Vermont Ski + Ride, Fall 2019

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Vermont’s Mountain Sports and Life

2020

Season Preview > THE SWEETEST DEALS IN SKIING > YOUR FOLIAGE HIKE BUCKET LIST > THE BEST NEW SKIS FOR THE EAST

SKI HOUSE MAKEOVER ON A BUDGET

KILLINGTON DIALS IT UP www.vtskiandride.com

THE 2019 HALL OF FAME

FALL 2019

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332 Dewey Street | Bennington, VT 5957 Main Street | Manchester, VT 16 Danforth Street | Hoosick Falls, NY 375 Main Street | Williamstown , MA

AUDI FIS SKI WORLD CUP NOV. 29-DEC.01

2019

KILLINGTON, VERMONT KILLINGTON.COM/WORLDCUP

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Here’s your chance to be a part of the 2019 Killington Cup! Choose the word that best describes why you are a Superstar and write it down here.

Alan Schoenberger—mime, star of ski ballet, performer and inventor of the ski simulator—kicks up his heels at Sugarbush in the mid-1970s.

Special offers for IKON Pass holders

Get the latest on snow, lift tickets and lodging

CONTENTS FEATURES SNOWVEMBER p. 40

Winter Storm Bruce. Thanksgiving face shots. Bottomless turns. It all happened here, last November. A photo essay by Brooks Curran.

EXTRA BEASTp. 44

Killington, the biggest, baddest, wildest resort in the East, dials it up a notch with a huge investment in, well, everything.

TESTERS’ CHOICE p. 50

We asked the editors of major ski magazines, the buyers for local shops and veteran ski testers for their picks for skis for 2020.

Their answers may surprise you.

FIRST TRACKS RESORT NEWS | WHAT’S NEW IN SKI COUNTRY,

COLUMNS p. 10

The best of what’s new at Vermont’s ski areas. Plus, how to score deals on season passes and lift tickets, and news from ski towns around the state.

APRES | 8 SKI COUNTRY CHEESES WORTH THE TRIP,

p. 22

THE START | SKI SEASON STARTS NOW, COACH | SKATING IS BACK,

p. 7

p. 60

How Rollerblade’s new Skate to Ski app can up your game on snow.

RETRO | FAST, FASHIONABLE & FORWARD-THINKING,

Some of the oldest, the newest and the best cheeses in the U.S. are here.

Meet the 2019 inductees to Vermont’s Hall of Fame.

ADVENTURES | 9 STUNNING FALL FOLIAGE HIKES,

THE GREEN MOUNTAIN CALENDAR |

p.27

Think of this as your bucket list for fall. Plus four amazing drives or rides.

DREAM HOME | 5 WAYS TO ROCK A RENOVATION,

p. 33

CHAIRLIFT Q/A | THE MAP MAKER,

p. 63

p. 67

p. 74

The man who has handpainted more than 200 trail maps has a new project.

Designer Joanne Palmisano on how she redid a Stowe rental on a budget.

ON THE COVER: Forrest Conrad kicked off his season at Sugarbush, on Nov. 28, 2018. Photo by Brooks Curran. And (THIS PAGE) Sam Watson kicks his off in Burlington. Photo by Peter Cirilli

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CONNECTING GUESTS TO EMPLOYERS, ENTREPRENEURS, REALTORS, AND POTENTIAL NEIGHBORS IN LOCAL COMMUNITIES AROUND VERMONT. LEARN MORE & SIGN UP @

WWW.VERMONTVACATION.COM/STAY-TO-STAY

SKI SEASON STARTS NOW This is the time of year we start to twitch. Each cold night, each hint of snow, has us peering out the windows of our offices in Middlebury, glancing up toward the mountains to see if frost has glazed the hills.

There’s an excitement in the air that’s palpable. It’s a time when people are debating what passes to buy, which skis to try, what trips to plan, which ski bum teams to join.

Vermont Ski + Ride tries to help make those decisions easier. We asked nine top pros for their picks for not just their favorite skis for Vermont, but for what they would have a friend (who may not be as strong a skier) use.

That said, don’t just take their word for it: Vermont has some of the best ski shops around and there are plenty of opportunities to demo before you buy.

In this issue, too, you’ll find a comprehensive guide to the myriad season pass options and lift ticket deals—a guide put together by Assistant Editor Abagael Giles (pictured left, with publisher Angelo Lynn at Killington’s Ledgewood Yurt). Sift through it and we bet you’ll find new ways to save money or reasons to ski at an area you might not have considered before.

Perhaps my favorite part of this issue is that it’s a reminder of what’s ahead. If you want to start dreaming, look at Brooks Curran’s photo essay “Snowvember.”

The good news? We usually don’t have to wait for November to ski. With Killington Resort (see “Extra Beast”, page 44) often opening in mid-October, we might be skiing as you read this. —Lisa Lynn

Waterbury Waterbury

@prohibitionpig @prohibitionpig

CONTRIBUTORS Contributing photographer Brooks Curran’s photo essay from “Snowvember” 2018 showcases one of Vermont’s best early seasons on record. A Burke Mountain Academy alumn who was on the U.V.M. Freeskiing Team, Curran is as good on skis as he is behind the camera.

Instructor and PSIA Level III examiner Doug Stewart was on Rollerblades back when neon and big hair were in style. Now, Stewart, who is also a bootfitter at Skirack in Burlington, is stoked to bring inline skating back. See his tips on how to use the Skate to Ski app to up your game on page 60.

The author of a number of design books, Burlington designer Joanne Palmisano found inspiration for her latest, Rock Your Rental when she was asked to turn a dated Stowe ski house into a place that would rent well on Airbnb. Her tips and ideas are on page 33.

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EDITORIAL Publisher, Angelo Lynn angelo@vtskiandride.com Editor/Co-Publisher, Lisa Lynn editor@vtskiandride.com Creative Director, David Pollard Assistant Editor, Abagael Giles abagael@vtskiandride.com Contributors: Brooks Curran, David Goodman, Ali Kaukas, Bud Keene, Brian Mohr, Lindsay Selin, Doug Stewart, Jeb Wallace-Brodeur

ADVERTISING SALES & DISTRIBUTION For general advertising and media kits: ads@vtskiandride.com | 802-388-4944 Greg Meulemans greg@vtskiandride.com Dave Honeywell dave_golfhouse@madriver.com Wilkie Bushby wilkie@vtskiandride.com Circulation & Distribution subscribe@vtskiandride.com HEADQUARTERS VT SKI+RIDE is published four times a year by Addison Press Inc., 58 Maple Street, Middlebury, VT 05753 VT SKI+RIDE print subscriptions are available for $30 (U.S.) or $35 (Canada) per year. Digital subcriptions are free.

Subscribe at vtskiandride.com.

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Spa • Tennis • Fitness Classes • Salon • Gym

Rediscover

Topnotch Resort Seasonal Menus • Memberships • Celebrations • Meetings

4000 Mountain Road Stowe, VT • 802-253-8585 • TopnotchResort.com

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Shayne Pospisil gets a little air by headlamp at Bolton Valley. Bolton Valley is one of five Vermont ski areas that light their slopes for night skiing, along with the Brattleboro Ski Hill, Cochran’s Ski Area, Hard’Ack and new this year, Northeast Slopes.

Resort News WHAT’S NEW IN SKI COUNTRY?

Pehoto by Peter Cirilli

This summer, Mount Snow went Epic. But that’s not the only big change lined up for one ofVermont’s 20 ski areas. From mega lodges to new lifts and night skiing, here’s the latest news. By Abagael Giles At resorts around the state, big changes are in the works. Mount Snow, one of 17 resorts in the Peak Resorts portfolio, is about to go Epic—provided the Vail Resorts buyout goes through. Jay Peak is getting more interest from potential buyers, including Alterra.

And Killington recently broke ground on a new mega base lodge.

But there are also many small changes that skiers can take advantage of this winter; from new opportunities for free skiing, to new and improved lifts and creative lesson options. Here’s what’s happening: This fall Ascutney Outdoors welcomes a brand new Doppelmayr T-Bar to the slopes of Mount Ascutney.

The new T-bar rises 1,700 feet in vertical gain and will restore lift access to more than ten trails on the lower slopes of what was, until its demise in 2010, a commercial ski area with five chairlifts. The new T-bar will also offer backcountry skiers a “boost” to access the more challenging terrain on the upper mountain.

Steve Crihfield, chair of the non-profit’s board says: “We plan to run the T-bar whenever natural snow conditions allow on weekends and holidays.”

Access to the mountain’s existing 800-foot rope tow will remain free to the public. T-bar access will cost $15 for a day and $10 per student or child. Ascutney’s popular Thursday night race series will continue again this year, as will tubing. Last season, the new Ascutney Outdoor Center opened for winter use. “Our whole program we envisioned four years ago? It’s finally happening and we just can’t wait,” said Crihfield.

Backcountry skiers at Bolton Valley will need to purchase a new Nordic/Backcountry/Uphill Season Pass

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Above, the Ascutney Outdoor Center opened in Sept. 2018 and will serve as the base lodge for skiers who ride the new 1,700-foot T-bar. Below, Bromley added disc golf this summer and this winter, skiers and riders can expect to see some new and creative features in their terrain park.

Top photo by Michael Crihfield; Bottom photo courtesy Bromley Mountain

(or regular season pass) this winter to access the Bolton backcountry and use ski area trails for uphill travel. This marks a change from last season, when free uphill travel was permitted before and afterhours at the ski area. General manager Lindsay DesLauriers reports a 70 percent growth in backcountry and uphill travel last season.

“It’s our plan to invest the revenue from these pass sales back in the Nordic and Backcountry programs,” says Backcountry Director Adam DesLauriers. At $129 for adults (and $99 for college students, seniors 65 to 74 and youth ages 7 to 17), each Nordic/ Backcountry/Uphill Season pass comes with three one-ride lift tickets.

A new backcountry warming hut will be outfitted with a propane stove and open daily to skiers making the traverse from Bolton to Trapp Family Lodge via the Catamount Trail, as well as to those skiing laps near the top of the Bolton backcountry zone.

Bolton is also getting a little greener, having partnered with Efficiency Vermont to replace each of the 155 lights it uses to illuminate its slopes for night skiing with high-efficiency LED bulbs—a big improvement for visibility during the weekly Corporate Race League.

Lastly, if you’re looking for daycare, the ski area has a new yearround childcare center open to the public for long-term or drop-in care. Perks of being located at 2,100 feet: one licensed teacher is also a PSIA-certified ski instructor and lessons can be bundled into the cost of a day of care. Plus, in the fall kids get to swim, hike, play disc golf and learn to mountain bike. Drop in slots are available as well as advance registration.

Bromley skiers and riders will see some sweet new features in the ski area’s terrain park this season. For the second winter in a row, the resort is partnering with Arena Snowparks to ramp up its park offerings. Expect some creative designs and eclectic features,

with lines suitable for everyone from park newbies to advanced skiers and riders.

This season, Burke is expanding its 250-foot-long magic carpet, bringing the total lifts serving Burke’s learn-to-ski and learn-to-ride programs to three: the magic carpet, J-bar lift and Sherburne high speed quad. Burke is also working on upgrades to its snowmaking, among them replacing 50 low-energy heads on the ski area’s snowmaking towers with high-efficiency models. Snowmaking guns were also added to Upper Doug’s trail.

Cochran’s Ski Area is eyeing a machinebuilt beginner mountain bike trail network, designed by trailbuilder Hardy Avery, at its base.The nonprofit ski area submitted plans for review under Act 250 in March and is hoping to receive a permit this fall. If all goes as planned, construction could start next spring.

This year, the ski area also dropped its day ticket prices to $19 per day for adults and $14 for kids. “We really wanted to see if we could offer skiing for less than $20,” says General Manager Jim Cochran. On Sunday afternoons this season, keep an eye out for a new dual slalom race series for kids and adults alike, using a set of barge gates donated by the Bob Beattie Ski Foundation last year. “Ski racing is a sport with a lot of barriers, and we think this could be a fun, engaging way to let kids who happen to be skiing with their families and may be curious about the sport try it in a setting where you get real feedback in real time, skiing against someone who’s at a similar skill level as you,” says Cochran.

Photo by Oliver Parini

Many Vermont towns once had their own small ski areas and offered free skiing. St. Albans still does, and this fall, Hard’Ack, operated by the St. Albans Recreation Department, breaks ground on a brand-new base building. The new Greg Brown Lodge is expected to open by midJanuary and will have bathrooms, a kitchen and a concessions area and will feature a wraparound deck with views of the ski hill. Hard’Ack’s 700-foot rope tow will be open for skiing and riding on Fridays from 5 to 8 p.m., Saturdays from 12 to 8 p.m. and Sundays from 12 to 6 p.m. Skiing at Hard’Ack is free, but donations can be made at stalbansrec.com.

Jay Peak is officially up for sale by the court-appointed receiver who took possession of the resort after its previous owners, Bill Stenger and Ariel Quiros were charged with fraudulent use of EB-5 funds.

As of press time, 26 interested parties had signed non-disclosure agreements including what many view as the front-runner, Alterra, owner of Stratton and 13 other resorts.

New this season, Jay Peak is offering girls ages seven to 12 a new advanced and intermediate skills program called the Chickadees Girls Camp. Over 11 weeks, they’ll train with expert women skiers and riders to help develop confidence and skills stomping tricks in the park, skiing the trees and finding the perfect powder line on the hill. Also back this year is Jay’s free Guided Discover Program, where new skiers and riders can rent their equipment on-site and get free unfettered access to the Magic Carpet area from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. If at 1 p.m., they aren’t having a good time, they can return their equipment free of charge.

Over at Killington, keep an eye out for construction on the new 58,000 squarefoot K-1 Lodge. The resort broke ground in September and expects to open the building in advance of the 2020-2021 ski season. Fear not, skiers will still have access to the existing lodge for the 2019-2020 season, after which it will be demolished.

The North Ridge Triple was replaced with a quad, a major boon for early and late season skiing, as the lift serves the first terrain to open (and the last to close) and makes getting

Looking to try free heel skiing? Try one of the Middlebury Snow Bowl’s new Tuesday telemark lessons.

Here, Christy Lynn finds fresh powder in the trees at the Snow Bowl.

back to the K1 gondola from the Bear Mountain side much easier.

The ski area also added 120 low energy tower guns to its snowmaking repertoire. The Killington World Cup returns for the fourth year in a row Nov. 30 to Dec. 1.

This season, Mad River Glen is offering a screaming deal for twenty-somethings: the new Twixter Pass. Those 19 to 29 as of Jan. 1, 2020 are eligible for a $249 season’s pass, if purchased by Oct. 15. The co-op-owned ski area is also replacing 3,000 feet of snowmaking pipe and improving drainages to help the mountain shed water more quickly after big freeze-thaw cycles.

Magic Mountain is giving skiers a new lift and a new trail.

The short but steep double black diamond was created when Magic cut a new lift line for its brand new quad, which will replace the Black Chair double. After more than 670 social media followers chimed in on a new name, Magic is labeling the trail Pitch Black, as it drops into Black Line.

The new quad (formerly Stratton Mountain’s Snowbowl Quad), will double the mountain’s lift capacity. Magic also doubled the size of its snowmaking pond, which will in turn double its snowmaking power this winter.

Magic is also offering foliage chairlift rides for the first time this fall, with rides on Saturday and Sunday rides starting Sept. 21.

Is telemark dead? Not at the Middlebury Snow Bowl, where, starting this season, you can drop in for a two-hour clinic in free-heel skiing from 1 to 3 p.m. every Tuesday afternoon at $40 per class. Also new for this year is the Shared Parent Pass. For the cost of one adult season pass, two parents with a toddler who doesn’t ski yet can share a pass, passing it (and their kid) off as they take turns skiing and sitting in the lodge.

If all goes as planned, Mount Snow—along with the other 16 Peak Resorts-owned ski areas across the East and Midwest—will become part of Vail Resorts this fall. The move brings the Epic Pass

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Photo courtesy Stratton Mountain/Okemo Mountain Resort

and Epic Local Pass to yet another Vermont resort (Okemo and Stowe are also on the Epic Pass).

After investing more than $32 million in snowmaking upgrades over the last three years, Mount Snow is adding more snowmaking to its Sunbrook Face. Once complete, there will be snowmaking on 83 percent of the ski area’s terrain. “We’re working toward 100 percent coverage,” says senior director of communications Jamie Storrs.

Also new this season is a groomed green circle called Little Dipper which allows beginner skiers and riders to get from the summit to the base. At Carinthia, a new mid-sized progression park will make its debut on Fools Gold, where the resort just added top-to-bottom snowmaking. “Expect a small-feature terrain park, perfect for beginners,” says Storrs. Carinthia Base Lodge will see a new fire pit and outdoor bar and grill.

Mount Snow will honor all Peak Pass products this year, but those who have already purchased a Peak Pass will be eligible to upgrade to an Epic Pass, upon closing the acquisition. However, as of press time in September, a lawsuit by Peak Resorts investors threatened to hold up that sale. The suit alleges, among other things, that Peak Resorts violated securities laws by misrepresenting financial information. In November 2018, the Sackler family, the family behind Purdue Pharma (makers of OxyContin), became the majority shareholders in Peak.

This winter, East Corinth’s Northeast Slopes will, drum roll please… get a new rope for its rope tow. The ski area also plans to offer night skiing this season. “It’s been done behind the scenes for generations,” says manager Wade Pierson. “This year, we’re going to see if we can plan in advance and welcome the public.”

Okemo is undergoing a gourmet makeover. The Summit Lodge gets a new, open floor plan and re-vamped décor that includes wooden beams, exposed stone and sliding barn doors. Food will

Above, Okemo’s on-theslopes dining venues will see a makeover this season. Below, Stratton saw lift-served mountain biking for the first time this summer, with more new trails opening Columbus Day weekend.

be available “food-truck style,” with healthy grab-and-go options. On the lodge’s lower level, a new bar with fireside sofas and hightop tables will pair with a boosted local beer selection, craft cocktails and Carolina-style barbecue. The mid-mountain Sugar House Lodge will see upgrades to make the space more kid-friendly, with an expanded kids’ menu.

Along with new half- and full-day family lessons, Okemo will launch the EpicMix app for 2019-2020, which allows skiers and riders to track snow conditions, skier vert, earn pins and view their ski and snowboard school progress. Four of Okemo’s major lifts will be connected with a special feature called Epic Mix Time, which lets skiers and riders check lift line waiting times in real time. Add 5,000 feet of new snowmaking pipe and Okemo can now pump 7,000 to 9,000 gallons of water per minute through its snowmaking system.

In addition to offering free skiing to kids (under 12) of anyone who buys a season pass, Pico has planned a massive snowmaking expansion that will double the ski area’s snowmaking capacity. The $2.1 million project represents the largest investment in the resort since Killington took ownership of Pico more than 20 years ago, and skiers should notice improved snow conditions. The project includes a 16,850foot pipeline between Killington and Pico, 4,000 feet of new snowmaking pipe, the replacement of 5,418 feet of existing pipe and one more snowmaking pump. As of press time, a permit was still pending, but some approved work was underway.

