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.
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| Starting out from Highland Lodge. The kind of trail maintenance that we grew to expect. |
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| Victory! Actually another 7 miles to go! |
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| Snow was waste deep off the trail |
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| Craftsbury Common Sunday AM |
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| Left to right: Ken, Jill, John, Julie, Denis, Pat, Kris, Paul |
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| Racing! |
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| Highland Lodge - Afternoon Day 3. Storm moving in. |
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