Tag: January

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Bolton Valley, VT 07JAN2024

An image of Erica Telemark skiing in powder from the beginning of Winter Storm Ember in the Hide Away area at Bolton Valley Resort in Vermont
An image of Ty Telemark skiing in powder from the beginning of Winter Storm Ember in the Hide Away area at Bolton Valley Resort in Vermont
Ty drops a knee as he dives into some of the Bolton Valley powder delivered by the start of Winter Storm Ember today.

January snowfall is rolling along now with the appearance of our first major weather system of the month, and thus our first big event of the new year. Winter Storm Ember began to affect the area last night, and Bolton Valley was indicating that an additional 3 to 4 inches of new had fallen as of their early morning report. E and I headed up with Ty a couple hours later to catch the opening of the lifts, and there was probably another inch or two down by that point because it was snowing at a decent clip. Even more notable though was the wind – it was easterly and quite strong, and it was hitting you right in the face while riding the Vista Quad. Combined with temperatures in the teens F, our storm gear was definitely earning its keep and was highly appreciated.

Based on my analyses from the house, the mountain had seen probably about a half inch of liquid equivalent by that point. Combined with the several small storms we’ve had over the past week as we’ve kicked off January, it was a decent contribution to resurfacing, but certainly not at the point where patrol could simply drop the ropes on all the natural snow terrain. The snow was enough to open up certain natural snow areas like the Enchanted Forest, but at that point of the storm there just wasn’t enough liquid equivalent down to get the steepest terrain going. There was plenty of terrain open to enjoy the fresh powder though, and we knew additional trails would open as the storm continued to deliver more snow.

An image of Ty catching some air in the Hide Away terrain park area during the beginning of Winter Storm Ember at Bolton Valley Resort in Vermont
Ty catching some air in the Hide Away terrain park area today as we enjoy the fresh snow from Winter Storm Ember
An image of a snowcat with fresh snow falling during Winter Storm Ember in the Village are of Bolton Valley Ski Resort in Vermont
Some midmorning accumulations on the Village snowcat as Winter Storm Ember starts to deliver fresh powder to the slopes of Bolton Valley

In the late morning Ty had to head off to work, but Dylan son and his college friends who are staying over for a mini ski vacation were headed up for some runs, so we got to ski with them. The fierce winds from the morning had abated to essentially nothing, so that made the lift rides much more comfortable. A depth check I made around noontime in undisturbed snow at about mid-mountain elevation revealed 9 inches of surface snow, which was probably the combination of what had fallen from this storm on top of the lighter amounts from our other recent storms.

After we left in the early afternoon, I heard that they began to open some steep terrain like Schuss, so the storm was definitely having an impact on replenishing coverage in areas that needed it. The resort was reporting 9 inches of new snow as of closing bell, but with the way it’s been snowing around here this evening, I’m sure they’ll have picked up more by tomorrow morning.

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Bolton Valley, VT 06JAN2024

An image of a ski patroller walking through snowfall during a January storm in the main base area of Bolton Valley Ski Resort in Vermont
An image of fluffy snow on evergreens near the mid station of the Wilderness Double Chairlift in early January at Bolton Valley Ski Resort in Vermont
Fresh snow from the frequent smaller storms that have come through the area this January adorns some the evergreens near the Wilderness mid station.

With the additional snow that was falling during yesterday’s afternoon/evening ski tour, plus another round of snowfall that came through this afternoon, today seemed like another good opportunity to head up to the mountain for a quick ski tour. Snow was falling all the way down in the bottom of the Winooski Valley, and it intensified as I headed up the Bolton Valley Access Road. Today was another snowy day, and although none of these past few systems have been huge, the continued accumulations day after day have definitely been having an impact on the quality of the conditions.

