FREE! HOLIDAY 2016
Vermont’s Mountain Sports and Life
BRING IT ON,
THE COOLEST NEW APRES SKI SPOTS IN VERMONT
10 ADVENTURES IN THE MAD RIVER VALLEY
GREAT GIFTS, HIGH-TECH GEAR, LOCAL BRANDS
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FEATURES TRACKING WINTER, p. 30
For 30 years, Pulitzer prize-winning author Annie Proulx lived in Vermont and skied at night behind her home in the Northeast Kingdom.
THE FREESTYLE HOME, p. 32
When Connecticut designer Ray Forehand’s kids started winning national mogul and slopestyle competitions, he decided it was time for the ultimate ski home near Stratton.
THE NIGHT SHIFT, p. 38
Vermont has some of the best snowmaking systems in the world. Meet the teams who stay up all night so you can ski velvet runs in the morning.
CONTENTS / 02.02 Ryan Devane gets high in the Jay Peak backcountry, Valhalla, on Jan. 18, 2016.
FIRST TRACKS FIRST TRACKS | BRING IT ON, WINTER, p. 6
With night skiing, climbing walls and cat skiing trips, new adventures call.
APRÈS | SKI COUNTRY’S BEST NEW RESTAURANTS, p. 11
Eat out in a tram car, bowling alley or Paul Newman’s former dining room.
SKI TOWNS | 10 ADVENTURES IN THE VALLEY, p. 18
Photo by Tim McClellan
Our locals’ guide to where to ski, eat, stay and play in the Mad River Valley.
ART | CAPTURING SNOWFLAKES, p. 24
COLUMNS EDITOR’S LETTER | THE VOICES OF WINTER p. 4
These writers may just make you move to Vermont. If you haven’t already.
RETRO-VT | TEST YOUR SKI HISTORY IQ? p. 45
How well do you know your Vermont ski history? Take our quiz and find out.
COACH | THE 3 SECRETS TO A PURE CARVE, p. 48
PSIA Examiner Doug Stewart on why most people can’t carve.
COACH | WHAT’S YOUR PROGRESSION PLAN?, p. 53
A modern Snowflake Bentley, Bruce Corbett photographs snowflakes.
Coach Bud Keene shares a plan that worked for his protege, Shaun White.
GEAR | HIGH-TECH SKI GEAR & GIFTS FROM VT, p. 26
CALENDAR | WHAT’S HAPPENING AT RESORTS, p. 58
New skiwear from Stratton, high-tech skis, ACL-saving bindings and more.
CHAIRLIFT Q/A | GUSTER’S RYAN MILLER p. 64
The lead singer of the alt-rock band is looking for weirdos, on slope and off.
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THE VOICES OF WINTER Many years ago, I fell in love with Vermont, partly from just reading about skiing. I was living in NewYork at the time, working as an editor at SKI Magazine. One of our regular writers was David Goodman. A Harvard grad, Goodman had moved to Waterbury, Vt. to write the Appalachian Mountain Club’s now seminal book Classic Backcountry Skiing: A Guide to the Best Ski Tours in New England. It’s since become my Bible and he and his wife, Sue Minter, friends. Goodman has gone on to write important books, including three bestsellers with his sister, Amy Goodman, the NPR radio host of Democracy Now! When local teenagers he and his son skied with were tragically killed this fall, Goodman wrote the eloquent tribute, “Five Bright Stars,” which appears on p. 20. Twenty years ago, Goodman’s stories led me to seek out other Vermont voices, in particular a hunting and fishing writer from the Northeast Kingdom whose byline appeared as “E. A. Proulx” in magazines such as Gray’s Sporting Journal. I reached out to see if she would write a piece on skiing at dusk from her home. “Only if you don’t change a word,” she said. I promised. A few months later, Annie Proulx won the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize for The Shipping News. The story she wrote is on page 30. It as quietly beautiful today as it was then. These voices deepened my love for Vermont and for winter. I hope they do the same for you. —Lisa Lynn, Editor
What’s New at VTSKIANDRIDE.COM?
PUBLISHER, Angelo Lynn angelo@vtskiandride.com EDITORIAL Editor/Co-Publisher, Lisa Lynn editor@vtskiandride.com Creative Director, David Pollard Assistant Editor, Evan Johnson evan@vtskiandride.com Staff Writer, Emma Cotton emma@vtskiandride.com Conributing Editors & Photographers: Brooks Curran, David Goodman, Bud Keene, Greg Morrill, Brian Mohr, Doug Stewart, Jeb Wallace-Brodeur ADVERTISING SALES & DISTRIBUTION
SWAP GEAR at our new, free online gear swap. Just post a picture and description of your gear. WIN prizes such as great gear, lodging, lift tickets and more. SUBSCRIBE FOR FREE: Don’t miss an issue, sign up for a free digital edition, our weekly e-newsletter with “Weekend Picks,” news updates and more.
MEET OUR CONTRIBUTORS
Christy Lynn, Advertising Manager christy@vtskiandride.com | 802-388-4944 Michael Giorgio michaelg@addisonindependent.com Dave Honeywell dave_golfghouse@madriver.com Greg Meulemans greg@vtskiandride.com Jennifer Peterkin jenniferp@addisonindependent.com Circulation and Distribution Manager: Lisa Razo subscribe@vtskiandride.com HEADQUARTERS
David Goodman is the author of Classic Backcountry Skiing: A Guide to the Best Ski Tours in New England. He, his wife Sue Minter and son Jasper were close to some of the five teens whose memory he pays tribute to in “Five Bright Stars,” p. 48.
When Coach columnist Bud Keene isn’t in New Zealand coaching that country’s national team, you can find him riding Stowe. On p. 53 he describes how to adapt Olympian Shaun White’s approach to take your skiing and riding skills to a higher level.
A University of Vermont grad, Annie Proulx is the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Shipping News and the short story “Brokeback Mountain.” She lived in Vermont for nearly 30 years, largely in the Northeast Kingdom, which she writes about on p. 30.
