Trip W/Girlfriend To Burke A Success!

[masshole]

So after great advice from many people on this forum I decided to take my GF to Burke Mtn. for a three day ski vacation last week. We had an awesome time.

We arrived Tuesday night January 3rd and stayed at the Wildflower Inn. A little bit about The Wildflower Inn. It had everything I was looking for, small, quiet, beautiful surroundings and excellent food. The best part about the food was the free breakfast they include in your stay. It is not just a continental breakfast either, you can order whatever you want, which was a nice touch. A great place to take your significant other.

We rented our Ski's at East Burke Sports on Wednesday morning and got a great deal. You can rent skis there at half the cost of renting them at Burke. They were Atomic's and they worked and fit great.

Wednesday Jan. 4th(first day)


Was dissapointed that Burke had decided to count this day as a peak day and charge us full price for the lift tickets. This was very annoying. The other annoying thing was the lower Burke lodge not having any tap water available. Even the water fountain was broken. It seemed like a marketing scam to me, trying to get us to pay $3.50 for a tiny bottle of water. We decided to go out and buy a gallon for $1.59 at the gas station and check it with our bags.

We arrived at the Mtn. around 9:30 on Wednesday morning and signed up for a group lesson at 10. We went out to our lesson and like everyone said, we were the only two people signed up

We learned some valuable fundamentals and after an hour and half we felt comfortable enough to ski all the lower mountain trails on our own. Our instructor was very helpful and got us going in the right direction.

We spent the day skiing the lower mountain and had a blast. All the trails were perfect for us, not to hard, but still fun. We got better and better as the day went on. In hindsight, the conditions on Wednesday were not the best but we didn't realize until the next day when there was fresh powder on the trails.

Thursday January 5th(fresh powder! and we make a big mistake )

We again showed up around 9:30am and found fresh powder on all the lower mountain trails. It was also snowing for most of the day. The trails were much better with all the powder on them but they weren't great because they hadn't been groomed. We still had fun in all the powder and became very comfortable skiing the lower mountain. By lunchtime we felt very confident on all of the lower mountain trails. So after lunch we decided to head to the top. We heard from our instructor that Deer Run was a nice easy trail so we decided to head down that one. It went well until we crossed over the Big Dipper and took a wrong turn. We went towards Mountain Marsh, Lower Doug's Drop, and McHarg's cutoff by mistake. Realizing our mistake we decided to go back and not risk getting hurt trying those trails. It turned out to be a VERY tiring trip back to Deer Run. Hiking through the snow in ski boots is not an easy task, not to mention arguing about who got us lost :argue: . Let's just say it was not fun

We got back and finished Deer Run(which was a very easy trail) and decided we would stay away from the top of the Mtn. for the time being. We finished the day having a blast on the lower mountain. It snowed most of the day, and the all the trails had fresh powder.

Friday January 6th(best ski conditions)

We showed up around 10am on Friday morning and felt the best of the three days. We immediately felt very comfortable and the ski conditions were excellent. They must have groomed the trails on Thursday night because they were all in great condition. After 7 or 8 runs on the lower Mtn. we felt ready to take the trip to the top again. We went down Deer Run a few times before lunch and it was very enjoyable and well groomed. We were feeling more comfortable at the top. We had also passed over Big Dipper a few times and had always stopped to take a glance at the trail. After lunch we were feeling very comfortable on our skis and decided we would be adventurous and try Big Dipper. We decided we would take Deer Run until it crossed over Big Dipper and when it did we would take Big Dipper the rest of the way down. This worked well and we had a blast on Big Dipper, it was fun and exhilirating because we were pushing our limits a little bit. We both felt very comfortable with it so we did the same run(Deer Run to Big Dipper) a few more times and it was worth it. We finished the day on the lower Mtn before packing our car and going home. In hindsight we would have liked to try some other trails on the Upper Mtn. but we had no idea what trails would be suitable for our skill level. Hopefully I can get some recommendations before we go next time.

So overall our trip was a complete success and I was very pleased with what Burke Mtn. had to offer and I love the atmosphere. The place was completely empty and we had all the trails to ourselves, which was great. We never once had to wait in a lift line.

I would highly recommend Burke for any couple looking for a romantic ski vacation. We certaintly will be going back!

Thanks to everyone here for the great advice! :beer:

 

[LVNLARG]

Hee Hee....great story....I can just imagine the big mistake :argue: lol. The sweatier you got hiking...the more you :argue:.lol. Your story makes me wish I was new and discovering skiing for the first time :beer:

 

[NYDrew]

thats a trip report for the hall of fame.

congrats man, your first ski trip was also a total success.

 

[BeanoNYC]

Excellent! I'm glad you had a good time and caught the skiing "bug." Hopefully you'll have many more trip reports to come. Did you get any pictures for us?

Keep posting!

 

[riverc0il]

excellent! if you were able to get down big dipper on your third day, you should be able to get down any blue square on the mountain. willoughby and bear den would certainly be great wide open trails from the summit to try your next time at burke. not sure about that water issue on your first day, but there is not a ski area out there not charging at least $3 for water even when the pipes freeze up for a day. you had the right idea by bringing your own. strange that they didn't groom out the powder on the lower mountain, beginner trails usually get groomed every night regardless how powder. glad you folks enjoyed burke!

