Open through Sunday, 4/27
Check for links to their springy snow reports and driving directions on the Vermont Ski Resorts and Snow Conditions page.
In my inbox this morning,...[Read more]
Friday, April 25, 2008
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Filed in: Alpine skiing, Jay Peak, Mt. Snow, Spring skiing, Sugarbush, Ticket discounts
Nothing like a cheap lift ticket to get people out on the slopes! Stowe Mountain Resort had a rare ticket deal yesterday: bring two cans of food for the Vermont Food Shelf and you could ski for $20. With yesterday being the last day of lift service at Stowe, the Skimeister and I just had to go.
I used to work and live in Stowe years and years ago, back when there actually was a guy named Perry Merrill. OK, not that long ago. Working for the mountain company was not as glamorous as it seems,...[Read more]
Monday, April 21, 2008
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Filed in: Alpine skiing, Food, coffee & aprés, Spring skiing, Stowe, Ticket discounts
Corn snow and creamees in one day—now that's what I call heaven.
The Skimeister and I and three friends hit the slopes of Jay Peak in the northern reaches of Vermont for a fabulous day of spring skiing yesterday. This week's weather is amazing, so we all decided to play hooky and make the most of the incredible late-season snow cover.
The high-speed quad wasn't open, so we took a handful of runs off the tram, which normally has a long liftline during the season. Not so this week.
The views...[Read more]
Thursday, April 17, 2008
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Filed in: Alpine skiing, Food, coffee & aprés, Jay Peak, Spring skiing, Ticket discounts
A short list of things that are 30 feet tall or long:
1. A 30-foot-tall scale model of the Sears Tower built with Jenga blocks at Northern Michigan University: faculty.nmu.edu/ims/sears1.htm
2. The meat-eating dinosaur called Torvosaurus cf. tanneri, a "Savage Lizard" found in western Colorado; 30 feet long, standing 8.5 feet tall at the hips, and tipping the scale at about 5,000 pounds:...[Read more]
Monday, April 14, 2008
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Filed in: Alpine skiing, Backcountry skiing, Jay Peak, Spring skiing, Stowe, Ticket discounts
This morning I saw a moose! At first I thought it was a horse, but quickly I realized it was a large moose and he or she was on the move.
Now you might ask why this is so exciting. Well I didn't see the moose in the woods or along a dirt road. This guy was crossing the four lanes of Kennedy Drive in South Burlington!
For those of you familiar with South Burlington, Vt., you know that it is highly residential. There are nice small chunks of woods but really there are a lot of condos and...[Read more]
Thursday, April 10, 2008
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Filed in: Jay Peak, Spring skiing
OK, you've got to check this out: NOAA reports there are 98 inches of snow still left on the summit of Mt. Mansfield, here in Vermont. 98 inches on April 7!
I got out on the trails at Bolton Valley yesterday and enjoyed some super spring skiing in the bright sunshine. And I wasn't alone. It was Bolton's last day of operation, despite having abundant snow, so everyone was getting their last rides on the lifts. They even kept the Vista Quad open until 5 p.m. for the die-hards.
The corn snow...[Read more]
Monday, April 7, 2008
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Filed in: Alpine skiing, Bolton Valley, Spring skiing
I think I mentioned before that I'm spoiled rotten. Well yesterday the Skimeister and I made the most of a blue sky afternoon by skiing from 2 to 4 p.m. at Bolton Valley. We knew the weather was looking rough today so we moved around our work schedule to accommodate the sun! (It's now raining/snowing in Burlington, Vt., but it is supposed to be all snow over 2,000 feet.)
The spring skiing was quite good. The snow had turned into soft corn snow in most places. We really set our edges in the...[Read more]
Friday, April 4, 2008
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Filed in: Alpine skiing, Bolton Valley, Spring skiing
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