Burke Mountain 2009-03-28

[WoodCore]

Date(s) Visited: March 28, 2009

Ski Area: Burke Mountain, East Burke, VT

Conditions: Soft spring snow on the groomed terrain and some nice corn elsewhere

Trip Report: I've been skiing consistently some 30+ years and have visited most places to ski in the Northeast, both operating and lost but somehow, this gem in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont had eluded me until this weekend.

Saturday was my first day ever skiing at Burke and what a great experience it was. The snow was a little firm and the skies cloudy when I ventured out on the hill in the morning but after a few runs the snow quickly corned, the clouds disappeared and the deep blue sky emerged creating a great day of spring skiing.

Although this was my first day on the trails of Burke Mountain and didn't get a chance to experience the mountain in peak mid-winter conditions it really didn't matter. All aspects of my visit this weekend were positive and so looking forward to visiting again next winter. Still asking myself why I haven't been to Burke before this weekend.

On a side note, I did have some time (and a tour guide) to scope out by car some of the Kingdom Mtn bike trails this weekend and WOW! they look great.

Anyway, here's some pictures.....

The Poma

Trees

The J-Bar

Enjoy!

 

[carbonXshell]

Thanks for the TR, good pictures. Looks like a nice place.

 

[deadheadskier]

Had my first day at Burke as well this weekend, though it was on Sunday. It was a short session due to the rain and my legs being fairly wiped out from Sugarbush the day prior. Got a good feel for the place though and will definitely be back for a couple days during mid winter next season. Skied one of the glades, Caveman, out in the East Bowl section of the mountain. Even though it was very thin, it was still quite nice.

Made some runs with fromtheNEK, great guy and an excellent skier. I was really surprised how quick you can get over there from Stowe, only an hour and a half. It will probably be my go to mountain on Saturdays in Vermont to avoid crowds.

 

[thetrailboss]

I was there on Saturday as well with the Dawn Patrol. Had I known you were skiing there I would have taken a few runs with you. Saturday was one of the best days of my season. Everything was skiing great.

 

[from_the_NEK]

Beautiful day!
I got to the mountain at 8:30 and complete registration for Pond Skimming by 9:15. Hit the slopes until 11:40 before heading to the truck to put on my costume. I saw TrailBoss on Lower Fox's while I was on the lift. The 2.5 hours of sking were excellent. I ducked into the lower 2/3rds of the slot to find great deep coverage but since it hadn't been skied since the last freeze, the corn surface was bootop deep. This made jump turning necessary and not much fun.

Onto the pond skimming. the costume theme was Cartoon Characters so I dressed up as Daffy Duck. I ended up winning 3rd place in the costume category.

You can't ask for better pond skimming conditions. Bright sun, light winds, mid-50's. The spectator crowd grew to several thousand. My picture is from before the start of competition.

I don't have any pics of myself crossing the pond but I did get a long distance shot of this guy.

I ended up in second place (no prize for runner-up this year :-( ) The snow boarder that has won the last three years has perfect technique.


Sunday I made a few runs with DHS. I had a great time showing him around. The weather was definitely less than desireable. I was getting rather cold and wet after 2 hours of skiing. The coverage was still really good. In retrospect I should have chosen Throbulator over Caveman but when things are melting it it hard to guess correctly.
Hope to see you up there again DHS.
Found out some interesting information about the Ginn Company while we were on the chairlift as well. Long story short, I don't think there is going to be any new money put into the mtn this year.

 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

Great pictures..one of these seasons I need to get to Burke...the mountain looks totally legit!!!