Back out on the slopes of Bolton Valley for another beautiful day
We finally had the chance to get the whole family together today for some turns, so we headed up to Bolton Valley around midday. We’d planned to head to Timberline, but as it turned out the resort was asking people to park there anyway because the upper lots had filled up. The weather was much like yesterday, with clear skies and temperatures in the upper 20s F, so lots of people were interested in getting out to ski. It’s actually pretty impressive to have such a large number of people visiting the slopes this late in the season, so that should be good news for the resort.
We made our way to the Vista Summit and then took a run down Cobrass and ventured into the Villager Trees. The condition of the snow remained excellent thanks to temperatures staying consistently below freezing. There was still plenty of powder skiing off piste, and the boys spent some time jumping into the powder from some of their favorite ledges.
Heading back to Timberline we found lots of partially cut up powder still left on the lower half of Tattle Tale – Dylan had decided to use his Telemark skis today, and he really ripped it up on that snow. The lower reaches of Timberline were getting a bit affected by the sun, and we found this to be the case on Twice as Nice. It hadn’t been groomed, so it was skier packed, but there was lots of terrain contour still present. Dylan struggled with his Telemark turns on that surface, so for the bottom half of the run he and I switched over to the groomed surface of Showtime and he fared much better.
Dylan… of course!
Around 2:30 P.M. or so we stopped in at South of Solitude for some food, but they’d clearly had a lot of patrons today because they were just about out of everything. They put together some plates of burrito and taco ingredients along with tortilla chips for us for a reduced price of $6 and that worked out really well. The mountain was definitely humming with business today.
Making more use of all the great powder left by Winter Storm Stella
The boys and I had a field trip this morning, but we were done with enough time left to make it to Bolton Valley for a short photo session with some of the resort staff. Indeed today was a great one for ski photography – there was plenty of snow from Winter Storm Stella, clear blue skies, and temperatures in the upper 20s F.
We met Josh at his office, and he let us know that we’d be working with Tucker and Kyler today. The plan was to get some shots over at Wilderness with the afternoon views, and we started with some scenic photos from the deck of the Wilderness Summit Ski Patrol Hut. After the photos, we still needed to wait for another family to arrive up top, so the boys promptly decided to make use of the deep powder sitting just below the deck by launching themselves into it. Some of the folks coming up on the lift felt that it looked like so much fun that they joined in as well. By the time everyone was together it was just about time to shut down the Wilderness Lift, and we watched as they put the “Last Chair” sign in place.
Wilderness Summit today
Our photo session took place on Peggy Dow’s and the Wilderness Lift Line, and the guys generally did shots of trios of skiers with background scenery. Once we were done I asked the boys if they wanted to take any more runs, but they said they were good based on the anticipation of skiing more over the coming weekend. Hopefully we’ll have the time this weekend to get the whole family out together for some turns in all the great snow.
Not wanting to miss the chance to check out all that new snow up at the mountain, I headed up to catch a few runs this morning. The potency of the storm was immediately evident as I saw some of the vehicles that had been parked in the Village parking lots over the past couple of days – they were buried in deep drifts, and some were barely visible.
There is a car in there somewhere.
“ I stuck my measurement pole into the powder up top there and it went all the way up to the handle – that’s a depth somewhere north of 40 inches.”
I got in line for the opening of the Vista Quad, but the lift operator felt that it was going to be on wind hold for a bit, so I headed up Snowflake and was happy to find that Timberline was already open. On the way over I cut the traverse over to Tattle Tale, and with two to three feet of snow in the way it took a good deal of effort. I found Tattle Tale untracked, and the powder very deep. There were also pockets of super light powder scattered among slightly denser snow, and when you hit one of those pockets, any support you found in the powder would simply disappear as if the floor was dropping out on you. I had on the fattest skis I own, with 115 mm width at that waist, and even that couldn’t stop the free fall in that snow. On my first encounter with one of those pockets, I quickly went over the handle bars on my Tele skis and had to extract myself from the deep powder. The snow was so deep that even with my fat skis combined with the steepest pitches, I had to straight-line it. I didn’t get to make many turns there, but it was definitely a neat experience.
