The kid & I went on our last ski trip of the season to Vermont this past weekend & this time we took enough photos to post a report.
Our first stop was at Burke Mountain, which was one the only mountains that got snow overnight (about 4 inches) with another inch that came down throughout the day we were there.
Burke is a lesser known resort that is mostly visited by the locals & a real hidden gem. It has one of the nicest lodges that features the best food we've had at any resort in the Northeast & even provides free wifi.
In spite of being one of the smaller ski resorts, it offers a wide variety of terrain & lots of glades. Glades are sections of woods where the trees are not too dense to allow you to ski through them.
The glades are marked with dashes on this trail map.
Coming out of the clouds on Burke Mountain.
It's still snowing up there.
Ready to head into the Jungle.
In the Jungle glades.
The obligatory lift photo.
Heading back up into the clouds.
On upper Fox's Folly.
Cruisin'
Wait for me!
I'll catch up eventually.
Maybe not...
In the Marshland glades.
After a great day at Burke it was off to Jay Peak, which is just south of the Canadian border. Both Jay Peak & Burke are the two the northern most resorts in Vermont & received almost 3 feet of snow a few days before our trip. All of the other resorts got rain, so it was worth the extra 1-2 hour drives to get up here.
Jay Peak is an older resort that is going through major renovations including a huge new hotel, an indoor water park & lots of condominiums. It's been our favorite resort for years & hopefully all the changes won't effect that as long as we keep coming when it's not crowded.
Jay Peak is much larger than Burke & covers two mountains, with expansion plans for a third (as you can see on the trail map).
On the tram to the summit to start the day.
The lower portion of Jay Peak.
The upper portion of Jay Peak. The photo above was taken at the top of that ridge below where the tram tower is. The tram is over 400 feet in the air at one point.
Off to the right are two of our favorites: JFK is the long sweeping trail in the foreground & Andre's Paradise is the glade or woods in the background that starts where that upper trail bends over the ridge.
The sun came out by the time we got to the summit.
Deep in Andre's Paradise glades.
The high speed quad chair lift takes you nearly to the summit, so you don't always have to wait to take the tram.
Andre's Paradise ♥
At the top of JFK, our favorite run.
Back on the tram to head for the other half of Jay Peak.
Climbing over the summit to ski the front cliffs (which can be seen in the upper portion photo above).
We'll take the easier route.
Jay Peak's upper summit from the lower summit.
In the upper Timbuktu glades.
Cruising through the trees in Timbuktu.
In the lower Timbuktu glades.
Nature calls. Better make sure the coast is clear even though there's hardly anyone here.
What a gorgeous day!
The Uermonter trail that we took from the summit. This photo also gives you an idea of how high up that tram is.
We really had the place to ourselves.
The tram clears the tower.
The front face of the summit. Experts only!
Time to get out of the woods & hit the trails again.
Looking out over the lower summit.
Those are some steep slopes.
That's Canada off in the distance.
The Staircase glades are the steepest.
Back into the woods we go!
The conditions were perfect.
New Hampshire & Maine are out that way.
The tram leaving the base station, with the new lodge construction next door.
As you can tell we had a fab time as usual. Lots of snow, plenty of sun, empty slopes & no lift lines. It would be great if some of our CF buds could join us one of these days.
I'll end the report with this video of Aidan cruising down JFK all the way to the high speed quad lift at the base. The lift line at the end of the video was the longest we had of the entire trip because it was stopped for a few minutes.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6mj884Vy8o[/youtube]
Our first stop was at Burke Mountain, which was one the only mountains that got snow overnight (about 4 inches) with another inch that came down throughout the day we were there.
Burke is a lesser known resort that is mostly visited by the locals & a real hidden gem. It has one of the nicest lodges that features the best food we've had at any resort in the Northeast & even provides free wifi.
In spite of being one of the smaller ski resorts, it offers a wide variety of terrain & lots of glades. Glades are sections of woods where the trees are not too dense to allow you to ski through them.
The glades are marked with dashes on this trail map.
Coming out of the clouds on Burke Mountain.
It's still snowing up there.
Ready to head into the Jungle.
In the Jungle glades.
The obligatory lift photo.
Heading back up into the clouds.
On upper Fox's Folly.
Cruisin'
Wait for me!
I'll catch up eventually.
Maybe not...
In the Marshland glades.
After a great day at Burke it was off to Jay Peak, which is just south of the Canadian border. Both Jay Peak & Burke are the two the northern most resorts in Vermont & received almost 3 feet of snow a few days before our trip. All of the other resorts got rain, so it was worth the extra 1-2 hour drives to get up here.
Jay Peak is an older resort that is going through major renovations including a huge new hotel, an indoor water park & lots of condominiums. It's been our favorite resort for years & hopefully all the changes won't effect that as long as we keep coming when it's not crowded.
Jay Peak is much larger than Burke & covers two mountains, with expansion plans for a third (as you can see on the trail map).
On the tram to the summit to start the day.
The lower portion of Jay Peak.
The upper portion of Jay Peak. The photo above was taken at the top of that ridge below where the tram tower is. The tram is over 400 feet in the air at one point.
Off to the right are two of our favorites: JFK is the long sweeping trail in the foreground & Andre's Paradise is the glade or woods in the background that starts where that upper trail bends over the ridge.
The sun came out by the time we got to the summit.
Deep in Andre's Paradise glades.
The high speed quad chair lift takes you nearly to the summit, so you don't always have to wait to take the tram.
Andre's Paradise ♥
At the top of JFK, our favorite run.
Back on the tram to head for the other half of Jay Peak.
Climbing over the summit to ski the front cliffs (which can be seen in the upper portion photo above).
We'll take the easier route.
Jay Peak's upper summit from the lower summit.
In the upper Timbuktu glades.
Cruising through the trees in Timbuktu.
In the lower Timbuktu glades.
Nature calls. Better make sure the coast is clear even though there's hardly anyone here.
What a gorgeous day!
The Uermonter trail that we took from the summit. This photo also gives you an idea of how high up that tram is.
We really had the place to ourselves.
The tram clears the tower.
The front face of the summit. Experts only!
Time to get out of the woods & hit the trails again.
Looking out over the lower summit.
Those are some steep slopes.
That's Canada off in the distance.
The Staircase glades are the steepest.
Back into the woods we go!
The conditions were perfect.
New Hampshire & Maine are out that way.
The tram leaving the base station, with the new lodge construction next door.
As you can tell we had a fab time as usual. Lots of snow, plenty of sun, empty slopes & no lift lines. It would be great if some of our CF buds could join us one of these days.
I'll end the report with this video of Aidan cruising down JFK all the way to the high speed quad lift at the base. The lift line at the end of the video was the longest we had of the entire trip because it was stopped for a few minutes.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6mj884Vy8o[/youtube]
