Classic Early Season Storm

Friday night we got the perfect hit of early season snow.  Yahoo.  On Friday 8-10″ of heavy wet snow that settled/compacted to 6-8″ of dense slightly crusty snow by Sunday.  Stay tuned for grooming updates and snow report.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Happy Birthday

Happy 2nd Birthday to the Bolton Nordic Blog.   Thanks to all our fans and super fans for great support.  To date the blog has had 31,080 views!

I was looking back at some of the posts from November 2007 and was amazed to see how much snow there was on the trails.  Click here to look back at November 07. Stay tuned for more great photos, event updates and conditions reports.  -Liz

Photos from trail work on November 21 in the Holden’s Hollow, Cliff Hanger, Eagle’s Nest area.

The view of the alpine base area from Holden's Hollow.

Thanks from Bolton Nordic to a hard working and fun trail work crew.

Nordic Newsletter- November

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Winter is just around the corner!  There are two great events coming up to help you get even more psyched for ski season. 1. Telluride Mountain Film (11/13) and 2. Catamount Trail Evening at the Ski Rack (11/17)

Nordic Kids Program

Are your kids looking for something different to do this winter?  We are happy to announce that Nordic Kids is back for a second season.  Spend Sunday’s learning the basics of Nordic skiing.  Each day includes games, relay races, scavenger hunts and natural history.

Dates: Jan 24 & 31, Feb 7 & 14

Click here for more information.

Season Passes

There is still time to get your season pass.  Discover skiing our beautiful Birch Glades.   Click here to buy online.

Benefits include:

*Unlimited skiing and snowshoeing all season long.

*The best early and late season skiing in the East.

*100 km of trails groomed and backcountry

*Vermont Season Pass Reciprocal Program- season pass holders receive 1 complimentary day of skiing at participating Nordic Ski Areas in Vermont

10 Punch Cards and 5 Punch Cards

New for 09/10 we have added a 5 Punch Card to our already popular 10 Punch Card program.  The 5 Punch is 5 full day Nordic tickets at a discounted price.  These make great gifts!

Click here to purchase Punch Cards online.

Trail Update

We have been busy this fall working on trails.  Click here to see photos of trail work and see if you can recognize our trails without any snow.

Event Listing

December 13- Bolton Season Opener | freestyle race 8km and a kids race

December 27- NATO Telemark Clinic

January 4-9 VSAA Learn to Ski Week

January 9 Winter Trails Day

January 24 Get Out and Backcountry Ski Festival

February 6 & 7 Women’s Backcountry 101

February 27 & 28 NATO Telemark Workshop

March 14 Catamount Trail BC Challenge Trapps to Bolton | tour and race

Visit the Events page on the Blog throughout the season to find more information. click here

The Bolton Valley Newsletter page has archives of old newsletters.

Signs of Winter and Trail Work

We have had a great fall at BV Nordic. It’s been perfect trail clearing weather.  The fall foliage was beautiful and now it is starting to get cold.  Winter is just around the corner.

Old Goats clearing birch glades off Gardner's

We always find some interesting natural feature while hiking and clearing trails. This boulder and moss looked so bright against the leaves.

Clem Holden standing at the top of Clem's Tele Showoff.... which was named after him. Do you know where Clem's Tele Showoff is located?

A mid October snow storm covered most of Bolton while there was still leaves on the trees. (Lake Champlain in the distance.)

While clearing trails in a couple inches of October snow we came across bear tracks.

Photo Contest- Vermont Division of Forestry

 

 

The Vermont Division of Forestry is doing a photo contest.  One of our long time Bolton Valley Nordic ski  friends, Sheri Larsen, has a photo in the finals.  It shows backcountry skiers enjoying the snow in the Mt. Mansfield State Forest/Little River State Park.  Sheri’s photo is #3 and it is a great shot of skiers.

Click here to link to the photo contest and vote for your favorite.

First Snow

Today was the first significant morning with snow. There was a couple inches in the base area and more up on the mountain. On the access rd the snow line was just where the Catamount Trail crosses and by the time we got up to Timberline Lodge there was a good covering on the ground/trees.

The leaves are still on the trees and the ground is not frozen, so it doesn’t look like winter quite yet. A couple brave skiers made a few strides on the grass around the Nordic Center and it was nice to see their tracks in the fresh snow!

Ski Swaps and SKi Movies

It’s time to get psyched for ski season!!! Two of the best ways we know how to do this are buying new gear/selling old gear and watch ski movies.