VT SKI+RIDE is published four times a year by Addison Press Inc., 58 Maple Street, Middlebury, VT 05753 VT SKI+RIDE print subscriptions are available for $24 (U.S.) or $35 (Canada) per year. Digital subcriptions are free. Subscribe at vtskiandride.com Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram
ON THE COVER: UVM senior Brooks Curran blasts through the powder at Stowe. Photo by Tim McClelan
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AlwAys snow. AlwAys AmAzing. AlwAys Home.
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1-800-78 OKEMO (1-800-786-5366) LUDLOW VERMONT okemo.com
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Be sure to visit okemo.com for great deals on lift access and lodging as well as a calendar of all the great events happening at Okemo Mountain Resort.
BRING IT ON, WINTER
With expanded night skiing, cat trips, climbing walls and more, the Green Mountains are calling.
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hort days, long nights, cold, snow—these early days of the season are the sweetest. It’s the time when we say hello again to the places that fuel our souls. This season, there are new reasons to get excited and the Green Mountains have more ways than ever to raise your adrenaline. Here’s a look at what’s coming up.
BRING ON THE NIGHT As the moon rises and the crowds thin, the lights come on and the party starts—both on and off the slopes. From the top of Bolton Valley, you can watch the sun set over Lake Champlain and the Adirondacks. Then, Tuesdays through Saturdays, keep skiing or riding until 10 p.m. In January, the Thursday night corporate ski bum league attracts some of the best skiers in the region. In nearby Richmond, Cochran’s Ski Area keeps the lights on Friday nights from 5 to 8 p.m. for the unbelievable price of $5. Starting in early January, Stowe’s Saturday Night Lights opens Gondolier trail for “non-competitive” skinning and skiing, with raffle prizes. Last, in central Vermont, Ascutney has applied for permits to light up the trails off its revived rope tow. The best part of night skiing? There’s usually an after-party. In honor of its 50th year, Bolton Valley hosts “Bolton After Dark,” on Friday and Saturday evenings with $19.66 lift tickets starting at 4 p.m., $2 flatbread slices and beer specials. Beginning in January, Cochran’s hosts a family dinner on Friday nights. SIGN UP FOR DAWN PATROL When was the last time you got first tracks? We don’t mean standing at the front of the lift line by 7:30, we’re talking about being at the top of the mountain while everyone else
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Photo courtesy Josh Arneson/Bolton Valley
FIRSTTRACKS
In 2016, Bolton Valley turned 50. In that time, it’s become known for three things: killer sunsets, deep backcountry and a night skiing scene that draws families, racers and the hard-core locals.
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It’s all about the details.
u still in their pajamas.You’ll have untouched powder, crisp corduroy and the assurance that your early alarm clock was worth it. At Sugarbush, join a group of 12 in the Lincoln Limo ($75 per person) and set off to the top the Slide Brook Wilderness Area or other stashes (see p. 19 for the full skinny). Or, strap on a pair of skins. Many resorts are now allowing skinning on limited trails before the lifts open. But be sure to check the resort’s policies and be careful to stay on designated uphill routes.
SKATE TO THE BEAT Starting Nov. 26, Stowe hosts themed Saturday nights at its Ice Rink at the Spruce Peak with a DJ spinning, the Beer Garden in full swing and firepits blazing. Mark your calendars for December 17-18 when Olympic figure skater Nancy Kerrigan will show you how it’s done, literally, with both a skating performance and clinics. This past summer, Okemo also gave its Ice House rink an upgrade with a new IceMat system (the same that’s used in New York’s Rockefeller Center, that will allow the resort to open the rink in November and keep it open, even if the temperatures rise. If you’re into hockey, hang out at the Ice Haus at Jay Peak where teams from all over northern Vermont come to play and practice. GET FAT (BIKING) It’s easy to see why Vermonters love fatbikes: the beefy five-inch-wide tires roll easily through crusty snow and ice on all kinds of trails. If you’re looking to try one, get a rental at Jay Peak’s Nordic Center ($65 for a full day rental and trail pass), the Rikert Nordic Center ($55 for a full day rental), at the Mountain Meadows Cross Country Center in Killington, Vt. ($65 for a full day), among other places. Also, be on the lookout for fatbike meet-ups throughout the winter at Rikert, the Trapp Family Lodge and at the mother of all fatbike events, Winterbike, on March 4 at the Kingdom Trails in East Burke.
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CLIMB THE WALLS This past summer, Stowe Mountain Resort put the crowning touches on its Spruce Peak Adventure Center with the Stowe Rocks climbing wall that rises 40 feet in front of four-story windows. The wall features are modeled after some of the climbs in Smuggler’s Notch and more than four dozen routes have varying degrees of difficulty. A twohour intro course with all equipment is just $30 and season passes are also available. Over at Smugglers’ Notch, a 26,000 sq. ft. new Fun Zone is being finished this winter.When it opens next spring, it’s slated to have a double-sided 30-foot climbing wall (as well as a slot-car track, laser tag arena, mini-golf and and an arcade.) Once you’ve learned the ropes indoors, try it on the Notch’s ice falls with Burlington’s PetraCliffs during the annual Smugg’s Ice Bash, Jan. 20-22. DON’T FORGET: SANTA SKIS FREE Normally, if you dress up as Santa, you end up giving something away. At Bolton Valley, dress as Santa on Dec. 18 and you’ll get something: a lift ticket valid for the entire day. In central Vermont, head to Bromley on Christmas, where you can ski and ride for the day for just $25. You supply the costumes, but smiles and laughs are free. n
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Photo by Brian Mohr/Ember Photo
LAST CHAIR? Some people buy lift tickets. Others buy lifts. Or at least the classic old chairs from the decommissioned ones. At 10 a.m. on Sept. 30, 2016, Suicide Six put 60 of the 80 chairs from Lift #1 on sale for $350 each. By 10:15, all 60 had sold and the website had crashed from so many people trying to access it. The lift, installed 38 years ago, is being upgraded this year to a $1.5 million LeitnerPoma quad. The proceeds from the sale went to the Woodstock SkiRunners, the oldest ski club in the East, and local school’s Friday ski programs. Suicide Six’s owner, the Woodstock Inn and Resort, is holding onto the other 20 and two were donated to the Vermont Ski & Snowboard Museum for an auction on Nov. 19. Then, on October 21, Killington quietly put up chairs for sale for $300 a pop. Within minutes, those were gone too. Chairlifts are hot commodities: items to be turned into benches or porch swings, office furniture or something else. A search on eBay at press time only turned up a Norwegian double chair (located in Norway) for $1,800 and a chairlift that had been transformed into a bench in Crested Butte for $2,995 (free shipping!). But so far, the highest price we’ve ever seen paid for a chair was in 2007 when Mad River Glen auctioned off the last of its original 158 iconic single chairs from 1948 on eBay. The last one, Number 69, went for $7,850 after a fierce 10-day bidding war. Of course, the money raised went to a good cause: in the spirit of keeping its soul pure and its powder fresh, Mad River replaced the old single chair with, you guessed it, a new single.
