Over the years, it was a running joke among my friends that despite being a born-and-bred northeasterner who's skied 50+ ski areas on the right coast, I’d never been to the biggest one east of the Rockies, Killington. More than anything, it was always a matter of timing. During the infrequent times that I visited the larger East Coast mountains, I wanted to do it on weekdays or non-holidays and somehow the right window never quite lined up.
As mentioned in the Middlebury report, the reason for our short Central Vermont road trip was family-related: the first time in ten years that the three of us skied together. We wanted to go somewhere with plenty of terrain that's suited for where my son is right now (let's call it advanced beginner) with the goal of nudging him toward lower-intermediate.
Approach shot on the access road:
At the bottom of the hill, we were advised to stay looker's right and to come back for the peaks to the left at a later time:
Deciding where to go on Ramshead:
The inaugural run, Easy Street:
90 seconds later framed by Killington Peak, getting schooled by Mom to cease and desist with the power wedge:
Traversing the Caper trail:
Rimed trees on the upper mountain:
Birches on the lower mountain:
As we loaded up our car midafternoon, I noticed that this truck alongside us was properly branded for the Ramshead parking lot (the dashboard):
We went to the Long Trail Brewery for a late lunch, then headed over to Thundering Falls to wrap up the day. It's an easy 30-minute walk along a wooden boardwalk that cuts through a wetland...
... and ends up at a waterfall filled with spring runoff.
Turn your head to the right and you realise that you're in someone's backyard: a classic Vermont house in tourism-bureau-approved red:
On the way back to NJ, my wife insisted on a photo of the new welcome sign that was funded by a resident and filled with old skis that locals had used on the mountain. I appreciated that it was placed on the main road and not the clichéd move of putting it on the summit like in the Alps.
As mentioned in the Middlebury report, the reason for our short Central Vermont road trip was family-related: the first time in ten years that the three of us skied together. We wanted to go somewhere with plenty of terrain that's suited for where my son is right now (let's call it advanced beginner) with the goal of nudging him toward lower-intermediate.
Approach shot on the access road:
At the bottom of the hill, we were advised to stay looker's right and to come back for the peaks to the left at a later time:
Deciding where to go on Ramshead:
The inaugural run, Easy Street:
90 seconds later framed by Killington Peak, getting schooled by Mom to cease and desist with the power wedge:
Traversing the Caper trail:
Rimed trees on the upper mountain:
Birches on the lower mountain:
As we loaded up our car midafternoon, I noticed that this truck alongside us was properly branded for the Ramshead parking lot (the dashboard):
We went to the Long Trail Brewery for a late lunch, then headed over to Thundering Falls to wrap up the day. It's an easy 30-minute walk along a wooden boardwalk that cuts through a wetland...
... and ends up at a waterfall filled with spring runoff.
Turn your head to the right and you realise that you're in someone's backyard: a classic Vermont house in tourism-bureau-approved red:
On the way back to NJ, my wife insisted on a photo of the new welcome sign that was funded by a resident and filled with old skis that locals had used on the mountain. I appreciated that it was placed on the main road and not the clichéd move of putting it on the summit like in the Alps.