Smugglers’ Notch will be revamping its adult ski and ride lesson offerings, with a new three-hour private lesson. During the lesson, instructors will outfit you with the latest demo gear, specially picked for the type of skiing or riding you will be working on, the terrain and the conditions. The lessons will also focus on building skills like reading terrain and snow, picking a line in the trees and other bits of on-the-hill knowledge that, as communications director Mike Chait puts it, “most good skiers and riders learn on

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their own, through time spent on the hill.” The goal, says Chait, “is to help those who ride or ski just a few days a season make that progress and gain that insider knowledge a little faster.”

If you’ve missed the piping hot waffles you used to get at the top of the gondola at Stowe Mountain Resort, this winter they are back.

The ski area adds the Maple Waffle Cafe to its list of dining options, located inside the gondola summit shelter. For apres, head to the new Whistle Pig Pavilion by the outdoor ice skating rink at Spruce Peak.

Expect gourmet tasters, whiskey toasts and a small bites menu from this Shoreham-based craft distiller, plus a selection of local beers.

On the mountain, kids and families looking to ease into tree skiing can head to special Kids Adventure Zones, which feature well-signed, low-angle, gladed skiing and can be accessed via the Mountain Triple and Four Runner Quad.

Stratton Mountain Resort introduced its new lift-served downhill mountain biking park over Labor Day, with 4.6 miles of new hand-built trail designed and implemented by Sinuosity Flowing Trails. The new zone is flowy and fun, and permitting for Phases II and III, expected to open for riding in summer 2020 and 2021 respectively, has been approved. The buildout prioritizes intermediate and novice trails first, with 3.5 miles of advanced trails planned as part of Phase II. Look out for a brand

Thanks to popular demand, Sugarbush is adding a new outdoor bar and more firepits to its Lincoln Peak courtyard this season.

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new progression trail and uphill route, slated to open Columbus Day weekend.

Bring your fatbike this winter, as Stratton Nordic Center adds 4K of rolling, banked and bermed fatbiking trail.

Also new for this season is a football field-sized beginners’ area for those who are just starting to get on skis. The flat terrain will let first-time skiers and riders learn to use their edges and master the

Photo by John Atkinson, courtesy Sugarbush

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basics before tackling an incline. For those who have a few lessons under their belt, the new Take it to the Top lesson program ($159 per day) is a full-day private lesson that culminates in a guided ski from the top of the mountain to the bottom on beginner terrain.

In the village, Benedicts’ restaurant is adding three gondola cabins to its seating. The cars will be revamped entirely, with new interiors designed by Stratton-based Vermont Barns. This, in conjunction with 12,500 feet of new snowmaking pipe on the mountain’s beginner terrain, are all part of a $16 million investment in the resort made by its parent company, Alterra Mountain Company.

This fall, Sugarbush is adding a massive new event, as it hosts Tiny House Fest Vermont for the first time on Oct. 27. Friday night will feature a slew of films about tiny houses at Big Picture Theater & Café in Waitsfield. On Saturday, Yestermorrow Design/Build School will offer tours of four tiny homes across the Mad River Valley, and on Sunday, Sugarbush hosts the festival itself; a smorgasbord of food truck fare, beer exhibitions and speakers. Got a plan for your own tiny ski chalet? Bring it to the festival for a free design review by local architects and builders, or head to the pop-up makerspace and take a tour of the pop-up tiny house village, featuring 20 dwellings, from revamped vintage airstreams to full-time post and beam homes.

The courtyard at Lincoln Peak is getting a makeover and will

see a new outdoor bar space along with more fire pits. Also new for this year are two electric vehicle charging stations at Mt. Ellen, to complement the 15 existing stations at Lincoln Peak.

At Suicide Six, skiers will reap the benefits of $250,000 worth of snowmaking investments, which the resort says will make its surfaces even better and more energy efficient. Look for the Red Barn Dinner Fall Foliage Series at the Kelly Way Gardens. Enjoy a specially-crafted and unique menu at each dinner, featuring ingredients from the gardens and other nearby farms, as well as products by local cheesemakers, brewers and beekeepers.

Enjoy them all in a beautiful barn setting.

Nearby, the Woodstock Nordic Center celebrates its 50th anniversary this year.

Look out for special events and celebrations throughout the season. n

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Resort News FIND YOUR TICKET TO RIDE With dozens of multi-resort season passes, why ski in one place? Here are a few ways to ski and ride around the state—and the world. By Abagael Giles

I

n the current era of massive multi-resort season passes, most ski areas do as much as they can to incentivize skiers and riders to buy their time on the hill before lifts start turning. And this year there are more passes than ever. But keep in mind, many of them (such as the Epic Pass) go off sale.

In Vermont, this can mean that you may pay a steep price if you buy your ticket at the window the day you plan to ski—but it also means that with a little foresight, you can score some sweet deals.

Most ski areas offer lift tickets on a sliding scale, with cheaper lift ticket rates on weekdays and heftier prices on holidays like Christmas week, New Years’, President’s Day and Martin Luther King Jr. Day, along with weekends and Vermont’s life-saving February break.

Stowe, Okemo, Stratton and Sugarbush all use dynamic pricing to sell their tickets, meaning they change the price frequently to incentivize skiers to hit the slopes during less-popular periods.

Arrive day-of on a holiday, and you may see a $200 ticket price at one of the larger resorts because demand is high. Buy your tickets in October, and you can score as much as half off the average ticket price. That said, if you decide to make a spontaneous trip to one of the state’s smaller ski areas you can still find deals. At Suicide Six, Magic Mountain, Middlebury Snow Bowl and Burke, you can ski last minute for less than $80. At Cochran’s Ski Area, a ticket is $19 a day and at Hard’Ack it’s free!

But if you are planning to ski more than six days, a season’s pass usually pays off. Here’s what’s on tap for this season.

EPIC PASS At $969 (13+) and $509 (5-12), the Epic Pass earns skiers unlimited skiing and riding at 20 resorts including Stowe Mountain Resort, Okemo Mountain Resort and (upon closing of the proposed sale) to 17 Peak Resorts, including Mount Snow and Wildcat and Attitash in New Hampshire. It also offers limited access to 40 ski areas across Europe, Australia and Japan. Notable Epic Pass newcomers include Snowbasin in Utah, Japan’s Rusutsu and Australia’s Falls Creek, Hotham and Perisher.

If you plan to ski at Okemo or Mount Snow this season,the Epic

Local Pass, at $719 (19+), $579 (13-18) and $379 (5-12) is the way to go. The pass offers unlimited access to 26 resorts, including Okemo and Mount Snow, plus non-holiday skiing at Stowe and four other ski areas, with limited days at a slew of resorts that includes Vail, Beaver Creek and Whistler Blackcomb, B.C. It’s also cheaper and more comprehensive than the Peak Explorer Pass ($849).

Planning to ski fewer than seven days? Try the new Epic Day Pass. By purchasing anywhere from one to seven day tickets in advance, skiers earn as much as 50 percent off window lift ticket prices and access to any of the 34 resorts Vail Resorts owns and operates in North America. Vail has not said when it will stop selling Epic Day Passes for the 2019-2020 season, but Epic Day rates start at $109 a day, nearly half of a standard holiday window price. epicpass.com FREEDOM PASS Buy a season’s pass at Bolton Valley or Magic Mountain, and you automatically get three free days of skiing at 18 other “soul-filled” ski areas across the United States, ranging from Black Mountain in Jackson, N.H. to Sipapu, New Mexico, the Arizona Snowbowl or Purgatory, Colorado. All you do is show up at a Freedom Pass resort and bring your participating season pass to the ticket window to collect your free day ticket. freedompass.ski IKON PASS If you’re a Stratton skier or you plan to ski around New England, this year’s Ikon Pass is a great option. At $1,049 (23+), the Ikon Pass offers unlimited skiing and riding at 14 resorts across North America, including Stratton in Vermont, Tremblant in Quebec and Steamboat, Co. The pass offers seven days of skiing at each of 26 other ski areas across the northern and southern hemispheres, including Killington, Pico and Sugarbush in Vermont, Loon Mountain in N.H., Sugarloaf and Sunday River in Maine. New for this year, the pass added seven days of skiing at Alta/Snowbird in Utah and Arapahoe Basin in Colorado, as well as Switzerland’s Zermatt Matterhorn Ski Paradise, Europe’s highest ski area. Mt Butler in Australia is also a newcomer, as are Thredbo in Australia, Coronet Peak in New Zealand and Valle Nevado in Chile. For $749, the Ikon Base Pass offers unlimited skiing at 12 resorts (including Mt.Tremblant) and up to five days of skiing or riding at 28 resorts—many subject to blackout dates. ikonpass.com INDY PASS New for 2019-2020, the Indy Pass ($199) gets you two days of skiing at each of 34 independent resorts, totaling 68 days of skiing and riding.

With 14 Western resorts, eight MidWestern resorts and 12 resorts along the East Coast, it’s a great deal for folks looking to make a circuit of America’s independently owned and operated ski areas.

In Vermont, Magic Mountain, Suicide Six and Bolton Valley have

vtskiandride.com Fall 2019 19

u joined the Indy Pass, along with Pats Peak in New Hampshire, Greek Peak in New York and Berkshire East in Mass. indyskipass.com JUDGE PASS If you’re really looking to explore the Northeast Kingdom, this pass, at $1,009 may be the way to go. Available for skiers and riders 30-59, with cheaper rates for those younger or older, it features unrestricted access to Burke Mountain and Jay Peak. skiburke.com or jaypeak.com.

MOUNTAIN COLLECTIVE PASS The Mountain Collective Pass ($489 for adults; $199 for kids 12 and under) adds Colorado’s Arapahoe Basin to its portfolio, giving skiers and riders two days of skiing at each of 18 resorts for a total of 36 skier days. Sugarbush Resort is the only East Coast member of the Mountain Collective, which includes skiing at Taos Ski Valley in New Mexico, Lake Louise and Banff-Sunshine in British Columbia and Big Sky Resort in Montana.

Not only do you ski for 50 percent off after you use up your two days at a given Collective resort, but you can now ski year-round by taking it to the Southern Hemisphere. New for 2019-2020 are Mt. Butler in Australia and Valle Nevado in Chile, along with Coronet Peak and the Remarkables in New Zealand and Thredbo Alpine Village in Australia. mountaincollective.com

COLLEGE PASSES COLLEGE JUDGE PASS Get unlimited Northeast Kingdom skiing and riding at Burke and Jay Peak for $289. skiburke.com DOUBLE MAJOR COLLEGE PASS Mad River Glen and Sugarbush team up to offer college students unlimited access to both resorts (including Lincoln Peak) this season. Plus, Double Major College passholders get 50 percent off lift tickets to all 16 Mountain Collective Resorts (except Sugarbush). The pass goes at $399 until Nov. 6 and $499 after and gets skiers unlimited access to 156 trails and 20 lifts, even on weekends. madriverglen.com KILLINGTON-PICO COLLEGE PASS Ski unlimited days at Killington and Pico for $399 through Dec. 12 and $439 after. If you’re looking to save a little cash, join their Campus Rep Program. If you sell 10 other passes on your campus, you get yours free, then $20 per pass sale thereafter. killington.com NORTHEAST COLLEGE PASS This new $399 pass from Vail Resorts offers unlimited and unrestricted access to Okemo and Mount Sunapee, N.H. with access to Stowe except on blacked out holiday dates. stowe.com

THE EARLY DEALS ON SEASON PASSES MOUNTAIN SEASON PASS

EARLY DEADLINE

7-DAY BLACKOUTS/ SENIOR EARL Y MIDWEEK

YOUNG

Check websites for additional deals, family passes and details. “Young” adults are generally under 30 or 34 and “Seniors,” over 65.

COLLEGE

KIDS

MULTI-RESORT PASS (see story for details)

ADULT

DAY LIFT TICKET

MORE INFO:

BOLTON VALLEY

7-Oct.

$609

$379

$299

$199

N/A

$219

Freedom Pass, Indy Pass

$69-84

boltonvalley.com

BROMLEY

15-Oct

$975

$625

$599

N/A

$449

$750-$925

1/2 off midweek at Jiminy Peak

$87-$91

bromley.com

BURKE

14-Oct.

$799

$569

$519

$539

$249

$459

Judge Pass

$59-$73

skiburke.com

COCHRANS SKI AREA

N/A

$195 N/A

Free

N/A

N/A

$100-$195 N/A

$5-$19

cochranskiarea.com

JAY PEAK

14-Oct

$849

$579

$619

$589

$249

$519

Judge Pass

$65-$89

jaypeakresort.com

KILLINGTON

17-Oct

$1,099

$609

$709

$719

$399

$669, $369

Ikon, The Beast 365

$125-$130

killington.com

MAD RIVER GLEN

15-Oct

$769

$309

$419

$249

$399

$249

Double Major College Pass

$92

madriverglen.com

MAGIC

NA

$679

$279

$399

$329

NA

$349; $149

Freedom Pass, Indy Pass

$39-$74

magicmtn.com

*

*

MIDDLEBURY SNOW BOWL 30-Nov

$430 $265

$320 N/A

$320

$320

NA

$40-$60

middleburysnowbowl.com

MOUNT SNOW

31-Oct

$849

$549

N/A

$419

$649

$619

Epic Pass, Peak Pass

$99-$118

mountsnow.com

OKEMO

Late Oct.

$969

$699

N/A

N/A

$399

$509

Epic Pass

$90-$120

okemo.com

PICO

17-Oct

$469

N/A

$379

N/A

$399

$279, $99

Ikon Pass

$85-$89

picomountain.com

*

SMUGGLERS NOTCH

31-Oct.

$629

$429

$89

$319-$349

$259

$319

N/A

$56-$88

smuggs.com

STOWE

Late Oct.

$969

$719

N/A

N/A

$399

$509

Epic Pass

Undisclosed

stowe.com

STRATTON

10-Oct

$1,049

$749

N/A

N/A

$539-$719

$779

Ikon Pass

Undisclosed

stratton.com

SUGARBUSH

N/A

$1,049

$559-$749

N/A

$559-$749

$399

$399

Ikon , Mountain Col., Double Major

$119-$129

sugarbush.com

SUICIDE SIX

N/A $599 N/A $479 N/A N/A $479

Indy Pass

$15-$70

suicide6.com

*

For K-12 students at Vermont schools

20 Fall 2019 vtskiandride.com

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

Represents 2018-2019 season pass and lift ticket prices. N/A: As of press time, 2019-2020 pricing had not yet been announced.

THE BEST DEALS IF YOU’RE…

Ski areas want you there. Especially if you are young and likely to be a loyal customer. Everyone has great deals for kids—such as they can ski for free or get a season pass for as little as $10— for seniors, for military… But here are a few that are exceptional.

...OVER 80 You’ve earned low prices and all of our respect. At Jay Peak, you can ski all season for just $30. A season’s pass at Killington is $59, and Mad River Glen will get you on the slopes all season for $145. Pico offers a sweet deal, a $59 season’s pass. And at Sugarbush, those over 90 ski free.

...IN FIFTH GRADE With Ski Vermont’s 5th Grade Passport, all fifth graders (regardless of residency) get up to 88 days of skiing and riding at Vermont’s alpine and cross-country ski areas for just $20. Passport holders get a booklet of coupons that are then redeemed for lift tickets at participating ski areas between Dec. 1, 2019 and May 1, 2020. See skivermont.com.

...A BIG FAMILY Got a big crew and a car full of kids? You can all ski all season at Cochran’s Ski Area for $295 or Northeast Slopes for $315 for a family of any size (two adults and any number of children under 18). Kids ski Sugarbush’s Mt. Ellen for just $279 a season. Burke and Smuggs’ also offer reduced pass rates when you buy at least one adult and one child pass together.

...12 AND UNDER While all ski areas offer great discounts for kids, a few stand out. Kids 12 and under ski free at Mad River Glen with an adult season pass bought before Oct. 15. Kids under five get access to Burke and Jay Peak for just $80 for the season. At Pico, kids 12 and under ski free with an adult lift ticket or season pass. At Smugglers’ Notch, kids under five ski free.

At Magic Mountain kids under five ski for $25 for the season, while at Sugarbush kids six and under get a season pass for just $10. At Bolton Valley, kids under six ski all season for just $29. Kids ski for $5 on Friday nights at Cochran’s Ski Area, where they can grab dinner for $6.

...IN COLLEGE: There are plenty of great deals for students. See our college pass guide (opposite) for season pass deals, or ski for $25 on Wednesdays at Bolton.

...10-18 YEARS OLD At Smugglers’ Notch, kids 13 to 18 ski for $349 for the season and at Mad River Glen, kids 13 to 18 get a season pass for $249. A pass at Sugarbush’s Mt. Ellen for kids 7 to 18 is $279. Bolton Valley’s youth pass (7 to 17) is just $219. Kids ski Wednesdays at Northeast Slopes for $6. ...20-30 Everybody wants you. If you’re under 25, it’s hard to find a better deal than Bolton Valley’s $199 Ski Bum pass. New this year, at $299, Mad River Glen is offering an unlimitedTwixter Pass for skiers in their 20s. Sugarbush has its For20s Pass, which gets you unlimited skiing for $499, while Magic Mountain offers unlimited skiing for $329. Get a Drifter Pass to Mount Snow with unlimited access to Peak Resorts’ 17 mountains for $419. ...30-40 Resorts are still looking out for you—and hoping you might bring your kids. Sugarbush offers its For30s pass for $599 and a pass to Smuggs’ for those 27-34 is $579 before Oct. 31. ...40-65 Sorry, buddy, no deals. To make matters worse, you’re also probably paying college tuition and picking up the bar tab, too. ...65-PLUS: If you’re over 70, Smuggs’ will sell you a season’s pass for $109. If you’re 65-89, you can have unlimited access to Sugarbush midweek for $139 through their Boomer Pass. If you’re 72 or older, ski Cochran’s for free.

...IN THE MILITARY Ski areas across Vermont offer military discounts, but military and family ski for free at Burke and Jay Peak —and at Killington/Pico on Veterans’ and Memorial Days. For just $159, active and retired military and dependents can get a Military Epic Pass, which includes unlimited skiing at Vail Resorts’ Epic Pass resorts, including Stowe, Okemo and Mount Snow. At Sugarbush, active military, veterans and dependents are eligible for 50 percent off season passes. At Bolton Valley, active military ski for 50 percent off and veterans save 25 percent. ...A MIDWEEK SKIER If you’re a ski town local, you’re in luck. Ski Magic Mountain on weather-dependent spontaneous midweek powder day openings and on all Thursdays and Fridays, plus midweek during holiday periods for $279. Mad River Glen also has a famously die-hard midweek scene, and midweek passes there go for $369.

