"I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas..."

-Day 20 of 31-

"Vermont? Who cares? Who's going to Vermont?" 

"We are.  I mean, we should.  It'll do us a lot of good...all that snow and the fir trees and the clean, fresh air.  Oooh, great change of pace, just what we need!"



Exactly.  This year I've decided to head north for Christmas to visit my sister and her family in Stowe, Vermont.  I usually make it up to there at least twice each winter, mostly to ski.  I'm sure skiing will be on the agenda but spending some good time with my sister and my two nieces (skiing or otherwise) will definitely be a priority.


"Vermont should be beautiful this time of year, all that snow."

I'm not really looking forward to the drive (10.5 hours - solo) but I plan to leave really early Saturday and get in to town mid-afternoon (there's a chance I could leave tomorrow...we'll see).  I see a 5-Hour Energy or two and some Red Bulls in my future.  Flying this time just wasn't an option.  Either the flight was cheap and the rental car was super expensive or vice-versa.  As it is I'm seemingly driving "Santa's Sleigh" from Virginia; my parents and my sister down here gave me two rather large boxes full of presents for the Vermont family.

"Snow, snow, snow, snow, snow!"

Vermont has been getting a decent amount of the white, fluffy stuff so far this year.  The Mt. Mansfield area tends to see good snow when other areas don't.  Stowe Mountain Resort is on Mansfield while Smuggs Resort is on the other side of Smuggler's Notch.  However, the road up through the Notch is closed in winter.  So in order to get to Smuggs by driving, you have to go all the way around...about 45 min.  Or, you can ski or snowshoe up the snow covered road into the Notch and then down the other side...which is what I'll likely do since I'm a telemark skier.

"It won't be long before we'll all be there with snow..."

In addition to the lift-served resorts, there are literally hundreds of miles of trails in the area to cross country/backcountry ski and snowshoe.  So seeing as how Stowe Mtn Resort wants to charge nearly $90 for a single-day pass, we may stick to cross-country stuff and other resorts for most of the week.  Honestly though, $90 is crazy.  I've never paid that much out west.  Even Smuggs and Mad River Glen (maybe an hour south of Stowe) are much cheaper.  Bolton Valley (about 45 min away) is fun and reasonable for a family.  Stowe has good terrain, I will give them that.  Some of their glades (tree skiing) are fantastic, but not $90-a-day-fantastic.  Still, I know my sister has friends and can sometimes score passes and deals at different places so we'll see how it works out.


"We came up here for the snow.  Where're you keepin' it?"

The long-range forecast looks pretty good.  I may even see some snow on the way up.  Hopefully it all works out well and we can get some good skiing in.  My sister is on her second or third season of skiing now and is doing pretty well.  Of course my youngest niece is fearless at 5 years old and just cruises down the hill.  Her older sister prefers to snowboard and has gotten some excellent instruction the past few years.  She's even had a day of instruction on the mountain with Shaun White.  He happened to be one of her coach's former students and when her coach couldn't teach her that day, Shaun was in town and stepped in...pretty sweet!


"Sounds very Vermonty-y."

Mostly, it's just a nice week to chill out, relax, and drink some maple sugar liqueur.  Aside from a few family obligations with my sister, no plans are really set in stone and I can pretty much do what I want.  I like it better that way on a trip like this.  I can take off and go where I want and there's so much within a few hours drive.  Jay Peak in northern Vermont is about a 1 hour drive, the White Mountains in New Hampshire are about 2.5 hours away, and then there's cities like Burlington (1 hour) and Boston (2.5-3 hours).  Plenty of options and plenty to do.

I'll post some pics in the coming week.  I'm sure I'll have some time to hang out with the WiFi at the Black Cap Cafe in town...I can smell the coffee and crepes already!

"I'd love to stay up with you but I recommend a little shut-eye go to sleep - and dream - of snow, snow, snow, snow, snow!"