Compared to yesterday, I started my tour earlier today, and running out of light wasn’t an issue, so I was able to tour up to about 2,700’ instead of just 2,500’. Relative to the accumulations I saw yesterday, the combination of new snow and settling didn’t appear to change the new snow depths too much in the lower elevations as of this afternoon, but I definitely noticed an increase starting at around 2,500’, and the depth continued to increase above that level as well. Here’s the comparative new snow depth profiles between yesterday and today:

320’: 0-1” –> 0-1”
1,000’: 1-2” –> 1-2”
1,500’: 2-3” –> 2-3”
2,000’: 2-3” –> 2-3”
2.500’: 2-3” –> 3″
2,700’: 3-4”

With the available daylight and more time to tour today, I was able to choose some alternate areas of Wilderness that had mostly untracked snow. Getting into the untracked snow made for dramatically better skiing, and I was starting to even get into some bottomless turns on the lower angle slopes.

From my tours yesterday and today, I found that the water bars on the lower slopes of Wilderness were generally in good shape with respect to coverage, so there shouldn’t be any issues there if they decide to open that are for lift-served skiing. Based on what I’ve seen over these couple days of ski touring at Wilderness, the skiing is already quite decent there and it’s really going to take off with even a few additional inches of snow.

An image of a "Lift Closed" sign coated with a bit of fresh snow in early January at the base of the Wilderness Double Chairlift at Bolton Valley Ski Resort in Vermont
Fresh snow coats a sign at the base of the Wilderness Chair, which is currently the domain of only those who are ski touring via the Wilderness Uphill Route.

Next in the storm parade we’ve got Winter Storm Ember moving into the area, and it looks poised to put down a couple inches of liquid equivalent in the mountains and valleys.  That should make for a dramatic increase in snowpack depths, and there should be a lot of additional terrain opening. Dylan has a number of college friends staying over at the house for a ski vacation during winter break, and we’ll all likely be heading out tomorrow to ski the new snow. I’ll put together an update of what we find!  

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Bolton Valley, VT 05JAN2024

An image of snowflakes in the night skiing lights as a minor cold front passes through at Bolton Valley Ski Resort in Vermont
An image of the Wilderness Double Chairlift with light accumulations of snow from a recent small weather system at Bolton Valley Ski Resort in Vermont
Light accumulations of snow from our most recent weather system sit atop the chairs of the Wilderness Lift this afternoon as I head out on a ski tour.

We’ve only reach the 5th day of January, but we’ve already had three minor systems affect the Northern Greens area so far this month in the form of troughs, cold fronts, and localized snow bands. As of this morning, Bolton Valley was reporting 5 inches of new snow in the past 48 hours, and the snow report also indicated that the Wilderness Uphill Route had been officially reopened up to Peggy Dow’s. I figured that was a good sign that natural snow terrain coverage and conditions were getting back toward something a bit more normal, so I decided to hit the mountain for an afternoon ski tour.

Heading up the Bolton Valley Access Road, snowfall began to pick up with elevation, and there was steady light to moderate snow falling in the Village. I’d left Burlington a bit later than I’d wanted to, so daylight was fading when I started my tour. So, I only had time to tour up to near 2,500’, and I stuck to skiing Lower Turnpike due to the encroaching darkness.

Settled accumulations of new snow that I encountered from the base of the access road up to the top of my ski tour were as follows:

320’: 0-1”
1,000’: 1-2”
1,500’: 2-3”
2,000’: 2-3”
2.500’: 2-3”

As the profile indicates, there really wasn’t much of a detectable increase in new snow depths between 1,500’ and 2,500’. Lower Turnpike was fairly well packed from ski touring traffic, and with the low light, I didn’t venture too far from the heart of the trail, but the surface was relatively soft and quiet. The turns certainly weren’t bottomless since I was mostly on the skier packed snow, but I did manage to find some untracked areas toward the edges, and those were very nice.

An image of beer taps with pizza in the background showing the Fireside Flatbread restaurant at Bolton Valley Ski Resort in Vermont
Stopping in for a couple of slices at Fireside Flatbread after my late afternoon ski tour. It was my first visit to Fireside Flatbread this season, and their crust was as fantastic as ever!