HERE FOR THE HOLIDAYS? At Magic Mountain, $239 gets you unlimited skiing Dec. 26, 2019 to Jan. 1, 2020, Jan 18 to Jan. 20 and Feb. 15 to Feb. 23. Mad River Glen offers three days of skiing for $175 through its Mad Card. For $225, add kids 12 and under. Also, check out Smuggs’ Bash Badges. Adult rates start at $129 before Oct. 31.Then you pay $30 each time you ski.

For $209, make it a Bash Badge Plus and add free skiing from opening day through Dec. 13 and from March 16 to closing day. ...A VERMONTER At Burke, NEK locals ski a half day for $28 on Sundays this year. At Magic, Vermont parents and teachers get a season’s pass for $269, while Vermont students under 17 ski for the season for $149. Ski or ride Killington for $59 on Mon., Thurs. and Fri. with a Vermont or New Hampshire I.D or at Pico for $40. Vermont K-12 students score at Pico, with a pass for just $99. Students in Caledonia, Orleans and Essex counties are eligible for the $299 Judge Kingdom Pass. n

vtskiandride.com Fall 2019 21

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Ski Town News ROLLING ON UP

Thinking of Moving to Vermont?

In 2019, the State of Vermont rolled out the Remote Worker Grants Program as a way to lure telecommuters into making the Green Mountains their home office. That program reimbursed eligible employees of out-of-state businesses who became full-time residents after January 2019 up to $10,000 in moving expenses over two years. For 2020, the state is also creating the New Worker Grant Program. Grants will extend to qualified workers (one per household) who move to Vermont to work full time for an employer here in the state. For information on the programs, visit thinkvermont.com.

If you’ve ever ridden a bike up the Appalachian Gap, you know how steep Route 17 gets as it passes Mad River Glen. For the past 10 years, some of the nation’s top Nordic skiers have been racing up it in the App Gap Challenge, a race that starts on skate skis before transitioning to classic skis at the Mad River parking area for the final push to the top. This year’s event, held August 4, drew 174 racers, with U.S. Ski Team member Simi Hamilton posting the fastest overall time of 26:10, just ahead of Vermonter Eli Enman in the Men’s Masters division. The women’s division saw collegiate racers Avery Ellis of Middlebury and Harvard’s Ursula Volz as well as Hilary McNamee beat out a powerhouse trio from the U.S. women’s Nordic team of Katharine Ogden, Sophie Caldwell and Caitlin Patterson.

The race kicked off the New England Nordic Ski Association rollerski series, which this fall includes Vermont events such as the Rossignol Free Fall at Fort Ethan Allen in Jericho on Oct. 12 (helmets are mandatory!) and on Nov. 2, the third annual Trapp Invitational uphill race, followed by a party at the von Trapp Bierhall. In other good news for roller skiers and biathletes, the Craftsbury Outdoor Center is building a 15-point range and will pave a ski trail around it for off-season practice.

Tiny house-curious? This Oct. 25-27 the Yestermorrow Design/ Build School of Warren teams up with Sugarbush Resort to host Tiny House Fest. Pictured here, the tiny house on wheels that Stowe designer Milford Cushman and builder/owner Ethan Waldman, author of Tiny House Decisions, created in 2012. For festival info, see Sugarbush.com. For more on Waldman’s blog and book, see tinyhouse.net.

22 Fall 2019 vtskiandride.com

A Ski & Bike Academy?

Clockwise from top left: Reese Brown, Jesse Schloff, courtesy KMS, Marius Becker, courtesy Talent, Oliver Parini

Ninja Gym Comes to Stowe

Are your kids climbing the walls? Should they be? In July, a gym where kids are meant to climb the walls, swing from the rafters and bounce on everything and anything, opened in Stowe. The gym, Elevate Movement Collective, is the project of a dream team of coaches: Noah Labow, the Green Mountain Academy Snowboard & Freeskiing Club head ski coach and a former competitor on American Ninja; George Coultas, head snowboard coach at GMA; and Vermonter Justice Hedenberg, a gymnast and Hollywood stuntman who has credits on the TV series Homeland and Gotham and even doubled for comedian Stephen Colbert on his show.The space on the Mountain Road is outfitted with everything from mats to trampolines to monkey bars. “It’s designed as a safe space where both kids and adults can build balance, strength and agility and gain awareness in the air,” says Labow. The gym has regularly scheduled classes and can also be booked for parties. elevatemovementcollective.com

Vermont is home to some of the best cyclists in the world. Take Olympian Lea Davison or Pittsfield native Mazie Hayden, who both recently raced in the World Championships in downhill mountain biking for the U.S. Team.

Or Stowe’s Elle Anderson (pictured right), who finished eighth in the 2018 World Cyclocross Championships Now, Anderson will be joining Killington Mountain School as head coach for the endurance cycling program, along with Jason DiDomenico, who will oversee KMS’ mountain biking and the firstever competitive high school downhill program.

Leave Nice Tracks

Talent is Back.. at Burton

Talent Skatepark was the place where kids in the Burlington area went to skateboard, 360 days a year, for 17 years. The park, run by Hannah Deene Wood and her husband, skatepark builder David Wood, became a hangout for skaters and attracted stars such as Chris “Cookie” Colbourn (pictured at the old Talent, at left), who went on to be featured in a number of movies. But in 2018, facing financial pressures, the couple had to close. “I went into this deep depression,” says Hannah. “But then a few parents of some of the Talent kids got together and pulled me out of it and said, hey we have to restart this.” At the time, Burton was looking for something to do with its nearly 10,000 square feet of empty warehouse space in Burlington. “It was a perfect fit,” says Hannah. This December, Talent will re-open in the Burton space as a non-profit.

For four years filmmakers Dan Cirenza and Marius Becker—both former cameramen for ESPN—and Kyle Crichton have followed Vermonters Angus McCusker, Zac Freeman and a posse of volunteers from the Rochester/ Randolph Sports Trails Alliance as they’ve created ski glades in the Green Mountain National Forest, the first sanctioned glading ever done on National Forest land. This Nov. 7, their documentary Leave Nice Tracks: The State of Vermont’s Backcountry debuts at the Backcountry Forum in Rochester, Vt. For more showings, see leavenicetracks.com

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8 SKI COUNTRY CHEESES WORTH A TRIP

This fall, pair your leaf peeping or brewery tours with a road trip to one of these world-class cheesemakers in the heart of ski country.

By Abagael Giles Barn First Creamery’s Malloy won Best Goat Cheese Aged 31 to 60 Days at the 2019 American Cheese Society Awards in Aug. 2019

V

ermont is a rare place in the United States, where you can find cheeses of the same quality you might enjoy on a ski trip in the Alps.

The Green Mountain State is home to more than 66 artisan cheesemakers, many of whom operate on such a small scale that they can create small-batch, innovative, unique and intensely-flavored cheeses that never make it out of state.

From the world-renowned cheddars produced by Cabot, which celebrates its 100th anniversary this year, to new operations like Barn First Creamery, a goat micro-dairy near Jay Peak, the state is home to some of the best cheeses in the world—many of which are aged at Jasper Hill’s cellars near Greensboro (which is not open for tours or tastings). Vermont Cheese Council Executive Director Tom Bivins has this advice: “Take a trip to a local maker and ask them to pair their cheese with a great nearby beer. The two often go hand in hand.” All of the following creameries sell cheese on site but only a few offer tastings or tours. Be sure to call ahead if you plan to stop by.

24 Fall 2019 vtskiandride.com

BLUE LEDGE FARM, LEICESTER Not far from the Middlebury Snow Bowl or the glades near Brandon Gap lies Blue Ledge Farm, a 150-acre Animal Welfare Approved goat dairy in Leicester run by husband and wife cheesemaking team (and painters) Greg Bernhardt and Hannah Sessions. Their Crottina took first place in the American Cheese Society competition in 2006 and pairs well with a dollop of honey. The goats’ milk cheese is velvety and smooth with an edible white mold exterior and a delicate, complex tang. Keep an eye out for Greg and their two kids snowboarding at the Middlebury Snow Bowl or for Hannah on her cross-country skis at Rikert Nordic Center. blueledgefarm.com CROWLEY CHEESE COMPANY, MT. HOLLY If you’re driving between Okemo and Killington on Rte 103, take a trip to Mt. Holly for a taste of the past. Crowley Cheese Company, founded in 1882, is the oldest continually operating cheesemaking operation in the country. Its English-style cheddar-like recipes predate refrigeration and come from a time when every Vermont village had at least one cheesemaker. Today, you can stop by the factory and watch cheesemakers in action or taste their many varieties. Try the medium sharp, which has a creamy, smooth texture and won a Blue Ribbon from the American Cheese Society in 2005. crowleycheese.com CABOT FARMER’S STORE, WATERBURY CENTER On Route 100 in Waterbury Center be sure to stop by the Cabot Farmer’s Store. The cooperative celebrates its 100th anniversary this year with a special cheddar aged for five years to be especially nutty, with an intense bite and the sort of complexity that comes only with slow aging. This cheese is not for the faint of heart, but you’ll also find tasty mild alternatives to try. cabotcheese.coop MT. MANSFIELD CREAMERY AND SAGE FARM, MORRISVILLE & STOWE If you’re headed to Morrisville to taste brews from Lost Nation Brewing or Rock Art you might want to stop by Mt. Mansfield Creamery. Cheesemaker and snowboarding pioneer Stan Biasini worked as a ski patroller

Photo courtesy Barn First Creamery

Après

from 1986 to 1995 at Stowe Mountain Resort. Try the creamy, blue-veined Patrolman’s Blues, made from raw cow’s milk and aged for three months to give it a pungent flavor. If you’re skiing Stowe Mountain Resort be sure to stop by the farm stand at Sage Farm Goat Dairy in Stowe. Only available during the winter, Sage Farm’s alpinestyle Worcester Tomme is aged three to five months, which gives it a natural, earthy rind. The interior is smooth, nutty and mild, with a little “goaty” kick. mtmansfieldcreamery.com & sagefarmgoatdairy.com PLYMOUTH ARTISAN CHEESE, PLYMOUTH If you’re driving anywhere near Suicide Six, Killington or Okemo, head to the Plymouth Cheese Factory, the second oldest in the country, next to Crowley. You can watch Plymouth’s award-winning cheddars being made in the same building President Calvin Coolidge’s father built in 1890 (President Coolidge and his family lived on the neighboring homestead). Try the new Ballyhoo Brie, a mushroomy cow’s milk bloomy rind cheese with a springy texture that won a silver medal from Cabot the American Cheese Society in 2018. plymouthartisancheese.com SPOONWOOD CABIN CREAMERY, JACKSONVILLE If you’re staying at Mount Snow, take the scenic drive to Jacksonville and be sure to try the St. Em, a bloomy-rind cheese made with organic milk.

Cheesemakers Nancy Bergman and Kyle Frey styled it after a French St.

Red House Building Ad-SKI VT_Half Page.indd 3

Marcellin. With a supple, wrinkly rind and a buttery flavor that allows hints of lemon and honey to peek through, it’s a crowd pleaser. Taste their cheese with wine at the on-farm Remedy Wine Bar Fri. & Sat. evenings. spoonwoodcabin.com

Above, Plymouth Artisan Cheese was reborn in 2009 when Vermont-born cheesemaker Jesse Raymond revamped the factory’s original 1890 cheddar recipe.

Below, the St. Em ages.

VON TRAPP FARMSTEAD, WAITSFIELD Nestled against Mt. Alice in the Mad River Valley, this diversified farm has been in the von Trapp family since 1959. Today, it’s an organic dairy. The Oma is a delicate washed rind Tomme that took third place in the World Championship Cheese Contest in 2018 and gold at the World Cheese Awards the same year. It’s aged at the Cellars at Jasper Hill and has notes of butter, raw nuts and roasted vegetables. Von Trapp Farmstead does not offer tours, but you can taste their cheeses (along with beer and cider) at the nearby Mad River Taste Place after a day on the slopes at Mad River Glen or Sugarbush. vontrappfarmstead.com n

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vtskiandride.com Fall 2019 25

QUAD COMING

magicmtn.com/passes-cards 16 FALL 2018 vtskiandride.com

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Adventures

9 HIKES FOR STUNNING FALL FOLIAGE From north to douth, here’s a bucket list of hikes if you want to get off the beaten track and find the brilliant fall foliage.

By Abagael Giles

Photo courtesy Killington Mountain Resort

A

At Killington, you can take in the color on a scenic gondola ride and start your hike at the summit. If you are up for an adventure, hike from there to Pico.

utumn starts with a change in the light. Each year, it catches us by surprise, as though the earth were being catapulted into the heart of winter.

The maple trees notice it first. Bright green leaves burn to orange at the tips. The colors start to change along the ridgelines and wash down the mountainsides like wildfire, bursting with promise: snow is almost here.

By late September, you can hike up any ski trail and find spectacular views. And, generally speaking, good ski glades make for good foliage.

But if you want to find the best of Vermont’s reds and purples, look for a hike that starts low enough to take you through a hardwood forest (the more open, the more reds and oranges you’re likely to see) and ends with a vista.

Dr. Abby van den Berg, a maple researcher for the University of Vermont has spent the last 20 years studying

the biochemical mechanisms by which trees such as birch, ash and maples produce fall color.

Native species such as the American beech, paper birch, gray and yellow birch produce brilliant yellow and orange leaves. Others, among them the sugar maple, also produce brilliant reds. “We still don’t fully understand why trees produce these red pigments, but we know they tend to appear in places where the leaves are directly affected by sunlight,” says van den Berg. For example, a tree standing on its own will have leaves that are red or orange toward the outer reaches of its foliage, with a swath of yellow close to the trunk.

“Often, stepping onto the trail in that northern hardwood forest, you’re in an envelope of yellow,” says van den Berg. “Even if you’re hiking through a stand of maples, you may only see red leaves at your feet. But then, you climb higher and if you look back at the ridge or hillside you just climbed, you’ll see those signature fiery reds.”

“Look for a landscape that has a lot of dark evergreens for contrast,” says van den Berg. “And don’t be afraid of a cloudy day. Sometimes low-hanging clouds bring the best light for those richer hues.”

Unlike the yellow and orange pigments, which are always present in a leaf, the reds are made new in fall, even as the leaf nears the end of its life—the last gasp of summer.

“What we’re seeing are new pigments being formed in a dying organ at the time of its death,” says van den Berg.

Or, as a skier might see it, the promise of what is about to begin.

vtskiandride.com Fall 2019 27

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4 Must-Do Rides or Drives Sometimes the best fall foliage views can be found from the road. Here are four stunning routes to drive or ride.

SMUGGLER’S NOTCH (ROUTE 108)

Linking Stowe to Smugglers’ Notch Resort, this seasonal mountain road winds its way past the tallest peak in the Green Mountains. Stop for a hike along the way or take in the views from the top. This road closes in the winter, when it becomes a great ski tour.

MIDDLEBURY GAP (ROUTE 125)

If you’re headed to the Middlebury Snow Bowl, this road winds up into one of the wildest sections of the Green Mountain National Forest, connecting Route 7 and Route 100.

Take in the stunning foliage from the Rikert Nordic Center, or in the 16,000-acre Moosalamoo National Recreation Area that borders Rte. 125.

MT. EQUINOX: THE SKYLINE DRIVE

If you’re staying in Manchester or at Stratton, Magic or Bromley, check out Mt. Equinox.

At 5.2 miles long, this privately-owned, paved toll road takes you to the summit of Mt. Equinox (3,848 feet), the highest peak in the Taconic Range, and features 360-degree foliage views from the summit with plenty of vistas to stop at along the way.

MOLLY STARK BYWAY (ROUTE 9): HOGBACK MOUNTAIN SCENIC OVERLOOK

If you’re visiting Mount Snow, drive or ride Route 9 to Hogback Mountain Scenic Overlook and the base of the now defunct Hogback Mountain Ski Area. The overlook at the top of the drive offers a 100-mile view from the Green Mountains to Mt. Monadnock in New Hampshire and beyond.

28 Fall 2019 vtskiandride.com

1.MOUNT PISGAH, WESTMORE Trail: The North Trail (4.4 miles round-trip); Map: GMC Northeast Kingdom Hiking Trail Map Near: Burke Mountain Resort; Difficulty: Moderate Lake Willoughby is one of Vermont’s deepest lakes.

Surrounded by steep mountains, it’s often compared with a Norwegian fjord, and the slopes that surround it erupt with color come fall. This hike gives you views out across the lake’s clear, deep waters all the way to the slopes of Burke Mountain and Jay Peak. From a parking area near the southern end of Lake Willoughby on Route 5A, the trail starts on old logging roads and climbs ever upward through mixed hardwood forests to a series of footpaths that lead to two vistas; one facing north and the other facing west. Look out at the cliffs of Mt. Hor, which rises a steep 1,400 feet from the water across the lake from Pisgah (2,785 ft.) and look North for views of Lake Memphremagog, Owl’s Head and Bear Mountain.

2. BELVIDERE MOUNTAIN, EDEN Trail: The Long Trail (5.8 miles round-trip); Map: Green Mountain Club’s Long Trail Map; Near: Jay Peak & Smugglers’ Notch; Difficulty: Moderate If you’re looking to beat the crowds, this is a great hike that features a fire tower as the main destination. From the parking lot on Rte. 118, head north on the Long Trail through deciduous forest, crossing Frying Pan Brook.

Climb steeply through maple and beech until you reach the saddle and a 0.2-mile spur to the summit (3,340 ft.), which features stunning views to the east and a 360-degree view from the top of a 50-foot fire tower, which was restored in the 1990s. Look for views of the northern Green Mountains and New Hampshire’s Mt. Washington, as well as the nearby Cold Hollow Mountains, which are covered mostly in deciduous trees and offer great foliage. For the adventurous, try a challenging 7.9-mile loop, connecting the Frank Post Trail, the Long Trail and the Forester’s Trail.

Stop for lunch at Tillotson Camp, a cozy four-sided GMC shelter with a view that overlooks a pond along the way.

3. STERLING POND, JEFFERSONVILLE Trail: Sterling Pond Trail (2.2 miles round-trip) or The Long Trail (6.8 miles round-trip); Near: Smugglers’ Notch Resort and Stowe Mountain Resort; Map: GMC’s Mt. Mansfield and theWorcester Range; Difficulty: Difficult Smugglers’ Notch is a dramatic rift through the heart of some of the tallest peaks along the Green Mountain spine. Steep slopes populated by birch and maple are awash in orange and yellow at the right time of year. To get to Sterling Pond, you’ll hike up and out of the notch, climbing steeply through those glades. On the Long Trail, head up past Elephants’ Head Buttress, a 2,500-foot

Photo by Nathanael Asaro

The view from the Chin of Mt. Mansfield over Smugglers’ Notch.

Photo by Seren Bagcilar

granite cliff that is a mecca for rock climbers across the state. Be sure to stop at the top of the cliff to take in the view, which reaches all the way down the notch to the slopes of Stowe and looks up at the Chin of Mt. Mansfield.

Once you arrive at the pond, you’ll find a shelter, the occasional loon and a 1.4-mile trail around it. If you spend the night, hike a little further to the top of Madonna Peak and take in sweeping fall foliage views from the top of Smugglers’ Notch Resort over the Lamoille Valley and north to Jay Peak, with views of the Adirondacks in the distance.

