3rd Annual Get Out and Backcountry Festival

A hearty crew joined us last Sunday for the Get Out and Backcountry Festival!

Temperatures hovering near 0˚ F didn’t deter over 70 participants from sharpening their backcountry skills at the 3rd Annual Get Out And Backcountry Ski Festival held at Bolton Valley on Jan 23, 2011.  The sold out event, organized by the Catamount Trail Association (CTA), attracted skiers from 25 to 65 years old with three primary goals: to try out some of the latest in backcountry ski equipment, to learn skills to be safe and proficient skiing in a wilderness setting, and to have fun.

With over a 100 km of backcountry trails and an abundance of new powder, Bolton Valley Resort provided an ideal setting for the 3rd Annual Get Out and Backcountry Ski Festival. The enthusiastic skiers were broken up into groups based on ability and matched with instructors who shared and practiced skills appropriate for each group.  From simple wedge and stem turns in powder to linked telemark turns on steep wooded terrain, everyone was able to boost their proficiency and confidence throughout the day. While the outdoor sessions were the main attraction, the workshop also included indoor talks on dressing and packing for backcountry excursions, and selecting proper backcountry ski equipment for one’s individual skiing goals.  Culminating a perfect day, skiers were treated to a social gathering with beverages, Cabot cheese, Vermont Smoke and Cure Products, and an abundance of raffle prizes. A special thanks goes out to the SkiRack for providing demos and raffle prizes. We also want to thank Darn Tough Socks and the Outdoor Gear Exchange for providing raffle prizes as well.

According to Snowsports Industries America (SIA) backcountry skiing is the fastest growing winter sliding sport.   In their March 2010 Executive Market Summary, the SIA reports Nordic ski sales were up 18% in 2009/2010 over the previous year, and Randonee/AT sales were up 16%. This recent growth can be attributed to modern equipment and the numerous opportunities to explore backcountry throughout the country. Vermont’s own Catamount Trail is a natural and recreational asset that attracts thousands of skiers from the Eastern US and beyond. The 300-mile trail meanders the length of Vermont from the Massachusetts border to Quebec, offering a diversity of terrain from the gentle rolling hills of southern Vermont to the steeper hardwood forests of the northern Green Mountains. The CTA is at the forefront of backcountry skiing in Vermont and offers many Nordic skiing events including over 50 free, guided tours each winter.

We hope you can join us on the trail soon!

Jim Fredericks and CTA Staff

Lots of Snow

We have snow!! We did some creative snow farming on Monday with the frozen granular that was left after last weekend’s warmup.    New snow on Tuesday night and Wednesday on top of the nice solid base has made for some pretty good skiing this week.  We don’t have everything open, but there is 10km groomed for skate and classic.

 

 

 

 

 

 

World Cup after a busy day of skiers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bryant Trail saw a lot of skiers last week and it almost looks groomed from all the skier/snowshoe traffic.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Beautiful late afternoon sunset on Bryant Trail.  Snowshoe only in the backcountry this week- trail will be open for skiing once we get more snow.

 

 

 

 

 

Single track snowshoe path on North Slope.

Evidence of Snow.

The snow finally stopped today and the clouds lifted this afternoon…. at the Nordic Center we were  feeling like this was a never ending storm/instant winter.  In the late afternoon Zack and Liz got out for a ski and  these are our pictures. Enjoy.

Snow covered mountains- this is looking to the south west from the Broadway trail head.

Deep classic tracks headed out along the first tree line just above Joiner Brook on the way to World Cup/Broadway. It was thigh deep in some places here.

Scoping out some of the improved glades in the World Cup hillside.... these look great! Well done to our trail crew.

 

Zack looking over the edge and admiring more of the new and improved World Cup glades.

Knee deep snow at the Gardiners Lane/World Cup intersection!

 

Starting to Look Like Winter!!

Here are a couple of photos of the recent snow from last weekend.

Blast from the Past– This is the time of year that I often look back at old posts and see what the snow was like.  Today I looked at posts from December 2007–  We have our fingers crossed that this year is like December 2007… there was so much snow and we had great skiing. — Liz

We felt like movie stars . . . Spring Time Photo Shoot

Last spring on one of the warm, blue bird days we did a photo shoot for some new Nordic photos.  Dana, Zack and I  loaded up one of the pulks with lots of different equipment and clothing and followed the photographers out to the trails.  It was a world wind hour and we had a lot of fun.  We did equipment and clothing changes (jackets and hats) right on the trail.

Thanks to photographer Justin Cash and his crew for their patients and direction.  Keep your eye out this winter for some of the new photos.

 

 

 

 

 

Zack and Dana snowshoeing… and trying not to trip and fall or laugh too much.

 

 

 

 

 

Zack in the tracks getting ready for a shot on Pond Loop with the alpine trails in the background.  Check out the pulk full of equipment in the foreground.

Here are a couple of our favorites:

3rd Annual UVM & Mansfield Nordic Ski Club Fun Day

We had a fantastic day last Thursday at the Bolton Nordic Center for the 3rd Annual UVM and Mansfield.  It was hard to tell if the college skiers or the elementary skiers were more excited for the games to begin.

The UVM Ski Team arrived at Bolton a couple hours early to prepare the jumps and setup the dual slalom.  The theme of the day was Harry Potter and the first game with the whole group was Quidittch on Skis.  It was one of the most exciting games of Quidittch I have ever seen and I saw some spectacular crashes followed by lots of laughing.

After the warm-up game of Quitittch everyone split up into groups and moved though a series of events setup by the UVM Skiers.  Jumping was one of the most popular activities… we even saw a perfect 360 landed!  Other games included the limbo, dual slalom and Sharks and Minnows.

As the afternoon light waned everyone got together for a group photo and then headed inside for hot chocolate and homemade cookies.  The Mansfield Nordic Skiers enjoyed having autographs signed by the UVM racers and Coach Pat Weaver (1998 Olympian).

Mansfield Nordic Website- click here

UVM Nordic Ski Team Blog- click here

New Backcountry Rental Equipment!!!

New BC Rentals!!

Visit and try our new Backcountry Touring rentals.

Boots: Rossignol BC X9

Skis: Rossignol BC 70 (full metal edge and waxless pattern)

Poles: Black Diamond

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.

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.

Event Report: UVM Outing Club Winter Classic

Snowshoe racers get last minute instructions and wait for their alpine teammate to finish.

Race day dawned clear, sunny and warm as 11 team of 3 racers gathered at the Bolton Nordic Center.  There were many great costumes, lots of neon and spandex on course. Everyone had a great time  and cheered loud as everyone crossed the finish line. The race started with a slalom, then  snowshoe and finally a nordic ski.

“Everyone had a really great time and the club’s leader community is already super psyched to put on Winter Classic ’10.” Kevin, UVM OC Organizer  | UVM Outing Club Website

RESULTS

place    Team name                                         total time
1    Team Building Exercise Not Tonight    1:11:07
2    Tres Amigos Muchos                                1:11:19
3    Da Waffles                                                   1:12:13
4    Out Wheelers                                             1:12:17
5    Kowabungas                                               1:17:07
6    Winner Winner Chicken Dinner           1:21:32
7    Callie Abbott                                              1:43:12
8    Better Luck Next Time                           1:52:08
9    Awesome                                                    1:54:18
10    Dynamic                                                   2:25:48
*    The Piggly Wigglies                                  0:56:10