Where to ski near Charlotte, VT?

[PomfretPlunge]

Hiya folks. A colleague of mine just moved to our Burlington, VT office and is living in Charlotte, VT. He wonders where's the most convenient family-type place to ski near Charlotte? He's about 20min south of Burlington.

 

[ski_resort_observer]

30 min to Middlebury Ski Bowl, 40 min to MRG, 50min to the Bush, 45min to Bolton. Abit further to Smuggs and Stowe.

 

[deadheadskier]

...and oddly, most people don't think of MRG as a family type place, but it really is. I'm always surprised by the number of families there whenever I go.

Only challenges with Middlebury Snow Bowl, MRG and Bush are the notches you need to travel over to get to them. pretty white knuckle in bad weather.

 

[thetrailboss]

Pretty much what SRO said. Bolton is popular with the Chittenden County Crowd, but its access road is terrible as well.

If the kids are at all into racing, look into Cochran's. It is a small community hill in Richmond, but very tight knit.

Midd Snowbowl is a good deal, especially with the new triple going in, but it is probably the furthest of those options.

 

[PomfretPlunge]

Thanxx, I'll pass the info along. See y'all up at K or the Bush in November I hope.

 

[billski]

Pretty much what SRO said. Bolton is popular with the Chittenden County Crowd, but its access road is terrible as well.

Aw, c'mon, BV access road is EXCITING!
You'll have an awesome story to tell if you make it up down without assistance! ;-)

 

[thetrailboss]

I drove up there for the ski swap on Friday and had forgotten how bad that road is. It made me go :blink: to wonder why Ralph DesLauriers put the area up so high when he could have had that much more vertical drop for skiing. In fact, I almost wonder if you drive up more vert from 89 than you ski :lol:

The ski swap was decent. Prices on clothing were cheap, on skis and other goods they were high. The folks from BV were pushing passes and doing their best. When asked, I did not have the heart to confess that I was an SB passholder.

They've done a great job saving the area and trying to make something out of it. The place had been hurting for some time and was pretty much NELSAP for a while. It did not open for one season. The new quad looks nice and they now have the monopoly on night skiing.

 

[deadheadskier]

crazy access road aside, I've always thought the one thing and only thing BV needs to be a smashing success is a highway exit. You cut the ride down from 45 minutes to 25 from Burlington and I bet skier visits go up by 30% easy.

 

[thetrailboss]

crazy access road aside, I've always thought the one thing and only thing BV needs to be a smashing success is a highway exit. You cut the ride down from 45 minutes to 25 from Burlington and I bet skier visits go up by 30% easy.

They lobbied the state many, many times for that exit and it still has not come.

 

[Highway Star]

I drove up there for the ski swap on Friday and had forgotten how bad that road is. It made me go :blink: to wonder why Ralph DesLauriers put the area up so high when he could have had that much more vertical drop for skiing. In fact, I almost wonder if you drive up more vert from 89 than you ski :lol:

crazy access road aside, I've always thought the one thing and only thing BV needs to be a smashing success is a highway exit. You cut the ride down from 45 minutes to 25 from Burlington and I bet skier visits go up by 30% easy.

Very interesting. I just looked at the map....their expansion options are staggering. If they could run lifts down to I-89 (400ft elevation) and to the top of Bolton Mountain (3,600 ft), they would have the biggest vertical drop in the east.

 

[St. Bear]

Very interesting. I just looked at the map....their expansion options are staggering. If they could run lifts down to I-89 (400ft elevation) and to the top of Bolton Mountain (3,600 ft), they would have the biggest vertical drop in the east.

I was looking at the map too, that would be an awfully long and painful runout down to I-89. I also didn't know that the ski area isn't actually on Bolton Mountain, but Ricker Mountain. If they ever expanded over to Bolton Mountain and connected the two, that would be bad ass.

/just basing this off looking at a topo map, I've never been to Bolton Valley and know nothing about Bolton Mountain and its ability to be skiable

 

[deadheadskier]

I haven't looked over topo maps extensively, but I'd imagine the big reason why expansion down to the road never occurred in Bolton's beginnings and would be difficult now is the river. It's a pretty tight valley down to the road where much of it is just road and river wedged between steep banks.

I've skied there a couple of times, swam in the river in the summer and never really noticed a feasable way of expanded down to 89......and I'm a dreamer concerning ski area expansion.

 

[deadheadskier]

They lobbied the state many, many times for that exit and it still has not come.

Doubtful it will ever get done. Too many NIMBY's in VT. Look how long the Circ Highway has stalled for.

 

[thetrailboss]

(Awaiting Google Earth Images with HS's expansion plans for Bolton Valley on them)

 

[ccskier]

I agree w/ Bolton, cool place. I remember when it closed, aroud 99 I think. Haven't been there in about 10 years but see it on the radar as a family mt for me now and again.

 

[Bubbartzky]

Aw, c'mon, BV access road is EXCITING!
You'll have an awesome story to tell if you make it up down without assistance! ;-)

It's only exciting on the way up. It's downright frightening on the way down. And that's in good weather. ;-)