4. HUNGER MOUNTAIN, WATERBURY CENTER Trail: The Waterbury Trail (4.2 miles round-trip); Near: Stowe Mountain Resort; Map: GMC Mt. Mansfield & The Worcester Range Hiking Trail Map Difficulty: Difficult While everyone wants to climb Mt. Mansfield, Vermont’s highest peak, there’s an even better view from across the Stowe valley.

Climbing the Worcester Range, you’ll find views of Mt. Mansfield, Camel’s Hump and, if it’s clear, all the way south to Killington. From the parking area on Sweet Farm Road, follow a blue-blazed trail that climbs through open maple and beech forests and up the western flank of Mount Hunger (3,586 ft.). Expect plenty of orange and red hues on this hike. The trail is steep and rocky, but the views from the bald summit, cleared by a long-ago forest fire, feature a 360-degree foliage extravaganza. All told, you can spot at least five ski areas from this summit, including Killington on a clear day. For added challenge and views, hike three miles north across the ridge to Hogback Mountain and descend via the Skyline Trail (1 mile), to a second vista at Stowe Pinnacle. Descend for 1.4 miles from there to the Stowe Pinnacle Trailhead, through beech and maple forest. Plan to shuttle a car.

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5. MAD RIVER GLEN TO SUGARBUSH, WAITSFIELD Trails: The Long Trail (5.8 miles one-way); Map: The Green Mountain Club’s Camel’s Hump and the Monroe Skyline Map Difficulty: Moderate In the fall, foliage stands out against the bright, deep water of Lake Willoughby.

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The Monroe Skyline separates the Mad River Valley from the Champlain Valley and when you summit one of several peaks along the way you can see fall color all across Vermont or west to the Adirondacks and Lake Champlain. Hike from the parking area at the top of Appalachian Gap on Route 17 (adding 3.1 miles to the trip) or ride the Single Chair from the base of Mad River Glen to the Stark’s Nest warming hut. Hike the Long Trail from General Stark Mountain (3,662 ft.), past Glen Ellen Shelter, to Mt. Ellen (4,083 ft.), the top of Sugarbush North. The third highest peak in Vermont, Mt. Ellen has great views of fiery foliage on Camel’s Hump, the Worcester Range and Mt. Mansfield. After two more craggy peaks (among them Castlerock Peak, 3,812 ft.) with stunning views of the Mad River valley and Sugarbush’s famously endless yellow birch and sugar maple glades, descend to Lincoln Peak (3,975 ft.) and hike down via the Jester Trail, or download on the Super Bravo lift to Sugarbush’s Lincoln Peak courtyard.

day with an easy ride up Killington’s K1 gondola to the summit.

From there, hike north on The Long Trail through boreal alpine forests, with sporadic views through the krummholz of lower foliage. After hiking over Snowden Peak (3,592 ft.) and Ram’s Head (3,600 ft.), you’ll head right at Jungle Junction, past Pico Fall color erupts at Bromley Mountain.

6. KILLINGTON-PICO LINK, KILLINGTON Trail: The Long Trail (5.4 miles round-trip); Map: GMC Killington Area with Ascutney and Okemo Map Difficulty: Easy At 4,235 feet, Killington is the second tallest mountain in Vermont and features sweeping views north to Mount Mansfield and south to Ascutney, Okemo and Stratton Mountain. Start the

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Photo courtesy Bromley Mountain Ski Area

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Camp to the summit of Pico Mountain (3,957 ft.) for a beautiful view. Retrace your steps to Killington and take the gondola to the main base area. While it’s a 7-mile drive from Killington to Pico, the hike is a short 2.75 miles.

7. BROMLEY MOUNTAIN, WINHALL Trail: The Long Trail (5.4 miles round-trip) Map: GMC Manchester Area Hiking Map with Stratton & Bromley Difficulty: Moderate Southern Vermont’s stretch of Green Mountain National Forest has vast tracts of undeveloped land that the Long Trail traverses. Follow a white-blazed trail south from the trailhead on Rte. 11 that heads along Bromley Brook through mixed hardwood forests that should yield great yellow color with red and orange underfoot. The trail climbs steeply after 1.6 miles and at 2.3 miles, you’ll pass a spur for the Green Mountain Club’s Bromley Shelter. The trail eventually opens onto Bromley’s Run Around ski trail. Follow it to the summit for 360-degree views of the Green Mountain National Forest, with Magic Mountain to the west, Stratton Mountain to the south, Killington to the north and Mt. Equinox to the west. The Bromley Ski Patrol hut is open to hikers during the fall and summer.

8. STRATTON MOUNTAIN FIRETOWER, STRATTON Trail: Stratton Mountain Trail (7.6 miles round trip), The Wanderer Trail and Stratton Ridge Trail (5 miles round-trip); Map: Green Mountain Club Manchester Area with Stratton and Bromley Difficulty: Easy to Moderate If you want to climb a fire tower, peer down on the largest pond along the Long Trail and get a 360-degree view of four states, take this hike up Stratton Mountain. While there are several routes that can get you there (among them, a gondola ride), all offer great foliage views. For a wilder experience on a hiking trail, opt for the longer Long Trail ascent up the mountain’s undeveloped back side.

Once you reach the summit, take in the views over the ski area, then hike down approximately 50 feet on “Mike’s Way” to the old fire tower, erected by the Civilian Conservation Corps in 1934, which marks the true summit. Climb to the top of the tower for one of the best views in southern Vermont.

9. MOUNT OLGA, WILMINGTON Trail: The Mount Olga Trail (2.0 mile loop); Near: Mount Snow; Map: ; Difficulty: Easy The summit of Mt. Olga offers some of the best views in Southern Vermont thanks to an historic fire tower at its summit that was last used as a lookout in 1974. It has a gentle grade and is a great option for families. It’s also the former home of Hogback Mountain Ski area, which operated from 1946 to 1986. The ski area land is now conserved and known as Hogback Conservation area. From the trailhead at Molly Stark State Park, the trail climbs for about a mile, first through hardwood forests and then through evergreen, where it climbs steeply to the summit. From the top of the fire tower, take in views of Western Massachusetts and Southern New Hampshire. n

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Dream Home

5 WAYS TO ROCK A RENOVATION (ON A BUDGET)

Design book author Joanne Palmisano shows how to freshen up any space on a budget, whether it’s for a year-round home or a winter ski house, like this Stowe home, destined for rental. By Lisa Lynn.

Photo by Joanne Palmisano

O Perched on a steep hillside, Gideon-Pollock’s house had Tudor-style beams crisscrossing it’s small facade. A fresh coat of paint and a new look to the entryway gave it a more modern curb appeal. Landscaping is still a work in progress.

ne of the ugliest things I had ever seen,” is how Gideon Pollack describes the house he recently bought in Stowe, just off the trails of the Trapp Family Lodge, with the idea of renting it out on Airbnb.

Built in 1978, the 3,000-square-foot home set on a steep hill was Gothic in all senses of the word. Dark wood posts and beams framed each room and formed arches in the doorways. The windows were small. The stairway was covered in bright red carpeting.

The dining room had wood built-ins with arched glass panels. And there were touches like a doorknob molded in the face of a lion whose eyes lit up red when you knocked.

“There were things in there that were not just garbage, they were so creepy you wanted to run away from them,” Pollack remembers. “Joanne took some of that stuff, bartered or sold it or repurposed it into something amazing.”

“Joanne” is Joanne Palmisano, the Burlington-based designer and author of three books, including Salvage Secrets, Salvage Secrets Design & Décor and Styling with Salvage. She’s also one of a

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Airbnb’s and we’d get ideas from them. Or, we say to each other ‘what if they just did this, here—or that.’ With Gideon’s projects, I had a chance to build out some of my principles of design for a rental and to try to do it all within a tight budget.”

Says Pollack: “We didn’t want to put a lot of money into this house, but it needed a lot if we were going to rent it out,” he says. The entire renovation of the three-story home, including redoing the kitchen and installing a new deck, came in under $150,000.

Here’s how they rocked this rental, plus Palmisano’s tips for freshening up any space, be it a weekend ski house, a rental or your permanent home.

Palmisano tore out the red carpet and removed closets (below, before) to open up the downstairs space. The new entry provides a view all the way to the deck.

GO LOCAL

“Using local materials grounds you to a place and creates a unique look for any home. I try to use as many local materials as possible,” says Palmisano. For this house, after tearing out the red wall-to-wall carpeting in the living room and entryway, she found mismatched maple to replace the floors. “I went to Lathrop’s Lumber in Bristol and asked what they wanted to get rid of. They showed me a left-over lot of mismatched maple—some of it even

Top photo: Joanne Palmisaon; Bottom: Lindsay Selin

handful of designers around the state who are redefining Vermont’s new mountain style.

You can see Palmisano’s work if you wander into the bar at Ludlow’s Main + Mountain, just down from Okemo, where old porch posts and salvaged doors, mix with new teal-green swivel bar stools in the renovated motel’s hip new bar.

In Waitsfield, at Lawson’s Finest’s new tasting room, Palmisano had builders work locally sourced wood into a sunshine logo (referring to Lawson’s signature brew, Sip of Sunshine) in boards that span the bar, and had Burlington’s Conant Metal & Light create a chandelier using Lawson’s bottles.

At the Mad River Barn, nearly everything has been upcycled. In the dining room, look up and classic wood ladders hold the light fixtures. Industrial pipe frames the bar shelves. An old barn door serves as the hotel’s sign.

Salvage seems to be Palmisano’s middle name.

For a more nautical take, Palmisano outfitted Basin Harbor Club’s cottages on Lake Champlain with old oars on the walls, a classic palette of blues, whites and reds and charts and maps of Vermont.

When Palmisano was growing up in central Vermont in the 1980s and skiing at Norwich (which, at the time had a small ski hill), ski house style meant something different: an A-frame or a variation on a chalet, or a cabin with lots of knotty pine, decorated with crossed wood skis and needlepoint throw pillows.

Today, she’s redefining that style. “This is the third house we’ve worked on with Joanne,” says Pollack, a Montreal developer and Nordic skier who has been coming to Stowe since he was a boy. The first two places they worked on together were two condominiums he bought, one of which he still lives in.

“When this new house came up, we really wanted the land that came with it and planned to fix up the house and either rent it or sell it and develop the other acreage,” Pollack explains. “But we would only do it if Joanne took it on.”

That helped kickstart Palmisano’s third book, Rock Your Rental: Style, Design and Marketing Tips to Boost Your Booking, which will be published by Countryman Press this winter. She wrote the book with her San Francisco-based twin sister Rosanne, who has worked as a global brand manager at apparel companies such as Pact, Icebreaker, Nike and The Gap. “My sister and I have stayed at a lot of

Photo by Lindsay Selin

Palmisano also knocked out a wall between the kitchen and dining area (above) tucking the fridge in beneath a structural post.

with maple tap holes still in it.” The variations in the floor add character and the entire floor, with installation, cost less than putting in a laminate of faux wood.

“We have so many amazing local materials,” says Palmisano, who tries to use Vermont slate or Vermont Verde—a deeply-veined green granite mined in Rochester—where she can.

DO MORE, WITH LESS “We were on a budget and kitchen counter tops are expensive,” Palmisano says. The previous counters had small square white tiles with wide grout. “I went to Best Tile and found a bunch of 2-foot by 2-foot white porcelain tiles in the sale area that we could fit close together to give a uniform look in the kitchen.” She then had the builder

put a wide strip of wood on the edges, which she painted to match the porcelain to give it the look of a thick stone counter. As for cabinets, well, they needed to be replaced.

“Cabinets are often the other most expensive part of the kitchen,” she notes. To save on costs, she had the builder build simple, open shelves without doors. Baskets take the place of drawers. And she painted them the same Sherwin Williams’ Peppercorn Gray used throughout the house—a color that doesn’t show fingerprints or stain easily. “Plus, with open cabinets if you have a rental, it’s easier for guests to find everything they need and really makes the kitchen feel more open,” says Palmisano.

With e beds to sleep 12, the house needed a big dining table. The general contractor, Adam Hill out of Stowe, built a long picnic table and benches which Palmisano had

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painted a bright green to add a touch of color to the room.

“A pop of color will really make a rental space stand out in photos on sites like VRBO or Airbnb,” she notes.

REUSE, REUSE, REUSE

Wherever possible, Palmisano looked for ways she could reuse some of the existing features in the house. She took old doors, applied a coat of paint and made the headboard for the master bedroom.The glass doors in the new pantry

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she found lying in the house’s basement. The painting above the bed? “I think that was $5 at a flea market or antique store,” Palmisano says. She also was able to take things—even the door knocker with the light-up eyes— and trade or barter. “I took some of the old cabinet doors as well as doors and light fixtures to Mason Brothers’ Architectural Salvage in Essex Junction and traded for the farmhouse sink as well as another smaller sink we used in one of the bathrooms.”

From ugly to elegant: Palmisano used old doors, painted Sherwin Williams’ Peppercorn Gray, to make a headboard for beds in two of the rooms. The painting above? “It was maybe $5 at an antique shop.” She kept one of the old doors but converted the large closet it used to lead into to another bathroom.

The appliances and faucet are about the only new things in the kitchen. Palmisano kept the stove in the same place, but removed the counter and wall to its left.

She traded for the farmhouse sink and put a copper rail in to hold utensils. Many of the dishes and pans were found at Goodwill.

the small pantry, knocked out the walls between the kitchen and dining area and the living room, adding larger windows out the back, south-facing side of the house where there are gorgeous views of the valley. Other than adding a new deck, Palmisano made few structural changes to the home.

ADD CHARACTER

The former master bedroom closet got new life as a master bathroom with a bright white coat of paint and a small window above the bath. Below, painting the built-ins and adding a gas insert to the fireplace and a TV above it made this room more rental-friendly.

BE AUTHENTIC

“You need to look at what you want to save in a space and what makes it authentic–whether it’s an old brick wall or an industrial space that has exposed pipes and duct work,” says Palmisano. One of the features of the house she wanted to keep were the exposed posts and beams. However, they were dark and heavy and overwhelmed the space. To brighten it, Palmisano painted the walls and ceiling between the beams a bright white. And to open it up, she removed

Mismatched style adds character throughout the house.

While the previous owners had removed all the furniture, they left the chandeliers. Palmisano had them rewired

by Vermont Lighting House and hung over the wood picnic table and in one of the bathrooms. The living room furniture, bought on sale, cost $1,500 in total, she estimates. “It’s amazing what putting some potted plants around can do for a space too,” Palmisano notes.

Palmisano opened up much of the house by eliminating closets—allowing her to fit two twin beds and a bunk bed in an upstairs room and to leave open space in the bathroom. That works well for a rental where there’s not as much need for storage, but it also helps reduce clutter in any home.

If you follow these principals, you might be able to rock your rental, or just declutter and rethink the home you live in now. n

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SNOWV WITH STORM AFTER STORM, IT WAS A NOVEMBER TO REMEMBER.

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BROOKS CURRAN

PHOTOS BY

EMBER

Somewhere in there, Jono Gross is smiling.

How can you not when there’s waist deep powder on Nov. 28 at Mad River Glen?

vtskiandride.com Fall 2019 41

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ast fall,the skiing was so good, it was almost spooky. Lifts were running at Killington by Oct. 19 and at Mount Snow, which opened just before Halloween, on Oct. 27.

Fourteen Vermont ski areas were running for Thanksgiving, and the results were magical.

Resorts such as Magic Mountain and Mad River Glen had some of their earliest opening days ever, setting up for what would turn into their longest seasons ever as well.

By Nov. 21, Sugarbush led the state with a reported base depth of 42 inches.

Stowe was close behind at 31 inches, with Stratton at 20 inches, Okemo at 14 to 20 and Mount Snow at 6-12. On Nov. 23, Smugglers’ Notch reported a 56-inch base.

And then came Winter Storm Bruce.

The Nov. 28 storm dumped upwards of 36 inches on Vermont ski areas over four days, dropping 20 inches in 48 hours on Stratton, alone. By Nov. 30, the total snow depth at Mt. Mansfield’s summit snow stake was a record 46 inches. According to the National Weather Service, that was the deepest reading in at least 63 years.

It was a November to remember.

—Abagael Giles Parker Herlihy, top, makes a harvest dinner of freshies on Thanksgiving weekend at Mad River Glen. A few weeks earlier, photographer Brooks Curran and skier Travis Lee hiked Jay Peak (below) for the first big dump of the season. “It felt bottomless,” Curran recalls. “There was none of that hard, scratchy build up yet.”

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At Mad River Glen, Eric Friedman, above, had one word to describe the conditions: Snowvember. It was the start of what would be the co-op-owned ski area’s longest season ever.

Parker Herlihy, top right, was so happy he could taste it. Kelsey Boleski, right, kicked off her winter big by finding a sweet spot at Sugarbush.

Perhaps the only people who weren’t too happy about the snow were those who had to shovel, like Derek Eurich, a third-generation Mad River Glen employee who was stationed at the Single Chair during Winter Storm Bruce.

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The biggest in the East, the longest season, the craziest parties. Killington has always been a little extra.

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t’s 10:40 on a March morning and Kristi Chadwick puts down her Bloody Mary. She fingers the whistle dangling around her neck, surveys the scene and then pulls it to her lips.

Three piercing blasts galvanize the crowd at the Long Trail Pub at the Snowshed base lodge. Some are bleary eyed, still cradling hot coffee. Others shotgun the last drops of stronger, clearer liquids.

There’s a bellowing and hustling as Chadwick wrangles the crew out the door. “Hey, we gotta move, folks. More bars to visit! More trails to ski!” she shouts.

Gradually, several dozen skiers and riders—ranging from kids in their 20s to some in their 80s—shuffle out onto the snow, click or strap in, and push off toward the next lift. And the next trail. And the next bar.

Chadwick, 61, started coming to Killington as a novice skier from New York in the 1980s, enticed into a ski house by a co-worker at Salomon Brothers. The ski-to pub crawl is now a ritual.

“We started out one evening in our ski house saying, What if we could ski all the black diamonds at Killington in one day? And we did that one year. Then it became What if we could ski all the lifts? And then it became, What if we could ski to every bar on the mountain?”

The last idea was strikingly popular.

At any other resort in the East, those might seem like reasonable squad goals. But at Killington, with 21 lifts and 155 trails that run for 92 miles across six peaks, it’s no easy feat.

To put it in perspective, to simply drive from the base at Bear Mountain, on the southeasternmost edge of the 3,000-acre resort, to the base of the main gondola, K1, which rises close to the summit (4,241 feet), is five miles by back roads. To get from the Bear Mountain base on skis to K1, means ascending, descending and ascending. And you still won’t have covered the trails that spill into the Ramshead base area.

