Skiing Mt. Ascutney Vermont

by Bill Scuba

It was a bitter cold January 23rd, -12 degrees, when we skied Mt. Ascutney in Vermont. We had planned on being up there early for a full day of skiing. We arrived around 9:15, and unloaded at the front door, a great benefit of this fine resort. We unloaded and moved the car to the parking lot. The lodge is nice, with a large burning fireplace. We got all of our ski cloths on, which was no small task. You had to be completely encapsulated to prevent frostbite. Frostbite has been a real problem this year, around three weeks of below zero temperatures just when the snow arrives. I had skin peeling off my face from my Sugarbush trip with the "Extreme Team", but that's another story.

We met up with our Ambassador, Brian, who showed us around the lodge, rode up the lift with us, to show us around on our first run, and filled us in on Mt. Ascutney's many features, and expansions. Then we were on our own.

It was a beautiful clear day and we could see several other ski areas from the top, like Killington and Mt. Snow. The view across Vermont was spectacular, lots of farms forming a checkerboard, and the mountains beyond. The conditions were great, packed powder, no lift lines, wide trails, a mogul field, and lots of runs to keep you occupied on.

The temperature warmed up in the bright sun, to around +10 to +15. The skiing was great. I liked Gun Barrel the best, very fast, and lots of room. Most of the trails were open. We skied till noon and went in to warm up and dig into our picnic lunch, it's a ritual at our ski club, health food, and all that. The food in the lodge did look very good, and no one bothered us for bringing food. The fireplace was going, and it was busy but comfortable. The bathrooms were in good shape unlike some other resorts.

We hit the slopes after lunch and did every run that was open. There were a few jumps around that are always fun. I was flying down Terminator one time and caught an edge, put on a show trying to recover, and flew down around the corner to glide back to the lift. One of the girls took a lesson in the afternoon, and was pleased with the instruction. We had a great time and did not have any trouble there of any kind. We ended up in the lounge, of course. The view of the slope from the bar was cool. There is a toddler pond for ice skating and little tubing area that looks great for kids, I guess I didn't need my skates.

The Timeshare resort, Snowdance has a great ski and stay package, but you do have to go on the tour of the resort. I think the best deal was a ski and stay weekend package for 4 people 1-bedroom-suite sleeps 4, 2 nights each, and 2-lift tickets each, for a grand total of $140.61.

If Mt. Ascutney plays it smart they will give ski passes to a few ski clubs, that will boost there popularity, increase ticket sales, Yes free tickets Generate more ticket sales, and skiers always spend money where ever they go.

On the way back we cut through Claremont. If we had taken route 44, we would have gone over the longest covered bridge in the country, between Windsor Vermont and Cornish New Hampshire. I think its 300 feet long and very old. The ride back was scenic anyway, and shorter in miles but not time.