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Après
Ski bums Momo and Jordan Antonucci moved their popular miso soup and ramen shop from a food truck to Jay Peak’s abandoned tram (left). Near Sugarbush, The
THE BEST OF WHAT’S NEW
Photo, top, by Andrew Lanoue; Bottom by Samantha Sheehan/The Common Man
Some of the best new places to eat in Vermont are a tram that serves miso soup, an Austrian bierhall, an Italian deli, a pie restaurant and Paul Newman’s old dining room.
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ermont is known for its creative cuisine. But this past year, chefs around the state have taken that reputation a step further, reinventing restaurants and serving exceptional food that might range from a menu devoted to savory pies to 12-course meals. Here are our picks for the best of what’s new for the coming season. NORTHERN VERMONT The coolest new ski-town restaurant in Vermont opens up this November in… a tram car. “In Japan, food trucks are big—you see whole villages of them at the base areas at ski mountains,” says Jordan Antonucci. That’s what he was envisioning when he and his wife, Momo, opened a food truck just down the road from Jay Peak two years ago, serving Momo’s specialty: miso soup. This year, the two self-professed ski bums moved Miso Hungry to an old tram car at the base of Jay
Common Man reinvents itself with intimate special 8-course dinners, with starters like this elegant roe-topped bruschetta.
BY LISA LYNN
Peak. “Our dream was that we could have a ski-in, ski out place where you could get a steaming bowl of noodles without clicking out of your bindings,” he says. The soup is made with a bone broth that simmers for five days before local meats and vegetables are added. The couple met when they were both guiding whitewater rafting trips in Japan. After skiing all over Japan, Australia and the U.S., they settled in northern Vermont (where Jordan’s brother lives) near Jay Peak. “It’s one of two places in the East I’d want to ski every day,” says Jordan. Jay Peak’s former sister resort, Burke Mountain is also heating up its aprés scene with the new hotel and Willoughby’s Restaurant right on the mountain. Off the mountain, the Foggy Goggle Osteria, an Italian place that Trout River Brewing’s former owners opened in September 2015, has been getting rave reviews. Meanwhile, over in Jeffersonville, the big news in
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with a new restaurant, named simply The Restaurant at Zen Barn, that’s scheduled to open in December. CENTRAL & SOUTHERN VERMONT In downtown Waterbury, Cork, the wine bar and brainchild of ex-racer and SKI magazine ski tester Danielle Nichols Moffat and her sisters Katie and Morgan, has a swank new location on Foundry Street. Prohibition Pig keeps turning out what may be the state’s best beer and barbecue combos with an expanded space off the back that’s been packed since it opened a little over a year ago. Waterbury’s beloved Blue Stone Pizza is still there and has a new outpost that’s going strong in Waitsfield. Another newcomer to the Mad River Valley scene is Home Plate, serving breakfasts and dinner comfort food with a truly local focus and an affordable, down-home flare. Don’t let that fool you though: with dishes as varied as home-ground burgers, Tempura Artichoke, a Falafel Platter and a Curry of the Day, Home Plate may score a home run with just about any palate. Meanwhile, up on the mountain the Glen House, midway up Sugarbush’s Mount Ellen, is reinventing itself as a wine and beer bar for the season. The Common Man is not new but has a new approach. When
Photos courtesy The Lincoln Inn, Piecemeal Pie and Picnic Social
town is that the beloved Farm Store, which has an extensive collection of natural foods, local meats, cheeses and produce has reopened and expanded in the old Windridge Inn building at 168 Main Street. Stop in for coffee and fresh-baked muffins before heading up to Smuggler’s Notch or after you come down for a bowl of soup. At Stowe Mountain Resort, you can let the kids climb the walls (the giant new climbing wall, that is), at the new Spruce Peak Adventure Center, while you grab an Off-Piste Pesto pizza or a CCC chicken wrap and a beer at The Canteen at the Adventure Center. For those who want to bowl every day (or maybe just on weekends), Stowe Bowl opened at the end of last season in the hip new Sun & Ski Inn with an eclectic menu that ranges from Asiago Truffle Popcorn to Indonesian Chicken Satay to Bitterballen (Dutch beef fritters with a spicy Dijon mustard). The last is a nod to owners Mark and Rachel Vandenberg’s Dutch heritage. If it’s Austrian heritage you are looking for, the new Bierhall at the Von Trapp Brewery has the perfect pairing for that Helles or Dunkel that’s brewed next door. House-made wursts, schnitzles, kebabs and hot pretzels (as well as other fare such as mouthwatering caramelized brussels sprouts) are served on Vermont Farmhouse tables, beneath the soaring ceilings of the post-and-beam room. Best yet: crosscountry trails are right out the door so you can ski in and ski out. About three miles away (just up from Sunset Grille), the Alchemist’s new brewery and tasting room opened in July with plenty of Heady Topper on tap, but does not serve food. Another new hotspot for après-ski, Picnic Social, opened this past fall in the stylish Field Guide hotel serving creative, highly-affordable and pretty darn delicious casual dishes such as Smoked Trout Toast, addictively crispy Smashed Fingerling Potatoes and Chocolat Pot de Crème (with caramel popcorn). Chef Justin Perdue came Clockwise from top: The from Philadelphia but has hired the sous new owners of Lincoln chef and maître d’ from the Bees Knees, Inn serve 12-course meals formerly of Morrisville. Also new: PK Cof- in Paul Newman’s former fee’s upscale digs (and heady brews) on the dining room; Piecemeal Mountain Road and, on Main Street, Tap 25 Pie’s sweet pie and Picwhich features an extensive beer menu and nic Social’s hip lounge at Stowe’s Field Guide hotel. local musicians. Head south from Stowe on Route 100 and you’ll see a large red barn-like structure going up. It’s the future home of Vermont Artisan Coffee. A few miles south, just off the Waterbury-Stowe Road, the former Tanglewoods Restaurant is being turned into a yoga and wellness center
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t f i g t c e f r the pe
Award winning spa. Vermont dining at its best. #1 après ski bar featuring live musical entertainment. Indoor tennis courts and programs. Memberships and gift certificates available.
