Craftsbury - 2/27-3/1

A long weekend in Craftsbury brought to you by a good idea and a lot of planning by Kris.
Day 1 was a downhill day at Burke mountain. No recent snow but plenty of snow and great conditions on most of the trails. The day opened with a high speed dash down a groomer. The intent was to "warm up" but when it is -10 out I am not sure "warm up" is the right term. Most of the rest of the AM was spent exploring a line of woods trails on skiers right. The afternoon covered the rest of the mountain. Burke is building two large 4 story hotel and conference center type buildings right behind the main lift. They are in the framing stage at this point. Burke has one good detachable quad that brings you to the whole mountain. No lines on this day so plenty of skiing due to quick trips to the top. Like the whole weekend the weather was sunny and bright.
Day 2: The group split into a few smaller groups. John, Jill, Ken took the bus to Highland Lodge from the Craftsbury ski center and then skied back. The Highland Lodge ski trails are very nice and the grooming and maintenance has been taken over by the Craftsbury ski center. It is almost too nice in the Highland Lodge area as if it isn't real. Woods opening into fields and then back into woods... The fields are perfectly smooth with no animal tracks or any other markings. If you see a house it is perfectly maintained and large with some out buildings that seem to have been placed there to add to the looks. The rest of the group skied at Craftsbury ski center and explored the many trails in that area. The house we rented was right near one of the Craftsbury trails so skiing could be done right from the house.
Day 3: Everyone went to the Craftsbury ski center for a nice long loop with Paul leading the way. The trails are all meticulously groomed and maintained. There were a number of racers and skate skiers about. Another blue sky day. Craftsbury has a new lodge and we watched a sprint race with tight turns from the windows of the lodge when we returned.

Starting out from Highland Lodge. The kind of trail maintenance that we grew to expect.

Victory! Actually another 7 miles to go!

Snow was waste deep off the trail

Craftsbury Common Sunday AM

Left to right: Ken, Jill, John, Julie, Denis, Pat, Kris, Paul

Racing!

Highland Lodge - Afternoon Day 3. Storm moving in.

River skiing

High temperature of maybe 8 today but very comfortable x-country skiing in the bright sun.

Holly stops to examine the weed ball from last Spring

Around Camels Hump

Winter continues with plenty of snow and colder than average temperatures. Today was x-country skiing around Camels Hump. Jill, John, Bruce, Ken. This is a challenge and more so this year since there was a lot of snow. The trail was mostly un-tracked. We started on the Huntington side and headed up Bald Hill. There is a long downhill after that that goes down into the top of the Honey Hollow area. This is the beginning of the longest climb up onto the side of Camels Hump at about 3000 feet. From there the trail winds around the mountain, through wind gap, and back around the Huntington side to complete the loop. The South wind was mostly blocked on this day so the cold wasn't too bad. A lot of work but another good day in the woods!
Pictures by Jill and Ken.

Shelburne ski

Feb has been cold so far and today was no exception. Snowy and cold but great snow. Skiing by the lake can be very nice on a sunny day. Today was nice also but in a black and white world.

Bolton->Trapps

The Catamount Trail Association ran a bus on this day so you could park at either end (Bolton or Stowe) and get a ride to the other side. Jill, John, Renee, Dennis, and Ken parked on the Stowe side and skied from Bolton back to the car. Snow was just about perfect. Plenty of light powder and plenty of base. You could put your pole in 3 feet or more where it wasn't packed. Light snow falling all day which is supposed to continue for the next few days.