Skiing all the black diamonds, for instance, would take you to some of the most notoriously challenging trails in the East. Outer Limits, a long straight shot from Bear Mountain, is where Olympic medalist

credit

Now, the Beast of the East is getting even more so—in a good way. By Lisa Lynn

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FEEDING THE BEAST

Killington has a history of doing everything on an outsized scale. From October’s first turns to June’s closing day, it skis hard and it parties hard.When it took on a women’s World Cup slalom and giant slalom, it made it the largest event ever on the women’s circuit, drawing 39,000 spectators for a Thanksgiving weekend of ski racing and entertaining them with a host of bands that would make a music festival promoter jealous: Michael Franti, Guster, KT Tunstall, to name a few.

Everything here is a little extra. And in the past few years, it’s been getting extra extra.

One cold fall day in 2018, Jeff Temple stood beside what would become the new Snowdon Six Express, a six-pack bubble chair, and rattled off numbers. “The old lift was 10 or 12 minutes, the new one is four and a half minutes and rises the height of the Empire State building.”

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The old quad lift was to be installed on South Ridge, making it easier to connect to K1 from Bear Mountain.

On the slopes above the Snowdon six-pack chair, you could hear the steady growl of machinery as a squadron of earth-moving machines worked on another massive tunnel under the Great Northern trail.The scene was a super-sized version of a kid’s Tonka truck-and-sandbox dream.

Temple, who served as Director of Mountain Operations for 38 years, had already talked about the new K1 gondola cars, replacing or adding 44,000 feet of snowmaking, adding RFID gates and putting in a Woodward Peace Park, designed by Burton pro rider Danny Davis.

In 2018, POWDR Corp., Killington’s parent company spent $25 million in upgrades around Killington Resort—roughly half what Vail Resorts spent to purchase Stowe Mountain Resort in 2017. And that $25 million? That was before the new base lodge or the 2019 upgrades.

“The investments we’re making will re-shape the guest experience for years to come,” said Killington CEO Mike Solimano, later that same day, over a Long Trail beer at the revamped bar at Preston’s in the slopeside Killington Grand Hotel.

“Uphill capacity will increase to 48,000 riders per hour.We’ve always had great expert runs but now we’re also trying to create more diverse terrain for all levels of skiers and riders.”

Six months later, on March 21, Solimano gave his annual Community Day talk and party, hosting about 300 invited locals and business owners. “One of our goals with the new lifts was to spread out the crowds,” he said.

Measuring ticket scans over President’s Day weekend, the resort had assessed that the K1 Gondola previously was getting 16 percent of all ticket scans and Snowdon was 8 percent. After the changes, K1 dropped to 12 percent and Snowdon rose to 14 percent. Over on the other side of the resort, the addition of the new South Ridge quad, eased up congestion as well.”

“For this coming 2019-2020 season,” Solimano continued, “the resort is upgrading the North Ridge triple to a quad, replacing 12,000 feet of watermaking pipe, adding 400 low-energy snow guns, 120 low-energy snowmaking towers and 60 semi-automated hydrants”—all part of the plan to continue to be the earliest resort to open, the last to close and to pack the snow so deep and so hard that no matter what Mother Nature decides to throw at the mountain, there’s a solid surface all season.

This page: Courtesy Killington, photo by Martha Howe. Opposite, clockwise: Photos by John Everett, Kristi Chadwell, Alex Klein, Lisa Lynn, Chandler Burgess

Donna Weinbrecht and many other mogul skiers have cut their teeth and competed at the Bear Mountain Mogul Challenge, held each April.

If you duck into the tree runs such as Anarchy, you might find extreme skier Dan Egan, a Killington ambassador and coach, hosting a clinic.

Then there’s Superstar, where Mikaela Shiffrin and the best ski racers in the world compete for the World Cup. And while there are plenty of cruisy, wide blue slopes, getting across the black diamonds to get to the next lift used to be a bit like crossing a firing range. To address that, in the summer of 2018, the resort began building four vast tunnels under the worst intersections.

“That’s really helped the traffic flow,” says Chadwick. “The new South Ridge lift makes a huge difference too.” That lift, also installed in 2018, meant you could lap the upper blues such as Pipe Dream.

As for bars, restaurants and watering holes. There are more than a dozen on the mountain, ranging from the Motor Room Lounge (open only for private dinners in—you guessed it—the motor room of the summit station chair) to the Ledgewood Yurt, which serves gourmet lunches and elegant dinners; the ski-up Jerk Shack to the Peak Lounge’s giant food court and bar with views of four states.

And by winter of 2021 there will be a new lodge that will dwarf them all. This summer Killington Resort broke ground on what will be the largest base lodge in New England and, possibly, in the U.S. The new three-story K1 Lodge will dwarf the existing one, taking the space from 37,000 to 58,000 square feet.

Clockwise from top: The Woodward-inspired Peace Park, designed by Burton pro rider Danny Davis. A second generation gathers at a stop on Kristi Chadwick’s ski-to pub crawl. More than 39,000 came for the 2018 World Cup, an event Killington is signed up to host through 2020. Tucked into the woods, the Ledgewood Yurt serves elegant farm-to-table lunches and, along with the Motor House (top) hosts special dinners where you arrive by snowcat or sleigh. Opposite page, far left: An artist’s rendering of the new, 58,000-square foot, three-story K1 base lodge which will feature a massive fireplace, food court and balcony bar. Even with as many as 30,000 skiers on a busy weekend, Killington is so vast you can still find private stashes on a powder day.

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MORE THAN NUMBERS

Solimano, rattles off these numbers easily. He is a numbers guy, after all, who started his career as an audit manager for Deloitte Touche in Boston before moving to Burlington to become VP of operations for Skis Dynastar, based there at a time. He joined Killington in 2002 as the VP of finance and in 2012, after Chris Nyberg left, took on the role of president and general manager.

The white-haired, blue-eyed 50-year-old who could be a stunt double for Sting, is surprisingly candid. “I think POWDR let us invest and do what we do because we’ve shown a good return on investment,” he says of the parent company which also owns 10 mountain resorts, including Pico, just next door, Copper Mountain, Colo. and Snowbird, Utah, as well as Woodward Action Sports Parks and Outside TV. Solimano estimates that winter skier visits to Killington are at about 800,000 (which would account for nearly 1 in every 5 skier/rider visits in Vermont in 2019/2020) and summer visits have grown to almost

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200,000, with close to 40,000 coming for the 35 miles of lift-served mountain biking and the rest arriving for the Woodward Wreck Tangle, and events like the free Cooler in the Mountain Series or The Spartan Race, the epic endurance challenge which got its start in the Killington area. “We used to have about 350 year-round employees, now we’re up to about 600.” Considering the actual town of Killington (which lies just off Route 100), has a year-round population of 800, that’s significant.

Following a playbook laid out by Harvard Business School, Solimano and his team are ticking off where they can improve their core strengths and minimize their weaknesses.

But it’s not all about numbers. “What we really want to do, at the heart of our business is we want to create joy,” he says. “That can mean little surprises.” On opening day (Oct. 19 of 2018), skiers and riders, —already crusted with powder from the snow guns—were showered with glitter as they came up to North Ridge Triple. During the holiday season, candy canes appeared on cars in the parking lot. The opening of the new lifts were celebrated with champagne.

Photos (clockwise from top right) by Chandler Burgess, Chandler Burgess and David Young.

Clockwise from top: Six peaks, 155 trails and 21 lifts are on the Killington trail map. The Peak bar is as famous for its views as it is for its fully-loaded Bloody Mary. Come summer, the new Wreck Tangle, which challenges your agility, as well as the resorts’ 35 miles of lift-served mountain bike trails, have made Killington a year-round destination. This coming year, the Killington Mountain School, known for its ski racing and road cycling training programs, will also be adding a downhill mountain bike program and mountain bike camps for kids and adults.

“We’ve seen a big change since Mike came on board,” says Chadwick, unprompted. “Everyone knows him and he’s out there brushing snow off cars in the parking lot, or on the street directing shuttle buses. If you have a problem, you can reach him directly and he’ll listen. We went through a dark time here—the days when people called Killington ‘K-Mart’—but since Mike’s been in charge, the whole place is more fun.”

Chadwick’s sentiment is echoed in the feedback surveys Killington gets from customers and in the meteoric rise of its Net Promoter Score—a way businesses measure how likely people are to recommend their product, measured on a scale of -100 to 100.

“Seven years ago we were at a 47 based on the question, ‘how much would you recommend this resort’,” said Solimano last March. “Today we are at 75, the highest in the East.” That’s on a par with some of the best-loved brands in the country, including Starbucks (77) and Costco (79), according to CustomerGuru.com.

In August, 2019, Killington was ranked as the second best place in the country to buy a vacation home by Vacasa, the nation’s largest rental management platform.

PARTY ON

During the World Cup, Thanksgiving Weekend of 2018, Killington began celebrating its sixtieth year in business. Killington founder Preston Leete Smith, 89, was there, looking like a flashback from the 1980s, tall, tanned and sporting a brightly-colored one-piece suit. In

1955 he’d come to Vermont to hike the Green Mountains in search of a place to put a ski resort. His Sherburne Corporation registered with the state in 1956 with $1,250 in the bank. The first lifts opened on December 13, 1958. By 1996, when he sold his company, Killington was the biggest ski area in the East and he owned five other ski areas.

“It’s amazing to see all of this and what Killington has become,” he said, over the roar of the crowd as Mikaela Shiffrin got ready to slalom her way down Superstar. “This is the best thing that could have ever happened.

They’ve done a magnificent job here.”

Smith was standing outside the VIP tent, where a who’s who of the ski world came up to shake his hand. Tao Smith, headmaster of the Killington Mountain School, was standing near him when a young racer, one of his students who foreran the course high fived him. “You did good out there,” he said to her. Around them, people were sipping champagne and sampling a buffet that included lobster dumplings.

Out in the parking lots, where you could still see the action on the slope, the smell of hot dogs on charcoal grills wafted through the air.

As Shiffrin stepped into the gate there was a hush and then a roar as it seemed all of the resort was screaming at once.

“I could hear the crowd the whole second run, from the start to the finish. It’s just amazing to race here in front of everybody. The atmosphere is incredible,” Shiffrin would say later.

As the announcement came that she had won her 45th World Cup win, beers were raised. Some shouldered their skis and headed to the K1 gondola to get a few last runs in. And the party went on. n

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Tester’s Brandon, Vt. native Kristi Brown has tested skis for most of the major magazines and skied more than 150 pairs this past season, alone. Here she stomps it at her home mountain of Stowe. Her favorite powder tools? Read on to find out.

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GEAR

We asked ski testers from around the country­ —ranging from national magazine editors to local Vermont shop buyers—for their choices for the best new skis for 2020.

The answers may surprise you.

Photo by Jesse Schloff/Stowe Mountain Resort

choice T here are very few bad skis out there today—just bad choices. By that, we mean choosing a ski that’s not right for the conditions, your ability or for the type of skiing you like to do.

“Choosing the wrong ski–say a ski that is too difficult to flex or beyond your ability, can actually hinder your ability to improve,” says Doug Stewart, a Professional Ski Instructors of America Level III examiner who also works as a boot fitter at Skirack in Burlington.

“Buy a $10,000 mountain bike and you are pretty much going to enjoy the ride,” notes Jeff Neagle, who runs SkiEssential.com’s tests here in Vermont. “But choose a high-end ski that’s beyond your ability and you simply are not going to have as much fun.”

So how do you choose?

Given how many ski tests are out there now, we thought it would be interesting to ask the top dogs at Backcountry, Powder and Ski Magazine which of the hundreds of skis they tested this year they most wanted to keep if they were skiing in Vermont—as well as which skis they would recommend to a friend who was a less aggressive skier. We didn’t stop there. We also went to three local shop experts with the same questions, as they get to test skis in Eastern conditions all year.

And we asked three veteran Vermont ski testers – people who have participated in multiple ski tests around the country­—for their choices.

What was most surprising was that there were clearly a few skis that made a lot of people’s lists of favorite all-around ski: their “Quiver of One.” There was also consensus around several of the more forgiving skis they might recommend “For a Friend” (meaning a less aggressive skier or someone at a less advanced level).

Perhaps the best advice we got out of this? “Ask your local shop,” says Stewart. “They know the conditions, what equipment you are currently using and will often let you demo a ski before you commit to buying.” His other piece of advice? “Dial in your boots: more than 86 percent of the skiers I see out there are in boots one size too big.” But that’s a whole ‘nother story. —Lisa Lynn

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EDITOR’S CHOICES SIERRA SHAFER

Your Quiver of One? From what I know about Vermont’s terrain, and my own ski style, I’d take the Head Kore 99. While this ski was new last season (for 2019), it remains one of the most impressive and versatile designs. The Karuba wood core with Koroyd and carbon layers and graphene in the tips and tails give it incredible precision for on-piste skiing. However, at 99 mm underfoot, it’s a damp, solid, and ultralight platform that will float through powder on storm days.

The Ski You’d Put a Friend On? Women’s skis are getting better and better every year. The Powder Union collectively found the versatile K2 Mindbender 98Ti Alliance one of their favorite new skis. With a narrower waist and the long effective edge, it’s easy to initiate turns on this ski despite the conditions, which gives the skier a really important sense of control. The more in control you feel on your skis, the more willing you are to push you own ability as a skier. At max speeds, this ski does get a bit squirrely, but for the intermediate skier, it’s a great choice.

Your Powder Tool?

My go-to for an East Coast powder day ski would have to be the Salomon QST Stella.

The only thing that distinguishes the women-specific Stella from the well-known QST model is the top sheet. The construction is otherwise identical and at 106mm underfoot, it’s the perfect platform. I’ve been on this ski for several seasons now because it’s just fun and easy and it works pretty much anywhere—and especially well in a foot or two of snow. It’s a damp ski with a poplar wood core and was revamped for 2020 with more carbon flax weave, and Titanal for dampness and power. I never regret taking this ski out in a storm.

Coolest new technology or trend in skis for 2020?

It certainly seems like more and more brands are making the effort to design more durable skis, which ultimately makes them more sustainable, and gives us products that are more friendly to the environment. There are also an increasing number of skis that are excellent for touring, but now can handle some real skiing on the way out. It’s amazing how light and stable everything has gotten.”

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Sierra Shafer

Sierra Shafer, 29, who recently took the helm as editor at Powder Magazine, likes her Head Kore 99s for Vermont, a ski Jon Jay also likes but in a narrower 93 mm width.

“MORE BRANDS ARE MAKING MORE DURABLE, SUSTAINABLE SKIS.”

Photo this page courtesy Sierra Shafer, opposite by Crystal Sagan

Editor, Powder Magazine, Carlsbad, Calif.

“As we all know, skis work differently for varying sizes and abilities and terrain, so it’s difficult to recommend one ski over another when you’re talking to our massive readership at Powder. Nearly 20 years ago, Powder assembled what has become known as the Powder Union, roughly 35 skiers from all around North America, none of them sponsored, all of them dedicated to skiing as hard and as fast and for as long as they can. The Union spends four straight days skiing Jackson Hole alongside the makers and marketers of each new ski. The result is a Buyer’s Guide that tells our readers which skis performed best when and where and by who, then lets the reader decide what to demo and buy.

JON JAY

SKI Magazine Ski Test Manager and Digital Editor, Boulder, Colo.

I started skiing Aspen Snowmass at the age of 3, attended the University of Denver and competed for two years on the Freeskiing World Tour before moving to Almaty, Kazakhstan to cut my teeth ski mountaineering in the Tien Shan. I then moved back to Colorado for a marketing and tail guiding position at Silverton Mountain before joining SKI Magazine. I now ski at least 100 to 125 skis for SKI test, and probably another 100 between SKI Week in Vail and the On-Snow Demo at Copper Mountain. Add in another 25 to 30 pairs for backcountry ski testing and product release trips/prototypes. So I’d say I ski on 200 to 250 pairs of skis a year, total.

Your Quiver of One? I’m a huge fan of both the Völkl Mantra M5 and the ski that won SKI Magazine’s Best in Test, the Head Kore 93. Because of my freeride background, I really prefer the playful stability of the Mantra M5’s Titanal frame construction, and I’m pretty partial to the freerideoriented turn radius (21.2M in the 184 cm length).

But the Kore 93 is super versatile and definitely can hold its own on any terrain, plus it’s light enough to use as a backcountry option. If I’ve never skied with someone and they ask me “What ski should I get?” I almost always recommend the Kore 93.

The Ski You’d Put a Friend On? The SKI Magazine Gear of the Year and Best in Test Fischer RC One 86 GT is a bit of a unicorn ski. It can help intermediate skiers level up thanks to its ease of use and forgiveness, but can highly entertain advanced and expert skiers as well, thanks to its ability to ski with better performance as speed increases. Plus, considering it’s $900 with bindings, it’s a killer deal.

Your Powder Tool?

This is another toss up for me between the new Salomon QST 106 and the K2 Mindbender 108Ti.The redesigned QST is a little more exact with its turn shape and release, and the cork insert in the shovel keeps it quiet in crud.The Titanal in the Mindbender also keeps that ski quiet, and the rocker profile and sidecut make it incredibly easy to ski in soft conditions. I like to think of the Mindbender in particular as a pair of shoes that are comfortable as soon as you put them on, no break-in needed.”

Jon Jay goes hunting for unicorns in Rusutsu, Japan.

His unicorn ski of choice is the Fischer RC One 86 GT.

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TYLER COHEN

Your Quiver of One? I started skiing on the Blizzard Zero G 105 partway through last winter and as soon as I got on it, I stopped skiing anything else. This ski is 105 mm underfoot, which is exactly the right width for the skiing I do—mostly out of bounds but with some occasional resort skiing thrown in. It has enough tip and tail rocker to float but not feel floppy in firmer conditions, and has full sidewalls for hard-snow stability. Given its size and how well it skis, it’s shockingly light, too.

Photo courtesy Tyler Cohen

Editorial Director, Backcountry Magazine, Jeffersonville, VT Beyond some long-term testing of a small handful of skis, boots and bindings (in Vermont, across the West and on a trip to Norway), I tested about 30 skis last year at Backcountry Magazine’s Gear Test Week, at Powder Mountain in Utah. We bring together a group of 30 or so ski testers from across the U.S. and upwards of 200 skis, boots and bindings, and we test for five days. The results go into the Backcountry Magazine Gear Guide.

Tyler Cohen Tyler Cohen spends as much time skinning up as he does skiing down. And the Blizzard Zero G keeps him happy going both directions.

The Ski You’d Put a Friend On? The Salomon QST 106 has been around for a few years and is an extremely popular ski, but Salomon made some updates this year to make it even more approachable—it’s redesigned to float better and turn more easily. But it’s not dumbed down, so to speak. An intermediate skier will be pleased with it and can grow and improve with it, too. It won Backcountry’s Editors’ Choice Award this year, as did the female-equivalent, Stella 106.

Your Powder Tool?

The Voilé Supercharger measures about 106 mm underfoot, but it has a fair bit of tip and tail rocker, making it floatier, surfier and turnier than similar skis of that width, and it’s been my go-to for touring in deep snow for a few seasons now. It’s not so wide or rockered that it can’t hang on harder snow, too, which is a plus. Another bonus: you can’t beat Voilé’s prices.