The snow that was falling was definitely accumulating – even after a relatively short tour, I had to clean off my car when I got back to it. The snowfall did taper down in intensity as I descended back into the Winooski Valley, but even at the valley bottom we were still getting some accumulation.

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Nebraska Valley, VT 29JAN2023

An image showing some of the ski terrain above the Catamount Trail on the south side of the Nebraska Valley in Vermont
An image of a building covered in snow with snow falling in January in the Nebraska Valley of Vermont
Some of today’s snowfall as I enjoy the views on my trip through the Nebraska Valley up to the Catamount Trail

With the strong snowpack in the area now, I decided to head out to the Nebraska Valley for some ski touring today.  The last time I toured in the Nebraska Valley I was on the valley’s north side, but I’ve now heard from multiple students of mine that the south side of the valley offers some great skiing off the Catamount Trail.  I didn’t have too much information beyond the fact that you can just use the Catamount Trail as a collector for the ski terrain in the area, but it sounded pretty straightforward, fun, and convenient.

I was able to park right at the Catamount Trail parking area on the south side of Nebraska Valley Road, so the trail access was very easy.  It had started snowing around midday, and there was steady snowfall through much of my tour in the afternoon.  Following the Catamount Trail southward, the options for great backcountry skiing are indeed very obvious.  From the trailhead at an elevation of ~1,000’, the trail rises at a moderate grade for about 400 feet of vertical over the course of perhaps ¾ of a mile, and then the terrain flattens out into a relatively broad valley with the main drainage on your left, and steep slopes rising up to your right.  The slopes consist of very open hardwood forest throughout, with tree spacing in many areas as much as 20 or 30 feet.  I couldn’t see all the way to the top of the terrain, but there must be hundreds of acres there with very obvious ski lines, and the fact that there were tracks coming down out of this terrain suggested that it held good potential.  At around a mile from the trailhead I came to the first obvious skin track that headed up off the Catamount Trail into these slopes, so using that was a clear option for some great runs.

An image of January snow on one of the tributaries of Miller Brook in the Nebraska Valley of Vermont
I was able to enjoy gorgeous midwinter views of the ice and snow on the local tributary of Miller Brook as I made my way up the Catamount Trail.

I just happened to run into one of my students descending on the Catamount Trail as he and his group were finishing up their session for the day, and he said that if I had the time, I should head higher up because the snow was better.  Being my first time in the area, I did want to take a long enough tour to get the lay of the land, so I continued another mile or so and toured up to around 2,500’.  The snow was indeed even better higher up, but the tree lines weren’t as open as the beautiful looking terrain I’d seen lower down.  That higher elevation terrain was plenty steep, and certainly offered decent skiing, but I’d say those initial slopes rising from the valley at around 1,500’ are the best bang for your buck as long as the snowpack and snow quality are good at those elevations.

It was snowing quite hard up at 2,500’ when I began my descent, hard enough that I would have been worried about being out there in such weather if I didn’t know the forecast wasn’t calling for sustained accumulations.  The snow had added another couple of inches to top off the snowpack, which certainly helped make the powder even a bit fresher.  Temperatures had been cold much of the afternoon, but on my descent I quickly realized that the freezing level had risen.  I descended out of the heavy snowfall down into mixed precipitation by ~1,500’, and just sprinklings of rain down at the trailhead elevations of ~1,000’.  I was glad that I’d finished my tour by that point because the lower elevation snow was definitely getting sticky and more difficult to ski.

A Google Earth map with GPS tracking data from a backcountry ski tour along the Catamount Trail in the Nebraska Valley of Vermont
A Google Earth map with GPS tracking data of today’s backcountry ski tour along the Catamount Trail in the Nebraska Valley
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Bolton Valley, VT 28JAN2023

An image of Jay jumping in the Wood's Hole area of Timberline after plentiful snow from Winter Storm Kassandra at Bolton Valley Ski Resort in Vermont
An image of Jay blasting through some of the powder left by Winter Storm Kassandra at Bolton Valley Ski Resort in Vermont
Today was the much anticipated opening of Bolton Valley’s Timberline area, and thanks to Winter Storm Kassandra and other recent storm cycles, we spent the day blasting through fresh powder everywhere we went!

