Meanwhile, in nearby lower lying locales it’s been mostly rain and grass throughout including yesterday when we were blanketed in over a foot of fresh snow, but it was all rain from Burlington to about halfway up our access road. Check out Adam DesLauriers dash cam from his Monday drive up the hill if seeing is believing:

Come on up to higher ground… it’s cooler up here!

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Sure, one might reference the truly historic Snowvember 2018, which – from a natural snowpack perspective – was literally the GOAT according to the fabled Mansfield Snow Stake. Being my very first few days working here at Bolton Valley, I remember it vividly. Aside from my initial shock at how much of a daily to-do the snow reporting was, I also recall much of that November’s success was pinned to a huge storm on the last day(s) of the month.

Switching our collective lens back to November ’23, it’s actually probably the preferred setup for getting the season off to a good, but manageable start. Sure, we’ll always measure November’s against 2018, but the massive storm at the end of that month was hard to handle from an ops perspective. Had to take a few steps back to dig out before we could start moving forward. Too much of a good thing as some might say…

Though the big dumps will always get the accolades, the slightly slower and steadier snowfalls really a good season make, generally speaking. It doesn’t get the headlines, but a season passholder that gets 20+ days a winter knows what we’re talking about here. And that’s kind of what we got last month. We saw a pretty consistent run of temps (for snowmaking) and light snow events to keep the mountain ops mojo rising as we raced to open the day after Thanksgiving as we typically do… well, in the DesLauriers 2.0 era that is. And what an opening weekend 2023 it was!

And then…

Okay, we must admit, it was good leading up to opening weekend, but the real joy hit just after we shut down lifts Sunday afternoon only to be greeted with 18″ at the summit Monday morning. And not just any snow… a foot and a half of the dense, heavy base building snow you dream of in November. Our Wilderness Designated Uphill Route opened out of nowhere and winter was off and running not just on manmade snow, but natural snow, too. It was almost disorienting it happened so suddenly and because we didn’t have lifts Monday to Thursday that week, took nearly everyone that lives and works in the Bolton Snow Globe by surprise as they weren’t paying as much attention to the forecast.

And as if that wasn’t enough, just as we were done licking our chops from the powder party, bam! another foot for you a couple days later bringing the November ’23 snow total to a clean 50″.

Amazing the mountain magic sometimes. A little elevation made all the difference as it so often does. My daily commute back to Burlington was like traveling between two different worlds in just 30 minutes. Total snowpocalypse on the mountain quickly gave way to wondering if I should mow the lawn or pick fall vegetables from the garden for dinner. The broccoli plants were clearly on their last legs for the season sure, but nutritious and tasty nonetheless:

But I don’t care how tasty you can make your broccoli (we like to get a nice hot cast iron pan on the stove, put ’em floret side down and then roast in oven – don’t forget the EVOO, fresh garlic & s + p of course), it certainly was not as tasty as these Snowvember ’23 turns:

Photo courtesy of local legend Quinn Keating (doing double duty on the skiing and pov chest cam in this shot) who claims his skis are under the pow there somewhere. End of November or early March? Hard to tell…

Alright December, your turn! You have big shoes to fill, but this storm we see approaching tomorrow (Sunday, December 3) and perhaps sticking around until Tuesday looks like a good start.

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I see people finishing dawn patrol when pulling into work and people just heading up for a moonlight skin as I leave. Backcountry skiing allows you to get turns in if you don’t have time during the hours of operation/lift hours. #Earnyourturns

I did my first bolton tour with babe force during our moonlight skin with Skida. And boy can I tell you that was an awesome first experience! We took the Wilderness uphill route, which I would suggest for beginners. Turns out, I was not the least experienced person in our crew, as we had 10 people join for their very first time!

With multiple guides we were able to go at our own pace. Personally, it took me about an hour to get to the top and looking back I could have gone a little slower to make it a more comfortable pace. It was nice to treat ourselves with a little reward of s’mores at the top! Skinning is definitely more tasking than it seems, but if you are into hiking that can help you prepare.

For layering I sweat a lot so within 10 minutes I, along with many people were delayering. With it being night time I ended up being comfortable in a dri-fit long sleeve and a shell jacket. (The times I have gone uphill during the day I ended up in only a t-shirt). After reaching the top, within minutes of taking my skins off I put on my fleece layer and mittens to retain my heat. It is important to pack an extra layer because even though you work up a sweat you cool down fast. I have heard advice from many others that it is okay to start out a bit chilly because once you start moving you will heat right up.