4000 Mountain Road, Stowe, Vermont . 800-451-8686 . topnotchresort.com
u the Sugarbush classic closed the doors to its 19th century barn last spring—many feared it was for good. “I think we just needed to rethink things,” says owner Lorien Wroten. Over the summer, she and her husband, chef Adam Longworth, began serving special popup eight-course dinners in the closed restaurant. “This gave Adam the chance to be creative and make special meals for small groups,” she explains. Longworth, who studied under Alfred Portale at New York’s Gotham Bar and Grill, got his groove back—so to speak. This winter the restaurant is open again but Longworth will also be doing intimate “I-8” dinners (8 courses, $80 dollars). In a similar vein, Pittsfield’s The Backroom, which The New York Times called “the coolest dining room in New England,” is also back after closing for the summer and Mendon’s Red Clover (which was named Restaurateur of the Year in 2015) has planned its monthly First Friday wine dinners for Dec. 2 and January 6. Over in Woodstock, the Lincoln Inn has opened up the private dining room Paul Newman used to reserve as “The Chef’s Table.” There, chef Jevgenija Saromova, who has cooked in Michelin-starred restaurants around Europe, is serving up some incredible 7- to 12-course dinners (for $145 to $195 per person). “We wanted to be a ‘restaurant with rooms,’ a destination where people can come and have an amazing meal and then spend the night,” says Saromova’s partner Mara Mehlman, who moved here from England and bought the inn in 2014. The menu changes each night but promises to be something exquisite. Another classic inn that came back last season (it opened in fall of 2015) is the Four Columns Inn in Newfane. In its previous incarnation, the classic 1832 Federal-style building allegedly hosted Sting, Michael Douglas and Mick Jagger. It closed in 2013. Since its reopening and renovations by hotelier Charles Mallory, it’s been completely renovated and the dinner menu includes dishes such as Citizen Cider Chicken Liver Mousse, handmade pastas and local grass-fed beef. Noodle soups are a thing now at ski resorts. Karma, an Asian-fusion restaurant moves into the village at Stratton with ramen bowls and “craft cocktails with a twist, like vodka filtered through Herkimer diamonds for a side of positive energy,” a release states. Hmmm.... Last, if you are coming to or leaving ski country there are two new places that are well worth a stop. In White River Junction, Piecemeal Pies is far more than its name implies. Chef Justin Barret, who trained at the Michelin-starred The Spotted Pig in New York, creates savory pies such as rabbit and bacon or curried vegetables, and serves them with a small menu at either a communal table or counter. If you are coming through Manchester take note: Fortuna Sausage, the Rhode Island sausage maker that has been written up in The Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times and numerous other publications, relocated to Vermont. It opened on Nov. 12 on Main Street in Manchester Center. The hand-made dry-cured sausages and dried meats have been repeatedly called some of the best in America. n
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Classic FIVE OF THE MOST BEAUTIFUL INNS IN THE GREEN MOUNTAIN STATE
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INNS OF VERMONT
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Montpelier
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Waitsfield 802-496-2276 theroundbarn.com
Serving Vermont craft brews like Lawson’s Finest Liquids and Alchemist’s Heady Topper with our daily evening snack, join us for a luxurious stay at Bed&Breakfast.com’s Best Inn for Beer Lovers. Featuring local and sustainable ingredients, enjoy a three-course breakfast or let us pack a boxed meal so you can hit the trails early. Free high speed WiFi, safe indoor storage, ample parking for a gear trailer or two, and free local trail information. The Inn at Round Barn welcomes you year-round.
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Stowe, VT 800-253-2232 stoweflake.com
Stoweflake Mountain Resort and Spa, in the heart of Stowe, Vermont and with easy proximity to the Stowe ski area and the historic village, invites families and friends to relax and reconnect while enjoying all the year-round resort and Stowe have to offer including delicious dining at Charlie B’s Pub & Restaurant. Stoweflake’s world-class spa offers wellness programs, therapeutic treatments, and salon services.
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Rutland
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Manchester Center
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West Hill House Bed & Breakfast
4 Warren, VT 802-496-7162 westhillbb.com
Quiet location two minutes from Sugarbush skiing with comp’d shuttle, a few miles to Mad River Glen & crosscountry ski trails. Really comfortable rooms, great breakfasts and many excellent restaurants nearby. Craft beer | Single malt Scotch | Complimentary EV charging
3 Woodstock, VT 888-338-2745 woodstockinn.com
One of the oldest ski areas in the country, Suicide Six has a rich history. America’s first rope tow in 1934 inspired the opening in 1936. In 1961 Laurance S. Rockefeller purchased Suicide Six from its founder for the community of Woodstock. 100+ acres of skiing with terrain suitable for all abilities. Owned & operated by the Woodstock Inn & Resort — one of New England’s most charming year-round vacation destinations.
