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Backcountry skiing

Fresh snow in the woods

Thank goodness the snow is back!

Posted 3/13/24

Thanks to a rather long-duration storm, some of Vermont's higher elevations saw 2 feet of snow through Monday. This was a very welcome development! The first wave of snow was heavy and wet, while the…

Skier in pink makes a turn in knee-deep powder

Enjoying some fluffy new snow in northern Vermont

Posted 2/18/24

So grateful for new snow! At higher elevations in northern Vermont, we've seen quite a bit of fluffy new snow in the last couple of days. Above 1600 feet or so there's often a decent, frozen base, as…

Photo of a Vermont ski swap with lots of skis, gear and people

2023 Ski swaps in Vermont — The SkiMaven list

Posted 9/13/23

Updated 11/16/2023 Anyone out there ready for ski season? Psychologically I am ready. But if you are like me, you may be thinking about the ski and snowboard gear you want or need. Ski swaps are one…

Skier is silhouetted in morning light in the woods

It's time for spring skiing!

Posted 4/2/23

Mother Nature is now into her familiar spring thaw - freeze - thaw cycle. Spring skiing means you now do not want to be the first on the lift in the morning. It's often best to wait for the sun and/or…

Telemark skier makes a turn toward camera in snowy woods

Pretty spring ski tour in a bit of fresh snow

Posted 3/27/23

Woods covered in 2 inches of new, spring snow. Waxless skis and three-pin bindings. Light fleece layers. Wax to rub on skis to keep the snow from clumping. Mix all these ingredients for a…

A snowboarder plows through some snow

Big snowfall this past week! Then some rain on Friday.

Posted 3/17/23

Wow — we've seen some crazy snow totals of up to three feet from this week's snowstorm! We got out to cross-country ski while the snow was winding down, then some downhill skiing on Thursday morning,…

Fresh snow and blue sky seen from a quad chairlift

Morning March skiing for the win!

Posted 3/13/23

This last week has been so fun! We've been enjoying the best skiing of the season. And now the temperatures are very comfortable, to boot! We've been getting out to ski in the morning and by…

Telemark skier makes a tele turn in some fresh snow

Fun skiing in the woods of northern Vermont

Posted 3/6/23

Hallelujah, we have some snow! A look at the graph of the snow at the stake atop Mt. Mansfield has some good news: At that elevation, we are nearly catching up to the average snowfall for this time of…

A tele skier leaves a track in fresh snow

So glad to see snow!

Posted 2/24/23

It looks like we may be in a nice little snow pattern. That is very welcome news as we are about to close out February. At ski areas near our home in northern Vermont, about 9 inches of snow has…

Springy snow and blue sky seen from chairlift

Spring skiing in February?

Posted 2/16/23

On Wednesday I got out into the afternoon sun for a bit of spring skiing. Yes, as in sticky-snow-like-it-is-late-March skiing. The sun and temperatures felt great and the late-afternoon sun was…

Skier makes a turn through the trees

Back on snow after emerging from the deep freeze

Posted 2/6/23

We stayed in and worked while the wind whipped up scary wind chill numbers on Friday and Saturday. By Sunday morning, we were chomping at the bit to be back on snow. We enjoyed a nice ski tour in the…

Skier moves through the snowy woods

Thankful for playing in the snow!

Posted 1/31/23

Hasn't it been great to have winter again? We've been enjoying getting out into the snowy woods for ski tours. It's so pretty! Hope you've been getting on the snow, too!

Ski racing on a ski slope

With new snow, Vermont ski areas have a busy Saturday

Posted 1/21/23

Busy, busy, busy! It was so busy at Vermont ski areas today that you might think people hadn't skied in fresh snow for a while or something! Thank goodness for some snow on Thursday night and…

Looking down at a pair of red skis crossing a partially frozen stream

Snow, water, mice and moose tracks

Posted 12/27/22

The Skimeister and I took advantage of the long holiday weekend to explore the snow conditions in the woods in Bolton, Vermont. Between 1,400 and 1,800 feet in elevation, we came across about five to…

Photo of poles and skis with 3-pin bindings in shallow spring snow

Springy snow and the end of the ski season for some ski areas

Posted 3/31/22

Update on 4/6/2022 Closed ski areas in Vermont now include: Bolton Valley (they may try to re-open for one more weekend) Bromley Mountain Cochran's Ski Area Mad River Glen Magic Mountain Midd…

Photo of a wide, empty ski trail with fresh snow and birch trees

Hitting the slopes for another shot of winter!

Posted 3/29/22

It was getting depressing to see our lovely snow melt away. But then winter came back for a visit! Higher elevations in the Green Mountains got snow this weekend, so I had to go and investigate. I…

Photo taken while riding quad chairlift and looking down at skiers below

Spring skiing is here!

Posted 3/19/22

With warm temperatures this past week and rain in the forecast, I made a point to get out for an afternoon of spring skiing. In Wednesday's bright sunshine, the snow was very soft at Bolton Valley,…

Skier makes S turns in the powdery snow

March snowstorm delivers some pow!

Posted 3/13/22

Winter made another appearance on Saturday! The higher elevations in northern Vermont got around a foot of snow. So you can bet your ski boots we got out to play in it on Sunday. I don't know if…

Skier makes a turn through powder in the woods

Playing in the soft snow before the rain comes

Posted 3/6/22

We were fortunate to see fresh snow over the last week, so we took advantage while we could! We enjoyed the light snow in the nearby woods in northern Vermont. The higher we skied up, the deeper the…

Skier in a cross-country ski track moving along in woods

Friday’s fluffy snow makes for a fun weekend

Posted 2/28/22

We loved seeing the snow fall all day on Friday! I’d take breaks from work to peek outside and grin. That night while shoveling, I discovered how light the snow was. Utah light. It wasn't what we…

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