VERMONT’S SHOP PICKS DOUG STEWART

PSIA Eastern Tech Team and Level II Examiner, Bootfitter at Skirack in Burlington Over the course of the season, I probably try out about 40 different skis—some for just a solid 2,000 vertical top-to-bottom run, and others for multiple days. Most of my testing happens in February and March at industry demo days at Stratton and Pico when the new skis start to become available to us. As an instructor at Stowe and a Level III examiner for the Professional Ski Instructors of America, I also get to see a lot of people who are trying to progress and get to see how the right ski equipment can help.

When he’s not fitting boots or teaching clinics to other PSIA instructors, Doug Stewart can be found carving up slices of Stowe on the Volkl Mantra M5.

The Ski You’d Put a Friend On? The Nordica Navigator 85 has the right mix of power and finesse for someone loving blue squares and also trying some black diamond terrain. It’s at home on anything groomed but won’t kill you in some new snow either. It’s light, quick, and can hold an edge.

Doug Stewart

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Photo courtesy Doug Stewart

Quiver of One? The Völkl Mantra M5, with some metal and a 96 mm waist is strong and narrow enough to rip on the firm—which we all need to do at times—but still maintains just enough touch to handle fast runs in the woods too. It’s my definition of a do-everything ski for the East!

Your Powder Tool?

The Nordica Enforcer 104 Free is sans metal, but still has enough strength to deal with the solid stuff under the Eastern fluff on a powder day. It’s a great ski that is really balanced when you are up front in the driver’s seat.

JEFF NEAGLE

Ski Test Director, SkiEssentials.com, Stowe, The biggest difference between the SkiEssentials.com Ski Test and others is that we strongly believe ski performance is subjective and do not release numerical data or list skis from best to worst. We ask our testers to give a ski numerical scores for certain criteria, but we also ask for open-ended, qualitative feedback. This allows us to look at each tester, see what characteristics they liked about a ski and what they didn’t, and thus determine what type of skier that ski would be best for.

The problem with awarding skis “best in test” or ranking them is most skiers are going to be drawn to that #1 ski. Is it a great ski?

Of course. Is it the best ski for every type of skier? Definitely not. For example, an intermediate skier can slow their progression or develop bad habits by choosing a ski that’s intended for an expert.

Quiver of One? The Nordica Enforcer 93 is a great ski for Vermont for a lot of skiers. It holds an edge well on firm snow, which we get a lot of, but it can also play around in the woods and make turns in some of the tighter trees.

The Ski You’d Put a Friend On? It really comes down to what’s going to benefit that particular skier’s progression the most.

Some that come to mind are the Elan Ripstick 88, K2 Mindbender 90C, Nordica Navigator 85, Rossignol Experience 84 AI, Salomon XDR 84 Ti, and Völkl Kenja, but realistically I could go on and on.

Your Powder Tool?

On most powder days I’ll be skiing on the Nordica Enforcer 104 Free, but if it’s a really deep day I’ll bump that up to my Enforcer 110 Free.

Jeff Neagle

Photo courtesy Jeff Neagle

Jeff Neagle sometimes likes to air it out but come a powder day, a pair of Nordica Enforcer 104s is all he needs to get high.

“SKIERS ARE TENDING TOWARD NARROWER SKIS FOR THE FIRST TIME IN DECADES.”

Coolest new technology or trend in skis for 2020?

It’s cool to see carbon fiber being used in different applications instead of just a flat laminate in sandwich construction. The same can be said about other materials; manufacturers are starting to think outside the box in terms of construction. I also think it’s cool that a lot of skiers are tending toward narrower skis for the first time in about a decade.

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Outdoor Gear Exchange Snowsports Manager, Burlington, VT We sell everything—backcountry, tele, Nordic—so I have to test a lot of gear. I probably skied about 30 pairs of alpine skis this year and did demos at Pico and Sugarbush. My background is more park so I like a more playful ski.

Quiver of One? The Faction Candide 2.0 is 102 underfoot and it can handle any terrain. It’s fun in the park but when I want to hit the rest of the mountain, it holds fine.

For a stroll in the park, or to hit the groomers, Weiss’s companion of choice is the Faction Candide 2.0

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The Ski You’d Put a Friend On? Normally, it takes two or three runs to dial in a ski. The Atomic Vantage series is one of those, though, that I’ve found no matter what core or waist size (the Vantage comes in a variety of waist widths from 75 mm up to 107 mm underfoot) and construction options, it skis easily and well.

Powder Tool The Rossignol Black Ops 118! I started skiing that as soon as Rossignol’s Chris Logan (brother of freeskiing Olympian Devin Logan) and Parker White started using these. I love a big fat ski.

Photo courtesy Dan Wesii

DAN WEISS

TESTERS’ RAVES

Danielle Nichols

DANIELLE NICHOLS

Former race coach. Has tested skis for SKI Magazine and Ski Essentials. Stowe, VT I am an aggressive skier and typically prefer men’s skis at longer lengths. However, if it’s not the right fit for me, I try to assess who the ski would be suitable for. I think it’s important for people to choose a ski that helps bring them to the next level without them even knowing.

There are a lot of skis out there right now that are capable of that.

Quiver of One? The Nordica Enforcer 100 may seem a little wide in the waist for Vermont but it’s an incredibly versatile ski and I have no problem skiing it on the hardest of surfaces and in the tightest of trees. It’s fun, powerful when you need it to be, but also can be forgiving.

The Ski You’d Put a Friend On? That really depends on the kind of terrain the skier is into. For an all-mountain ski the Völkl Kenja is super versatile and friendly. I think this ski can also help an intermediate skier take their skills to the next level.

Your Powder Tool?

The Nordica Enforcer 104!

If there’s one thing ski testers Danielle Nichols (top, with her daughter Solden) and Kristi Brown agree on is that for girls who just want to have fun, the Volkl Kenja’s your ticket.

KRISTI BROWN

Ski tester, ski ambassador, former UVM ski racer, Stowe, VT A mom, a ski ambassador and one of the hardest charging skiers—men or women—you will see on her home hill of Stowe, Kristi Brown started skiing at High Pond outside Brandon, and ski raced for the University of Vermont. She began ski testing for Snow Country Magazine in 1996 and then Ski Magazine and recently (2017) joined the new online SkiEssentials.com Gear Test. Though she’s a Völkl ambassador, she’s quick to recommend other brands. (“When I’m doing official ski tests, I don’t test Völkls,” she adds.) Brown’s best advice? Demo skis! “ You do not have to be an expert skier to feel the difference. It’s like choosing a glass of wine: you have a tasting to compare one with another and your taste buds (and your wallet) help you decide.

Even better, bring a friend!” Last season Brown tested close to 150 skis and laid down tracks in Vermont, New Hampshire, Colorado, Utah, Whistler, New Mexico and Sweden.

Photo courtesy Danielle Nichols

Quiver of One? My go-to this season is the new Völkl Kenja, 170 cm and 88 mm underfoot. The ski takes less work but still has great edge hold and endless amounts of energy.

The Ski You’d Put a Friend On? There are so many great skis on the market! The best ski is the one that aligns with your ability, preferred terrain and ski style. Here are a couple I recommend for frontside groomers: Völkl Flair SC is a shapely 70 mm underfoot and will let you dance your way down the hill and the Nordica Astral 78 also has a shape that’s easy to ski and rebounds in turns.

The Rossignol Nova 14 ti with a 74 mm waist is a turning machine. The Liberty v76w, with some metal in it, lets you step on it and the Nordic Santa Ana 88 is a fantastic blend of power, edge-hold and playfulness. Finally, it’s great to see that women get their own Kore and the Head Kore 99w was worth the wait.

“THE NEW SKIS TAKE LESS WORK AND CAN TAKE Eric YOUR Edelstein SKIING TO THE NEXT LEVEL”

Your Powder Tool?

I have moved away from the huge fat skis to enjoy some more face shots and energy in a narrower powder ski. On an East Coast powder day, the Völkl Secret 92 floats in the light stuff but crushes mixed terrain and ice, as well.

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ERIC EDELSTEIN

Founder, chief tester, Exoticskis.com. Norwich, VT Exoticskis.com has a huge database of hard-to-find brands. We test all sorts of skis, from the mainstream to many of the microbrands and do so all around Vermont as well as out West. We don’t have any commercial allegiance or advertising so it’s just our opinions, unfiltered. I test 30 to 35 skis a year and look for turn initiation, maintenance and finish; the general feel of the ski; how the binding mounting impacts its performance and, of course, what type of terrain and skier is it right for (or wrong for)? And, of course, does it look cool?

The Renoun Citadel 106, a Vermont-based brand, uses HDT (“ShockStop”) non-Newtonian polymer dampening material. In other words, you’re less likely to lose a filling on those hardas-concrete days.

1) Quiver of One? There’s no one ski to do it all the way I’d like it. so I’m gonna pick two categories because I’m greedy: For hard snow, the Liberty VMT 76 gives stunning security, grip, elegant turns, control and excitement on hardpack without the overhead of keeping a true “race ski” in its narrow sweet spot all the time. On softer stuff, the Renoun Citadel 106, a Vermont brand, is truly impressive in how it behaves in mixed conditions and powder. It allows blissful or rowdy runs with variable turn shapes, speeds, floating and turning personality traits.

2) The Ski You’d Put a Friend On? If you are looking at mainstream brands, the K2 Mindbender series (all widths). From the boutique ski builders. I’d say the Coalition Snow Rebel (frontside) or the Renoun Citadel 106.

3) Your Powder Tool?

On a Champagne pow day: SkiLogik Powderball or the DPS Lotus 120 or Whitedot Redeemer 128. On a windpacked, storm-blown pow day: the Liberty Variant 113 or Whitedot Ragnorok 118. n

Small Mountain Charm

BIG MOUNTAIN SNOWMAKING New for 2019-20, Pico Mountain has invested 2.1 million in snowmaking upgrades— doubling its snowmaking capacity.

Open THURSDAY thru MONDAY & PEAK PERIODS 57 trails ° 7 lifts ° 1,967’ vertical

picomountain.com ©

(866) 667 PICO

2019-20 Killington/Pico Ski Resort Partners, LLC.

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GEAR CHECK | FAST & LIGHT HYDRATION

Pocket Power Weight and ergonomics matter—whether on a oneday summit bid or a long weekend fastpacking loop.

Katadyn BeFree Filtration System 0.6 L

These racking-up-miles-and-vertical missions are no place for water to be sloshing around a half-filled, heavy metal water bottle. Instead, maximize pocket space with a HydraPak flexible bottle—such as the SoftFlask 750 ml, which weighs in at a scant 2.3 ounces. Or the 500 ml Stow that tips the postal scales at 1.5 ounces and tucks away into its own handle when empty. And even with an in-line filter, the Katadyn BeFree 0.6 L, with HydraPak-made flexible bottle, is just 2.3 ounces. Flexible bottles have the benefit of shrinking around the remaining water as you drink it down, which eliminates sloshing in your pocket or pack. As the kicker, all three of these products from gram-shaving pioneer HydraPak are built from ultra-durable TPU material—essentially survival insurance if your drinking vessel takes a tumble from a high point. Now if only they could dehydrate water.

SpeedCup 200 ml

SoftFlask 750 ml

Stow 500 ml expanded and collapsed

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COACH

By Doug Stewart

SKATING IS BACK!

With a new “Skate to Ski” training app and a curriculum for ski instructors, here’s how Rollerblade wants to help up your game before the snow flies.

I

n the 1990s inline skating hit America hard, and quickly gained tens of millions of participants, but this growth was short lived.

Back then, as a new, professional ski instructor and inline skate instructor I enjoyed riding the insane wave of popularity of inline skating and skate to ski training right up to its pinnacle—and then right down into obscurity. While inline skating and all its benefits for skiers never went away, for whatever reason the big skating groups turned into smaller solo sessions.

Now, it’s back. Really. Rollerblade, the company that made inline skating the fastest growing sport of the 1980s, is stoking the fire again with a free new training app that you can download on your phone and follow along. It can help you build ski-specific muscles before the snow flies and improve your technique.

Rollerblade has joined forces with the Professional Ski Instructors of America (PSIA), The National Ski Patrol and US Ski and Snowboard to help skiers get ready for the ski season with some of the best cross training available.

Second only to getting on the snow in the summertime, a proper training program with inline skates is, in my opinion, the absolute best way to train in the off season for skiing. And I’m not the only one. Former Olympic downhiller Doug Lewis has been using skates to help trains kids at his ELITEAM race camps in Waitsfield for years.

Rollerblade uses the tag line “Move Freely.” This is the perfect way to describe the feeling skiers should get while on inline skates. When I first started inline skating, skis were long, straight and a little boring to be honest. Being on skates gave me options for movements that didn’t exist on the old, straight skis. It was actually because of Rollerblades, snowboards, and skiboards from companies like Line and Salomon, that skis became shorter, with increased sidecut. And today with the addition of a bit of rocker in the tip and tail, skis move more freely than ever. While skis have come a long way, they still don’t offer the ease of movement that inline skates offer.

The free skate-to-ski app goes over the gear you need to train and lists a number of drills you can do on your inline skates to prepare for the ski season.

Here are a few of my favorite drills:

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On inline skates, you use the same muscles and many of the same movements to carve a turn as you would on skis (top.) Skating up a slight incline (below) will build the leg strength you need for both alpine and Nordic skiing.

1. SKATE ON A FLAT Skating on skis down a gentle fall line is a great on-snow drill that PSIA has been using for years to train a skier to move forward and get good edge engagement before putting pressure on each ski. I spend a fair amount of time working with ski instructors on this drill each season as it helps create a cleaner engagement at the start of your turn. While this can be learned on snow, there is no reason to waste precious snow time on a drill that can so easily be learned off snow with inline

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RETRO VT FAST, FASHIONABLE AND FORWARDTHINKING Meet the 2019 inductees to the Vermont Ski and Snowboard Museum’s Hall of Fame.

O

n November 2, you can rub elbows with Olympians, pay tribute to one of the most fashionable (and fast) women in ski history and meet one of the original Redneck Racers. The Vermont Ski and Snowboard Museum honors the 2019 Hall of Fame winners—Vermonters who have had an impact on the sport—at a gala at Spruce Peak Performing Arts Center in Stowe. Meet the five honorees, as well as the winner of the First Tracks Award—which goes to a leader in the sport who is under 35 (created in memory of former board member and ski racer Ian Graddock who passed away at that age in 2016).

The evening also pays tribute to author (and occasional Vermont Ski + Ride contributor) Peggy Shinn, who won this year’s Paul Robbins award for ski journalism. More info at vtssm.org.

All photos courtesy Vermont Ski and Snowboard Museum

JOHN BRODHEAD

John Brodhead skied four events at Vermont Academy (‘62)— slalom, downhill, cross country and jumping, and raced at Middlebury College. In 1979 he began directing Craftsbury Outdoor Center’s ski program. There, he developed an extensive trail system and started numerous ski programs for kids and adults including the Bill Koch League and summer training programs. He founded and organized the Craftsbury Marathon, one of the most popular ski marathons in the country. Today, winners of the Marathon are awarded the John Brodhead Award. Brodhead founded the Craftsbury Nordic Ski Club in 1997, modeled on the Scandinavian tradition of multi-generational ski training. In his 38 years as Director of the COC, John touched the lives of countless skiers.

John Hastings (above) remains the best American ski jumper since 1924. Below, John Brodhead, founder of the Craftsbury Marathon.

JOHN “JG” GERNDT

For 30-plus years. John “JG” Gerndt’s passion and hard work have planted seeds of innovation that have changed the way people enjoy snowboards around the globe. After landing a spot on the 1983 Burton

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RETRO VT

Below: JG Gerndt at Craig’s—the Burton museum and riding.

Bottom right: Middlebury native Doug Lewis: Olympian, announcer and ultra runner.

team he was among the first generations of riders in the region and helped define the culture and customs of this new approach to sliding on snow. JG helped guide the first Burton factories in Europe, and he traveled all over the world with the Burton Team as a tester and designer. He played a preeminent role in designing revolutionary surf-inspired boards, and built boards for legendary riders including Terje Haakonsen, Kelly Clark, Danny Davis, Red Gerard and Chloe Kim. He also has designed boards for fellow Hallof-Famers Jake and Donna Carpenter, Jeff Brushie and Ross Powers (to name a few). Gerndt still plays a leading role in Burton’s product development. He rides an average of 100 boards a year. He lives in Stowe, where he has volunteered for the Friday school snowsports programs and does all he can to keep the fire burning for younger generations.

JOHN HASTINGS

Norwich’s John Hastings first made the National Ski Jumping Team while at Williams College. After successful finishes at the 1983 World Cup in Lake Placid he qualified for the 1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia where he placed fourth—a mere 1.7 points from bronze. His result has remained the best American Olympic

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ski jumping finish since Anders Haugen’s bronze medal at the inaugural Winter Games in 1924. Hastings has served as a ski jumping TV analyst for every Winter Games since 1988. In 2009 he worked with other jumpers to found USA Ski Jumping, now USA Nordic Sports. He started the “Story Project,” which solicits stories from jumpers past, present and future, and has archived more than 200 stories about the sport.

DOUG LEWIS

Encouraged by his mother who was a ski instructor at Middlebury Snow Bowl, Doug Lewis was on skis by the age of three. By age ten he was hooked on ski racing and had already set his sights on the Olympics. He went on to become a two-time U.S. National Champion (‘86), a twotime member the U.S. World Championship team, the first American male ever to win a medal in the downhill at the World Championships and a two-time Olympian (‘84, ‘88).

He has continued to be a tireless advocate for skiing and ski racing and is actively involved in every level of the ski industry as a broadcaster, TV host, ski celebrity, motivational speaker, product consultant, spokesperson, journalist, coach and fitness trainer. For over 25 years, he has run ELITEAM camps and clinics, designed to inspire and educate young ski racers and he continues to host summer camps in Waitsfield, where he and his wife Kelly lived for many years and where, as a high school athlete, Lewis attended the Green Mountain Valley School.

ANN “NOSEDIVE ANNIE” BONFOEY TAYLOR (1910-2007)

Ever the sportswoman, Ann Bonfoey Taylor competed at Wimbledon as a tennis player long before starting her ski racing career. While living and racing in Stowe, she acquired the nickname, “Nosedive Annie” and became an alternate to the 1940 Olympic Ski Team. She had a colorful and illustrious life in skiing and fashion. She designed ski apparel, which was featured in Harper’s Bazaar, Vogue and Life and sold in her Ann Cooke shop in Stowe and at Lord & Taylor in New York. She was married to ski pioneer J. Negley Cooke before marrying Vernon “Moose” Taylor in 1947. As one of the founders of Vail, the couple built one of the first ski chalets there. Her extensive couture clothing collection was donated to the Phoenix Museum of Art after she passed away in 2007.

