FROM THE TOP | THE LOCALS’ HILLS

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LOCALS’ FAVORITE HILLS

In the years before I worked for this magazine, I had one season pass. Back then, it cost about twice what an Epic or Ikon pass does now. It meant I skied the same mountain for most of the season. That wasn’t bad at all. In fact, it meant you saw your same friends, weekend after weekend and it felt like a local’s mountain.

That ski area has since been swallowed up by one of the two megaconglomerates. It’s so crowded now that it is hard to find a parking space on weekends, much less your friends—many of whom don’t ski there any more.

Like some of them, I’ve gone in search of a new “local’s” mountain. I’ve found it at places like the Middlebury Snow Bowl where on a weekend powder day you can still make first tracks in the woods at 11:00 a.m. I’ve also driven two hours south on a sunny day to ski and, truth be told, just take in the scene, at Magic. For a ‘vacation’ I’ll head to Burke (shown here) just to get away from the crowds.. It’s places like these where you can rack up the days that will make you a better skier without waiting in long lines. As any of the kids we profile in “Launching...” —kids who rack up 100 days a year or more—will tell you, it’s not how big a hill you ski, but how many days you slide on snow. Tell us on our social meda, what is your local favorite? —Lisa Lynn, Editor

CONTRIBUTORS

If Rutland resident Brooke Geery says Lil Homie can shred, he can. Geery has covered snowboarding for over 20 years at YoBeat and now at Blower Media. In this issue, she rides with Harley Ruffle, age 4, a.k.a Lil Homie for the story about grom phenoms, ‘Launching.”

The closest VT SKI +RIDE co-publisher Angelo Lynn may come to winning a medal is at Middlebury Snow Bowl’s ski bum races, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t live vicariously through Vermont’s Olympic hopefuls whom he covers in this issue.

Ryan Lee, who lives in Lexington, Mass., likes to mix his two favorite passions, photography and skiing. He captured our cover shot of Warren Owen exploring the woods at Stratton.