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FROM THE TOP | A SUMMER TO CELEBRATE

from Vermont Ski + Ride 2021 Summer Issue

from Vermont Ski + Ride 2021 Summer Issue, page 55

COACH | JESSIE DIGGINS’ SUMMER...

“Are ski areas in Vermont even open this summer?” a college student from out of state recently asked me. It’s a fair question as last summer many of them were not. This summer, with Covid-19 in the rearview mirror, resorts are back in business with downhill mountain biking, golf, tennis, fly-fishing, zip-lines, discgolf, alpine slides, outdoor festivals and.. well pretty much everything you can think of. Not only that, we are seeing new mountain bike parks (hello Bolton Valley) getting built and new mountain bike events and new music festivals, such as the Vermont Roots Roadshow.

Places like Bromley Mountain Resort, Okemo, Smuggler’s Notch and Jay Peak are, in some ways, Vermont’s amusement parks and they target kids and young families while Killington, Sugarbush, Mount Snow, Burke and now Stratton, and Bolton Valley have become the gathering spots for anyone with a thirst for the adrenaline rush that comes with riding a lift up and then flying down a trail on two wheels.

And summer business is growing. Over the last year Vermont saw a huge influx of new residents as city folk fled the pandemic and people either bought second homes or moved here full-time. As the chart on page 13 shows, Vermont‘s ski towns saw the highest rate of growth with Stowe and Dover and Warren and Waitsfield leading the way.

This summer, hit up one of the ski areas for a concert, a zip-line ride, a game of golf, or to mountain bike. But don’t forget to slow down and take in some of the traditions of a Vermont summer. Explore the old roads, stop by a creeemee stand (we dish on a few of our favorites in this issue) or simply find a quiet meadow on a dark night and star gaze. Because that’s what summer in Vermont is all about. —Lisa Lynn

Riding the trails at Suicide6 is free this summer.

CONTRIBUTORS

Trying to keep up with Olympic gold medalist and World Champion cross country ski racer Jessie Diggins on a hike up Stratton is no easy task. But Todd Smith, co-author of Diggins’ memoir Brave Enough took her on and writes about it in this issue in “Jessie Diggins’ Summer Sessions.”

Summer intern Hannah Laga Abram had the tough assignment of finding the best creemees and ice creams in Vermont for our story “We All Scream For...” Abram is a student at Middlebury College studying for a major in Dance and Anthropology. And she really likes ice cream.

Olympian, former U.S. Cross Country Team coach and patriarch to a family that’s competed at the highest levels of ski racing, Putney’s John Caldwell shares the story of the grueling 10-day Long Trail hike he took the U.S. team on in 1969. Caldwell is author of The Cross Country Ski Book.