loafer89
New member
Area skied: Burke Mountain, Vermont
Date skied: February 8th, 2009 from 11:30am - 4:00pm
Surface conditions: Packed powder (upper 1/2 of the mountain) hardpacked, icy, limited powder.
Weather: Cloudy with snowshowers until 2pm, then sunny. 32F at 11:30am, 30F at 4pm.
Warren and I got a late start to Burke due to spending a lazy morning in bed at our hotel in Burlington after watching the rain falling out of our hotel window and not having the greatest enthusiasim for a good ski day.
The drive over to burke was a white knuckle affair with the weather alternating between heavy rain/ rain/snow mix and heavy wet snow. Montpelier was rain, while the higher elevations of Route 2 (1,500' +) where snowcovered with a few accidents.
We arrived at Burke at 11:30 am to cloudy skies and no precipitaion. We decided to ski at Burke due to two factors. First Warren had never been there before and second my other nefiew was racing on Warren's Way.
Our first run of the day was down East Bowl and this trail starts and ends with alot of poling, but the middle part of the trail was fun with about 1-1.5" of new fluffy snow making for enjoyable skiing. The lower section sucked with pure hardpacked icy snow.
Next up was a run down Upper Willowbgy to The Jungle. The Jungle is a nice glade with deep snow and it fairly steep. Unfortunately the snow had developed an icy crust that made the skiing very difficult and turns where a workout.
Lower Willowbgy was very icy and we continued down Bunker Hill and the hits where rock solid hardpacked snow, very slick and not fun to ski. The crowd in the beginner area looked to be practicing controlled slideing rather than skiing.
Deer Run was next and this trail is a nice winding blue trail that had lots of windblown powder on about 3/4 of the run and we had alot of run skiing down it.
My nefiew had finished his race and we got the chance to ski together. We skied down Upper dipper which has fun with packed powder to the moguls on Wilderness. Wilderness had great cover, great soft snow and fun bumps which was a suprise given the icy snow on the rest of the mountain.
Upper Dipper:
Moguls on Wilderness:
Our last run of the day turned out to be the ROTD and it's too bad that we discovered it too late to ski it a second time. We skied down Sasquatch Glade which was tight but with plenty of soft packed powder onto Wilderness on more time. We entered into Dixieland Glade which has a small tight enterance off of Wilderness and this is where the fun really started.
Dixieland (the picture does little to illustrate the steepness of the glade):
Dixieland Glade is quite steep in spots but with soft snow it was pure bliss to ski and we had a blast for the full length of the glade. The last 500' of the run was a bit dicey with crusty snow, but not a big deal.
Warren and I now have a new favorite glade and we both want to ski it again ASAP.
Burke Mountain:
Date skied: February 8th, 2009 from 11:30am - 4:00pm
Surface conditions: Packed powder (upper 1/2 of the mountain) hardpacked, icy, limited powder.
Weather: Cloudy with snowshowers until 2pm, then sunny. 32F at 11:30am, 30F at 4pm.
Warren and I got a late start to Burke due to spending a lazy morning in bed at our hotel in Burlington after watching the rain falling out of our hotel window and not having the greatest enthusiasim for a good ski day.
The drive over to burke was a white knuckle affair with the weather alternating between heavy rain/ rain/snow mix and heavy wet snow. Montpelier was rain, while the higher elevations of Route 2 (1,500' +) where snowcovered with a few accidents.
We arrived at Burke at 11:30 am to cloudy skies and no precipitaion. We decided to ski at Burke due to two factors. First Warren had never been there before and second my other nefiew was racing on Warren's Way.
Our first run of the day was down East Bowl and this trail starts and ends with alot of poling, but the middle part of the trail was fun with about 1-1.5" of new fluffy snow making for enjoyable skiing. The lower section sucked with pure hardpacked icy snow.
Next up was a run down Upper Willowbgy to The Jungle. The Jungle is a nice glade with deep snow and it fairly steep. Unfortunately the snow had developed an icy crust that made the skiing very difficult and turns where a workout.
Lower Willowbgy was very icy and we continued down Bunker Hill and the hits where rock solid hardpacked snow, very slick and not fun to ski. The crowd in the beginner area looked to be practicing controlled slideing rather than skiing.
Deer Run was next and this trail is a nice winding blue trail that had lots of windblown powder on about 3/4 of the run and we had alot of run skiing down it.
My nefiew had finished his race and we got the chance to ski together. We skied down Upper dipper which has fun with packed powder to the moguls on Wilderness. Wilderness had great cover, great soft snow and fun bumps which was a suprise given the icy snow on the rest of the mountain.
Upper Dipper:
Moguls on Wilderness:
Our last run of the day turned out to be the ROTD and it's too bad that we discovered it too late to ski it a second time. We skied down Sasquatch Glade which was tight but with plenty of soft packed powder onto Wilderness on more time. We entered into Dixieland Glade which has a small tight enterance off of Wilderness and this is where the fun really started.
Dixieland (the picture does little to illustrate the steepness of the glade):
Dixieland Glade is quite steep in spots but with soft snow it was pure bliss to ski and we had a blast for the full length of the glade. The last 500' of the run was a bit dicey with crusty snow, but not a big deal.
Warren and I now have a new favorite glade and we both want to ski it again ASAP.
Burke Mountain:
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Nice that you and Warren were able to ski with your nephew, though. 