Today was the much anticipated season opening of Bolton’s Timberline area, and as announced, they livened things up a bit for the event with free coffee and a visit from the El Gato Food Truck.  Bolton Valley fans were of course excited to get the last main pod of the resort open for the season, shifting the alpine trail network up to its full speed, but even more exciting was the fact that the snow at Timberline has simply been sitting there and accumulating over the course of these last several storm cycles.  There’s been some ski touring traffic in the area, but the Timberline Uphill Route hasn’t officially been open, so the visitation hasn’t been all that heavy.  All this, combined with the fact that the back side of Winter Storm Kassandra finally put some of that classic Northern Greens upslope fluff in place to top off the snowpack, meant that some fantastic powder skiing awaited the visitors.

An image of Erica powder skiing in the Wood's Hole area of Timberline after Winter Storm Kassandra at Bolton Valley Ski Resort in Vermont
Th numerous winter storms we’ve had recently are really burying all those obstacles on the off piste and opening up lots of terrain as E demonstrates in the Wood’s Hole area

E and I headed up for the anticipated 9:00 A.M. opening of the Timberline Quad, and when we got into the lineup around 8:45 A.M., there were only about a dozen people there.  The lift opening went off without a hitch, and from then on, Timberline was a lift-served powder playground.  There was a mid-morning rush where the lift queue grew large, but before that point it was minimal to nonexistent.  We had light to moderate snowfall for a good part of the morning when one of the small waves of low pressure in the area pushed through, and temperatures were about as perfect as you could want – they were on the mild side, but stayed below freeing to avoid any disruption to the quality of the powder. 

“The Tattle Tale Headwall was even open, and that speaks volumes about the state of the snowpack right there because it can take a lot of snow to get covered. A couple more solid storm cycles would push it to that next level for hitting bigger features, but the snowpack is certainly in midwinter form.”

The conditions were certainly nothing in the realm of all-time by Northern Greens standards, but it was great, right-side-up bottomless powder everywhere we went, and even down to the 1,500’ elevation, the base depths are good for just about all the terrain.  The Tattle Tale Headwall was even open, and that speaks volumes about the state of the snowpack right there because it can take a lot of snow to get covered.  A couple more solid storm cycles would push it to that next level for hitting bigger features, but the snowpack is certainly in midwinter form.

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Bolton Valley, VT 27JAN2023

An image of ski tracks in powder snow on the Spell Binder Trail after Winter Storm Kassandra in the Timberline area at Bolton Valley Ski Resort in Vermont
An image of the base of the Timberline base area after Winter Storm Kassandra at Bolton Valley Ski Resort in Vermont
It was great to be back at Timberline for some ski touring and powder turns this morning. Thanks to Winter Storm Kassandra and other recent storm cycles, the Timberline area has moved into midwinter form.

I was too busy yesterday to hit the slopes and check out the new snow from Winter Storm Kassandra, but Dylan was out at Bolton for some runs and said the skiing was excellent.  He told me that he and Colin got third tracks down Preacher, which must have been pretty amazing.  The snowfall continued right through the day yesterday though, and there was a decent signal for upslope snow on the back side of the storm cycle, so it seemed like today would hold some promise for great turns as well.  My drive home from Burlington yesterday evening went from partly cloudy conditions in the Champlain Valley, to gradually increasing snowfall as I pushed farther into the mountains, to a pounding of huge flakes by the time I got home.  The roads were snowy, but the visibility was the tougher part of the drive.  When I measured the snowfall rate at our house yesterday evening, it was up in the 2 to 3-inch per hour range for a while, so the flakes were building depth quickly.  And not surprisingly, those huge flakes were stacking up with impressive loft.  When I ran a snow analysis at midnight, the stack density came in at 2.3% H2O.  We haven’t really had a lot of upslope snow on the back side of storm cycles this season, but we got some this time, and it suggested good things by morning with respect to the skiing.