I stayed at Timberline the entire morning, and found great turns on Twice as Nice. It was actually nice as the powder started to get chopped up a bit, because you could keep plenty of momentum going to hop in and out of the untracked areas. The turns were simply fantastic all around though; Winter Storm Stella definitely provided one of the more thorough resurfacings I’ve witnessed around here. Since the storm dropped over 2 inches of liquid equivalent down at our house, you know the mountains were well above that. I did a run on Adam’s Solitude, and it was my first visit there in quite a long time. I opted for the Secret Solitude option, and got first tracks down one of the lines with a number of small cliffs. At the top of that section I contoured across the hill, and with the pitch of the slope, the powder was up to my shoulder. Adam’s Solitude is famous for catching some well-protected powder, and the depth was very impressive. I stuck my measurement pole into the powder up top there and it went all the way up to the handle – that’s a depth somewhere north of 40 inches. After seeing that, I knew I could just straight line my way right down through the ledges, and that was indeed one of those lines where the snow is just up and over your shoulders.
By the time the morning was over, the Tele turns had cooked my legs and my body was craving some food, so I stopped in for a burrito at South of Solitude. I kicked back and did some browsing on my phone while I ate, which seemed to be a popular option for the handful of folks populating the lodge. The Vista Quad was running by the time I got back to the main base, but my legs had definitely had their workout, so I skied down to the car and headed out.
Packing up the gear and away we go… until next time.
In general, most areas I found offered up powder in the 24 to 30-inch range, similar to what we found at Stowe Yesterday. There are no major warm-ups in the near future, so we should have some excellent conditions going into the weekend.
Ty our ripping it up on Spillway enjoying some of today’s warm weather at Bolton Valley
It was quite a gorgeous day out there today, with valley temperatures up around 60 F. That’s certainly well above average for February, but with such nice weather on a Saturday, Ty and I decided to head up to Bolton Valley to catch a few runs in the warm sun. We got up to the mountain in the mid-afternoon timeframe, and our timing was perfect, because just as we were about to load the Vista Quad, Jack caught us and we were able to spend the rest of the afternoon together.
Catching up with Jack today to join him for some soft turns
We started off with a couple of runs on Spillway, which is always one of my favorites when we get soft spring snow like today. It’s got that nice steep pitch, and as usual there was that ridge of snow along the skier’s right that provides some especially nice turns. We rode the Snowflake Chair to go for a run in the Butterscotch Terrain Park, but for some reason the rope was up and the park was closed. We still got in some nice cruising on Sprig O’ Pine, and then headed back up for some steep turns on Hard Luck. Turns were also great there, very similar to what we found on Spillway.
The wind was really picking up at the end of the day when we headed back to the car, and we’ve had a storm come through with some rain that changed to snow this evening. Temperatures are going to drop back to more seasonable levels tomorrow, so it will probably be a day for the groomed terrain unless the mountains pick up substantial snow tonight.
Diving into some deep snow at Bolton Valley this morning
Between Winter Storm Orson and Winter Storm Pluto, the past two cycles to hit our area, we’ve picked up almost three feet of snow at our house in the Winooski Valley. I actually haven’t even been able to consistently check on how much snow has fallen in the local resorts, but it’s been a lot. The Mt. Mansfield Stake has passed the 100-inch mark though, which says a lot about how much snow we’ve been getting recently, and is fantastic for mid-February.
I managed to get out for some turns on Monday morning for Winter Storm Orson, but I’ve been busy this week and haven’t even tried to work more turns into my weekday schedule despite the awesome conditions. Last night though, some of the backside snow of Winter Storm Pluto was falling, and it got me intrigued to hit the hill again. Between 6:00 P.M. and midnight we picked up 5 inches of sub-2% H2O at the house. That’s really rarified fluff that’s way too good to pass up, and I knew that I’d just have to check out how it skied in the morning.
