Skiing Bolton Valley
Sunday, February 23rd, 2025
Runs: 10
Distance: 9.41 miles
Elevation: 8,100 feet
Max Speed: 27.4 mph
Avg. Speed: 11.9 mph
Moving Time: 47 minutes, 27 seconds
Total Time: 3 hours, 7 minutes, 18 seconds
Sadly, it was now officially the last day of break. We got up around 8:00am to get a DELICIOUS breakfast at Rustic Roots in Shelburne, VT with Kyle and Gabby, and then we went our seperate ways. Gabby and Kyle went over to Burlington and then the Ben & Jerry's factory, and Emma and I decided we'd get a few more laps in at Bolton Valley! We parked at the park and ride and then Emma's car (thankfully) made the drive up the dreadful access road, and I'm glad she did, because it was snowing up there! We parked in the Timberline lot since the upper lot was full, and got a great spot thanks to an English guy leaving early. We fully suited up at the car, got our Indys for the day, and headed right to the lift!
Snow Report
Sunday, February 23rd, 2025
Folks, it's just too good out there. No Sunday scaries allowed!
We were showered in another 2-4 inches of snow overnight and we'll be seeing some more flurries throughout the day. Some light winds pushed some of that into the trees towards the top of the mountain overnight, which means the good are still in the woods.
We'll be seeing mild temps again today with a high of 24. Truthfully, this is just about the 'warmest' it's been all season which makes for really comfortable days on the mountain. Great for the kiddos and lessons ;).
Conditions are feeling soft and cushy on groomed trails, with tons and tons of powder throughout the woods. If today is anything like yesterday, and it will be, it's going to be one of the best days of the season.
Keep an eye out for Babe Force in the backcountry today as they continue to shred it up. Be sure to stick around after the lifts close at 4 for Trivia Night in the James Moore Tavern. Have fun out there! We know we will.
Runs 1-3
Run 1: Timberline Lift - Upper Villager - Lower Villager - Lower Bentley
[0.66 mi; 3:16; 410 ft; 20.9 mph max; 12.2 mph avg]
Run 2: Snowflake Lift - Sprig o' Pine - Bear Run
[0.30 mi; 1:20; 259 ft; 21.4 mph max; 13.6 mph avg]
Run 3: Vista Lift - Alta Vista - Sherman's Pass - Bull Run - Enchanted Forest - Primer Loop
[1.14 mi; 5:26; 1,004 ft; 26.9 mph max; 12.6 mph avg]
After getting on the Timberline Lift, which pinched my calves so badly I thought skin was ripped off, we made our way up past the mid-station and up to the top. We first thought we'd go to the Wilderness side and then work our way back. We followed Upper Village to Lower Villager, both skied wonderfully with fresh, soft snow, and then Lower Bentley, which was even less touched and just delightful. Only bummer was that Lower Bentley spits out way below the Vista Lift, and the nearest lift was the Snowflake, which still required some upshill shuffling. We shrugged our shoulders and decided to work smarter not harder and got on the Snowflake Lift (installed in 1966 along with Mid-Mountain and Wilderness), and then followed Sprig o' Pine to Bear Run.
We still hadn't made it to the Wilderness Lift, so we decided we'd work our way across and ride every chair as our silly goal. Next up was the Vista Lift! We were joined by two strangers - one of which was chatty. Unfortunately, I couldn't chat much, because something about the vibrations of the chair awakened a beast inside of me, and by that I mean I had to POOP. We got off the chair and when discussing where to go my only answer was "DOWN." We followed Alta Vista to Sherman's Pass, both of which were fun but not fast enough for the budding emergency. From there we hopped on Bull Run and did a quick jaunt through the beautiful but louge-y Enchanted Forest to Primer Loop and then I RAN into the lodge's basement to christen that toilet. The drowned burger bit back.
Runs 4-7
Run 4: Mid-Mountain Lift - Glades - Primer Loop
[0.42 mi; 3:01; 361 ft; 21.3 mph max; 8.3 mph avg]
Run 5: Wilderness Lift - Peggy Dow's - Old Turnpike - Upper Wilderness Woods - Lower Wilderness
[1.16 mi; 5:53; 1,024 ft; 20.3 mph max; 11.8 mph avg]
Run 6: Wilderness Lift - Peggy Dow's - Lower Crossover - Coyote - Unmarked Woods - Work Road - Lower Wilderness - Abenaki Trail
[1.27 mi; 6:46; 1,020 ft; 22.2 mph max; 11.2 mph avg]
Run 7: Mid-Mountain Lift - Glades - Primer Loop
[0.37 mi; 2:47; 351 ft; 16.5 mph max; 7.9 mph avg]
After that crisis, we were back! Snow was continuing to fall and we hopped onto the Mid-Mountain Lift. At the top, we turned a sharp left and went on the trail called "Glades," which was actually just a bump run with 3ish trees - it was actually delightful and became our pick of the day! It was quiet, super snowy, and fun to practice on. I kept talking to myself and accidentally sent it over just one bump, no more! We followed Primer Loop down and around to the Wilderness Lift after.