For first timers I would suggest going up one of our uphill routes like Timberline or Wilderness. As you get more comfortable and find your touring rhythm it’s great to then venture out into the backcountry with one of our designated guides at the Nordic center. After getting all this snow I am planning on booking a tour myself! It is crucial you have someone aware of directions because you are skiing out of bounds. Guides can also help you become more familiar with your equipment and technique.

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The day could have been a bust, steady rain predicted, but actually turned out to be a very nice day….no rain.  Not great coverage, but good opportunities to review uphill techniques, skin management, kick turns, negotiate variable conditions and enjoy the early spring uplands.  Warm and moist, mashed potato snow on frozen crust.  Dropped into Not-a-trail, Big Blue and traversed Heavenly Highway out to Turnpike.  Justin is preparing for an rare chance to journey into the fiords of Norway and had plenty of opportunities to test drive his new gear.  All in all a really nice day to be exploring the Bolton backcountry.

The post Backcountry Trip Report 3/21/2022 appeared first on Bolton Valley.

Fresh lines everywhere we went Saturday.  The snow just kept coming and we found beautiful unskied lines on each line.  Day started with minimal coverage, and by the time we peeled our skins there was 4-8” of mildly dense powder and no-one else to be seen.  Every line we skied was trackless and full on. John and Joseph plowed powder all day lapping Holdens and Big Blue.  No need to go deep, there was plenty of fresh nearby.  One of the nicest days this season!

The post Backcountry Trip Report 3/12/22 appeared first on Bolton Valley.

Dropped into the Stowe chutes then back up Bolton-Trapps to Cotton Brook and out Paradise to Turnpike.  Near perfect conditions!  Sunny, warmer and fluffy!  We found some freshies all over and looking up Paradise there were lots of un-skied lines. Conditions were  8-12” of floaty powder, maybe 90% on.  Some hazards still visible and just under the snow, but generally it was ski where you want.   Pretty quiet for a Saturday with such nice pow, not a lot of traffic.  Had a great day with Lorenzo and Blaire, they rocked it! 

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Sunday was a beautiful, mostly sunny day, temps a bit warmer and 2-3+” of fresh blown in coverage on a frozen hard pack base for John and I.  We were able to find pockets of freshies where it filled in from the wind, but some exposed ice and other hazards were also present.  Brook crossings were occasionally washed out, but re-frozen with either a little step down and back up or a small remaining snow bridge.  Can’t quite ski right through them, one had a bit of open water.   We ventured out to George’s Gorge and back up Cliff and out Holden’s Hollow.  Perfect skinning conditions, variable downhill.  

All in all a great day, lots of learning and plenty of smiles.

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Northeast aspects around 3000” have a pretty healthy snowpack of three to four feet. The snow has also settled since last week’s storm, and it is giving the skiing a surfier, more playful feeling. You no longer need to get on the steepest steeps to keep your speed up and stay on top of the snow. I have also been finding much fewer tracks in the backcountry than I was expecting; you don’t have to get far off the beaten path to find pristine, untracked lines.

Example: this picture was taken within an hour of the resort. Not a track to be seen!

Another note, mostly for the general ski crowd: If you’re going to follow tracks into the woods, be sure you’re equipped for a climb out. On our way back to the resort we discovered a couple of wayward souls who had inadvertently skied off the backside without touring gear. We did some improvising, and they had a very uncomfortable hour-long climb out in alpine ski boots and bindings. If you have the gear, you might as well bring it with you! You never know where you are going to end up.

The post Backcountry Trip Report 2/8/2022 appeared first on Bolton Valley.

I did a private tour today, fresh tracks are still plentiful in the backcountry a few days after the big storm. In the lower gladed areas, there are just enough tracks to help generate speed and lots of opportunities to dip off into the deep powder.  A couple exposed areas have been wind affected making for a some less predictable snow.  In most places the coverage is quite good.

Happy touring & exploring! 

The post Backcountry Trip Report 2/7/2022 appeared first on Bolton Valley.

I’ve been out the last three days, primarily riding lines that are either E or NE facing, descending into cotton brook basin. This morning I took a couple into a line with more of a SE aspect, still cotton brook. Plenty of coverage everywhere with about 2.5-3′ of really nice, light snow on top of the old base layer.

Pictures are worth a thousand words, though, right?

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