machski
Well-known member
Well, unfortunately two abreast is allowed on roads by bikers. More than that is bad, but single file is not a requirement.
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Burke's New Owners and New Start (2025)
- Thread starter thetrailboss
- Start date
Edd
Well-known member
Don’t get the logic of that, I agree it’s unfortunate.
In Vermont?
machski
Well-known member
From AI:
In Vermont, bicyclists must ride as far to the right as safe, but may move left to pass or for turns. Motorists must provide at least three feet of clearance when passing, and opening a car door into a cyclist's path is illegal. Cyclists under 18 must wear a helmet.
Riding on roadways
- Position: Bicyclists must generally ride as close to the right side of the road as is safe.
- Lane usage: You may move to the left or use a left lane when preparing for a left turn, or for a left lane if you are not turning right at an intersection with a right-turn lane.
- Impeding traffic: You cannot impede the normal and reasonable movement of traffic, and you must ride within a single marked lane.
- Riding side-by-side: You may not ride more than two abreast.
Safety and equipment
- Helmets: All cyclists under 18 must wear an approved helmet.
- Lights: Bicycles must have a white lamp in the front that emits light when operated at night.
- Brakes: Bicycles must have a brake that enables the operator to make the braked wheels skid on a dry, level, and clean pavement.
- Hand signals: You must signal your turns. A left arm extended horizontally for a left turn, a left arm extended upward or right arm extended horizontally for a right turn, and a left arm extended downward to stop or decrease speed. These signals are not required if it is not safe to do so.
Motorist and cyclist interaction
- Passing clearance: Motorists must give cyclists a minimum of three feet of clearance when passing.
- Opening car doors: It is illegal to open a car door into the path of an oncoming cyclist.
- Harassment: It is illegal for drivers to intentionally intimidate or harass
Smellytele
Well-known member
Same in NH - 2 abreast
kbroderick
Active member
If you make a group of cyclists narrower, you create a longer group to pass. On a lot of Vermont roads, one or two side by side is mostly irrelevant because you still need to use at least part of the oncoming lane to pass. If you don't have enough room to go around two in the oncoming lane, you (often) don't have enough room to go around one while leaving the three-foot space required by law.
I don't know if that's the logic behind the law, though; I wouldn't be surprised if it was originally written to match the law for motorcycles.
ceo
Active member
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- Apr 1, 2009
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As a former Boston bike commuter, I interpret "must generally ride as close to the right side of the road as is safe" as "take the lane if you're going almost as fast as the cars and it's unsafe for them to pass you". I actually felt safer riding on Boston streets than I do on 2-lane roads in the country, because the speed differential is a lot less and drivers are used to dealing with bikes as part of traffic.
To brutally wrench this thread back on topic, I've always had a lot of respect for Jon Schaefer (met him a few years ago when he gave me a ride from the Berkshire East satellite lot to the base lodge) and I'm looking forward to seeing what he and his team do for Burke.
To brutally wrench this thread back on topic, I've always had a lot of respect for Jon Schaefer (met him a few years ago when he gave me a ride from the Berkshire East satellite lot to the base lodge) and I'm looking forward to seeing what he and his team do for Burke.
Some updates from Jon Schaefer:
https://skiburke.com/snowmaking-update
https://skiburke.com/snowmaking-update
They have a new GM as well….
www.saminfo.com
Porter-Henry Named as Burke Mountain General Manager
SAM Magazine—East Burke, Vt., Nov. 19, 2025—Burke Mountain Resort has named industry veteran Gabe Porter-Henry as its new general manager, effective Dec. 1
slatham
Well-known member
Great communication and transparency. Sugarbush should take note.
Given the weather today and for the next 5 days or so I think they’ll have flows to draw off the River for the next run of snowmaking.
Given the weather today and for the next 5 days or so I think they’ll have flows to draw off the River for the next run of snowmaking.
Burke Mountain faces snowmaking struggles
While Vermont ski resorts report strong early-season conditions, Burke Mountain is struggling to begin its season due to water access issues.
machski
Well-known member
Sounds like someone (as in new ownership) tossed the first amount of big $$$ at the wrong end of the snowmaking system. Sounds like they need to invest in storage first to utilize all those fancy new pipes, pumps, valves and guns.Burke Mountain faces snowmaking struggles
While Vermont ski resorts report strong early-season conditions, Burke Mountain is struggling to begin its season due to water access issues.www.wcax.com
No, they need another source of water. The drought is really bad up there now.
Zap71
Member
Anyone know how many gallons their snowmaking pond storage is ? Does not look to big to me. Any other ponds nearby that could be pumped from in the future.
Don’t know. They refill it from the river.
That's a years long process of cutting through bureaucratic red tape and permits in Vermont to actually getting the project done. Nothing wrong with that initial investment which will have an immediate impact and needed to happen
machski
Well-known member
Only will have an immediate impact if they have water to push through that investment. Perhaps I should have said I hope some of their spend this year is on initial plans/permit process to increase storage. Problem here is if they didn't evaluate that need correctly and budget it in, all the spend on the production side may limit their ability to build out storage in the near term. And without that, they won't be able to take full advantage of the on hill spend.
millerm277
Active member
The NEK had the 2nd driest summer in recorded history. I am not sure anyone could really have planned for nearly the worst drought ever recorded in the region.
The stream gauges both upstream and downstream of Burke's intake have been largely below 10th percentile flows for the date for months. I am not sure if they've had any sustained opportunities to draw water from the river and actually fill the pond. (or what the min flows their permits allow are - as far as I can tell their Act 250 filings are old enough that none of the documentation is online).
It's also worth mentioning in comparison with elsewhere - the NEK is still considered to be in a more severe state of drought than the rest of VT is, and it's still very visible on the streamflows in the region. Conditions have improved from the worst of the drought, but they're still not as recovered from the weather this fall as the rest of the state is.
USGS | National Water Dashboard
Access river level and other water information and weather conditions in your neighborhood! A map viewer showing real-time river level and water data collected at U.S. Geological Survey observation stations in context with weather-related data from other public sources.
Current Map | U.S. Drought Monitor
So - maybe they do need a bigger pond, but I'm not really sure the pond is even the problem they're dealing with here - bigger pond clearly doesn't help if you haven't been able to fill the current pond in the first place.
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Jon Schafer certainly knows how to run a ski area and a snowmaking system, so I'm reasonably confident that they've got a sensible investment plan/read on Burke's needs - this isn't one of the "guy with money but no experience buys a ski area and doesn't know what he's doing" situations.
Smellytele
Well-known member
I heard they were going to build a pond down by the river so they can pull into the one when they are able then pump up to the smaller pond on the hill.