5 Mendon, VT 802-775-2290 redcloverinn.com
The Red Clover Inn offers intimate, stylish lodging conveniently located between Killington & Pico mountains. A haven for foodies, the acclaimed on-site restaurant and bar feature fresh farm-to-table Vermont ingredients, a well stocked wine cellar, and local spirits and brews. Complete your getaway with fine dining and relaxing in your jacuzzi suite. sponsored content
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The
Red Clover Inn & RESTAURANT
“A feast for the senses in an idyllic setting” - Boston Globe
Restaurant open for dinner Thursday through Monday 5:30 to 9 p.m.
Stylish, secluded lodging. Exquisite Vermont food. Just minutes from Killington & Pico.
7 Woodward Road, Mendon, Vermont 1/4 mile off Route 4 between Killington & Rutland innkeepers@redcloverinn.com • 802.775.2290 • www.redcloverinn.com Ski +Ride 2016 FINAL.qxp_Layout 1 11/7/16 5:36 PM Page 1
Suicide Six is one of the most family-friendly ski areas in Vermont with terrain suitable for all abilities. 888.504.4213 www.suicide6.com 247 STAGE RD, SOUTH POMFRET, VT OWNED & OPERATED BY THE WOODSTOCK INN & RESORT
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Stoweflake Mountain Resort and Spa, in the heart of Stowe, Vermont -- where over 30 shops and restaurants await -- invites families and friends to relax and reconnect while enjoying all the year-round resort and Stowe have to offer including treatments and services at the Spa at Stoweflake or the award-winning wine list at Charlie B’s Pub & Restaurant/
800-253-2232 • Stoweflake.com On the Mountain Road, Stowe
Four glorious seasons for romance, recreation and relaxation
“This is among the more casual and relaxed inns in the valley, in part because of its quiet hillside location, and in part because of the easy camaraderie among guests. Set on a lightly traveled country road, the inn offers the quintessential New England experience.” - From Frommer’s Reviews
West Hill House B&B
1496 WEST HILL ROAD, WARREN, VT 05764 • WESTHILLBB.COM • 802.496.7162
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VTSki+RideMagAd_Nov2016.pdf
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Family-friendly, Vermont-style bar and grill with a touch of diner. Amazing burgers, salad bar, local beer, homemade desserts, and so much more!
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MAD RIVER GREEN 496-9300 HOMEPLATEVT.COM
Open 7 Nights ~ Food 4 ‘til 10 Reservations Available ~ Walk-Ins Welcome Near Sugarbush & Mad River Glen 1428 Millbrook Rd (Rt 17) ~ Waitsfield, VT ~ hydeawayinn.com
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10 ADVENTURES IN THE VALLEY
E
ven in the shortest days of winter, it’s never completely dark in the Mad River Valley. Up and down Route 100, five-point stars wrapped in gleaming white Christmas lights appear on the sides of houses in the villages of Warren and Fayston. As you approach the center of town, their presence grows with increasing frequency, and by the time you’re in Waitsfield Village, you’re surrounded by them like the Milky Way on a clear winter night. This past fall, the stars came out early to honor the memory of five teenagers who were killed in a car crash (see Five Bright Stars, p. 20). Usually, they appear before the holidays, around the time of the Country Holiday Festival (Dec. 2-4), and many stay lit all winter. “We wanted to light up Waitsfield, and I want people to be able to see it from the sky,” says Barb Gulisano, owner of the Bridge Street building where The Peasant restaurant and The Sweet Spot bakery are located. In 2012, Gulisano spearheaded an effort to
WHEN SNOWPACK BUILDS AND THE STARS COME OUT, THERE ARE FEW BETTER PLACES TO BE THAN THE MAD RIVER VALLEY. HERE, OUR PICKS FOR 10 GREAT WAYS TO ENJOY IT. BY EMMA COTTON convince Waitsfield businesses to light up the town—a venture that spawned the creation of more than 800 stars in the valley. “We got Sugarbush, then we got Moretown, and we got Warren, and they all wanted to do it. And wow—it was great! I wanted it to grow into something spectacular, and it did.” As the snow starts to fall and the stars light up, the Valley transforms into a magical wonderland. And if you want to explore it, here are our picks for 10 great adventures:
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When you are done plowing the pow in the woods at Mad River (left) or Sugarbush, treat yourself to a night at the “Ski” room at the Pitcher Inn or take a cat (or skin up) to a candlelit three-course dinner high on the mountain at
Photo left by Jeb Wallace-Brodeur; Top right, courtesy The Pitcher Inn, bottom, coutesy Sugarbush
Sugarbush’s Allyn Lodge.
1. TAKE THE LINCOLN LIMO TO FRESH POWDER |Yes, you can cat ski in the East. On mornings after a hefty dump, Sugarbush’s “Lincoln Limo” snow cat ferries 12 advanced skiers and riders to the mountain’s best snow, well before the lifts start to turn. You’ll get first tracks as you fly through the fresh powder and across uncarved corduroy. The guided tours may go to Heaven’s Gate, the top of North Lynx, into the Slide Brook Wilderness Area or elsewhere. While the group’s speed and route determines the number of runs, most passengers get at least three runs in before the tour’s end. Rides cost $75 per person, are by reservation only and leave from the base of Lincoln Peak at 6:45 a.m. www. sugarbush.com 2. WALK ON THE WILD SIDE WITH SEAN LAWSON | Before Sean Lawson became the owner of an award-winning brewery, Lawson’s Finest Liquids, he was a naturalist. With a Bachelor’s degree in Ecology and Environmental Studies, a Master’s degree in Forestry, six years of wildlife education experience and a Wilderness First Responder certification, this brewer knows his stuff when it comes to the outdoors.