An image from atop the Spell Binder trail with fresh snow from Winter Storm Kassandra at Bolton Valley Ski Resort in Vermont
An untracked Spell Binder ready for some turns this morning

This morning I was on my way up to earn some early turns at Wilderness, when I passed by Timberline and realized the timing was right for the Timberline Uphill Route to be open.  The snowpack has thus far been thin down at those lower elevations, but Kassandra definitely seemed to push it over the top and I had my first Timberline outing of the season.  We had some outstanding powder skiing around here in mid-December, but I think today’s turns might have just edged out that period to set the new bar for the season.  The snowpack was surprisingly robust during that December stretch, but the fact that we’ve now had multiple winter storm cycles, multiple inches of liquid equivalent going into the snowpack, and a skiable snowpack that reaches down even to the Timberline elevations, means a lot.  The turns today were so very bottomless and effortless with all the new champagne on top, so it was certainly one of the premier days of the season thus far.  Bolton is planning to run the Timberline Quad tomorrow for the first time this season, so that’s a sign that we’re really moving into prime time.  They’re also planning on some nice additions to celebrate the day like free coffee, and a visit from the El Gato Food Truck, so it should be a fun way to get Timberline rolling for the season.

An image looking southwest into the Green Mountains from atop the Spell Binder trail at Bolton Valley Ski Resort in Vermont
A view to the southwest from atop Spell Binder this morning, with the Green Mountains very much in their white winter mode
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Bolton Valley, VT 23JAN2023

An image of ski tracks in powder snow during Winter Storm Jimenez on the Cougar trail at Bolton Valley Ski Resort in Vermont
An image of ski tracks in powder snow on the Wilderness Liftline trail at Bolton Valley Ski Resort in Vermont
Enjoying some of Bolton’s fresh powder during this morning’s ski tour thanks to Winter Storm Jimenez

I headed up to the mountain this morning to catch a quick ski tour and check out the snow we’d received from Winter Storm Jimenez up to that point.  Bolton was indicating 4 to 5 inches of new snow as of the morning report, and that’s what I found fairly consistently in touring from 2,100’ up to around 2,700’ on terrain that had previously been packed.  Turns were generally bottomless with 115 mm width skis on low and moderate angle terrain, but the quality of the turns was bolstered by the fact that the subsurface continues to improve with each storm.  That dense mid-month storm really substantiated the base, and Winter Storm Iggy added some drier snow atop that, so the depth and quality of the snowpack is improving by leaps and bounds.  There have been additional accumulations today from a strong cold front passing through the area, and the next synoptic system in the queue is expected to impact the area tomorrow night and has been named Winter Storm Kassandra.  That system seems to have a bit more potential for some upslope snow on the back side, and I’ve seen storm total estimates as high as 12 to 18 inches for the local mountains, which would represent another great addition to the snowpack.

An image of snow from Winter Storm Jimenez on the roof of a house along the access road to Bolton Valley Ski Resort in Vermont
Views of some of the recent snow from Winter Storm Jimenez on my drive to Bolton Valley this morning
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Bolton Valley, VT 21JAN2023

An image of Ty performing a drop tip aerial in recent snows from Winter Storm Iggy at Bolton Valley Ski Resort in Vermont
An image of Ty skiing in powder from Winter Storm Iggy at Bolton Valley Ski Resort in Vermont
Ty cranks a turn in some of the plentiful Winter Storm Iggy powder out there today at Bolton Valley as the Wilderness Chair made its season debut.

In a discussion with my colleague Stephen at work yesterday, I learned that plans were in place to open the Wilderness Chair for the first time this season on Saturday, so Ty and I headed up this morning for a session.  We didn’t really rush out to the mountain, arriving at about 9:30 A.M. for the scheduled 10:00 A.M. opening of the Wilderness Chair, but it turns out that was a bit too late with respect to optimal parking.  People were already having to park down at Timberline because the upper parking lots were full, and since the Timberline Quad isn’t running yet, you had to take the shuttle bus up to the main mountain.  Being the first notable weekend day with fresh snow in at least a couple of weeks, it seemed like everyone in the state was excited to get out for some skiing.

