In his new role as Mountain Operations Director, Eric will oversee all aspects of mountain operations at Bolton Valley Resort. This includes managing the ski patrol, lift operations, lift mechanics, grounds, vehicle and property maintenance, snowmaking, grooming, mountain bike trail crew, and mountain safety programs.

Eric spent his formative years through high school and college working in the mountain operations department at Bolton Valley, doing everything from trail maintenance and snowmaking to helping design and lay out the Timberline chairlift and trail system, which were developed in the 1980’s.  Over the years, with his brother Rob, Eric cut some of Bolton Valley’s most beloved glades including Devil’s Playground and Lost Boys.

Eric will be joining the management team to lead Bolton Valley Resort during a time of transformative growth. One of the largest remaining locally owned and independent ski resorts in Vermont, Bolton Valley was built by Eric’s father Ralph DesLauriers in the 1960s and is now run by his sister Lindsay DesLauriers. His brothers Rob, Adam, and Evan are also involved in managing the resort.

“I am super stoked to go full-circle and be part of the Bolton Valley team again,” Eric said. “Everyone works passionately to create a positive and rewarding experience for our guests and coworkers. I am proud to be here and look forward to doing my part to build on the positive momentum at BV.”

Bolton Valley Resort is located in the heart of Vermont’s Green Mountains, just 30 minutes from Burlington and Stowe. The resort offers skiing and riding on 71 trails, along with extensive backcountry skiing and riding opportunities. With over 300 inches of snowfall annually and some of the best terrain in the east, Bolton Valley is a favorite among skiers and riders from across the country. In the summer months, Bolton Valley has established itself as one of the best downhill mountain bike parks in the northeast with a mix of raw, rowdy and ripping technical terrain and new flow trails from world class trail designers and builders Gravity Logic.
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For press inquiries please contact:
spellegrini@boltonvalley.com | (802) 989-8468

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BV President, Lindsay DesLauriers said, “while our parking lots may not be the fanciest, they will be free to all skiers and riders.”

“Skiing is about experiencing the natural beauty of winter. And what is more unnatural than a big stripe of smooth tar breaking up a beautiful mountain landscape?” an enthusiastic Bolton Valley skier told reporters while putting the snow tires on their Subaru to good use.

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And boy are we excited! Nonetheless, before we move forward with foliage fervor, we must take one more pause to acknowledge the historic nature of this past summer here at Bolton Valley.

Truly. Historic.

Sure, Bolton Valley Resort was well known as a year round vacation destination from the ’60s to the ’90s during Ralph DesLauriers’ 1st run at the helm of the place he built and raised his family. But after Ralph sold the resort in the ’90s, BVR really shifted it’s sights toward a winter only focus in the new millennium under the new ownership groups. But when the DesLauriers family came back home (along with some local investors 5+ years ago now) their aim was quickly fixed upon returning the resort her former year-round Green Mountain glory. And boy have we been trying. And gradually, year in and year out, we’d been seeing evidence we were on the right track and things were moving in the right direction. But this summer? Well, it just hit different. From July onward, it was on and none of us hardly had a moment to notice as we were suddenly so busy taking care of our beloved guests day in and day out. When we finally picked our heads up for a minute last week there was a collective realization of what had just happened. It’s an amazing feeling really… to be a part of a team that’s gone through that process of building toward a vision for the future and then to suddenly find ourselves operating within that dream. It feels pretty dang good, if I’m being honest.

From the new outdoor pool, to the hotel renovation, to the recent purchase of The Ponds (a well established wedding venue) to the renovation of the Timberline Lodge (now hosting various weddings, private groups and events in its own right) to the Bike Park… oh, the Bike Park. It’s been years in the making, with the permitting to get the lift running in summer and new trail designs approved, but this summer, with the opening of our new top-to-bottom beginner flow trail, it’s a whole new day in the Bolton Bike Park, that’s for sure! Just like winter, we’re now teaching so many folks to ride with us, whereas before our trails were mostly for advanced riders only. It has been truly amazing to see kids from 5 years old (sometimes even younger) on up loading their bikes on the lift for the first time only to see them an hour or two later in the base area, truly transformed with the joy that is downhill mountain biking. We knew it could be like this, we hoped it would be like this and indeed… here we are. It seems Lindsay’s a chip off the old Ralph block – vision is not something the two of them lack, that’s for sure.