Lawson leads Mad River Glen’s Naturalist Program and hosts regular events like the “Beer Lover’s Dinner and Full Moon Snowshoe.” Some tours, like “The Nature of December” tour, which focuses on plant and animal activity around the holidays, are family-friendly and fun for all ages. Others provide a taste of Lawson’s brew. Tour prices start at $25 for adults and $15 for kids. madriverglen.com 3. ROCKET DOWN LINCOLN GAP |This one’s not for the faint of heart. Lincoln Gap—the steepest paved mile in America—is closed to cars in the winter. Its 20 to 24 percent near the top. It’s enough to make you groan even hiking up the hill. But the downhill—oh, baby. Grab a group of thrill-seekers and rent Mad River Rocket sleds from Clearwater Sports ($15) on Route 100 on the outskirts of Waitsfield Village, and snowshoe or hike to the top of the gap.The challenging ascent will be well worth it when you zip down three miles of winding, snow-covered road. 4. SNOWSHOETO DINNER| The Inn at the Round Barn Inn is already just about as classic Vermont as you can get, but add a nighttime snowshoe to a candlelit dinner at their cabin in the woods, and it becomes magical. The dinner ($95 a head), includes a guided 35-minute snowshoe hike, adjusted to the party’s desired difficulty level (and a snowmobile for those unable to walk). The destination: a private cabin with a hot fire in the stone hearth and some serious atmosphere where you’ll be served a meal that includes hors d’oeuvres and a hearty dinner. On the path to the cabin, guides sink tea lights into the snow to
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The stars in the Mad River Valley came out early this fall to honor the five teens who were killed in a car crash.
The call came at 8:45 a.m. on Sunday, October 9, 2016. It was my friend Ed, his voice cracking with emotion. “There was a car accident last night,” he began haltingly. “Eli and Cyrus…Mary, Liam, and Janie were in the car. No one survived.” I heard rustling upstairs, where my son Jasper, a junior at Harwood Union High School in Moretown, Vt., was awakened by a call from his friend Eriks, who was telling him the awful news. Eli, Jasper and Eriks were fast friends. A longtime skiing trio, they grew up charging off to ski at Stowe most winter weekends. The other victims were their dear friends and classmates. I ran upstairs to be with my son. To hold him. To cry. The car crash on Interstate 89 was caused by a wrong-way driver. Like a random, senseless lightning strike, it instantly claimed the lives of Eli Brookens, Janie Chase Cozzi, Liam Hale, Mary Harris, and Cyrus Zschau. The tragedy struck at the heart of Vermont’s ski country. Harwood Union High School lies within 30 minutes of Stowe, Sugarbush, Mad River Glen and Bolton Valley. Skiing is part of life here and what brought some of the families here. All of the kids grew up skiing, just as kids from warmer climes grow up riding bicycles or playing tennis. I shared many days on snow with Eli Brookens. He was a passionate—even maniacal— and immensely talented skier, always dragging his friends and the parents who drove them to get the first chair, and refusing to quit until the last. His megawatt gaptooth smile was never bigger than it was on powder days. He was famous for stuffing PB&J sandwiches into his parka so that he wouldn’t have to go in for lunch. He was known to pull out smushed, week-old sandwiches from his jacket just to bribe his friends to keep skiing. When they were younger, I would accompany Eli, Jasper and their friends to the mountains, showing them my favorite stashes. Within a few years, they had found their own secret spots, and I could no longer keep up. Cyrus, Mary, Liam and Janie were part of a large pack of local kids who skied (and some also worked) at Sugarbush. The Mt. Ellen base lodge was their teenage clubhouse. This year, my son and his friends decided to move over from Stowe to Sugarbush so that they could ski with their high school buddies. They were all pushing the boundaries, seeking new stashes and new friendships. In a deeply poignant turn, Vermont’s ski community embraced these five beautiful souls in death. On a brilliant fall weekend, the base lodge at Stowe was transformed to host the memorial service for Eli Brookens. Afterward, family and friends rode the gondola and spread his ashes atop one of his favorite ski trails. I was moved to see numerous ski area staff, patrollers, instructors, and lift ops volunteer to send Eli off. The mountains that these five young people loved so much, loved them back. Mary Harris’s life was celebrated at the foot of Mad River Glen. Liam and Janie were honored at Sugarbush. Cyrus’s service was held in the valley, his skis propped up at the front, symbols of a life joyously lived. The three ski areas pulled out all the stops, making their space available for a grieving community to begin the long journey of recovery. The towns and school also pulled together. On the night after the accident, over 1,000 people, including the governor, gathered on the high school soccer field for a candlelight vigil. Rock star Grace Potter, a Harwood Union graduate, came home to sing a soulful rendition of her hit “Stars” to a packed crowd in the school gymnasium at a Celebration of Life. All around the Mad River Valley and Waterbury, businesses and individuals contributed to a fund established to support the five families. Five bright stars now sparkle over Vermont’s Green Mountains. In death as in life, these mountains bring us together to revel, to excite, to inspire, and ultimately, to heal.
Photo by Brian Mohr/EmberPhoto
When five teens were killed this past October, Vermont’s ski community banded together even more tightly. The five had all been avid skiers and riders. Author David Goodman skied with them and shares this tribute.
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Top to bottom: The Round Barn lights up for winter and hosts special dinners in a remote cabin you can snowshoe to. If you’ve never driven a dogsled, October Siberians will teach you. Chef Chris Harmon’s tuna tartare is one thing that makes the Hyde Away Inn so popular. For his recipe, see vtskiandride.com/recipes.
light your way. A bonfire roars outside, and guests can make s’mores after the meal.
Photos courtesy Inn at the Round Barn, October Siberians, and Hyde Away.