“I dove in and encountered the kind of snow that makes you feel like the bottom of the world is falling out, and you’re dropping down an elevator shaft into infinitely deep feathers.”
Snow from Winter Storm Pluto was still pounding away when I arrived up at Bolton Valley’s Timberline area this morning. It was quiet, with just a couple other cars in the lot. The skin track up Twice as Nice wasn’t even in place yet, and I feared that I’d have to break trail, but fortunately Showtime had recently been groomed. It held about an inch of new snow over the packed base, and I was really thankful for the efforts of the groomers on that one.
I had time for a quick run down Spell Binder, and a probe on the skier’s right of the headwall revealed close to two feet of ridiculously fluffy Champlain Powder™. I dove in and encountered the kind of snow that makes you feel like the bottom of the world is falling out, and you’re dropping down an elevator shaft into infinitely deep feathers. So, yeah, last night’s snow analysis told the story, and the snow out there today was indeed incredibly dry.
Snows of Winter Storm Orson at Bolton Valley today
Today’s ski session was great, but it really wasn’t the one I was expecting. Since E and the boys were off from school for a snow day, and I had some time in the morning, it seemed like a great chance to all get in some skiing together. My first inclination was to visit Bolton Valley, which is right on my way into Burlington and very convenient, but lifts weren’t opening until 10:00 A.M., which on the late side based on the time I had. So, we decided on Stowe, which opened at 8:00 A.M. However, what we found on the Mountain Road was traffic backed up all the way to Harvest Market. That’s miles away from the resort. I figured it had to be because of an accident, but people in touch with E indicated that it was just bumper to bumper all the way down from the resort. I’m not sure how long it would have taken to travel all those miles, but we didn’t really have the time to find out. We switched our plans to Bolton Valley, figuring we’d take at least a few runs, but winds were keeping the Vista Quad on hold, so the available terrain would be quite minimal. It was just one of those crazy days where getting us all together to ski was going to be a challenge.
So in the end, I wound up stopping at Bolton for some earned turns on my way into Burlington, just like I often do. It simply took me a lot longer than usual to get to that point. Fortunately, just as one would expect thanks to the recent visit from Winter Storm Orson, the snow is simply spectacular. I skinned up the usual Timberline route, and while there were some tracks on Twice as Nice from skiers who had visited earlier, it was still snowing big, fat, fluffy flakes, and their tracks were rapidly disappearing. Today seemed like a great day to make a run on Twice as Nice, and it delivered bottomless turns all the way. The depth of the powder I found there today was generally 8 to 10 inches at the Timberline Base elevation, with nearly a foot in may spots higher up. The density gradient of the powder was fantastic, since we’ve been getting some really light fluff on the back side of the storm. It was funny to come full circle back to what I probably would have done if E and the boys hadn’t had the day off, and while it was a crazy path getting me there, the quality of the turns was definitely worth it.
Checking out the new signage on a visit to Timberline today
Last weekend featured some excellent ski conditions both on and off piste, and while we did get hit with a fairly substantial winter storm this week that further substantiated the snowpack, it ended with some sleet that put a dense layer atop the powder. We’ve seen a few inches since then from Winter Storm Niko and a weak Alberta Clipper yesterday, but it hadn’t seemed like quite enough to really cover up that dense layer and get the powder skiing back to where it was.
In any event, I decided to head up to the mountain for a couple of runs to see just where conditions sit ahead of our next potential large winter storm (Winter Storm Orson) that is expected to start up tomorrow. Temperatures were down in the single digits F in the morning, so I waited until later in the afternoon to head up to Bolton Valley’s Timberline area. By then, the temperature was around the 20 F mark and it felt quite comfortable outside.
