Skiing Season Starts in Vermont

With yesterday's Nor'easter, snowfall totals on Vermont's mountains have skyrocketed. The ski season on the slopes is off to an early start. If you are planning to visit Vermont, bring your skis or your wallet if you lack the equipment--all ski areas have rentals available. As of Sunday night (December 16, 2007), all ski areas had received upwards of eight inches to fourteen inches. By Monday morning, all ski areas had received up to two feet.

Skiing is excellent with loose powder over a hard base formed by the last few snowstorms. The breakdown of snow totals is impressive. Here are the average base amounts:

Ascutney - 55 inches

Bolton Valley - 47 inches

Bromley - 26 inches

Burke Mountain - 40 inches

Jay Peak - 60 inches

Killington - 52 inches

Mad River Glen - 24 inches

Middlebury Snow Bowl - 44 inches

Mount Snow - 54 inches

Okemo Mountain - 38 inches

Pico Mountain - 52 inches

Smugglers' Notch - 50 inches

Stowe - 66 inches

Stratton - 51 inches

Sugarbush - 42 inches

Northern Vermont ski areas include: Bolton Valley, Burke Mountain, Cochran's Ski Area, Jay Peak, Smugglers' Notch, and Stowe. While Cochran's Ski Area has not reported in with snow totals or operations yet, other ski resorts are either at capacity or almost there. Here is the breakdown of what skiers will find at each slope:

Bolton is currently running at full capacity with all six lifts running and 60 of their 64 trails open.

Burke Mountain is currently running with all lifts and all trails open.

Cochran Ski area officially opened on Saturday. Run by the Cochran family (Gold medal skiers), affordable skiing and lessons are offered to any interested person.

Jay Peak has all lifts running and all trails are open.

Smugglers' Notch has 4 of their 8 lifts running and 72 of their 78 trails are open.

Stowe has 8 of their 13 lifts running and 96 of their 116 trails are open.

In central Vermont, skiers will find the following ski areas: Bear Creek, Killington, Mad River Glen, Middlebury Snow Bowl, Pico Mountain, Sugarbush, and Suicide Six.

Bear Creek is a private, members-only ski resort. Currently, they have not posted their states.

Killington reports that 15 of their 27 lifts are running and 131 of their 200 trails are open.

All of Mad River Glen's trails are open and 4 of the 5 lifts are running.

At Middlebury Snow Bowl, 2 of the 3 lifts are running and 9 out of the 17 trails are open.

3 out of the 6 lifts at Pico Mountain are running and 22 of the 50 trails are open.

Sugarbush has 7 of their 16 lifts running and 72 of the 111 trails are open.

Suicide Six has not reported in.

Finally, Vermont's southern ski areas including Ascutney, Bromley, Magic Mountain, Mount Snow, Okemo Mountain, and Stratton. Some of the slopes here might be a little icier because Southern Vermont received freezing rain yesterday, while the rest of Vermont was spared from that weather.

As of this morning, Ascutney reports that 4 of their 6 lifts are running and 24 of the 57 trails are open.

Bromley has 5 out of 9 lifts running and 31 of the 45 trails are open.

Magic Mountain has not reported their latest conditions. Their website has been updated, but still does not list any open trails at this time.

Mount Snow is under new ownership. 10 of the 19 lifts are currently running and 101 of the 107 trails are open.

Okemo Mountain has 109 of the 117 trails open and 13 of the 19 lifts are running.

Finally, Stratton has 88 of their 92 trails open and 6 of their 14 lifts are running.

Those planning to come to Vermont for skiing should check www.skivermont.com for lift ticket rates and up to the minute snow information. Right now, snow flurries are predicted for much of the week with temperatures in the teens, so the skiing should be perfect! With the colder temperatures, all ski areas are making snow, so this will increase the amount of fresh powder.