The Wilderness Lift and I have some long-standing beef, as I had a hell of a time on it last March. Twice my ski got caught on the ground and another time my ski fully popped off - not sure if it was the guy bumping the lift or if I was just too relaxed with my ankles, but it was NOT a good time. Thankfully, today was much better. The lifty immedaitely complimented my pants and bumped the chair perfectly for our long, slow, lovely ride up. At this point we had both agreed we didn't really need to hit anything too steep and our goal was just to explore. We followed Peggy Dow's down to Old Turnpike, which was in rough shape. Super scraped off or super snowy with no in between - I did launch out of my skis at one turn when I wasn't expected the variable conditions. In the spirit of exploration, Emma brought us into the Upper Wilderness Woods where I... survived! Made it out fine, but did not perform very well. We followed Lower Wilderness back to the chair.
Run #6 followed Peggy Dow's again, with a goal of making our way to the top of the Mid-Mountain Lift to hit Glade (we were unsuccessful). We took the little chute to bypass the headwall on Peggy Dow's and then made our way to Coyote, which was fun and fully natural. Emma dipped us into some unmarked woods, which weren't great, but fine. From there, we followed Work Road to Lower Wilderness to Abenaki, back to the Mid-Mountain Lift.
Instead of trying and failing to find it from the top, we just hit Glades again from the Mid-Mountain, which was again, delightful. I was back to linking turns - yay! We were both ready to get back on the Vista to check out the Vista Glades, so off we went!
Snow Report
Sunday, February 23rd, 2025
1:05 PM Update: We're upping our snow totals for today from 2-4 to 4-6 with these fresh flurries. More to come throughout the week and we're stoked for it!
Runs 8-10
Run 8: Vista Lift - Vista Glades - Sherman's Pass - Swing - Work Road - Fanny Hill - Abenaki Trail
[1.19 mi; 7:00; 1,027 ft; 21.8 mph max; 10.2 mph avg]
Run 9: Vista Lift - Cobrass - Five Corners - Timberline Run
[1.96 mi; 8:44; 1,673 ft; 27.4 mph max; 13.5 mph avg]
Run 10: Timberline Lift - Upper Villager - Sure Shot - Timberline Run
[0.95 mi; 3:06; 968 ft; 26.5 mph max; 17.7 mph avg]
Run #8 brought us to the Vista Glades which were a damn treat! Soft, bumpy, only a few scrapey rocks, and super beautiful. Also, well within my skill-set. I had to stop a couple times just to look around and actively think about where I was going, which is a good thing! Again, we waited to find Glades from here, and did not succeed. We got onto Sherman's Pass, then took Swing, Work Road, Fanny Hill, and finally Abenaki Trail. Good effort!
We were getting COLD now, so we decided to work our way back to the Timberline side. We got back on the Vista and somehow got on our own chair (they didn't have a lifty pairing people up, so the folks in front and behind us all made groups of four, leaving just the two of us - no complaints! Also, the lifties put up a whiteboard that read "Who is better at keeping chairs on the lift? Bolton or Attitash (Vail)" which got many laughs! From the top we followed Cobrass, which was super fun! Super variable conditions, from packed powder to glare ice to massive bumps - it kind of felt like a final exam for the week! We had a blast though. Next, we turned onto Five Corners. One of the "GNAR" rules we made for Jay Peak was "When you smell weed, loudly say "I didn't know they had skunks here,"" in honor of something Emma's mom genuinely says whenever she smells the devil's lettuce. We did that, LOUDLY, and then skied past the two middle-aged men sharing a joint. It seemed like they did hear us, but got a chuckle out of it, thank goodness! From Five Corners we continued onto Timberline Run for a nice, long route back.
At the chair, I was starting to feel the Sunday Scaries™ and we were both cold, so we called two more skip the last. We got the chair to ourselves again, it was still dumping snow, and we were in store for a lovely run. We got our pole picture at the top of Upper Tattle Tale, and then made our way over to Sure Shot for a nice cruiser. We exchanged "I'm gonna rip the shit out of this run"s and "I'm a better skier than you"s and eventually landed back at the Timerline Lodge, which had a bar in it! Naturally, we stopped for a quick apres, before the long journey home.
In reflection, this was one of my favorite February breaks ever. I skied with so many different friends, I got so much better, and it's just such a gift to spend 9 out of 10 days on a mountain. The season's not over yet, though!