Watching the skiers below me as I rode the Timberline Quad, the groomed terrain seemed pretty nice, although I could certainly hear their turns, so that wasn’t a great sign. I dropped into Showtime myself and found some decent groomed snow along the skier’s left. My mid-fat Tele skis don’t have much for edges at this point, and I noticed it when I’d get to the occasional firmer spot. I could see that there was some nice powder in the Twice as Nice Woods, so I dropped off the edge of the trail and into the trees. Even though that terrain is roughly intermediate pitch, it was still a bit too steep for the amount of powder available. I was touching down on the dense layer below, and occasionally slipping out on it or breaking through. It was just too inconsistent to make for good skiing so I headed back to the groomed terrain of Showtime to finish my run.
On my next run I took Sure Shot and made my way to the lower angle slopes of the KP Glades. I was able to get some decent powder turns at times, but even there it was possible to bust through the dense layer and the skiing was still just too inconsistent. I finished out my run, and Timberline was closing anyway, but a couple of runs were enough to reveal that there really wasn’t much going on today with regard to off piste skiing. It’s good that we’ve got Winter Storm Orson coming into the area tomorrow because it should be able to get the off piste conditions back to something more consistent and typical for midwinter around here.
Ty out enjoying some of the recent upslope powder bounty at Bolton Valley today
There weren’t actually any major winter storms in the forecast for the Northern Greens this week. As it turns out, that forecast was actually 100% correct. We didn’t get a major winter storm… we just got a major winter storm’s worth of snow in short order. What the forecast for the end of the workweek indicated was a general westerly flow, with extra moisture supplied from the Great Lakes to give periods of snow showers in the area. Of course “snow showers” around here in the mountains can often mean several inches of snow, and this time around it certainly did.
“…it was so good that after two runs I ran to the rack on the car and swapped out my mid fats for my full fats”
Ty, feeling the powder groove on his Soul 7s today
From what I’d seen on Bolton’s snow report, Timberline may not have been running yesterday, so Ty and I headed up to catch the planned 10:00 A.M. opening this morning. E planned to pick up Dylan from his overnight at Ivan’s, then catch up with us later. From what we could tell, Timberline must have been closed or something, because aside from the strips of trails that had been groomed, there was a foot of untracked powder everywhere. Ty and I caught some great powder runs down Brandywine and Spell Binder. I figured the powder would be fine, albeit somewhat flat after a night of settling, but it was much more substantial and impressive than I’d expected – it was so good that after two runs I ran to the rack on the car and swapped out my mid fats for my full fats. For Ty, it was his first chance to try out the Rossignol Soul 7 skis he’d gotten at the beginning of the season, and they were the perfect tool for the day. It was a classic Timberline morning, with walk-on powder laps in great snow. We really haven’t hit the threshold of snowpack required to get Timberline in gear until now, so it was a welcomed return.
Ty and I hit a couple more runs with a mix of on and off piste powder, then headed in for lunch at the Timberline Lodge to catch up with E. We also took the opportunity to try out the new “South of Solitude” (no doubt a nod to the “Adam’s Solitude” trail) Mexican food offering that’s been set up at the Timberline Base Lodge this season. Ty is nuts for burritos, so I knew it would be on our hit list when I saw it announced way back in the off season. The Mexican-themed food is really the only main option now down at Timberline, so you’ll want to plan on that if you’re dining down at that lodge. I got the chimichanga (always one of my favorites), and Ty got a burrito. They’re made to order with your choice of various ingredients, and we found them good and filling!
After lunch we headed back out to get Mom some powder, and found her plenty of untracked lines in the Tattle Tale area. We took her into the Corner Pocket Glades, but discovered they’re quite brushy with the current snowpack down at that elevation. A couple more feet of snow will take care of the issue, but they’re probably going to need a trim in the off season. Ty and I headed back down to the house by around 1:00 P.M. and E stayed for another solo run on Twice as Nice where she had a good time making Tele turns in the mix of loose and packed snow.
It’s been a slow start down in the lower elevations like Timberline, but I’d say the resort is running at just about full tilt now, so get out and enjoy it. We’ve got another Alberta Clipper coming into the area tomorrow, and then a larger storm in the midweek period, so the weather pattern is staying active.