TIM KELLEY - FIRST TRACKS AWARD

Despite multiple injuries, Tim Kelley has made the most of his ski racing career. After being dropped from the National Team in 2010 and undergoing multiple knee surgeries, Kelley was determined to re-enter the international scene.

With his brother Robby, he founded “Redneck Racing,” a group of skiers who raced at the World Cup level without U.S. Team support. Tim was renamed to the National Team and had his best World Cup results in 2016 before retiring, undergoing another surgery, and finishing at UVM. He continues to inspire and motivate young skiers with his energy and competitive integrity, and plays an active role at Cochran’s Ski Area in maintaining, grooming and mowing the ski and mountain bike trail systems. As a member of the renowned Cochran ski racing family (his mother Lindy Cochran Kelley was a national slalom champion and finished 6th in the Innsbruck Olympics), he serves on the board of Cochran’s Ski Area and strives to promote the ski area’s mission “to provide area youth and families with affordable skiing and snowboarding, lessons and race training, in the Cochran tradition.” Kelley volunteers with Vermont Special Olympics and as the Pace Biker for the Hand Cyclists at the Burlington Marathon.

PEGGY SHINN - PAUL ROBBINS AWARD

Peggy Shinn of Rutland grew up and learned to ski in the Northeast Kingdom and began writing about the sport in 1997. She began by covering local skiing for The Rutland Herald and soon was contributing to just about every ski publication in North America, including Ski Racing, Skiing, SKI, and VT Ski + Ride. In 2008, she became a founding writer for TeamUSA. org and has covered five Olympic Games since. In 2018, two weeks after Shinn’s book, World Class: The Making of the U.S. Women’s Cross-Country Ski Team, hit the shelves, Kikkan Randall and Jessie Diggins won the first U.S. Olympic gold medal in cross-country skiing. n

A former Wimbledon tennis player, “Nosedive Annie” became a figure in both ski racing and fashion (top). Tim Kelley (above), showing his World Cup style and Peggy Shinn, left.

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THE GREEN MOUNTAIN CALENDAR SEPTEMBER Ongoing until Oct. 13 | Mountaintop Yoga, Stratton Saturdays and Sundays, enjoy mountaintop yoga and a gondola ride. stratton.com 20 | Throw Pink Disc Golf Event, Bolton Valley A special disc golf tournament for women at Bolton Valley, with proceeds benefiting Breast Cancer research. boltonvalley.com 20-22 | Vermont Climbing Festival, Cochran’s An event for new and current climbers to socialize, participate in clinics, see keynote speakers and gain new skills while camping out. vermontclimbingfestival.com 21 | The Red Line Scramble, Magic Mountain A point-to-point race up the Red Line Ski Trail at Magic Mountain. One mile long, approximately 1,500 feet of vertical gain. magicmtn.com 21 | Mountain Bike Season Passholder Appreciation Party, Killington Killington celebrates the end of mountain biking season with a free barbecue at the Snowshed Umbrella Bar, with live music by the Dan Brown Band from 4:30 to 6 p.m. and a raffle for a 2020 bike park pass. killington.com 21 | Fall Foliage Chairlift Rides Begin, Magic Mountain New this season, Magic Mountain is offering fall foliage rides on its Green Lift every Saturday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. through Oct. 12. magicmtn.com 21 | 3rd Annual Vista Beast Challenge, Bolton Valley A one-day, two-round disc golf tournament for all abilities, held on Bolton’s Vista Beast 18-hole course. boltonvalley.com 21-22 | The Forest Festival, Woodstock Explore the Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historic Park for free and learn about forest history, ecology and art as you take horse-drawn wagon rides, try woodworking, see portable sawmill demonstrations, take hikes with foresters, kidfriendly wood crafts and more. nps.gov.mabi/planyourvisit/forest-festival 22 | Trapp Cabin 5K, 10K and Half Marathon, Stowe All courses run on the scenic trails at Trapp Family Outdoor Center, with proceeds benefiting Stowe Adaptive Sports. stoweadaptive.org 22 | 9th Vermont Wildlife Festival, Mount Snow Mingle with representatives from Vermont’s hunting and conservation communities, wildlife rescue organizations, state agencies and nature centers as you learn in a hands-on setting about the state’s fauna. vermontmuseum.org

22 | Vermont Cancer Support Network Golf Tournament, Sugarbush Sugarbush hosts this scramble format golf tournament fundraiser. Four-person teams, box lunch, auction and prizes. sugarbush.com 22 | Killington Mountain School Mountain Bike Clinic, Killington Open to downhill riders age 11 to 17, this clinic features instruction and riding from KMS coaches. killington.com 25-29 | AppleFest, Smugglers’ Notch Resort Celebrate the apple harvest with cider tastings, cider press demonstrations, guided walks and free shuttles to orchards for pick-your-own apples. smuggs.com 26 | Caravan to WonderGrass, Manchester Head to Earth Sky Time Farm for a magical evening of outdoor live music, farm-fresh food and live tunes by Andy Falco of The Infamous Stringdusters, Saints and Liars and Terrible Mountain String Band. Prizes for best costume. winterwondergrass.com 27 | Stratton Ski Patrol Golf Tournament, Stratton Raise funds for the Stratton Mountain Ski Patrol Fund, which supports needs in the local community as well as the patrol squad at Stratton. stratton.com 28 & Oct. 5 | Mountain Work Day, Mad River Glen Earn a free day pass voucher when you turn out for a day of sustainably managing and maintaining the legendary tree skiing at Mad River Glen. madriverglen.com 28 | Fall Foliage Lift Rides Begin, Mad River Glen Catch views of foliage in the Mad River Valley from MRG’s single chair on Saturdays and Sundays from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. through Oct. 13. madriverglen.com 28 | New England Craft Beer Open, Sugarbush Play a scramble golf tournament with craft beverage samples at holes, followed by a dinner. Proceeds go to the Cystic Fibrosis Lifestyle Foundation. sugarbush.com 28 | The Peru Fair, Peru Head to Bromley’s hometown for an old-fashioned country fair featuring a pig roast, clogging, Vermont food, crafts, music and more. perufair.org 28 | Ride for Children’s Mental Health, Bolton Valley Washington County Mental Health co-hosts a gravel grinder, enduro race and day of kids’ activities at Bolton Valley. rideforchildrensmentalhealth.blackbaud-sites.com 28 | The Burke Mountain Fall Foliage Festival, East Burke Catch the parade at 10 a.m., followed by a BBQ, kids’ jump house, arts and crafts, horse-drawn wagon rides, a petting zoo, craft show and live music. skiburke.com

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THE GREEN MOUNTAIN CALENDAR 28 | Cliff House Summit Dinner, Stowe Take the gondola to a dinner at the Cliff House with specially-paired wines and views from Mt. Mansfield during sunset. stowe.com

6 | Allen Clark Hillclimb, Mad River Glen Bike up the east side of Appalachian Gap for the last race in the annual BUMPS series. Part of Green & Gold Weekend at Mad River Glen. achillclimb.org

28-29 | She Casts—A Women’s Fly-Fishing Weekend, Suicide Six Hosted by the Woodstock Inn & Resort, an Orvis Endorsed lodge, and taught by resident guide Chandra Anderson at Suicide Six and surrounding waters. Learn everything from the basics to advanced tactics and skills. Gear provided. suicide6. com/summer/orvis-endorsed-fly-fishing

6 | Wrecktangle Regional Championships, Killington Post your fastest time through the Wrecktangle Ninja Obstacle Challenge to test yourself against a national network of racers competing on the same course at locations across the country. Open to contestants seven and older. killington.com

29 | 27th Vermont 50, Mount Ascutney Head to Mt. Ascutney for this ultramarathon on trails or an epic 50-mile, crosscountry mountain bike race to benefit Vermont Adaptive Ski + Sports. There are also a team relay and a kids fun run. vermont50.com 29 | 11th Annual Pumpkin Chuckin’ Festival, Stowe Stoweflake Mountain Resort & Spa hosts this annual competition to see who can hurl a pumpkin the furthest using homemade trebuchets. Enjoy live music, a chilli cookoff, a cornhole tournament and more. stoweflake.com 29-30 | Pumpkin and Apple Celebration, Woodstock Try your hand at cider pressing, pumpkin bowling and cooking apple butter while you taste heirloom apple varieties, make pumpkin and apple ice cream and take wagon rides at the historic Billings Farm. woodstockvt.com

OCTOBER 4-6 | 28th Manchester Fall Art and Craft Festival, Manchester Head to Hunter Park for this local artists’ fair, with live music and entertainment, wine, beer and local food as well as local artisanal products. craftproducers.com/ festivals/28th-annual-manchester-fall-art-craft-festival 5-6 | Stratton Antique Show, Stratton See wares from 30 antiques dealers from the Northeast and beyond, showcasing furniture, artwork, accessories and more. stratton.com 5-6 | SOLO Wilderness First Aid Certification, Bolton Valley Learn about basic first aid in the backcountry so you can keep yourself and your partners safe in the event of an emergency. Repeats Nov. 16-17. boltonvalley.com 5-6 | Green & Gold Weekend, Mad River Glen Kick-off Mad River Glen’s ski season with bike rides, skyruns, barbecues, shareholder and homeowners’ meetings, fall foliage rides and live music. madriverglen.com 5-6 | Fall Fest, Craftsbury Outdoor Center Compete in the 8th Annual Singletrack Shootout, a mountain biking (7km course) or running (6km course) biathlon race on the outdoor center trails. Field a team in the Farmer Games, where hay bale toss, seed identification and chicken catching are all part of the competition. Sun., try the orienteering race and canoe, kayak and SUP races, mountain biking and biathlon clinics. craftsbury.com 5 | Stark Mountain Hillclimb, Mad River Glen Celebrate Green and Gold Weekend at Mad River Glen with a foot race from the base to the summit of General Stark Mountain. Mileage depends on route taken to the top, but the race features 2,000 vertical feet of climbing. achillclimb.org 5 | VINS Presents: Owls and Their Calls, Mad River Glen Interact with three live owls during this presentation with native birds of prey from the Vermont Institute of Natural Science. madriverglen.com

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11 | Beer Pairing Dinner at The Table, Stratton The brewers of Zero Gravity and chefs from Stratton host an inspiring four-course dinner at Table 43.1. Must be 21 or older to attend. stratton.com 11 | Spruce Peak Farm Table Dinner on the Village Green, Stowe Enjoy cocktails and an exquisite dinner prepared with ingredients sourced from local producers and featuring fresh seasonal cuisine. stowe.com 11 | Killington Mountain School/Killington Ski Club Golf Tournament, Killington This golf tournament features a scramble format with a barbecue lunch, posttournament cocktail party and more. killington.com

SKI SWAPS Oct. 4-5 | Colchester Ski Sale, Colchester Equipment drop-off: Oct. 4 from 5-7 p.m. at Colchester High School gym.

Sale hours: Oct. 4 from 6-9 p.m. & Oct. 5 from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. colchesterskisale.weebly.com Oct. 4-6 | Pico Ski Club Annual Swap & Sale, Pico Mountain Equipment drop-off: Sept. 28-Oct. 3. Sale hours: Oct. 4 from 5-9 p.m.; Oct. 5 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Oct. 6 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. picoskiclub.com Oct. 18-19 | Montpelier Recreation Department Ski & Skate Sale, Montpelier Equipment drop-off: Oct. 18 from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Montpelier High School Gym. Sale hours: Oct. 19 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. montpelier-vt.org Oct. 11-13 | Killington Ski Club Monster Ski & Bike Sale, Killington Equipment drop-off: Oct. 5 from 1-4 p.m.; Oct. 6 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.; Oct. 10 from 12-6 p.m.; Oct. 11 from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Oct. 12 from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. at Ramshead Ski Lodge. Sale hours: Oct. 5 from 5-9 p.m.; Oct. 6 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.; Oct. 10 from 12-6 p.m.; Oct. 11 from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Oct. 12 from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. killingtonskiclub.com Oct. 11-13 | 36th Annual Smugglers’ Notch Ski & Snowboard Club Ski and Snowboard Sale, Colchester Equipment drop-off: Oct. 11 from 6-8 p.m. at the Tarrant Recreation Center at St. Michael’s College. Sale hours: Oct. 11 from 5-8 p.m.; Oct. 12 from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Oct. 13 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. smuggs.com Nov. 22-23 | Cambridge Rotary Club Ski & Ride Swap, Jeffersonville Equipment drop-off: Nov. 22 from 6-8 p.m. at the Cambridge Community Center. Sale hours: Nov. 23 from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. rotarycambridge.org Nov. 22-24 | Okemo Mountain School Ski & Snowboard Swap, Ludlow Equipment drop-off: Nov. 16 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.; Nov. 17 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.; Nov. 20 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Jackson Gore. Sale hours: Nov. 22 from 4-7 p.m. (3-4 p.m. early hour with $5 admission fee, free for Okemo employees); Nov. 23 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Nov. 24 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. okemomountainschool.org

11-12 | 35th Stowe Foliage Arts Festival, Stowe Head to Topnotch for crafts by 150 Vermont artisans, great food, beer, wine and samples of craft distilled spirits, chocolates, syrup and more. topnotchresort.com 11-14 | Columbus Day Weekend, Stratton Celebrate at Stratton Mountain Resort with live music, hay rides, scenic lift rides, mountain top yoga, a brewfest, a chilli cook-off and more. stratton.com 12 | Community Day, Sugarbush Celebrate autumn with a free festival with pumpkin carving, scenic lift rides, disc golf, hikes, harvest-inspired dining, music, kids’ and all-mountain activities. sugarbush.com 12 | Harvest Faire and Taste of Killington, Killington Catch music, beer, horse-drawn hay rides, stein hoisting and apple launching. Coincides with Taste of Killington, where chefs serve fall food in a tasting fair. killington.com 12 | Fall Rollerski Classic, Jericho Race series at Camp Ethan Allen hosted by Mansfield Nordic Club. nensa.net 12 | North Face Doggie and Me Hikes, Stratton Enjoy a private guided hike with your dog on Stratton Mountain. stratton.com 12 | Magic Mountain Volunteer Day, Magic Mountain Help get Magic’s trails ready for ripping skiing this winter. magicmtn.com 12 | Fall into Winter, Okemo Celebrate autumn with live music, hayrides, games, pumpkin painting, craft vendors, food, seasonal and regional beer, apple cider and hot chocolate. okemo.com 12-13 | 46th Annual Harvest Arts & Crafts Show, Mount Snow Do your holiday shopping early with this show featuring more than 50 vendors, among them local artisans, specialty food makers and more. mountsnow.com 12-14 | Burke Bike Park Closing Weekend, East Burke Stick around for the Best Whip Competition (it’s stiff) on Sunday. skiburke.com 13 | North Face Race to the Summit, Stratton Run a 2.18-mile race up Stratton Mountain and vie for $1,600 in prizes. stratton.com 13 | The Indigo Girls, Stratton The Indigo Girls perform for the finale show. Advance tickets are $25. stratton.com 13 | Ripton Ridge Run, Ripton This 32nd annual race includes a 5K run, a 10.4K run, and a non-competitive 5K Fun Walk to benefit the Ripton Elementary School. riptonridgerun.addisoncentralsu.org 13 | 24th Mad Dash, Waitsfield A classic foot race on dirt roads to benefit the Mad River Path. madriverpath.com 17 | 29092, Stratton Run/walk/crawl up Stratton Mountain. Take the gondola down. Repeat 17 times in three hours until you climb 29092 feet, the height of Mt. Everest. Celebrate with live music at the base, food and beer. stratton.com 19 | VOBA Enduro, Bolton Valley An enduro mountain bike race, group rides, the SunCommon bouncy castle, plus an outdoor recreation expo. All benefit the Vermont Outdoor Business Alliance. vermontoutdoorbusinessalliance.com 19 | Trapp Mountain Marathon & Half Marathon, Stowe A challenging race through the heart of the Green Mountains at beautiful Trapp Family Lodge during peak fall foliage. trappmountainmarathon.com

BEER & WINE FESTIVALS Sept. 13-14 | Fiddlehead Fallfest, Smugglers’ Notch Resort Catch live music, beer, food trucks, a pig roast, rock climbing and hiking, disc golf championships and more. smuggs.com Sept. 14 | Lagerfest Brewers Invitational with Stone Corral, Bolton Valley Celebrate fall with live music, local food and lagers from nine Vermont breweries at Bolton Valley. boltonvalley.com Sept. 20-21 | 11th Vermont Wine and Harvest Festival, Mount Snow Enjoy tastings with wines from more than 70 vendors and over 20 Vermont wineries, distilleries and breweries. thevermontfestival.com Sept. 21 | Von Trapp Brewing Oktoberfest, Stowe The von Trapp Bierhall hosts famly fun, live music from the Inseldudler Band, strolling accordionists, lawn games and Austrian fare including Bavarian pretzels with beer cheese sauce and grilled bratwurst sandwiches. trappfamily.com Sept. 21 | Alpine Brewgrass Festival, Magic Mountain Head up the Green Lift to Sunshine Corner for yoga, live music from Johnny Davis, 6 Feet Deep and Burlington-based Ida Mae followed by Saints & Liars, all with Vermont craft beers on draft. magicmtn.com Sept. 21 | 12th SIPtemberfest, Mad River Glen Sample local brews at this intimate beer festival, where tickets are limited to 800 people. You’re likely to find a beer you’ve never heard of and the sense of community and good vibes are strong. siptemberfest.com Sept. 28 | Killington Brewfest, Killington Enjoy live music, local food offerings and 80 regional craft beers at the base of Snowshed and Ramshead Base Lodges. Catch the Brewfest Gold Tournament on Friday, followed by a VIP tasting session form 12-1 p.m. Sat. and the regular tasting session from 1-5 p.m. Sat. killington.com Oct. 5 | 4th Annual Jay Oktoberfest, Jay Pumpkin Pie Race, vendors, games, a chili contest, pumpkin carving, live music, beer and more. jayvt.com Oct. 12 | Harvest Festival and Columbus Day Brewfest, Stratton Sample more than 100 regional and local Vermont beers, ales, lagers and ciders in a festival setting at the base of the ski area. The chilli cook-off features 8 different chillies made by Stratton’s chefs. stratton.com Oct. 12-13 | 22nd Mount Snow Oktoberfest, Mount Snow Beer, schnitzel, oom-pah music, kids’ games, pumpkin painting, a schnitzel toss and an apple slingshot feature at this harvest beer festival. Plus, do some holiday shopping at the 46th Annual Harvest Arts & Crafts Show, featuring 50+ local vendors and artisan foodmakers. mountsnow.com Oct. 13 | Oktoberfest, Sugarbush Head to Waitsfield for Bavarian inspired food, drink, games and live oompah music. Kids’ activities and friendly competitions are available for all ages. sugarbush.com Oct. 19 | 10th Bean and Brew Festival, Jay Peak Sample some of New England’s finest beers along with some of the region’s best locally roasted coffees while you enjoy live music and lawn games. jaypeakresort.com

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SKI FILMS MOUNTAINFILM FESTIVAL TOUR This traveling festival celebrates the cultures that make mountains so compelling as much as athletes themselves. This year, catch Life of Pie, a film about two mountain bikers-turned-pizza chefs who transformed a Colorado Mountain town, or Rusty’s Ascent, which examines an accident on Everest and probes whether the risks mountaineers take are worth pursuing. Hopkins Center for the Arts Spaulding Auditorium, Hanover, N.H.: Oct. 5; Vermont Law School, South Royalton: Oct. 24; Spruce Peak Performing Arts Center, Stowe: Oct. 26; UVM Davis Center, Burlington: Oct. 30; The Big Picture, Waitsfield: Nov. 2; Middlebury College Dana Auditorium, Middlebury: Nov. 3. mountainfilm.org RETURN TO SEND’ER Matchstick Productions’ latest film focuses on four elite freeskiers—a veteran, a rookie, an innovator and a big mountain skier carrying on his dad’s legacy. The film follows each athlete in a series of personal segments on their home turf, letting them showcase their style. All four unite for an epic heliskiing trip at the end of the film.

