Tag: Winter Weather

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First Vermont Snows for the 2025-2026 Winter Season!

A Photo of October snow on Mt. Mansfield taken by Scott Braaten
An image of the first official snow at the Mt. Mansfield Stake in Vermont for the 2025-2026 winter season
The first touches of snow recorded at the Mt. Mansfield stake for the 2025-2026 season

It’s been a reasonably warm fall season with many beautifully dry days featuring blue skies to enjoy the foliage, but the change in seasons is becoming evident now as we approach the end of October and move into a much wetter pattern. It’s interesting to note that over in New Hampshire, Mt. Washington had multiple episodes of snow in August, but they didn’t record any snow in September. This new influx of systems into the area has seen a return of their snow however, with multiple accumulations over the past few days.

I haven’t seen any reports of snow here in Vermont prior to yesterday, but now they’re coming in, so this stretch likely marks the kickoff to the 2025-2026 Vermont snow season. Yesterday morning at 9:40 A.M. Powderfreak reported that the precipitation was snow above 3,500’ on Mt. Mansfield, and later in the evening there was some video posted of the snow falling up at Jay Peak. There was also a post showing what was probably the first snowman of the season on Whiteface. As of this morning, Powderfreak posted images of snow falling on Mt. Mansfield and then the initial accumulations up at the Cliff House. The first accumulation of the season was recorded at the Mt. Mansfield stake, and by the afternoon, accumulations had made it down to the middle elevations of Mt. Mansfield, so there we go – the Vermont snow season is on!

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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.