Conditions Report
Report for Wednesday, February 12, 2025
I love Bolton Valley. It is cozy and welcoming, and it suits my vibe to a tee. I started coming here a decade ago when they offered night skiing on weekends after 4:00 p.m. for $19. A friend worked in their main restaurant, and we would do power runs from the summit before dinner and drinks and then head to the lower mountain Snowflake chair for park and powder laps before heading home. It was a perfect winter’s night in the Green Mountains of Vermont.
Most of my snowboarding this season has been close to home in Quebec. I’ve been saving vacation days for midweek adventures in the U.S. on my Indy Pass. My must-visit list includes Jay Peak and Bolton Valley, Titus Mountain in the Adirondacks, and Saddleback in Maine’s Appalachians. Any new resorts added to my list would be the frosting on an already exciting 2024-25 season. Indy Pass has added new resorts in Canada-East, as well–a welcome development for this Canuck.
For the first time, I felt nervous crossing the border as a Canadian citizen. I lived part-time in Vermont for years, so it feels strange to be apprehensive now. The current political climate and concerns from friends and family over my cross-border travel make it tricky, but the only real change I noticed from before the election was the lack of other Canadian plates at the Highgate Springs crossing. Vermonters have French and Abenaki roots, and Bolton Valley–my destination for the day–is in Chittenden County, a French settlement. Politics and wars won and lost may have drawn a line, but for generations of people here, it is a faint one.
I hope that the political madness ends soon. As for the snowboarding, it was some of the best conditions I’ve enjoyed all season. Bolton Valley is a short two-hour drive from my front door in Brossard. There was ice on the highways on the Quebec side. I took it slow and pulled into their parking lot after 10:00 a.m. Though tucked away and not as known as some of the bigger resorts in the region like Jay, Stowe, and Sugarbush, Bolton has breathtaking views at every turn and no shortage of surprises. There is a lot here that I have yet to experience.
A unique, high-mountain village, Bolton is surrounded by 5,000 acres of pristine Vermont wilderness. In addition to 71 lift-serviced trails, there is a Nordic center, 100km (60 miles) of Nordic and backcountry trails, and uphill routes to Timberline and Wilderness Peaks. With unmatched access to the Green Mountains, Bolton has the highest base elevation of any ski area in the state. Driving the access road to the resort, 2,000 vertical feet rising up from the Winooski River valley, is itself a trip. I wouldn’t suggest attempting it without AWD or a 4×4, good tires, and sharp reflexes.
Then there is the snowfall. The snow is excellent, consistently, every time I’ve been here. They’ve received 235 inches this season, with six inches falling in the last 48 hours and 27 inches falling in the last seven days. It continues to snow as I write this, with light snow in the forecast for the next several days. Years ago, I went snowboarding at Bolton on a powder day with the flu and a 104 fever. You pop some cold meds and get ‘r done. It’s that good. Driving up the access road, full throttle and white-knuckled, brought back all the memories.
I wasted no time after arriving. Knowing the storm of the season was about to hit the northeast, I gave myself four hours to play in the snow, planning to be off the roads and back home in Quebec by early evening. I grabbed my pass and headed to the Vista quad lift and the summit with its signature windmill. It was mid-morning by this point, and any fresh powder would have to be hunted for, but the packed powder felt great under my board, and the sun was out in force. It was going to be a good day.
On my solo riding days, I am a creature of habit. My phone and my Cardo packtalk have to have a full charge for music. When I’m with friends, I’m more adventurous exploring the whole mountain, but on solo days, I find a trail I like and stick to it. I explain this away as a terrible sense of direction (a funny story about this, for another report, maybe). It’s my way of meditating. With all that’s going on in the world, I need it. We all do. I rode skiers left to Spillway Lane, down to Sherman’s Pass and some fun New England-style narrow runs full of untracked snow. Then I hit a flat section where I took some photos before making my way to the Beech Seal run under the Mid Mountain lift, then doing it all over again.
By midday, it was getting windy and chilly at the summit. It was a good time to take a short break to sit in the sun and admire the breathtaking views. Like any creature of habit, I made my way to the lower mountain Snowflake lift that services the park, some fun tree runs, and access to the Timberline lift. The elevation is modest here, but you cannot beat zero crowds and untracked snow. That’s a snowboarder’s dream. It’s this snowboarder’s dream, anyway. For an hour or longer, I had the entire chair to myself and lapped a run called Foxy, trying to mimic Dylan Gamache from the Yawgoo Valley, a rider whose style I admire. Then my phone battery died. This is my rule on solo days: when I lose my tunes, it’s time to call it a day.
There was still fresh powder to be found, and no one else had discovered my Snowflake secret yet. I wanted to stay longer, but it was 2:30 p.m.; it was time to head north and beat the storm.
A quick shout out to the nice man who noticed my Quebec plate as I was leaving and thanked me for making the trip. As I said, the border here is faint, and it is about politics, not people. I drove Interstate 89 to get here, but I prefer driving the backroads. It is part of the adventure. I took Highway 100 past Stowe and all my favorite places before heading towards Newport and back into Quebec.
If I have a word to describe my day at Bolton Valley: grateful. I am grateful that I have the will and the opportunity to continue doing this, and Ullr delivered the goods today. I can’t wait to be back here; maybe I can bring my daughter next time. Skiing and riding in the northeast this Valentine’s weekend is guaranteed to be majestic. An insane amount of snow has fallen in the past twenty-four hours. Bolton has six lifts spinning, accessing all 71 trails, and night skiing on ten trails. The primary surface is packed powder, and snow is forecasted through Sunday.
Happy Hearts Day. See you on the slopes!
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