A storm is brewing like strong coffee

Friday: The snow banks are triple overhead, it has taken us two days to dig out all the paths from the nordic center, and it is over 20°. What more could you ask for? The backcountry is in pristine condition and the nordic trails have been groomed since that last storm, but not this morning. We are gearing up for a great weekend, so come check it out for yourself.

If you are new to Nordic Skiing the conditions are perfect right now to try it out.  Saturday’s we have group lessons in both morning and afternoon as well as a Explorer Snowshoe Tour.  Sundays we have a Nordic Kids, Morning Clinics and Group Lessons.  There is a lot going on so  come on up and check it out.  Click on the Lessons and Kids and Families Pages above to see full listing of programs and information.

Thursday: It’s all about powder today. . . the snow reporters at Bolton are saying 17-19″ in the last 24 hours. It will take us a day or so to get all our groomed trails back in action… and until then it’s going to be a little soft. The daytime temps in the next couple days and through the weekend look awesome and should help things get packed on groomed trails.

Cool link of the day… Ski Maven has lots of great ski reports and information. click here

Wednesday: Down in the Champlain Valley it was pretty quiet this morning, but the realization about how big this storm could be came on the drive up the mtn road when I heard the laundry list of school closings from Addison to Franklin Counties. At the top of the hill at 1800″ it’s windy, snowing and 12 degrees. We decided to take in the flag for fear that it would take off in the wind.

The most exciting part of today is knowing how GOOD the skiing will be Thursday and Friday… and for t hat matter all weekend. I am planning to pay my bills, do my errands and be ready for some fantastic skiing this weekend.

This volatile weather is forecast to dump 10″-15″ with locally heavy snowfall up t o 22″ says they Eye On the Sky. Today conditions are powder on packed powder and windblown snow. We will not have any new grooming today.

Skiing is the new road bike training. It’s a fact that bike racers from Boulder to Boseman and of course Burlington like to do ski training and racing to keep in shape during the winter. But check out this article on Velo News about the Kelly Benefit Team skiing Winterpark. click here

Tuesday: We have heard reports over the past couple days that there is a good sized snow storm heading for VT!!! It is difficult to tell if we will be on the More side of the Less side. But none the less it sounds like 6-10″ of powder. Friday ski day anyone?

Stay tuned for our snow report and photos.

Are you looking for a great new book to read? Click here for our favorite link of the day .

Wednesday: Down in the Champlain Valley it was pretty quiet this morning, but the realization about how big this storm could be came on the drive up the mtn road when I heard the laundry list of school closings from Addison to Franklin Counties. At the top of the hill at 1800″ it’s windy, snowing and 12 degrees. We decided to take in the flag for fear that it would take off in the wind.

The most exciting part of today is knowing how GOOD the skiing will be Thursday and Friday… and for t hat matter all weekend. I am planning to pay my bills, do my errands and be ready for some fantastic skiing this weekend.

This volatile weather is forecast to dump 10″-15″ with locally heavy snowfall up t o 22″ says they Eye On the Sky. Today conditions are powder on packed powder and windblown snow. We will not have any new grooming today.

Skiing is the new road bike training. It’s a fact that bike racers from Boulder to Boseman and of course Burlington like to do ski training and racing to keep in shape during the winter. But check out this article on Velo News about the Kelly Benefit Team skiing Winterpark. click here

Event Report: Get Out and Backcountry Ski Festival

Registration area with lots of great info from CTA and Bolton.

Perfect powder, excited participants and great volunteers were the hilights of the 1st Annual Get out and Backcountry Ski Festival at Bolton Nordic.  Early morning temps in the single digits didn’t deter about 50 people from getting out to Bolton yesterday for a great day of backcountry tours and clinics sponsored by Catamount Trail Organization.

Morning action included Telemark Skills Clinic on the Tele Practice Slope, a mini tour up Bryant Trail to Bryant Cabin, then down Gardners Lane, Cliffhanger.

The festival group.

Amy Diller from the CTA opened up her pack to share what she brings out on a backcountry ski. Check out her blue helmet.

Lunch was busy with talks about How to pack backpack for a day of skiing and a discussion of skis, boots and poles for backcountry.  Just before heading back outside for the afternooon sessions the group was tested on CTA, U.S. Skiing and Bolton trivia… prizes included great stuff from the CTA  gift vault.

Jim from the CTA and Morgan from Rossignol answer questions about backcountry gear.

The afternoon session included longer tours to Georges George, Bryant, JJs and Holden’s Hollow.  At the end of the afternoon everyone was tired and happy after a great day outside.

Monday Morning

Big, wide-open-blue skys with very little breeze and lots of bright sunshine are the prize for anyone coming out today to Bolton Valley.  Temperatures right now are above zero and forcasted to climb to 10 for the day.  Beautiful start to the last week of January 2009!