 

[Marc]

This could be a bitersweet trip for you. Yes you had a good time, but now you have an addiction to which, if you are anything like the rest of us, you will now be a slave.

8)

Ok, so I lied, it's mostly sweet. There's a sign up on a lift pole at Snow that rings so true, "The better you get, the better it gets."

The best part will be when you've reached a point where you will say the powder day was the best day and you were thrilled that they didn't groom.

:beer:

 

[thetrailboss]

Awesome report. Glad to hear that things worked out! :beer: Some comments:

We arrived Tuesday night January 3rd and stayed at the Wildflower Inn. A little bit about The Wildflower Inn. It had everything I was looking for, small, quiet, beautiful surroundings and excellent food. The best part about the food was the free breakfast they include in your stay. It is not just a continental breakfast either, you can order whatever you want, which was a nice touch. A great place to take your significant other.

Awesome! It is a nice place. Must have been quiet.

We rented our Ski's at East Burke Sports on Wednesday morning and got a great deal. You can rent skis there at half the cost of renting them at Burke. They were Atomic's and they worked and fit great.

:beer: Small shop but good service. Glad that worked out for you. If you're into biking, this is the biking mecca of VT.

Wednesday Jan. 4th(first day)


Was dissapointed that Burke had decided to count this day as a peak day and charge us full price for the lift tickets. This was very annoying.

:blink: Whoa. Something is wrong here. So they charged you $52 per person? Wednesday wasn't even a Canadian holiday :lol: Should have been $42. At $52 though it is cheaper than many place's midweek rates (which is sad).

The other annoying thing was the lower Burke lodge not having any tap water available. Even the water fountain was broken. It seemed like a marketing scam to me, trying to get us to pay $3.50 for a tiny bottle of water. We decided to go out and buy a gallon for $1.59 at the gas station and check it with our bags.

:blink: This was another thing that I noticed as well...the waterfountain mysteriously broke during a busy week and nobody fixed it? I thought that was kind of odd. MidBurke still has free water though :wink:

We arrived at the Mtn. around 9:30 on Wednesday morning and signed up for a group lesson at 10. We went out to our lesson and like everyone said, we were the only two people signed up

We learned some valuable fundamentals and after an hour and half we felt comfortable enough to ski all the lower mountain trails on our own. Our instructor was very helpful and got us going in the right direction.

Great lesson it sounds like. Who was the instructor? Did you only take one lesson?

In hindsight, the conditions on Wednesday were not the best but we didn't realize until the next day when there was fresh powder on the trails.

Yes, it was an uphill battle with the warm temps up there...

Thursday January 5th(fresh powder! and we make a big mistake )

We again showed up around 9:30am and found fresh powder on all the lower mountain trails. It was also snowing for most of the day. The trails were much better with all the powder on them but they weren't great because they hadn't been groomed.

They probably had been groomed but before the snows came, which basicially meant that it was still powder skiing for a newbie. They used to take a second pass before opening.

We still had fun in all the powder and became very comfortable skiing the lower mountain. By lunchtime we felt very confident on all of the lower mountain trails. So after lunch we decided to head to the top. We heard from our instructor that Deer Run was a nice easy trail so we decided to head down that one. It went well until we crossed over the Big Dipper and took a wrong turn. We went towards Mountain Marsh, Lower Doug's Drop, and McHarg's cutoff by mistake. Realizing our mistake we decided to go back and not risk getting hurt trying those trails. It turned out to be a VERY tiring trip back to Deer Run. Hiking through the snow in ski boots is not an easy task, not to mention arguing about who got us lost :argue: . Let's just say it was not fun

Yep, for a first timer to Burke, it is very easy to get lost and I know exactly where you were. Very confusing trail. FYI had Mountain Marsh been groomed, you could have easily handled it but it wasn't.

We got back and finished Deer Run(which was a very easy trail) and decided we would stay away from the top of the Mtn. for the time being. We finished the day having a blast on the lower mountain. It snowed most of the day, and the all the trails had fresh powder.

Don't worry--I hit the goods for you on Thursday on the Upper Mountain. I should have given you my cell so I could have shown you around.

We showed up around 10am on Friday morning and felt the best of the three days. We immediately felt very comfortable and the ski conditions were excellent. They must have groomed the trails on Thursday night because they were all in great condition. After 7 or 8 runs on the lower Mtn. we felt ready to take the trip to the top again. We went down Deer Run a few times before lunch and it was very enjoyable and well groomed. We were feeling more comfortable at the top. We had also passed over Big Dipper a few times and had always stopped to take a glance at the trail. After lunch we were feeling very comfortable on our skis and decided we would be adventurous and try Big Dipper. We decided we would take Deer Run until it crossed over Big Dipper and when it did we would take Big Dipper the rest of the way down. This worked well and we had a blast on Big Dipper, it was fun and exhilirating because we were pushing our limits a little bit. We both felt very comfortable with it so we did the same run(Deer Run to Big Dipper) a few more times and it was worth it. We finished the day on the lower Mtn before packing our car and going home. In hindsight we would have liked to try some other trails on the Upper Mtn. but we had no idea what trails would be suitable for our skill level. Hopefully I can get some recommendations before we go next time.

