Jim Bauman
New member
Burlington's 1/2" dusting was at least 4" of fluff of Bolton, with more coming at various points during the day. <BR> <BR>It was the first time I'd skied Bolton in such good snow conditions, and what can I say, this place has the goods in the lift-served area, but they just on a smaller and tamer scale than those at other places like Smuggs, MRG, and Stowe. The Timberline chair (which only runs Thursday through Sunday) seemed to be the place to be. At noon I was still humming through mid-boot fluff down some fairly wide and steep boulevards. It was the kind of snow that didn't slow you up any once you got going, but was so soft and forgiving that you really didn't care. <BR> <BR>My ski school host showed me "Solitude," and old Deslauriers crafted jem to skier's left off of the top of Timberline. A very entertaining run, with more elbow room than an off the map run should be allowed to have. Lots of powder for everyone, and a cool-oh bobsled track run out with some major whoops and blind turns thrown in for good measure. Great fun. Second time around my buddy got a quick, "That's out of bounds, you know!" from the patroller chilling out at the bottom, but no real harm done. There's definitely a rope at the top, so enjoy at your own risk! <BR> <BR>Only other real treats found were the Preacher woods, which are seemingly the steepest inbound run at Bolton, (never did get to Lost Boys) and are essentially a short but challenging woods shot that gets pretty skied up. Show Off, under the Vista chair, is in good shape, though rocks and ice floes lurked pretty close to the surface, courtesy of countless zambonis, skiboards, and windshield wipers. Other than that, I ventured into Snow Hole, a tough summer mtn. biking trail with an obvious entrance about halfway down the skier's right-most downhill trail on the lift-served map, and what would be a very tough descent on XC gear, indeed. In Alpine gear, though, it was a quick romp through mostly bobsledesque, narrow and moderately pitched terrain that dumps you out near the groomer garage. <BR> <BR>Got a brief but fun snowshoe tour in the afternoon, through a briefly heavy snow squall. Bolton would be a great choice for some low competition boot top to mid-shin powder tomorrow, if anyone's interested. The snow was still falling when I left at 4:30... <BR> <BR>Of interest to teleheads: Bolton is having a pseduo-telefest next Sunday, March 4th with super cheap lift tickets, rentals, demos, and lessons. You can get a B/C tour, or ski lift-served (the freeheelers are "taking over" one of the lifts), or just check out the equipment, and drink Kross Brewery microbrews afterwards. Whole thing starts at 9:00 a.m. <BR> <BR>Really, the huge backcountry trail network at Bolton really makes me want to get back at learning tele. Alpiners and boarders can really only nibble on the nordic network, and even that is not allowed, technically. The snow in there is amazing right now, and many of the trees in there are very skiable. It's so vast, and so dang close to Burlington...