An image of Ty skiing in the trees near Snow Hole at Bolton Valley Ski Resort in Vermont
We spent a lot of our time today in areas between Snow Hole and the Backcountry Network, and the tree skiing was quite ready to go thanks to all the recent snow.

I learned that the Wilderness Chair had actually halted operations for a bit this morning due to a mechanical issue, but that timing worked out pretty well for us – by the time we took one run on Vista to get us over toward Wilderness, the lift was running.  We spent much of our time today on Wilderness, exploring various off piste lines between Snow Hole and the Nordic/backcountry network, and the powder skiing was great.  We could still use a couple more feet of base to cover up some of the usual obstacles and really get the off piste skiing into prime time, but everywhere we went it was pretty much good to go.

An image of Ty jumping over a log while tree skiing in the Snow Hole area at Bolton Valley Ski Resort in Vermont
While we could still use a couple more feet of snow to really get the tree skiing into midwinter form, the recent snows have been more than adequate to put down a decent base and powder on top for some great off piste turns just about everywhere at the resort.

We wrapped up today’s session in the midafternoon with a run back to our car at the base of Timberline, and while having to shuttle up to the main mountain at the start of the day wasn’t our first choice, the run back to the car through endless powder was more than worth it.  It doesn’t look like the Timberline Uphill Route is officially open yet, but we’d seen a number of skiers ascending there when we were waiting for the shuttle.  Practically speaking, the snow at Timberline is ready with respect to ski touring, so it will be interesting to see if the resort officially opens that uphill route soon.  The resort is making snow down at Timberline to presumably open it up for lift-served skiing before long, and if these next couple of winter storms deliver like Winter Storm Iggy did, they’ll probably be able to open it up even before all the snowmaking is done.  The next system coming into the area has earned the name Winter Storm Jimenez due to its anticipated impacts, so we’ll see what it delivers over the next couple of days.

An image of Ty and ski tracks in the Timberline area after Winter Storm Iggy at Bolton Valley Ski Resort in Vermont
Although we did have to park down at Timberline today due to the lots filling up in the Village, we did get some great turns when we had to ski back to the car.
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Bolton Valley, VT 20JAN2023

An image of some of the condominiums and the hotel at the bottom of the Wilderness Double Chairlift around dusk in the Village area at Bolton Valley Ski Resort in Vermont
An image of the Wilderness Double Chairlift in the late afternoon with snows from Winter Storm Iggy at Bolton Valley Ski Resort in Vermont
A snowy view of the Wilderness Chair greets me today as i begin a late afternoon ski tour to check out the recent snows from Winter Storm Iggy.

As expected, Winter Storm Iggy came through and transformed the ski conditions in the local mountains this weekend.  A survey of the Vermont ski area snow reports revealed surprisingly consistent storm totals running around 10 inches up and down the spine of the Central and Northern Greens, with lower amounts down at the southern resorts due to an influx of some mixed precipitation.

Ty was coming home from NVU Lyndon for the weekend, and with Iggy starting up Thursday evening, E was able to pick him up late that afternoon because he didn’t have any Friday classes.  The timing was perfect because they got home just ahead of when the flakes started falling, and it was a great example of the utility of accurate winter weather forecasting.

“All in all I’d describe the turns as mostly bottomless, quite surfy, and that powder was all atop that bomber base that was present from the previous storm cycle, so you could really have confidence in what was below the new snow.”

Dylan and Colin only have one early class on Fridays, so after they were done with that, Ty joined them, and the three of them headed up to Bolton for some turns.  They scored quite a day with the fresh snow and minimal midweek visitors on the slopes.  They had such a blast that after coming home, eating dinner, and watching some GoPro videos from the day, they switched up to some different gear and went back out for night skiing until last chair.

