Category: Bolton Valley

2014-2015 Season, Bolton Valley, February, Powder Day

Bolton Valley: Mellow Powder

Adam's Solitude

The plan for today didn’t call for Bolton Valley. But I woke up to unexpected reports of more than half a foot of fresh across the Spine of the Greens. I expected one to three inches and I had planned to burn a free voucher at nearby Gunstock after a late start. You know, just to get out there a bit while awaiting the big snow totals later this weekend. The reports this morning had me scrambling for a plan B.

So, much like my last trip there, I got a late start and drove like hell for 7-9″ at Bolton Valley. Unlike my last trip there, I knew the lay of the land and felt much more confident in my decisions on how to work the mountain. I missed first chair by only half an hour so I took a lap off the Vista Quad in Cobras Woods and made my way towards the soon to open Timberline Quad.

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2012-2013 Season, Bolton Valley, March, Powder Day

Serendipitous Powder at Bolton Valley

Devil's Playground

This week’s daily snowfall in Northern Vermont continued last night with Bolton Valley taking top honors in New England with 7-10″ in the past twenty four hours. While a few inches overnight would have been par for the course this week, almost a foot of snow was a complete surprise. A surprise I learned about when I groggily reviewed my phone this morning and found out that I had set my alarm to the wrong day of the week, oversleeping an hour. This error would later prove to be both painful and serendipitous.

My usual fuel sipping driving style was left at home and I made the 2.5 hour drive in just over two hours thanks to empty back roads. You can’t get there from here my ass. While scrambling to take care of business in Bolton’s woefully inadequately sized base lodge, I managed slam my right middle finger HARD into an unnoticed stairway railing. I could move and bend it and squeezing all points caused no pain. Pressing on my fingernail yielded a white spot. I didn’t think it was broken. Game on!

I contemplated the odd’s of running into fellow blogger J.Spin of J&E Productions. The odds seemed ludicrous. But in accidentally over sleeping an hour, the timeline was arranged perfectly and I skied into line behind J.Spin and family just as they were about to load the Timberline Quad. Introductions were made at the top of the chair and we dropped into the rolling and open trees of Adam’s Solitude much to the delight of his two younger rippers.

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2005-2006 Season, Bolton Valley, Earned Turns, October

First Significant Snowfall at Bolton Valley, VT

Steve at Vista Peak

The amazing thing about backcountry gear is it allows a skier or rider to over rule ski area management about how long the season will be. The operation of lifts no longer dictate when I can or can not ski. So when it snows at elevation in Vermont during October and half a foot of White Gold coats the mountain tops, I can head up and get some. My last day on skis was 113 days ago during early July in Tuckerman Ravine. My latest season to date has been followed up by my earliest season to date and my shortest off season.

Reports of potential snow in higher elevations of Vermont began filtering through the NWS reports and subsequently many Northeastern Ski Forums. The weather forecasters totally missed the call on this crazy snow storm. Slowly the reports came trickling in Sunday Morning. An inch in the Mad River Valley soon became half a foot. Claims of a foot of fresh were posted from Killington. A report of 3-6″ on the lower slopes of Bolton Valley caught my eye and had my car wheels rolling within the hour.

Early in September, I made a call in a most joking manner that October 23rd would be the first big snow storm for my area. With humorous bravado, I went one step further and claimed that I would be skiing on the 23rd as well. I am still amazed that my off the wall guess was accurate.

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