But I digress… when I sat down to write this blog post it was going to be all about fall. Frankly, I have so much more to say about this past summer still… Well, maybe we’ll have to get the #FoliageCheck rolling for 2022 the same way we did last fall when we declared peak foliage in early October. Please keep in mind, past performance is no indicator of future peak foliage date. You’ll just have to get on up here to see how it progresses for your yourself, I guess. Or watch that blog series

But there can be no doubt, fall is clearly arriving as I type this at the highest base area elevation ski resort in Vermont and you know what? We’re ready for it! We love pumpkins and apple pie, cool nights and mums, scenic lift rides and our favorite fall flannel… it’s all just part of the joy of living here in Vermont, each season bringing it’s own vibrant joys.

And certainly with the onset of fall, our snowmakers are getting antsy, too. Didn’t make the most of your summer? No problem, make up for it in fall, winter or next summer, it’s all good. We’ll look forward to seeing you around the mountain soon – whatever your preferred season in Vermont’s Green Mountains.

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Not only that, but our founder, Ralph DesLauriers, and his children own and operate this resort we all call home. Ralph is quite the visionary. He had the audacity to dream of a place where folks live, work and play year-round nearly 60 years ago, and that vision lives on today.

Ralph saw this thicket of woods in a glacial bowl at 2,100 feet (without a road up to it at the time) and had the audacity to dream of it becoming a family friendly/accessible to all ski resort for the local every day working person and school children, which was a pretty atypical target demographic at the time for Vermont ski resorts. This is why he quickly installed the night lights (now converted to LED’s to reduce our carbon footprint) because he knew extending the skiing and riding lift hours would allow the working person to come after work and school buses to unload school children 4 afternoons a week.

The After School Program remains one of our proudest vocations to this day. We have taught 10s of thousands of school children to learn to ski & ride with us – mostly from Washington & Chittenden Counties – over the last 50 years or so and are looking forward to that number climbing into the 100s of thousands in the next 50.

We are also proud of our partnerships with incredible organizations like Vermont Adaptive, the CHILL Foundation and Unlikely Riders, all focused on reducing physical, mental, financial and/or societal barriers to make Bolton Valley welcoming and inclusive to all. Supporting their work is important to us and will continue well into the future.

The legacy and foundation we’ve built together over these last several decades is something we’re very proud of. It’s a foundation we are excited to continue building upon into the future. As you’ve likely noticed, ever since the DesLauriers’ re-purchased Bolton Valley with local investors in 2017, we’ve been hard at work on several projects around the resort. Some were simply overdue “deferred maintenance” but there’s also been some really exciting and new growth happening.

We’ve really grown our operation these last few years to turn summer back “on” as it was when the DesLauriers owned it the first time around. From our vibrant Downhill Mountain Bike Park, summer camps and lessons/programs that mirror winter to the newly thriving wedding and summer hotel business, with new outdoor pool, we’re quickly returning to that year round Vermont mountain resort of years past.

Additionally, under the leadership of Lindsay DesLauriers, we’ve been VERY busy investing in some behind the scenes infrastructure projects across the resort that may interest you… Probably most important to mention here would be improvements to our snowmaking capacity and efficiency, the new and improved Timberline Lodge (and The Ponds across the road), a rather substantial hotel renovation and the newly installed outdoor pool, which opened this summer and has already been a massive hit for hotel guests and mountain locals alike.

Returning back to our roots as a Vermont resort for year-round adventure (and weddings) in the mountains and continual improvements to the skiing and riding guest experience in winter is our focus and our passion.

And while we’re talking about snowmaking, we think it bears pointing out that while we certainly aren’t immune to the challenges of climate change, we are doing everything we can (incrementally within our means) to get ahead of those challenges as we grow into the future. Beyond just increasing our snowmaking capacity, we are also focused on our impact in the community we call home. Upon their return in 2017, the DesLauriers family were quick to make environmentally sustainable improvements by replacing our diesel compressors in snowmaking with electric compressors, displacing 25,000 gallons of diesel fuel with the much cleaner grid energy supplied by our friends at Green Mountain Power. If you don’t know, from a sustainability lens, we are awfully lucky to have them as our utility, that’s for sure!

Additionally on the demand side, we converted our old night lights on the slopes to energy efficient LED’s to further reduce our carbon footprint while we’re skiing and riding at night. On the supply side, we’ve been involved in projects to restore the production from the wind turbine at the top of Vista Peak (which was dormant for many years previously) and a newly installed solar array at the bottom of the access road (down Route 2 a little ways on an old DesLauriers tract of land – the old driving range for those of you that remember that far back). And the electrification continues with our recent delivery of electric snowmobiles for our mountain operations team. We were the first delivery of Taiga’s cutting edge snow machines this past April and can’t wait to put them to use this winter. You’ll quickly appreciate the quieter drive bys of our lift mechanics and patrol, but also the lack of fumes! And our local watershed will certainly appreciate the lack of fossil fuels that can otherwise find their way into our streams and lakes any time any of us drive our cars or gas-powered lawn equipment for that matter.

