Is Bolton Valley worth checking out?

billski said:

Why does Smuggs offer a 1-ride ticket? The best I can think is for the Smuggs vacationer wanting to spend a day at Stowe.

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They both once had a reciprocal agreement and it did favor Smuggs skiers. Skiers could go to either side. I think that DHS was talking about the informal "OK, you can get one ride up to get back" agreement they once had. I do recall there being a formal agreement and the connector trails being on the map.

thetrailboss said:

They both once had a reciprocal agreement and it did favor Smuggs skiers. Skiers could go to either side. I think that DHS was talking about the informal "OK, you can get one ride up to get back" agreement they once had. I do recall there being a formal agreement and the connector trails being on the map.

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Yes, the agreement was formal, it was not promoted and yes, I availed myself of it several times like others. It just seems interesting to me that they one resort would still sell a 1-ride ticket if the other side was not doing the same. I also understand the path is no longer formally checked as it once had been, and each tramper is on their own.

Unless of course the 1-ride ticket is for the BC enthusiast to go places where no man has gone before

jerryg said:

Any ski area is worth checking out!

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+1 and Bolton has a fairly high base elevation and the snow up there can be good. Last time I was there it was a 10" powder day and it was plenty entertaining.

Alex

Lake Hopatcong, NJ

thetrailboss said:

Again, you could skin/snowshoe up Route 108 and get to Smuggs and then at the end of the day ski back down Spruce to Stowe side.

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you could, but that would take as long as the drive around. It's probably 4 miles between Spruce Base and Madonna with most of the uphill portion falling on the Stowe side.

deadheadskier said:

you could, but that would take as long as the drive around. It's probably 4 miles between Spruce Base and Madonna with most of the uphill portion falling on the Stowe side.

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Plus it would be tough to convince my lazy ski-once-a-year friends to make the trek. I would rather save my credits for trying to convince them to hike above the Stowe gondola and ski noze dive or something.

Even that is a stretch with occasional skier types...

koreshot said:

I would rather save my credits for trying to convince them to hike above the Stowe gondola and ski noze dive or something.

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you mean chin?

tarponhead said:

you mean chin?

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Yes, I think thats what I meant. Deadhead just PMed me the same thing

I did a few runs off the top of Mansfield a few years ago... they went along the resort and eventually joined up with what I think was the some runs on Spruce or a blue on the Gondola side, like the Chin Clip runout or something.

The top of the run in Mansfield starts off with a pretty narrow coloir-ish 200 vert feet, then gets wider and has small trees and a few ice falls. Then it turns flatish and then dumps you into pretty thick woods. Is that "chin"?

koreshot said:

The top of the run in Mansfield starts off with a pretty narrow coloir-ish 200 vert feet, then gets wider and has small trees and a few ice falls. Then it turns flatish and then dumps you into pretty thick woods. Is that "chin"?

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believe me, I'm the last guy who would be able to tell you. I only know the chin clip (bump run) skiiers left from gondola. love nosedive though

I had a great time at Bolton and was not bored at all. I went for one of the holiday weekends during early 08 I believe, and there was nary a lift line. Its not a big mountain but I disagree that it was that flat. I wouldn't call it steep, but the tree skiing was quite good and the pitch in the trees was enough to make my gf cry, at one point. The trail skiing was not as challenging, the fun is definitely in the woods and the night skiing.

jaywbigred, I must strongly disagree about Bolton not being flat. It is the LAST mountain I would want to be on a big powder day. The place is flat to the point that it would be difficult to gain momentum on a big powder day. The place makes Tenney seem steep. Probably overall one of the flattest mountains that I have ever skied.

Yeah, Bolton sucks. Don't go there. I mean empty chairs on a Saturday powder day...... Who needs that crap........
I agree with jaywbigred.
They have trails?
Try it, befriend some locals..............

reefer said:

Yeah, Bolton sucks. Don't go there. I mean empty chairs on a Saturday powder day...... Who needs that crap........
I agree with jaywbigred.
They have trails?
Try it, befriend some locals..............

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I never dis mountains, even if I don't like them. People vote with their feet. If it was that bad, they'd be out of business. Different strokes for different folks...

reefer said:

Yeah, Bolton sucks. Don't go there. I mean empty chairs on a Saturday powder day...... Who needs that crap........
I agree with jaywbigred.
They have trails?
Try it, befriend some locals..............

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For the record, me calling Bolton 'flat' is not dissing the place. The OP said he was looking for 'steeper the better'. Steep, Bolton is Not. Next to Cochran and Quechee Lakes, it's probably the flattest ski area in the State of VT. It does have positive attributes, I have had good times there.

deadheadskier said:

, I have had good times there.