This is a listing of Ski Swaps and Ski Movies. We will update this listing as more information is available, so check back often to get times and locations  for your favorite swap.

South Burlington High School Ski Sale- Saturday, September 26th, 9am-4pm [consignment drop off Friday Sept 25th, 5-8pm]

Wild Stallions, Meathead Films, Friday, September 25th  – 6:30pm and 9pm shows CC Theater, UVM | more info

Colchester High School Ski and Board Sale- Saturday, October 3th and 4th [consignment drop off Friday October 2rd, 5-8pm]

Refresh, Level 1 Productions, Thursday October 8th-7:30 doors, Billings Theater, UVM

Smuggs Ski Sale, Champlain Expo Sat Oct 10 and Sun Oct 11 [consignment drop off Friday October 9] more info

In Deep, Matchstick Productions, October 16- 7pm doors | 8pm show, Higher Ground, South Burlington, VT | more info

Re: Session, Teton Gravity Research, October 10th- 7pm doors| 8pm show, Flynn, Burlington, VT | more info

Cochrans Ski Sale, Saturday November 7, 8am-4pm and Sunday November 8, 10am-3pm, Camel’s Hump Middle School, Richmond, VT consignment drop off Friday November 6th 6-8:30pm | 802.434.5135 for more info | and they will take credit cards

Waitsfield Ski and Skate Sale, November 14  and 15, Waitsfield Elementary School, Waitsfield, VT

Dynasty, Warren Miller, Saturday November 23 7pm and 9pm, Sunday November 23 7pm, Flynn Theater, Burlington, VT |photo gallery for Dynasty

Are we missing something?  Please comment or send an email with more info.
|special thanks to skimaven.com for some of the dates and info|

Summer Trail Work

Lots goes on in the off season in preparation for the next ski season.  This year we are busy replacing bridges and improving trails.

Using the excavator to remove the old rusted culvert on Broadway.

One of the new bridges.

This is the new sign at the Telemark and Broadway intersection.

Maple Loop entrance.

August Update and Newsletter

Thanks to everyone for a very successful 2009 at Bolton Nordic. We are looking forward to the upcoming ski season.

Click here to see the Nordic Newsletter- Late Summer Edition.

Click here to sign up for our email newsletter and choose Nordic Newsletter from the list.

What do Nordic Directors do in the summer?

This summer I visited several ski areas near Grenoble, France. There wasn’t much snow left, but it was fun to drive and hike in the mountains. It was cool to play in the town and mountains that hosted the 1968 Olympics. One day we drove into the mountains and visited the town/village that hosted the Olympic Nordic events.

My mom and I checking out one of the local ski areas outside Grenoble.

Ski Area Sign in Col de Porte

Fresh snow in late June on the high mountains around Grenoble.

These are the Olympic rings in Autrans, the town that hosted Nordic Events for the 1968 Olympics.

Backcountry Skiing and Pond Skimming

Sunday: It flurried almost the whole day yesterday. By the end of the day snow had accumulated to 2-3″. It continued to snow through the night and it’s snowing hard this morning. Accumulation is about 5-6″. It’s quite heavy snow and it looks beautiful in the trees.   It’s right around 32degrees at 8:30am. We don’t plan to have any grooming today, but skiing will be great regardless.

I skied in the backcountry on Saturday and it was awesome. Lots of snow and nice skiing all the way up Bryant and the Catamount Trail to Raven’s Wind.   All the waterbars on Bryant are still covered. And with this new snow it’s going to be a great day out there.

Saturday: This past week has been a great mix of warm sunny days and spring skiing. We have lost a lot of snow and recommend only our backcountry trails for experienced skiers. At 9am the temp is 32 degrees and there are a couple snowflakes in the air. Forecast for today is temps 35-39 in the base area. It did rain overnight and with temps around freezing it looks like the snow may have transformed to granular. We have stopped grooming for the season. If you are looking for adventure also consider snowshoeing… Heavenly Highway, Stowe View and the upper trails still have tons of snow.

09/10 Season Passes are on sale NOW! To get the best price purchase your season’s pass before April 6th. link here to purchase a pass online

Pond Skimming- Sunday April 5th. Registration 10am-12pm. Skimming starts at 1pm Join us for this fun ritual of spring skiing. All procedes from this event go to the Bolton Valley Race Club… and will be used as part of a matching grant from the Kelly Brush Foundation to purchase race course fencing. The forecast is for great weather on Sunday, so come on up and skim or cheer.