I didn’t have a chance to head out earlier in the day today, but I did get up to the mountain with about an hour of light left, so went for a tour on Wilderness to check out all the new snow.  The storm was still ongoing, but at that point I found the following surface snow depths:

2,000’: 6”
2,500’: 7-8”
2,800’: 8-9”

An image of snowflakes in a street light during Winter Storm Iggy in the Village parking lot at Bolton Valley Ski Resort in Vermont
One of the street lights in the Bolton Valley Village parking lot illuminates the snow from Winter Storm Iggy as darkness falls this evening.

I decided not to tour all the way to the Wilderness Summit because I was losing daylight, but the quality of the powder I encountered was excellent.  I was surprised to find that I could feel a difference in snow density below about 2,500’, but it was fairly subtle and the turns were really great from top to bottom.  All in all I’d describe the turns as mostly bottomless, quite surfy, and that powder was all atop that bomber base that was present from the previous storm cycle, so you could really have confidence in what was below the new snow.

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Bolton Valley, VT 16JAN2023

A shuttle bus with a bit of January snow in the Village area at Bolton Valley Ski Resort in Vermont
An image of the Bolton Valley Access Road in January just below Bolton Valley Ski Resort in Vermont
There’s a solid base of snowpack in the mountains and there’s even been a bit of new snow to set the wintry scene. Conditions should really take off with accumulations from even a modest winter storm.

After getting out to the hill on Saturday to check out the snow conditions, I hadn’t really planned to ski any other days over the weekend – the conditions on the groomed terrain were fine, but definitely on the firm side.  And, the off piste just isn’t very viable at the moment, because while the snow from this most recent storm contributed a fantastic addition to the base snowpack, it needs another good round of snow on top of it or else you’re just skiing on a dense, crusty moonscape.  But, a couple of my students alerted me that they’d be up at Bolton Valley this morning and asked if I wanted to join them, so I said I catch up with them for some turns.  E had the holiday off and joined me, and we met up with them in the late morning period and had a great time catching up after the holiday break.  Light snow fell much of the time from the system off the coast, and it certainly made the mood even more wintry, even if it didn’t add much in terms of accumulation.

A road sign with a bit of fresh snow stuck to it along the Bolton Valley Access Road below Bolton Valley Ski Resort in VermontAlong with the bit of snow today, we’d also had a little light snow from that coastal system over the previous day or so, but all in all, ski conditions weren’t really all that different from what I’d experienced on Saturday.  Groomed terrain with manmade snow had some bright spots (like Alta Vista again), but most was fairly firm as it had been before.  One very notable positive change that took place over the course of the weekend was that the resort had opened a lot more terrain.  A little (like Hard Luck I believe) was due to snowmaking, but the vast majority was simply natural snow terrain that patrol had been able to check and mark.  They opened all the lower Wilderness terrain that is accessible from the Vista Quad, as one would expect, but I couldn’t believe that even Cobrass was open.  It’s quite steep in spots, has a decent amount of southern exposure, and seemed to be mostly operating on natural snow.

“The snowpack is there. At least based on what I saw at Bolton over the weekend, if these storms deliver even half of the snow that’s currently modeled, lift and trail counts are likely to explode over the course of the next week.”

All the natural snow terrain they opened is just a testament to how durable a resurfacing this most recent winter storm was.  The only thing holding back the off piste skiing (although some folks were jumping into the woods in areas) is just the crusty, dense nature of the snow.  It’s simply not all that much fun right now because it’s a bit upside down and crunchy, but boy are both the on piste and off piste areas going to be ready to go with just one decent storm.  With three possible winter storms in the queue over the next six days, ski conditions are really set to take a quantum leap if the accumulations come through as the modeling currently suggests.  The snowpack is there.  At least based on what I saw at Bolton over the weekend, if these storms deliver even half of the snow that’s currently modeled, lift and trail counts are likely to explode over the course of the next week.