| Ski Jay knows my weakness for places like Bobcat and Shefford.
They both have vertical drops of exactly 1,050 feet, both have a t-bar that goes from base to summit and a shorter one that goes part way up to service the wide green trails. They both charge $25 in their respective currencies, and are located exactly 15 minutes from a far busier ski area.
Shefford has great tree skiing (I get the impression that they've pruned the underbrush somewhat), and often gets decent dumps that allow you to ski in the trees (this year, however... they've gotten shafted: 38 inches so far according to their website!). While Bobcat's trees would be fantastic if they received enough snow, they don't prune or remove stumps, so it's definitely at your own risk. That said, I bombed a few lines last year and they were sweet. Bobcat claims 125-150 yearly, but obviously, the last two seasons have not reached that level.
For some reason, Bobcat -- which has more defined trails -- seems to ski larger than Shefford top to bottom.
Shefford seems to be better organized, have better community support (more skiers), and a vision for the future. The family that owns Bobcat refuses to commit any funds for upkeep (painting or mowing trails, see my photos) or do any kind of advertising to attract more people, but at the same time they won't sell it, even though they must be losing money by operating it. There are lots of theories floating around about why that is and what may eventually happen to Bobcat.
While Shefford definitely feels old school, Bobcat's lost ski area vibe goes far beyond that. Nothing has been painted or renovated in years. I just looked at the trail map they distribute at the lodge... it's from the 1989-90 season! Even though Shefford is in a somewhat rural area, it's an hour from a major metropolitan center (Montreal). A long drive from anything, Bobcat really feels like it's in the sticks (in a good way). The people who work there, don't look or act like normal ski area workers (also a cool thing). |