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Yep. My daughter won a case of Mountain Dew in a drawing last year. I think the stuff sat
in the garage until mid summer...

Just seconding an earlier post - while not the steepest, it does get a sh1tload of under reported snow.....and defintly a mellow old school vibe......if you are up during a lake effect cycle - its worth at least a day exploring.....

.02

billski said:

Yep. My daughter won a case of Mountain Dew in a drawing last year. I think the stuff sat
in the garage until mid summer...

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eeeew..

I visited Bolton Valley for the first time last winter after they got 3 feet of snow - more than any other VT resort that week. I believe it was 2/22, 2/23. We decided to check it out b/c of the amount of snow they were reporting. Well, they weren't lying! It was some of the best skiing all season, and they got another 3 feet by the following Wed, so I went back for a day trip. Yep, I drove 3 1/2 hours for a day trip and WOW! It was AWESOME! Unfortunately, I lost my camera the previous trip, so no pics, but reefer was there the same w/e, so see his pics. I also read a post on alpine zone and saved one of those pics for my desktop.

True, they don't have any extreme steeps, but on a POWDAH day, any advanced slope is plenty steep! Not to mention the Tree runs had some nice cliff drops if you dare to go into them off the midstation off ramp. The locals were more than happy to divulge the secret Tree runs not on the trail map. All trees are open all the time, and most don't have signs marking them. Ask a local, they'll point you in the right direction. If you like trees, you will not be disappointed at BV.

Now, let's talk price and hours.. with my Vermont ski club card, I got $10 off my lift ticket on super value wed. We both paid only $29 to ski from 8am to 8pm! YEP, 12 hours of skiing for only $29, or $39 if you don't have that card. The best part of the days were sitting on the picnic table watching the sunset at 6:30 while taking a break and recalling the day's power runs and cliff drops. Wed-Sat they're open 8-8!

So, say what you want about BV, but I promise, you only WISH you could have been there the 3 days we were last Feb '09. My advice, Follow the snow....unless you don't like skiing POWDAH!

riverc0il said:

jaywbigred, I must strongly disagree about Bolton not being flat. It is the LAST mountain I would want to be on a big powder day. The place is flat to the point that it would be difficult to gain momentum on a big powder day. The place makes Tenney seem steep. Probably overall one of the flattest mountains that I have ever skied.

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Rivercoil, you are entitled to your opinion, but I def. disagree with you. It is not a steep mountain, but I think you are exaggerating a little bit. Now compared to its northern neighbors, it isn't steep, but compared to many, many other east coast mountains? I'd say it is average at worst. Comparable to some southern Vermont mountains for overall steepness, maybe Okemo-Stratton-Bromley? It certainly is not so flat that it is almost unskiable on a powder day, as you seem to intimate. I think the other posters here have it right...it might be a touch boring if a) it hasn't snowed lately or b) you don't like trees.

I'm not even that into trees, and I had a good time at Bolton. I wouldn't buy a condo there, but its certainly worth a day, imo.

You obviously have NOT been to BV on a big Powdah day!

riverc0il said:

jaywbigred, I must strongly disagree about Bolton not being flat. It is the LAST mountain I would want to be on a big powder day. The place is flat to the point that it would be difficult to gain momentum on a big powder day. The place makes Tenney seem steep. Probably overall one of the flattest mountains that I have ever skied.

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Koreshot, Trust me on this one. YOU WANT to be at BV on a Powder Day! Look at reefer's pics and tell me those trees aren't steep enough. I'm the skier in his first pic and I've skied every large resort in the East, so I've skied most of them on Powder day with the help of Reefer and his eye for storms and timing. Not steep enough for Powder? PA-LEASE! Listen to someone who's been there and done that, it was phenominal!

BTW- I ski 20-30 times/year in the East and most of them are POWDAH Days!

See my other post for details on how to work the mountain. The best Tree runs aren't even marked on the trail map. For example, Take the Timberline Quad, get off at mid-station, go straight ahead off the lift, towards upper mountain as it goes downhill. Take the trail(about 20' wide) to the left going into the woods, then take another left about 100 yards into the woods. Follow tracks if you see them! CAUTION- do NOT go into this trail unless you're an expert skier. Are you familiar with the waterfall at MRG to get into Paradise? Well that's nothing compared to BV cliffs...

One word to describe it: WOOOHOOOOO!!!! I'm just sayin....