5. EAT LIKE A LOCAL | For a small ski town,Waitsfield’s food scene is impressive. Just south of town on route 100, you’ll find American Flatbread’s flagship restaurant, housed in a rambling old building on the Lareau Farm. Made with fresh produce in a wood-fired clay oven with a whole lotta love, these flatbreads warm you from the inside out. The Hyde Away Inn is another small gem with classic dishes that showcase meats and veggies that are often raised within ten miles of the inn. Quench your thirst at the tavern while playing a game of pool. Continue into Waitsfield Village and find The Blue Stone, serving pizzas with flare, such as “The Bohemian” (sweet potato puree, kale, tofu, goat cheese). The Mad Taco dishes up some of the best Mexican around (and their margaritas aren’t bad, either) along with an extensive menu of local beers. At The Sweet Spot your mouth will water simply looking at the cases of pastries, muffins, scones, bagels and turnovers. For an occasion, stop by The Common Man on Sugarbush Access Road. Michelin star-rated chef and Vermont native Adam Longworth reopens this season (following what was going to be a closure last spring,) and he won’t let you down. Though the menu rotates, he’s plated grilled octopus, pork chop schnitzel, vegetable ramen, all served in a 19th century barn. Finally, for an authentic taste of France—a cheese fondue or a bouillabaisse—Chez Henri, just off the Lincoln Peak base area, is a Sugarbush institution that’s been in place since 1964, and it’s not to be missed. 6. EXPLORE THE BACKCOUNTRY | Slide Brook Basin, a 2,000acre expanse of woods between Lincoln Peak and Mount Ellen, is part of what makes Sugarbush so appealing for extreme skiers. During the summer, the area is blocked off and marked as critical to wildlife, particularly for black bears, but during the winter, it’s open for thrill-seekers. Access the area by taking the North Lynx Triple lift. Hang a right and find the gap in the trees. Sugarbush strongly recommends exploring this part of the mountain with a guide, and besides, it’s best to go with someone who knows how to find the sweet spots. sugarbush.com. At Mad River Glen, if you’re looking for Paradise, ask a local. It’s not always easy to find the unmarked, steep, tight shots that duck and dart away from the trails. But when you do, the shots of powder and drops between the trees will remind you why this place is the birthing ground for some of the best skiers in the world. 7. DRIVE A DOG SLED | Just north of town, at Little River State Park you can take a ride on a sled pulled by October Siberian’s 10 registered Siberian Huskies along the Waterbury reservoir. Your host and driver, Rob Farley, will tell you stories about the rich history of the
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park (a historic settlement founded in the 1800s), the dogs and the sport while you and a few friends ride on the sled with a blanket. Or, opt to help Farley with the driving—the sled can be controlled by two drivers. The two-hour tour costs $350 for two. Farley started the tours to share his love for the huskies, which he calls friendly, hard-working clowns. octobersiberians.com 8. COZY UP | The Mad River Valley is chock-full of great places to stay, so these are just a few of our favorites. For a treat, try the Pitcher Inn, where each individually themed suite feels like your own private lodge. The “Ski” suite is a post-and-beam room decorated with actual skis, toboggans and trail signs. Cozy up to the brick fireplace, lodge-style. Rooms start at $350 a night. pitcherinn.com | Renovated in 2013, with mixtures of clean white linen and sliding barn doors, The Mad River Barn offers cozy, rustic rooms for a polite price (starting at $125 per night.) Head down to the bar and pub for some of the best bartending in the valley and home-style cooking or the restaurant for fancier fare. madriverbarn.com | If you’re on a budget, Hostel Tevere is about as hip as a hostel can get and it won’t empty your wallet. For as little as $40 per night you can check into a dorm-style room. And with a full-service bar, you’re bound to find some good company, and maybe a ski buddy or two. hosteltevere.com
9. VISIT A QUIRKY MUSEUM| Tucked in a corner on Bridge Street, you’ll find the Madsonian, a museum of industrial design that celebrates artistic manufactured objects. Founder David Sellers, a renowned architect, has chosen to feature toys, games, items from designers and architects such as Frank Lloyd Wright, Frank Gehry, Ludwig Mies Van der Rohe and others. The museum is open weekends and by appointment. madsonian.org Or, check out what is on display at the Bundy Modern, a stunning Bauhaus-style structure on a hillside in Warren that’s been turned into both a private home and art gallery. Just off the cross-country trails of Ole’s, it may be the only museum you can ski to. bundymodern.com 10. DINE AT THE TOP | A private dinner at Allyn’s Lodge high up on the slopes of Lincoln Peak is an experience you won’t easily forget. You can either skin up or ride to the top of Gadd Peak in one of Sugarbush’s snowcats. Once there, you’ll be served a three-course menu that starts with local cheese fondue as you warm up in front of the floor-to-ceiling fireplace. When the meal comes to an end, you can opt to ski down the mountain by headlamp back to Timbers Restaurant, where dessert and coffee are served. Cost for the evening is $150 and includes a glass of sparkling wine. sugarbush.com n
Landscape, Light, Space, Materials: Vermont
91 Main Street, Stowe, VT (802) 253-3033 • stowe@ferrojewelers.com
52 Bridge Street | WRJ | Vermont | 802.291.7080 | www.watershedstudio.us
11 Central Street, Woodstock, VT (802) 457-1901 • woodstock@ferrojewelers.com www.ferrojewelers.com
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PROVE US WRONG
We've used our patented HDT technology to create the smoothest ski you’ll ever ride.
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CAPTURING SNOW
A modern day Snowflake Bentley, Bruce Corbett makes art from the flakes that fall in his backyard. By Lisa Lynn
L Corbett created his own set up with a camera, bellows and fiber-optic ring light which he sets up on his porch when it snows.