We’re not trying to claim any sort of hero status here and we know we have more work ahead of us than behind us on this front, but we’re committed to doing better when and where we can long into the future, because this place is important to us.

We wanted to share all of this with you because we’re very proud of where we’ve been, but even more excited about where we’re headed. And we hope you’ll consider joining us. At Bolton Valley, we are members of this community and stewards of this land, and we look forward to continuing to grow together; in concert with each other.

We hope you’ll consider supporting these efforts by choosing to have fun with us this winter at Bolton Valley. If that sounds good to you, just be sure to lock in your season pass before midnight on Tuesday, September 6 when pass prices go up.

Thanks for your consideration and we’ll hope to see you on the mountain again soon!

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$20 Half Day Lift Tickets* AND 20% Off Half Day Bike Rentals* (rentals in person). This was originally a July promo, but we’ve had so much fun with the weekday (and après work) crowds, sort of like night skiing in the winter, that we’ve decided to continue this promo right on through to Labor Day.
*Valid Wednesday to Friday Through Labor Day. Weekday lift hours Wed to Fri through 7/29: Noon to 8pm. Lift hours beginning next week (Aug 3) Noon to 7pm.

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Downhill MTB Starter Pack – $99 for everything you need to try out the sport** Comes with:
Half Day Lift Ticket, Half Day Bike Rental, Group (Beginner) Lesson and Helmet/Safety Equipment. Friday to Sunday only, subject to availability. Please book in advance online.
**This one’s for beginner mountain bikers only (i.e. new to mountain biking and/or only riding green/beginner terrain).

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Hope to see you around the mountain soon! And if it is very soon, perhaps you’ll be joining us for Live Music on the Lawn Wednesday and Friday all 2022 summer long) and/or Community Vendor Night (tonight, Wed 7/27 and again end of Aug/early September) and/or Friday’s first (of hopefully many) VMBA Local Chapter Night with our good friends at Richmond Mountain Trails and demos from Outdoor Gear Exchange and Zerode Bikes. Gonna be a fun week on the hill!

Check out the entire events calendar here:
boltonvalley.com/events

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The Bolton Valley Bike Park will open this summer on the existing trail network serving intermediate to advanced riders only. The Resort is currently working with the state to secure the necessary permits for more than 7 miles of new trail. Bolton’s full time trail crew looks forward to building these new trails in partnership with Gravity Logic to augment the existing network of trails as soon as the permits are in place. Gravity Logic is known the world over for building unique trails suited for all ages and ability levels. Together they look forward to adding more flow, jump lines and beginner green trails in the year(s) to come.

Season passes will go on sale Monday, May 24. Single day use tickets for both lift tickets and ‘trail only’ (pedal uphill) access will go on sale Friday, May 28. Bolton Valley will continue to offer uphill access for those that prefer the pedal to the lift, but all trail access will require a valid ticket or a pass. Trail conditions and mountain operations permitting, Bolton will open Memorial Day weekend for pedal access. 

Bolton Valley is also excited to offer mountain bike rentals, lessons, summer camps, races and events this summer, including a Maxxis Eastern States Cup Downhill and Enduro race August 1, 2021. 

For the latest information on all things Bolton Valley Mountain Biking, please stay tuned to boltonvalley.com/mtb and follow Bolton Valley on social media (Facebook / Instagram) as we continue to update information throughout the season. 

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New England is home to some of the finest riding in North America.

If you are surprised by this statement, you are not alone. New England is relatively quiet in regards to mountain bike reporting in comparison to other hotspots throughout North America. However, when you begin to consider the numerous top level EWS, World Cup and World Championship XC and DH contenders produced by this region, that claim begins to carry some weight. For many of us riders who have grown up in the area, we have always known that we have great terrain that can compete with some of the best locations around the globe. Yet our mountains are ancient and rounded, our forests are tight and technical, so it can be challenging to accurately present how special the riding truly is. When racers from around the country and even around the world pass through between events, there is always an element of inquisitive surprise when they get to sample the goods.

The idea for Trans New England has likely existed in the minds of many riders that hail from this region, but was not fully realized until June of this year. Yes, this is another story of COVID-19 and how it forced sweeping changes across the world, but in this case hopefully something unique as we all look ahead to healthier and safer days to come.