Trails that were groomed yesterday afternoon include Broadway, Bobcat, Telemark, Maple and Deer Run.  Plus there are a few others that if you always stay on the corduroy you may not be familiar with, but will love now that they are open, including: Lynx, Twin Knolls, Lower Lane (all off of Broadway), Grand View (a great little loop down around the old Bolton Lodge), and Moose-Ski (parallels the Beaver Pond trail on the other side of the ponds).

Mansfield Nordic Club- BKSL Duathlon

Today was a cold day, but it was not without lots of  skiing action.  Early morning clouds vanished and a brilliant blue sky appeared in time for a great ski day.  We hosted the Mansfield Nordic Club Youth Ski League Duathlon.  It was a great crowd of excited kids and parents coming from as far away as the Frost Mountain Club in Ripton. (Frost Mountain has the best team hats.)

The events started with a Lollipop Race for the littlest kids…. and the prize was not just any old lollipop, but a fancy rock candy lollipop.  The J5-J3 racers did race in Duathlon format- Starting with a mass start and classic race loop, then they changed their skis and poles and finished up the race with a skate loop.  With bomber classic tracks and nice firm corduroy for skate the racers were happy and skied fast.

J3 racer coming into the finish line.

The lead boys working together into the last lap on Picnic Loop.

Parents directing racer into the transtion zone to change skis from Classic to Freestyle.

Lollipop kids coming into the finish line with lots of cheering from parents and other racers.

Racers getting a course description from Murray.

Parents cheering with a bell for the Lollipop Race.

Lollipop racer from Frost Mountain Club making the turn on her second lap as her dad cheers.

Friday–Saturday–Sunday

Sunday- Even with a mixture of sun and clouds the temperature is much more pleasant that forecast. It is above zero and the winds are minimal as of 9am. Today we welcome the Catamount Trail Association and the Get Out and Backcountry Ski Festival.  As part of this great event we have demos from the Ski Rack and EMS and clinics running in the morning and afternoon. So…get out, come on up to Bolton, and enjoy a day of skiing.

With half a foot of new snow in the last 48 hours, the backcountry trails are in great condition!  On groomed trails we have conditions of packed powder and 20km groomed for classic and skate.

Saturday- With another dusting of snow overnight conditions are great on the Nordic groomed trails and backcountry trails. At 8am it is 8 degrees and there is just a little wind. We have 20km skate and classic groomed today. Tracks are in great condition and wax of the day is green. Trail surface is packed powder on groomed trails and powder in the backcountry.

Today we are hosting The Mansfield Nordic Club- BKSL Duathlon Ski Race. The race course is Picnic Loop and start time is 1pm. This event will not interfere with our regular skier traffic– and it should be fun to watch the kids as they race.

Today is also a Bolton to Trapps tour with the Catamount Trail Organization. . . welcome to everyone doing that tour. click here to see the full list of CTA Tours.

Tomorrow we are hosting the Get Out and Backcountry Ski Festival with the Catamount Trail Organization. Click here for more information.

Friday-We have four inches of new snow and the groomer just finished packing out 20km of our trails. We are currently setting tracks and it looks as though it will make for a great weekend. Today’s 20 degree weather feels balmy compared to the recent cold snap and the reports of amazing skiing are trickling in from the back country. Come on up and check it out for yourself. Today won’t dissapoint.

Adventures in the Backcountry

New skis and bindings. These things are awesome.

I am just going to put it out there- backcountry conditions are perfect right now and they were perfect last weekend.  Despite lots of traffic on our ungroomed backcountry trails conditions are so good.

After a year of wanting the Karhu Guides I finally got my hands on a pair and skied them last weekend.  WOW it was awesome.  They are light, have waxless pattern in the middle and metal edges.  I skied up to Bryant Cabin with no problem and glided/turned some of the chutes off Gardners Lane on the way back down.

This past Sunday I went out skiing with Angus, Kricket, Pete and Matt.  They planned to do a longer ski, so I joined them up Bryant and about 1/2 way out Birch Loop, then turned around and had a leisurely ski back to the Nordic Center.   I had a fantastic ski with good friends, nice snow and perfect trails all in an hour and a half.  You don’t have to go far or be out there all day to have a great experience on our trails.

On the lookout for powder. . . the ski up to Bryant Cabin is a perfect time to chatch up with friends.

Angus standing next to one of his maps posted on Bryant Cabin. He is a great cartographer and we love the map that he made for Bolton Nordic.

A happy group, sheding layers and getting ready for the next part of the ski.

The way back down from Birch Loop was really fun.  I came across Chris, one of our Nordic Ski Patrolers, at Bryant Cabin.  Chris and I shared some of our morning adventures and then went off in different directions.  From Bryant Cabin I skied out Gardners Lane and took a sharp right on Big Blue.  Gardners Lane has a nice skied in track and once I got to Big Blue (a nice steep chute) there was some tracks ahead of me, but also mounds of of nice fresh powder.  At the bottom of Big Blue I decided to get back on Bryant Trail headed down.  And near the World Cup intersection I explored on of Art’s newer trails- Cup Runneth Over.  This is a great trail marked with red markers that connects from Bryant to Broadway near the pump house.