Look out for Mark Abma, Karl Fostvedt, Sam Kuch and Logan Pehota and seventies rock tunes. Outdoor Gear Exchange, Burlington: Oct. 17. matchstickpro.com ROMANCE Level1Productions celebrates its 20th anniversary this year with a film that features Emilie Bergeron, Lucas Stal Madison, Laurent de Martin, Samil Ortlieb and more, from a generation of contemporary skiers that came of age during a period where technology allowed athletes to push the limits of what’s possible on skis. With terrain and scenery spanning from Sweden to Quebec and Japan, it’s going to be fun. Bain Mathieu, Montreal: Oct. 17. level1productions.com TIMELESS Warren Miller Entertainment celebrates its 70th anniversary with skiing from Glen Plake, Caite Zeliff, Jaelin Kauf and Baker Boyd and more. Skiing was different when Warren Miller shot his first film in 1949. Shaped skis, highspeed quads, modern touring equipment and heli-skiing weren’t around yet, but this year’s film aims to capture what hasn’t changed. Across France, British Columbia, Switzerland and Austria, the film looks at mountain culture as much as the usual high-flying big lines. Killington Snowshed Conference Room: Nov. 30; Stratton Mountain School Kaltsas Center: Nov. 30; Horowitz Performing Arts Center, Saxtons River: Dec. 7; Town Hall Theater, Middlebury: Dec. 11&12; Flynn Center for the Performing Arts, Burlington: Dec. 13; Okemo Mountain School Training Facility, Ludlow: Dec. 21; Spruce Peak Performing Arts Center, Stowe: Dec. 22. warrenmiller.com WINTERLAND This year Teton Gravity Research is turning the camera toward young pioneers in snowboarding and skiing—athletes that are pushing boundaries and challenging their sports to evolve. Look out for sweet lines from Angel Collinson, Griffin Post, Elyse Saugstad, Kai Jones and more, in Austria, British Columbia, Jackson Hole, Lofoten Islands in Norway, the Northern Chugach, Norway and more. Mixed in, expect some vintage shots of legends past paired expertly with modern footage. There will be ski mountaineering, epic drops, big backcountry air and yes, even some urban rails and apres parking lot whiskey. Sunset DriveIn, Colchester: Oct. 6; Smugglers Notch Distillery, Jeffersonville: Nov. 1. tetongravity.com

THE GREEN MOUNTAIN CALENDAR 19 | Ullrfest Party and Parade, Magic Mountain An open-air celebration of hard work on the ski trails, good food, good libations, late night star-gazing and dancing at Magic Mountain. magicmtn.com 19 | The Hibernator, Burke Race across Class IV dirt roads, on farm fields, on unmaintained doubletrack and more on a 100K course with 9,000 feet of elevation gain or a 50K course with 4,000 feet of elevation gain in this epic gravel grinder. skiburke.com 20 | 19th Annual Killington Bridal Show, Killington An epic display and competition between bridal vendors and wedding professionals of all sorts. killingtonbridalshow.com 20 | Heady Trotter 4-Miler, Stowe Run a fun road race followed by beer, live music and lawn games at the Alchemist Brewery. thealchemistbeer.com 20 | The Hills are Alive 5K XC, Stowe GMAA hosts this rolling 5K race on the trails at Trapp Family Lodge Outdoor Center. gmaa.net 26 | Halloween Party in the Bear Den, Burke An epic annual costume party, monster mash and costume contest. skiburke.com 26 | Kidding Around Yoga Teacher Training, Stratton Learn how to teach yoga, mindfulness and meditation to children in schools. stratton.com 27 | Black River Beatdown, Craftsbury Common Ironwood Adventure Works hosts this epic 15-, 30- and 45K solo and relay trail run race at Craftsbury Outdoor Center. ironwoodadventureworks.com 27 | 1st Annual Tiny House Fest Vermont, Sugarbush Tiny house curious? This inaugural festival has expert presentations on affordable and eco-friendly housing, a tiny house demonstration “village,” a makerspace and free speed reviews of your own home design. Local food trucks, too. sugarbush.com

NOVEMBER 2 | Pass and Badge Appreciation Party, Smugglers’ Notch Resort Free pizza, Ozone access, prizes, giveaways and more at the Smuggs’ FunZone 2.0 plus $5 laser tag and use of the Go Zone. DJ, raffle and more. smuggs.com 2 | Burke Mountain Cubing, Burke Cubers will come from all over the world to compete in a variety of cubing styles that range from solving a Rubix cube blindfolded to one-handed events. skiburke.com 2-3 | NENSA Trapp Invitational Rollerski Race, Trapp Family Lodge This elite rollerski event draws an amazing crew of NENSA Elite and Development team members, including several 2018 Olympians. nensa.net 3 | The Big Kicker, Sugarbush Celebrate the start of ski season with a rail jam, live music and a groovy scene at Mt. Ellen’s base area. A fundraiser for Vermont Adaptive. sugarbush.com 3 | Vermont 10-Miler, Trapp Family Lodge, Stowe This race through Stowe ends at von Trapp Brewery, where participants get one free brew. vermont10miler.com 7 | 7th Annual Vermont Backcountry Forum, Rochester Join the Rochester-Randolph Area Sports Trails Alliance and the Catamount Trail Association for a potluck, cash bar, update on new backcountry projects and the film premier of Leave Nice Tracks. cattamounttrail.org/events/vtbc-forum

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W H E R E VE R M O N T E ATS P I Z Z A W H E R E VE R M O N T E ATS P I Z Z A

9 | Bolton Valley Skate Park & Bowl Competition, Bolton Valley The indoor skate park at Bolton Valley hosts a day of youth park competitions early with adult competitions to follow. After-party into the night. boltonvalley.com 22 | Opening Day Festivities, Bromley Mountain Celebrate the start of ski season at Bromley. bromley.com 23 | Lincoln Peak Opening Day, Sugarbush Sugarbush’s planned opening date for the 2019-2020 ski season. sugarbush.com 23 | The Big Kicker, Sugarbush Head to Mt. Ellen for rail jams, kids’ games, live music, a raffle and prizes to celebrate the start of the ski season—a fundraiser for Vermont Adaptive. sugarbush.com 28 | Zack’s Place Turkey Trot, Woodstock Run or walk this fundraiser through the village of Woodstock. zacksplacevt.org 29 | Turkey Hangover Hillclimb, Mount Snow Burn off your Thanksgiving dinner with this annual fun run on snow. mountsnow.com Nov. 29-Dec. 1 | FIS HomeLight Women’s World Cup, Killington A full weekend of ski racing by the top skiers in the world in slalom and G.S. at the Killington Women’s World Cup. Live music, parades and autographs are all part of the weekend lineup. killington.com 30 | Torchlight Parade, Fireworks and Santa, Mount Snow Ski & Snowboard School instructors descend the Canyon ski trail in a torchlit glow followed by fireworks and photos with Santa and Mrs. Claus. mountsnow.com

ORDER ORDER ONLINE ORDER ONLINE ONLINE

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DECEMBER 13 | Founders Day, Mount Snow Score a $12 lift ticket in honor of Mount Snow’s birthday. mountsnow.com 14 | SugarBash with the Funk Collection, Sugarbush Celebrate Sugarbush’s 61st birthday with live music from The Funk Collection, drinks, appetizers and dancing. sugarbush.com 14 | Free Demo Day, Mount Snow Try the season’s latest new skis for free. mountsnow.com 15 | Santa Sunday, Bolton Valley Dress head-to-toe in a full Santa Claus getup and get a free lift ticket for the day.

Must be costumed head-to-toe. boltonvalley.com 21 | Carinthia Classic, Mount Snow A freestyle park competition with a plaza-style run filled with rails, boxes and features. Watch from the deck of the new base lodge. mountsnow.com 21 | Mt. Ellen Opening Day, Sugarbush Mt. Ellen opens for its 56th season of skiing for 2019-2020. sugarbush.com

Presents

New Season Starting September 19 Monthly

Red Bench Speaker’s Series

21 | Holiday Caroling with the Whiffenpoofs, Sugarbush Catch the Yale Whiffenpoofs, the world’s oldest and best-known collegiate a capella group at Sugarbush. sugarbush.com 21 | Winter Solstice Celebration, Smugglers’ Notch Resort Celebrate the start of winter at Smuggs’. Festivities start with the Jeh Kulu Dance and Drum Theater, followed by a dance party with Goodtime Charlie. smuggs.com 27 | Grommet Jam #1, Mount Snow Catch the first of three rail jams for 12 & under skiers and riders, with coaching from Mount Snow’s instructors. Jam #2 is Jan. 20 and Jam #3 is Feb. 17. mountsnow.com

Topics Relevant to Todayʼs Skiers and Riders For More Info: www.vtssm.org/news-events 1 South Main St. Stowe, VT 05672

vtskiandride.com Fall 2019 71

DRINK VT

The Green Mountain State is home to some of the best breweries, wineries, cideries and distilleries in the world. And most invite you to stop by their pubs, restaurants and production houses for a tour and to sample their goods. For more information, links and maps to each location check out www.vtskiandride.com.

VERMONT BEER, WINE, CIDER + SPIRITS

133 North Main St, St. Albans, VT 802528-5988 | 14thstarbrewing.com 14th Star Brewing Co. is veteran-owned Vermont craft brewery on a mission to brew world-class beer while enriching the communities we serve. Using the freshest local ingredients, we impart military precision and creativity into every batch of 14th Star beer. Find your favorite 14th Star brews in our Brewery Taproom (open Tues.-Sun.) Our beer is also available on tap and in cans statewide and Brewed With A Mission™ to give back to various charitable and veteran organizations.

316 Pine Street, Burlington, VT 802-497-1987 | citizencider.com Come visit our Cider Pub, where we bring together locally crafted cider and food. We work with local growers and makers to bring good food and cider to the people. A community of folks who believe that cider loves food. Try some cider or try a bite and celebrate local community at it’s best. Cider for the people, made by the people.

46 Log Yard Drive, Hardwick, VT 802-472-8000 | caledoniaspirits.com Open daily 12-5 for free tours and tastings at the distillery.

Caledonia Spirits is a craft distillery in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont. Raw honey distinguishes our Barr Hill vodka, Barr Hill gin, and Tom Cat barrel aged gin by imparting a pure and soft botanical essence into each bottle. All of our spirits reflect our deep connection to the land and Vermont’s agricultural heritage.

3597 VT-74, Shoreham, VT 802-897-2777 | champlainorchards.com

FIND MAPS AND MORE AT

vtskiandride.com/drink-vermont

Open daily 9-5. July-Nov.

Rt 100 Waterbury Center, VT 802-244-8771 | coldhollow.com

Visit us in Shoreham or find us at your favorite craft retailer to try our award winning, orchard-made ciders. All our ciders are made onsite with our ecologically grown apples and our orchard is solar powered.

Taste real, modern day hard ciders…made from our own real sweet cider made in a real Vermont barn. Taste the difference. We’re Vermont to the core.

Open seven days a week.

610 Route 7, Middlebury, VT 802-989-7414 | dropinbrewing.com

8814 Route 30, Rawsonville, VT Junction VT Rt 30N and VT Rt 100N 802-297-9333 | craftdraughts.com An intimate shop with over 300 craft beers plus ciders, meads and two rotating Vermont taps for growler fills. A muststop for craft beer lovers traveling through southern Vermont.

6308 Shelburne Rd, (Rte. 7)Shelburne, VT 802-985-8222 | shelburnevineyard.com Open daily, 11-5 Nov.-Ap.r; 11-6 May-Oct. Taste, tour, and enjoy our award-winning wines as we welcome you and share our adventure growing grapes and making wine in VT’s northern climate. Located in charming Shelburne, just south of Burlington.

1859 Mountain Rd, Stowe, VT 802-253-4765 | idletymebrewing.com

155 Carroll Rd, Waitsfield, VT 802-496-HOPS | lawsonsfinest.com

Our beer line-up represents a traditional take on classic European brewing with a healthy dose of the Vermont hop culture. Whether your preference is a brown or pale ale, Helles Lager or our famous Idletyme Double IPA, we have a beer you’ll love! And it’s brewed right here at our pub and restaurant.

Visit our family-owned award-winning brewery, timber-frame taproom, and retail store located in the picturesque Mad River Valley. We produce an array of hop-forward ales, specialty maple beers, and unique creations of the highest quality and freshness and locally-produced light fare. Open daily.

69 Pitman Rd. Barre, VT 802-424-4864 | oldroutetwo.com

Old Route Two Spirits sets out to make all our spirits from scratch, doing everything the hard way under one roof. Each one of our spirits is carefully crafted to ensure you can enjoy it neat, while also making some of the most delicious cocktails you’ve ever tasted.

Learn about the local ingredients in our Joe’s Pond Gin and the uncommon woods that shape our unique aging program for our Barrelhead rums.

1333 Luce Hill Rd., Stowe, VT 802-253-0900 | vontrappbrewing.com Von Trapp Brewing is dedicated to brewing the highest quality Austrianinspired lagers with a Vermont twist.

Experience “a little of Austria, a lot of Vermont,” in every glass.

Come visit our new bierhall and restaurant at the brewery!

17 Town Farm Lane, Stowe 802-253-2065 | stowecider.com Fresh-pressed hard cider crafted in Vermont.

Ciders range from super dry and preservativefree to others containing local fruits, hops, and unique barrel-aged offerings. Visit our tasting room at 17 Town Farm Lane across from the Rusty Nail, in Stowe.

1321 Exchange St, Middlebury, VT 802385-3656 | woodchuck.com As America’s original hard cider, we have always done things our own way, forging a tradition of quality and craftsmanship with every cider batch we craft. At Woodchuck, our cider makers meticulously oversee the details of every cider before any bottle or keg leaves our cidery. It’s this attention and passion for cider that ensures we always deliver a premium hard cider that is true to our roots. Enjoy the brand that started the American cider revolution.

VERMONT BEER, WINE, CIDER + SPIRITS

Drop-In Brewing is Middlebury’s small, independent, locally-owned brewery, and is home to The American Brewers Guild Brewing School. Our tap room is open 7 days a week serving sample flights, pints, and selling cans and growlers to go. You can find our beer on draft in restaurants and bars across Vermont, and our cans in retailers that carry craft beers. For more information, check out www.dropinbrewing.com, or call us at (802) 989-7414.

The Chairlift Q+A

THE MAPMAKER James Niehues has hand-painted trail maps for more than 200 ski areas worldwide, including 12 inVermont.

Now, he’s publishing a book.

You launched it on Kickstarter, right?

Yes, we set a goal of raising $8,000 and we’ve raised close to $600,000. I think we set a record for illustrated books in this category on Kickstarter.

How did you start doing these maps?

I didn’t do a trail map until I was 40 years old and took on a job from another map artist, Bill Brown. I wasn’t much of a skier then, but did paint landscapes and, living in Colorado, loved the mountains.

What were the early maps you painted in Vermont?

Killington was one of the first. We’d go up in a plane, between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., when the shadows were just right. Often, we’d fly over the summit and I’d photograph the peaks and the mountains, then drop down to midmountain, then down to about 500 feet above the ground. The challenge in Vermont is painting the canopy of the hardwood trees—each tree is a brushstroke. In some of the areas I’ve painted, there must be more than 500,000 trees.

How did the book of maps come about?

I’d been thinking about doing a book for some time and now that I’m 72, it seemed like a good time. I’d been in contact with some big publishers but one day I got a call from a fan, a skier from California named Todd Bennett, who begged me to do one. He and his business partner Ben Farrow put together everything—the printer, the writer Jason Blevins, the publicity. Then I got an offer from a big publishing company, but I decided we should stick with the folks who were skiers and passionate about it.

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What were some of the strangest things you’ve had to draw?

I did a map of Purgatory Ski Area in Colorado once and they had this kids’ route and wanted me to put palm trees in among the other trees.

And your favorite ski area?

I loved Perisher, in Australia. Its trails fit my ability and I loved seeing parrots flying by in the trees.

Do you see computers and software taking over this role?

If you asked me that ten years ago, I probably would have said yes. But now? Not really. People ask me what software I use and I like to say ‘Gray Matter’ —meaning my brain. But a trail map is so much more than just directions. It’s a memory of the day and the experience. People love to spread trail maps out in bars at the end of the day and talk about where they skied. That’s not something you can replicate on an app or something you carry on your phone. It’s a sensation. —Lisa Lynn n

Photo courtesy James Niehues

I

f you’ve ever pored over a trail map, marveling at the tiny trees, the shadows in the ravines and wondered how any artist could ever possibly translate what you ski on the hill into two dimensions, you probably have James Niehues to thank. Since launching his career as a map artist Niehues has hand-painted the trail maps for Mount Ascutney, Bromley, Haystack, Jay Peak, Killington, Pico Mount Snow, Okemo, Smugglers’ Notch, Stratton, Stowe and Sugarbush in Vermont and more than 200 ski areas, total, worldwide. This fall, a 300-page collection of his work, James Niehues:The Man Behind the Map, will be published with text by former Denver Post ski writer Jason Blevins, by Open Road Ski Company. Preorders are $90 on jamesniehues.com. We caught up with him by phone from his home in Parker, Colo.

Were you ever asked to make a mountain look bigger or steeper?

Oh yes—but I’m not going to say by whom. They’d say “Oh, can you just raise this a little bit?” I do distort things as sometimes you need to get everything into one view or emphasize an area that has more trails. In the end though, it all has to be relative and skiers know the difference. Making a trail map is only partly about providing directions—it’s as much about capturing a skier’s experience.

GAME ON awesome food, 100+ beers, 1,000+ records and a bunch of good people

serving dinner every night and lunch friday - monday

track us down: 802 760 6066 docponds.com @docponds

sugarbush.com

be here

800.53.SUGAR

#sugarbushvt

It’s said that people come here because they want to be here.

Maybe it’s the incredible snow or the legendary terrain or the pure majesty of our Mad River Valley setting. All good reasons to call Sugarbush home, but in the end, it’s the camaraderie of our people that makes everyone feel so welcome here.

Come to Sugarbush. You belong here.