As local shelter in place restrictions began to relax, Alex McAndrew, a figurehead of gravity racing in the northeast, invited a small, tight knit group of friends from Covid-safe counties to embark on four big days of riding. We rode all day, refueled by snacks and swimming holes sprinkled about, camped and experienced some of the best trails Vermont and New Hampshire have to offer. Normally congregating for several races per month by this time in the year, this was the first time we were all together since COVID-19 hit. The lasting impression was evidence of how much we missed the camaraderie and simplicity of riding with a good group of friends.

After the mid-summer self-proclaimed, “sendah fest”, a few of the riders from that crew, Adam Morse, Patrick Noonan, Peter Ostroski, and Tom Sampson set about creating something a bit more structured for the fall, the first edition of TNE. The concept was simple: emulate the great Trans races we have had the privilege to attend such as Trans BC, NZ, Provence, and Andes Pacifico, but bring it to our home territory. The mapped out route covered seven different locations over five days in across northern New England. Dinners would be provided by local restaurants and camping logistics arranged for the group each night. Our goal; big days on the bike covering a variety of terrain highlighting the best trails of each region. The days served up 4000-5000’ of descending in addition to a planned “race stage” for each day. The open format allowed the group to have a structured itinerary, but also left time to session sections and mix up the party trains throughout the week.

Reality: COVID-19. While we were fortunate enough to have interest from friends in California, Arizona, Colorado, and even Canada, we had to restrict who could attend. We consulted with numerous medical professionals as well as adhere to the constantly changing local restrictions. Ultimately, we had to make the unfortunate decision to limit the group to New England locals from counties with the lowest covid rates or those that could adhere to the strict quarantine guidelines in each of the areas we would be riding. Luckily that still left us with numerous DH and XC world cup athletes, former world championship competitors, a 2x Olympian, a 2x EWS champion and the best riders and racers New England has to offer. Needless to say we were not short on talent. More importantly we were not short on great people to spend a week traveling and camping while riding some of the best trails you may or may not have known about in Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine.

Without further ado, we present to you, Trans New England Enduro

-Blog Post taken from Trans New England on PinkBike.com. Photo courtesy of Dave Trumpore.

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• Ralph DesLauriers’ initial vision for Bolton Valley
• How and why the next generation of DesLauriers came back to owning and running the mountain
• DesLauriers 2.0 growth plans and strategy
• Real talk about our fierce love for our Hall lifts
• Snowmaking, lighting, returning Bolton Valley to her former year-round glory
• And more!

Frankly, it’s our new favorite interview with President Lindsay and we think you should download it on your favorite pod service and give it a listen on your next drive or however you consumer your pods.

Check out the Storm Skiing Journal and Podcast website for more details and background resources in addition to the episode.

Spotify Podcast

Apple Podcast

Stitcher Podcast

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Tomorrow is Martin Luther King Jr Day and we are in the middle of a much-anticipated snow storm that came just in time for one of the ski industry’s biggest holiday weekends. To us, this means lots of skiers flocking to the resort to have a ton of fun, celebrating a long weekend by playing in the mountains and finding solace in a much-needed respite from the turmoil of recent events.

I think we must acknowledge the irony of the fact that Martin Luther King, Jr. Day is one of the ski industry’s biggest weekends of the year while, according to SIA (Snowsports Industries America), fewer than 10% of skiers identify as black and nearly 70% as white.

Diversity, equity, and inclusion are enormous and daunting issues. Speaking for myself personally – a white, middle class woman living in Vermont operating a small family ski area – making a statement on this subject feels like a very small contribution. I also understand that a statement is not enough – it is barely a beginning. But for something to go on, it must begin somewhere. I feel we all must create some vehicle of accountability for ourselves.

Skiing for me is one of the purest forms of joy I know. It is fun and fast and exhilarating. It is beautiful, sparkly, and in the mountains – offering a way to connect with the forest and the earth. And it binds me to a community of people – friends and family – and gives us a place and a way to have fun together – to let our guards down, to make connections, to feel safe and empowered.

For many, MLK is a day on – not a day off. And for many, a ski resort doesn’t feel like a welcoming place. Yet, everyone should have access to the kind of connectivity to others, to nature, and to themselves that skiing offers to those of us that love it. And creating spaces for connection and shared fun – I think – has a role to play in breaking down barriers and building trust.

At Bolton Valley, accessibility is and has always been a core tenant of our mission. When my father built the ski area more than 50 years ago now, he built it to serve working Vermonters – that’s why night skiing and kids programming have always been key to our operations. But financial barriers are not the only barriers to skiing – I think that’s something we’ve become more and more aware of over the years. And I would like for Bolton Valley to help turn the tide and promote and support greater equity and inclusion, in whatever ways we can.

