Bolton Valley?

Bolton always seems to have an enticing price for lift tickets on Liftopia. Just wondering how it compares to other Northern VT ski areas. I do love Jay and would like to check out Burke, Stowe kinda turns me off w/ there high ticket prices, not sure about Smuggs either. I'd just like to hear what other AZers have to say about Bolton before I make a Liftopia commitment. I'm looking for an area w/ good glades to ski and a centralized location to stay to possibly hit more than one area for an extended weekend. Thanx for any input.

Really fun place. I did the $22 Liftopia ticket in January. I'd hit it again for that price.

http://forums.alpinezone.com/showthread.php?t=70018

Highest base elevation in VT. They get good snow. Bottom 1/3 of the mtn is really flat. There is some really fun stuff there though, and access to good Back Country via the woodard and bolton/trapp trails.

I've skied there every year for the past five years with my family. On the weekend, it gets the families from Burlington, big-time. I would say in general it's an intermediate's mountain, with a few challenges here and there. I take my family here instead of Stowe because they will never ski on most of the terrain at Stowe, Jay or Bush. Besides, I can ski at BV for 1/3 the price. When you're buying tix for six people, it adds up fast. Where there are a few challenging blacks, they are generally short but sweet. For the most part, you won't come home with rubber legs.

Now, in terms of snowfall and conditions, it's hard to beat. They're right up there with Stowe and Jay. You can find powder quite often at BV.

In terms of slack country - there is a little bit, but it's mostly short things, here and there in between the trails.

In terms of back country (you'll need AT gear) the backside of BV, bordering on the XC network is simply awesome. Deep and untracked, but don't go unless you're well-prepared. Look up reports from J. Spin. He's out there a few times each week.

The BV access road is worth the price of admission - it's often a white-knuckle ride up there.

The Lodge is pretty old--time, a bit drafty,and staffed by local kids. Good vides. Hey, did you know your day ticket is good through the night skiing hours? That's quite the value!

From BV, you are about 20-30 mins to Stowe, MRG and Bush. Jay would be about 1.25 hours. You could even jump down the road to Cochrans to see a little history in the making. They all are great choices, but BV Stowe and Jay have been in the snow sweet spot this year. You're only about 20 mins from the Golden Lion. And, there are some good eats and drinks down the road in Waterbury - not a big happening town, but a great value and good food.

Thanx, sounds like it should be on the checklist.

billski said:

The BV access road is worth the price of admission - it's often a white-knuckle ride up there.

Hey, did you know your day ticket is good through the night skiing hours? That's quite the value!.

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Yeah, the access road was an interesting drive up for sure. I did the night skiing while I was there...brrrr and c-o-l-d but a lot of fun. I'd love to do that again in March/April. If you time it right, you can score some fresh cord as they do a mid-day grooming around 3ish.