My first day skiing was Sunday, and a gentleman at the backcountry desk described conditions as glacial, and he added that was a kind word. I rode the lifts, and for this Midwesterner, while not close to the biggest baddest mountain I ever skied, Bolton was fun. It also was big enough to have my thighs quite warm by 3 PM. The snow was quite loud on Sunday.
I knew based on conditions at the resort, that Monday would be best at the resort. I went to Smugglers Notch, the $89 lift ticket was about half of Stowe and Sugarbush. The slow double chairs made for a very uncrowded mountain. I skied both Stowe and Sugarbush before. Smugglers holds its own in regards to terrain. While there wasn’t enough snow for some of the truly steep terrain to be open, some of it was on display from the lift. It is an impressive mountain. Oh, and by 3:00 PM not only were my thighs quite warm, but my calves were talking to me as well.
Fortunately it warmed through the afternoon, and softened up a bit. That allowed me to scratch the surface of the Bolton Backcountry on Tuesday. First, I wanted to comment how nice the people are at Bolton. The terrain in the areas I went to was kind of blue square
. Terrain that could be climbed with an X-skin/Access Skin. Better downhill with a T-4 / Objective/Vector. While climbing is easier on the legs than pounding lift served runs, I foolishly decided to take it easy in the backcountry. There was quite a bit more to see, but I had really smoked my old man, Midwest legs the day before at Smugglers.I might add, that I thought I was going to visit the Nordic centers at Stowe and Trapps when I was at Smugglers. I remembered 30 years ago they were right next to each other. They are just down the road, except the Notch Road is closed in the winter. I was hoping the folks at both Stowe and Trapps would be more helpful regarding the BC assessed through their centers in person, than they were on the phone. I also forgot my maps back home. So I flunked out, on getting some knowledge of touring in that area.
Day 4 I went back to Bolton, because I still had a discounted lift ticket. My legs didn’t last very long.
I really don’t hope to spend more days at the resort next season than I did this season. This season was all about cleaning up technique, which was pretty successful. Next year while I don’t want to spend more days, actually hopefully less days, I will ski more time, and more intensely.
I also wanted to add, I got to drive through the Adirondack Park, from the south end near Utica, NY up to Crown Point, NY. Those ‘Daks are some rugged mountains. I did see a slide or two near Whiteface, and I wondered if @lemon had intel on skiing those, or if they were just some slides far from reasonable access. Regardless there is some impressive terrain on the west side of Lake Champlain!
