Monday morning, December 20, 2010. I was delighted to see a hint of blue sky in the south – portending a great ski day at Bolton Valley. Northern Vermont had accumulated snow in December from many small storms and one whopper that had roared in from the west and hit Bolton’s slopes straight on. Their website announced 26 trails open and I was ready for a pre-Christmas snow bonanza.
For my first run of the season I picked the intermediate Alta Vista trail from the top of the Vista Quad. The sun was shining and the trail glittered with a sweet little dusting of snow. I let out a hoot and attacked the corduroy. A couple of short steeper pitches and a few baby moguls added variety. I snuck a glance at the expert TNT and Schuss as I sailed by, but they needed some more cover before I’d take my good skis down those pitches and dance between the trees.
Too much gawking . . .I lost momentum and had to pole up a rise to the terminus of the Mid-Mountain lift, then drifted over to enjoy the lazy Bear Run to the base. This is not a snowmaking trail but the natural stuff gave sufficient cover and you could easily dodge patches of weeds poking through the snow, (or not, if you felt like you wanted to mow them down).
On my next lift ride I chatted with a local who was already on her fifth outing to Bolton this season – not that she was keeping track or anything – and joyously remarking, “the conditions are great for this early in the season.” I guessed her to be middle-aged, but she was swinging her skis on the lift like an eager kid . . .
Another insider tipped me off to combine the Alta Vista with two short trails called Swing and Work Road to a run down the Lower Wilderness Liftline. They were saving up the snow here for holiday traffic but I happily poached it. The conifers were all hooded in snow like ghosts but they didn’t scare me as I swung along making easy turns – it feels so good when you get your feet and leg angles just right. The wide Wilderness trail looked like a perfect place for the ski school to camp out for lessons.
Kids and a few families were beginning to queue up at the Vista Quad but there was no waiting on this perfect day. I enjoyed a silent ride in the glittering light and watched a crew hand-shoveling hits on the Butterscotch Park, Bolton’s main terrain park. Two other parks – the Burton Progression Park for newbies, and the “Jungle Jib” that sports mostly rails and jibs, make up the threesome . All will be lighted for night skiing and riding Wednesday through Saturday throughout the season. But right now my attention was caught by the wind turbine that glided into view above a ridge. Overhead some clouds were scudding quickly across the sky but they must have been thousands of feet above the giant sentinel’s arms, motionless today atop Vista Peak.
I picked up Sherman’s Pass, a meandering green trail. There were snow guns blasting away somewhere; I could hear them, but not on my trail. Back at the top of the Mid-Mountain double, I hit Beech Seal, the ‘famous’ race trail where teams of Bolton youngsters practice and compete. Today there were no gates, so I whipped on down (“whipping,” for me, being a sort of moderate-to-fast speed that wouldn’t win any races). My own version of smokin’. Whew! Greeeat!
I took one more run before returning to the base lodge. It was cozy inside with a couple of wood-pellet fireplaces adding to the warmth and cheerful ambience of skiers and riders suiting up, enjoying lunch, or suiting down. The Guest Service folks said the Timberline Quad would be open for the weekend; I passed mountainous whales of snow at that lift on my way out, whales that would soon be groomed to form a base that looked like it could last until June.
There was more snow in the forecast. Next time, I want to try out my new back country skis on the challenging terrain at Bolton’s Nordic Center.