With that in mind, we have developed a DEI Statement for Bolton Valley Resort. It is our way of beginning and our commitment to continuing.

Lindsay

Bolton Valley’s Commitment to Progress:

It’s been an unprecedented year for so many things, including public consciousness of the inequality so many people face on a daily basis. Outdoor recreation, the ski industry broadly and we here at Bolton Valley are all a part of the problem. Although one of our guiding principles has always been accessibility and affordability for families from all backgrounds, we have woken up to the reality that BIPOC, LGBTQ+, and other minority groups have often not felt welcomed or included in that outreach. We can and must do better to make Bolton Valley inclusive for all.

Bolton Valley (and the ski industry as a whole) has long been represented primarily by straight cisgendered white people in our customer base, staffing and outreach. But like so many, we have been astonished and horrified by many of the events of the past year that have revealed deep-seated systemic inequities and racism in our society. And while this new-found awareness comes embarrassingly late for so many of us, it demands our attention and action. Forward progress and growth must be the next step.

We recognize that true, transformative change takes time, diligence and persistent effort. We are committed to undertaking this work together as a team and with our guests, industry and community.

Bolton Valley will:

Continue to support long standing partnerships with organizations committed to inclusivity, equity and growth like the CHILL Foundation and many local schools and rec departments through our After School Programs.

Find new partner organizations with shared goals of better diversity, equity and inclusion in all activities across the mountain year round.

Continue diversity training as a team in an effort to build a more welcoming environment for all. Our leadership staff is at varying stages of diversity and inclusion training offered by the National Ski Area’s Association, Snowsports Industries America and other organizations approaching this challenge from a similar lens.

Better incorporate diversity, equity and inclusivity practices into our hiring and career advancement. This includes more equitable and welcoming language in job descriptions (currently underway) as well as proactively recruiting candidates for employment and advancement from all backgrounds at all levels of the resort.

We all have a role to play in this growth and we are excited to undertake this work together. Please don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions, concerns or feedback.

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What: Bolton Valley announces an early opening this Saturday,  the grand opening of three new stores in the village, and a pass holder appreciation day.

Who: Bolton Valley and the DesLauriers family

When: Saturday, November 24th

Where: Bolton Valley Resort         

BOLTON VALLEY, VT. (November 19, 2018) – Bolton Valley announced today that they will be opening early for the 2018/2019 Ski Season. Three pre-season bonus days have been added to the schedule—Saturday, November 24th, Saturday, December 1st and Sunday, December 2nd—before fully opening for the season as originally planned on Saturday, December 8th.  

When Ralph DesLauriers ran Bolton from 1966 to 1997, he always strived to get the mountain opened the weekend after Thanksgiving. Now that DesLauriers is back at the helm, he is excited to do just that. “The early snow this year has been amazing – I love being able to open after Thanksgiving,” said DesLauriers, “It’s like old times.” 

Lift tickets will be $20 this Saturday, and the ski school will be out running free games on the kids hill.  

Bolton Valley is also announcing the grand opening of three new storefront locations at the resort: Big Rock Mountain Shop, Phoenix Book Nook, and the newly remodeled and expanded BV Deli and Espresso Bar. These locations will be open all weekend, from Black Friday through Sunday, November 25th.

The Phoenix Book Nook, a new partnership between Bolton Valley and Vermont’s own Phoenix Books, will be fully stocked and ready to help people find their next great read, early season lift tickets, good through Christmas day, will be available for $20, and pass holders will receive 30% off at the Big Rock Mountain Shop, as well as exclusive deals at the BV Deli all weekend.

In addition to spinning the lifts, Bolton Valley will be holding a full-day family-oriented pass holder appreciation day on Saturday. Things kick off in the Big Rock Mountain Shop with Ralph DesLauriers, owner and founder of Bolton Valley, donning his Alpen-Santa suit for a meet-and-greet and children’s holiday story reading from 10:00am to noon. Immediately following, from 1:00 to 3:00pm, kids and parents alike are invited for marshmallow roasting on an outdoor fire. 

Members of the DesLauriers family will be present all weekend to answer questions.  

Bolton Valley offers 71 trails for alpine skiing and riding, over 1200 acres of high elevation backcountry terrain, 15km of groomed Nordic trails, a complete Sports Center plus Vermont’s most extensive top-to-bottom night skiing and riding. All-inclusive, true ski-to-your-door lodging packages are from $85/person/night. For more information visit www.boltonvalley.com or call 802-434-3444.

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