I’m going to work on a course for Saturdays BK Youth Race…. photos from my weekends adventures will be online soon.

Liz

Martin Luther King Jr. Weekend

Monday: The snow gods have been good to us over the past 36 hours and we have picked up 5-6″ of new snow. And another 1″ last night Today we have 17km groomed for classic and skate. Trail surface conditions today are 1″ of powder on packed powder groomed tracks classic and skate.

At 7:30am it is 17 degrees, calm and snowing lightly. Wax is blue. Skiing is great.

Skiers out on the backcountry trails trying to decide which way might have the most powder.

Lots of folks have done the Bolton-Trapps ski on the Catamount Trail in the last 2 weeks and report that conditions there are excelant. See the Catamount Trail Website for more information.

We look forward to seeing lots of folks for the Get Out and Backcountry Ski Festival– January 25. click here for more information

Snowy Sunday on Broadway

Sunday: The snow has been falling for the last couple of hours and the groomers just finished their rounds. We have 2 inches of new snow and are expecting more as the day goes on. The skiing (both backcountry and nordic) is phenominal. We are 100% open and excited for the more mild winter weather to come. We are open from 8-4 tomorrow, so come up and enjoy the snow.

Polk in New Snow

Get Out and Backcountry Ski Festival

by Jim Fredericks, CTA  Director

Bolton Valley and the Catamount Trail Association (CTA) have teamed up to provide a great day of Nordic skiing at the Get Out and Backcountry Ski Festival on Sunday, January 25, 2009. The festival is a terrific opportunity to ski with like-minded folks or, if you are new to the sport, take a guided first step into the world of backcountry skiing. All festival attendees will have an opportunity to explore the Bolton backcountry as well as the groomed trails, ski on some new products provided by manufacturers, and learn new skills. Instructors will be on board to teach everything from traditional classic technique to making sweet telemark turns.

The festival will feature a vendor village featuring new backcountry and cross-country equipment and reps to explain how to use it all. Backcountry and cross-country ski clinics will take place throughout the day. Clinics are geared to first time backcountry skiers and intermediate skiers. Guided tours of Bolton’s un-groomed backcountry trails, including the Catamount Trail, will be ongoing throughout the day. A guided tour is an excellent way to learn some new technique while exploring some new terrain without fear of becoming lost. Participants may also test their newly learned skills in a fun, two person team obstacle race later in the day.

The Festival is held in the spirit of one of Bolton Valley’s earliest owners and ski pioneers, Edward Bryant. A native New Yorker, Bryant purchased 10,000 acres from the American Brass Company in 1922. He and the Bolton Mountain Club would hike into the valley and up the mountain to earn their turns before any lifts, buildings or even the access road existed on the property. Bryant’s name lives on at Bolton Valley as the namesake of the Bryant Cabin, which backcountry enthusiasts rent out year round for camping.

Bolton and the CTA have worked together over the years and in 2008 Bolton granted an easement for part of the Catamount Trail, ensuring that the Catamount Trail will always run through Bolton Valley.

Backcountry ski gear is suggested for festival participants. Bolton Valley has a limited selection of backcountry skis, call ahead to reserve equipment for the day. (802-434-6876) Registration will be the day of the event and starts at 9:00 a.m. The festival starts at 10:00 a.m. at Bolton Nordic Center and is $25 per person. The entry fee includes a Nordic ticket, access to the clinics, tours and the opportunity to try both cross-country and backcountry gear. Bring the family and have a great day of Nordic skiing.

January COLD

I’s a cold day at Bolton… although the sun is shining bright and there is no wind. -15 at 8am rising to -9 at 9:45am.   When I arrived at there were several hearty Season’s Pass holders skiing.  Eric and Chris reported that the skiing was beautiful and they were able to stay warm by skiing fast and wearing correct clothing.  It’s important to wear lots of layers, balaclava and warm mittens on cold days.

Wax for today is green and we have 17km groomed for Skate and 5km groomed classic.  The backcountry is PERFECT.  Several of our regulars (regulars: people who ski Bolton backcountry at least 4 days a week) have reported that it’s perfect out there.  This recent cold weather paired with lots of snow in the last 10 days have created ideal conditions.

see you on the trails, Liz

Erik in the Tucker Cat at Bryant Cabin. We delivered a load of wood and kindling yesterday. Also check out the new "you are here" sign just to the left of the cabin door.

Powder Sunday

It’s another powder day here. Larry is out grooming now at 7:30- tracking and grooming our trails. Today we will have 17km groomed for classic and skate. It will be soft conditions all day because of the 6-8″ of new snow from last night and the snow that continues to fall this morning.

Today is our Winter Trails Event… we are looking forward to this fun event for folks who have never tried Nordic Skiing before.

Please see our events page for more information. click here