E in the Wilderness Woods at Bolton Valley this morning enjoying some of the powder put down over the past couple of days
Snowfall has been somewhat lean in Vermont this January, so we haven’t been up to Bolton Valley since the early part of the month. Things are definitely picking up now though. The past couple of days have featured plenty of upslope snow in association with an upper level low to our north pushing various smaller impulses through the area. Over the course of the past two days, the resorts in the norther half of the state have picked up 1 to 2 feet of new snow.
With Bolton Valley reporting nearly a foot of snow over the past two days, the family headed up this today to see just how it well it was settling into the terrain. The snow report let us know that some of the upper lifts would be delayed a bit due to winds, but they were opening just as we were arriving around mid-morning. The word was definitely out about all the new snow today – cars were already parking down to the lowest Village lot when we arrived, and more were coming in by the minute.
We started off with a quick run on Snowflake, and enjoyed some excellent powder on the side of Snowflake Bentley. Since he’s been Telemark Skiing and snowboarding up to this point, it was Ty’s first time on alpine boards all season, and he was really enjoying the powder turns much like a new sensation. There was no line for the Vista Quad by that point, so we hopped on and got to see the impressive rime up near the Vista Summit. Catching some of the first turns on the groomed Alta Vista was nice treat that we don’t usually experience, and it really was soft and carveable from edge to edge. We also got first tracks in the powder off to the ungroomed areas to skier’s left. The only downside in the powder there was occasionally hitting some old grooming chunks under the snow, but the new accumulations were deep enough to make them only a minor hindrance.
We made our way over to Wilderness and took a quick pass through part of the Wilderness Woods. The powder was really nice in there, and there had been little traffic up to that point. We finished off with some groomed and powder turns on Lower Turnpike, and found that the Wilderness Double Chair was running, but they weren’t quite loading it yet.
We stopped into the lodge for an early lunch, and by the time we came out they were loading the Wilderness Lift. Peggy Dow’s was in nice shape, but out favorite part was actually the Wilderness Lift Line, which had a lot of powder left on it. Everyone had so much fun there that we would have easily done it again, but a bit of a queue was forming at the Wilderness Lift so we decided to call it a morning.
What can even be said about the Dylan?
When we were leaving, a woman was more than willing to wait for our parking spot way down by the sports center, so obviously the lots were really filling up. Even the Timberline lots looked full when we passed by. Temperatures were in the upper 20s F today, so folks were definitely out in force to enjoy it with the new snow – we’d even heard comments on one the local weather reports about just how good a ski day it was going to be. The current trends with the snow will probably go on for a couple more days, so conditions should stay quite good.
The beautiful cover to the newest version of Bolton Valley’s Nordic & Backcountry Trail Map
It’s been quite a while since I’ve been out for a genuine cross country ski session, but that’s what I got to do today at the Bolton Valley Nordic Center. E planned to take the boys up to the resort’s sports center for some swimming this afternoon, and with a fairly short window of time and not much new snow over the past few days, some cross country skiing seemed like the perfect fit.
The resort was again quite busy today with many people off from school and work, and indeed the lift queues looked fairly substantial as we passed by the base lodge. We were able to park right down by the sports center and E and the boys headed roff to the pool while I got my gear together. I took a nice round trip out on Broadway and Maple Loop, and enjoyed the ability to actually ski in the tracked lanes. Where possible I used the tracks and skied classic, but also skated in some spots. My skis aren’t really skate skis, but I was able to fumble through some strides. I jumped into the powder off the sides of the trails a few times and even managed a few Telemark turns, but I was thoroughly reminded of just how unstable real cross country skis are.
The boys had a lot of fun catching balls as they jumped into the pool and did everything else they’ve missed since the last time they were in the water. We walked up to get some sandwiches from the deli before we left, and could see the mass exodus of visitors heading back to their cars as the ski day ended. Based on what we’ve seen over this holiday period, I think the resort has seen a lot of visitors thanks to fairly decent ski conditions, so hopefully that’s been a big positive during what is typically the biggest week of the ski season.