Yes, Willoughby first and then maybe Powderhorn, Carriage Road. Now that you've skied Dipper, you can probably ski a single black at most other places.

...pleased with what Burke Mtn. had to offer and I love the atmosphere. The place was completely empty and we had all the trails to ourselves, which was great. We never once had to wait in a lift line.

I would highly recommend Burke for any couple looking for a romantic ski vacation. We certaintly will be going back!

Thanks to everyone here for the great advice! :beer:

Awesome! :beer:

 

[NHpowderhound]

Glad you had a great time. Drop us a line if you need any more help. Lots of very knowledgable posters on this board who love helping folks with skiing questions.
((*
*))NHPH

 

[SkiDork]

skiing rules!

 

[Greg]

Great follow-up thread and great responses. Threads like this is what I love about AZers. Congrats on discovering a new passion, but as Marc said, it will likely become an addition. Sounds like you did all the right things to introduce yourself to the sport.

Definitely try to get out a few more times this season. Judging by your username, I'm going to guess you guys are in Mass. Check out Bekshire East. It's a generally uncrowded and inexpensive hill so it's a great day trip option for you guys. The terrain under the west Quad will be perfect for you to get your ski legs back. Then head to the summit on the triple and try some trails like Big Chief and Mohawk. Weekend rates are only $45.

 

[riverc0il]

nice avatar by the way!

 

[thetrailboss]

nice avatar by the way!

I agree!

 

[masshole]

About the lift tickets on Wednesday. We bought our tickets through the Wildflower Inn because they gave us a discount. When I showed up Wednesday morning she told me the tickets were full/peak price. I told her that didn't sound right, and she agreed. So she called Burke and they confirmed the tickets were full/peak price that day. They were trying to say that it was still Christmas vacation or something like that. Whatever they said, it was a scam charging that much on a Wednesday during a non-vacation week.

Oh well, everything else was great

 

[thetrailboss]

About the lift tickets on Wednesday. We bought our tickets through the Wildflower Inn because they gave us a discount. When I showed up Wednesday morning she told me the tickets were full/peak price. I told her that didn't sound right, and she agreed. So she called Burke and they confirmed the tickets were full/peak price that day. They were trying to say that it was still Christmas vacation or something like that. Whatever they said, it was a scam charging that much on a Wednesday during a non-vacation week.

Oh well, everything else was great

I checked the fee schedule at Burke and saw that they extended it to Jan 4th. Why I don't know. Nobody was off that day. We were at Sunapee on the 3rd and it was dead. Nonholiday there. Cannon was non-holiday on Jan 2nd as well. :blink:

 

[riverc0il]

They were trying to say that it was still Christmas vacation or something like that.

a lot of ski resorts extend holiday weeks a few extra days in each direction. i am less surprised that it actually happened but more surprised it happened at burke. that's the business though, unfortunately. again, maybe not all resorts were doing this on the 4th, but it isn't surprising that some were.

 

[MikeTrainor]

nice! I really have to give burke a try

 

[SkiDork]

About the lift tickets on Wednesday. We bought our tickets through the Wildflower Inn because they gave us a discount. When I showed up Wednesday morning she told me the tickets were full/peak price. I told her that didn't sound right, and she agreed. So she called Burke and they confirmed the tickets were full/peak price that day. They were trying to say that it was still Christmas vacation or something like that. Whatever they said, it was a scam charging that much on a Wednesday during a non-vacation week.

Oh well, everything else was great

I checked the fee schedule at Burke and saw that they extended it to Jan 4th. Why I don't know. Nobody was off that day. We were at Sunapee on the 3rd and it was dead. Nonholiday there. Cannon was non-holiday on Jan 2nd as well. :blink:

I would have tried to talk to the highest possible manager to "rattle his cage" a bit and find out why the dumb money soaking techniques were in place...

But thats just me... I'm a Dork anyway...

 

[Greg]

I would have tried to talk to the highest possible manager to "rattle his cage" a bit and find out why the dumb money soaking techniques were in place...

I'm a big believer in picking one's battles. For me, the time wasted trying to find out why the higher pricing was in place with no definite chance of getting the non-holiday rate is not worth the 10 bucks.

 

[riverc0il]

i agree with greg. doing so also makes you look like 'that guy' that everyone :roll: at.

 

[SkiDork]

I would have tried to talk to the highest possible manager to "rattle his cage" a bit and find out why the dumb money soaking techniques were in place...

I'm a big believer in picking one's battles. For me, the time wasted trying to find out why the higher pricing was in place with no definite chance of getting the non-holiday rate is not worth the 10 bucks.

I guess you're right - I have a lifetime bond pass to Killington and haven't been to a ticket window in years. This Sunday I'll be going to a ticket window at Hunter for the first time in some time. Hopefully they won't give me the business...