ike many skiers, when there’s a snowstorm, Bruce Corbett has a hard time getting to sleep at night. “My wife gets mad because I usually grab my equipment and run out of the house.” But in Corbett’s case, “equipment” doesn’t mean skis or a board but a camera and macro configuration that he sets up on his porch. He stands waiting for a flake to fall and gently transfers it to a microscope slide. “When I first began photographing snowflakes I used a Canon F1 camera mounted on a Zeiss microscope.” The biggest challenge? “Not letting the snowflake melt.” Back then he used a circular fluorescent tube to cut down on the heat and provide 360 degrees of illumination. Today, he uses a digital Canon Xsi camera on a bellows
with a reverse-mounted 50 mm macro lens. “The lighting is now from an electronic flash connected by fiber-optics to a ring light. The focus plane is set up similar to dark field illumination to reveal a snowflake that has a black background and white edges.” Corbett grew up in Burlington, and skiing Stowe. He graduated from Rochester Institute of Technology with a degree in biomedical communications and worked as a medical photographer. “As a skier and a Vermonter, I’ve always been fascinated by Snowflake Bently,” Corbett acknowledges. Wilson Bentley, a selfeducated farmer from Jericho, adapted a microscope to a bellows camera and in 1885 became the first person to photograph a single snow crystal. His work is still on display at the Jericho Historical Society. Corbett goes about his hobby with similar dedication. “One of my biggest challenges is you can’t really wear gloves, so your hands freeze doing this,” he says. To keep track of the temperature and humidity on any given day, he has set up a small weather station in his backyard (on Wunderground.com as station number KVTHINES4 in Hinesburg). “In very cold and drier air the crystals will remain small and compact,” he explains. “Where you see the longer, narrower branches, temperature was approximately 18 degrees and 63 percent relative humidity. The compact hexagon shapes were shot at about 5 degrees and 20- to 30-percent relative humidity.” Snowflakes are fractals, meaning they are created from repeating patterns. In the case of snow crystals, that’s often a hexagon that multiplies its shape, usually growing into a six-sided star (or, occasionally, a 3- or 12-sided shape). In fact, one of the earliest fractal curves described in mathematics is the Koch snowflake. “After having photographed many hundreds of snowflakes, I am constantly amazed at the delicate details which each unique crystal forms,” he says. “The ice will form a hexagonal structure because of the arrangement of oxygen and hydrogen atoms. If the air is very humid the crystals will develop long branches and will clump together to form large “puffs” of snow.” The flakes he captures range from 1/16th to 1/4 of an inch in size. He points to the cover of this magazine and the “o” in ‘vtskiandride.com.’ “That’s about the size of the hexagonal ones.” By the time the flakes reach the enlarged framed print that he sells on his website, snowtography.com and at Vermont Teddy Bear (where he now works as a graphic designer), they’ve been magnified 14 times to as much as 56 times. Each snowflake image is modified digitally to remove the background around the edges of the flake to show a more uniform black (or blue) background. Last year, he captured 38 new snowflake images. “I work all day, so I am pretty limited in when I can shoot,” he notes. When asked if the adage “no two snowflakes are the same,” is true, Corbett laughs. He says, “having worked with scientists I’ll give you the scientific response: we really don’t have any way of knowing that, do we?” n
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A CLOSER LOOK AT SNOWFLAKES
No two snowflakes may be the same, but they all are born from one hexagonal shape.
These 12 images of Corbett’s show the different stages of snow crystal growth from small hexagons to delicate six-sided star-like flakes with long branches. Wind, temperature, humidity, and time span determine the ultimate shape. Corbett’s website, snowtography.com, showcases more
Photos courtesy Bruce Corbett/Snowtography.com
than 60 different flakes.
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Gear HIGH TECH VT Move over flannel, Vermont brands are turning out some pretty high tech gear. FUNCTION & FASHION FROM STRATTON There was a time, back in the 1970s, that speed skier C.B. Vaughn made southern Vermont a hotbed for ski apparel with his C.B. line. Now, Stratton skier and Dartmouth alumn Sara Segall and her husband may put Vermont back on the winter apparel map with their new line of Orsden jackets ($330). “We wanted to create affordable, functional and stylish skiwear,” says Segall, who has worked for such fashion brands as Hermes and Jones New York. We’ve tried two of her microtwill jackets and you know what? She’s done it. The insulated jackets fit beautifully (the women’s has an asymmetrical diagonal zipper which keeps it from bunching up when you lean over), are warm, stretchy and have all the bells and whistles you’d want in a serious piece of skiwear: pit zips, a powder skirt, gusseted zippers, thumbholes in the sleeves, a helmet-compatible hood and a high collar. Best yet, at just $330 these jackets perform—and they are as well-made as ones we have tried that are twice the price. For now, there are just two models (men’s and women’s) that come in a variety of muted colors, but watch for more from this Vermont start-up. www.orsden.com
CARBON-BUILT BY BTV RACERS Imagine you had a boot that shaves a pound and a half off your average 5-pounder, that has a consistent flex (no matter how warm or cold it is), and provides a snug, custom fit that won’t turn your toenails black by spring. Longtime racers and ski industry veterans Dave Dodge and Bill Doble have been making the world’s first carbon fiber boot just outside Burlington, Vt., and yes, it does all that. Now, there is a new twist: for this season the pair have developed an app that creates a 3D model of your foot. That image gets superimposed over your boot shell to help ensure the right shell size and fit and shows where a boot might need to be punched out. We’ve tried these and love them. They not only give true race-boot performance, the solid fit and wool liner keep your feet from freezing. Of course, all this comes at a price: $1,295 for a boot with a custom fit. www.dodgeskiboots.com MADE IN STOWE TO SAVE YOUR KNEES The KneeBinding, the binding that was designed in Stowe to reduce ACL injuries, has been around since 2008. Somehow, it has always gotten the same reception among hard core skiers: one that’s similar to what windsurfers gave to early kiteboards and skiers to snowboards: “Cute idea, but it’s a gimmick that won’t last.” Perhaps that’s because some DIN-obsessed skiers equate the binding’s unique ability to release laterally, with less control (not true). That hasn’t deterred company president John Springer-Miller from continuing to build the only binding that releases laterally when a boot or leg gets significant impact. He’s also working with employees at Smuggler’s Notch and dozens of other resorts to test the bindings (results so far: good!). Now, Kneebindings comes in a more rigid carbon model (below) and a Hard Core model with a DIN up to 14. It might be time to show this binding a little more respect: your ACL could thank you. www.kneebinding.com
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A BETTER BOARD FROM WATERBURY Since 2001, Rome Snowboards has been listening to its customers. Really listening. Like, they have a whole section of their site that takes “customer feedback” to a whole new level. This feedback group, the Snowboard Design Syndicate (or SDS) is what has allowed the Waterbury, Vt. company to quietly work its way up to being a consistent winner in board tests. For 2016-17, Rome’s all-mountain Blur ($579.99) uses the lightest core with carbon fiber laminates and positive camber, giving it the stiffness to hold on hardpack but making it responsive in the fluffy stuff as well. One of Transworld Snowboarding’s testers noted: “a sexy smooth ride with quick edge transitions and an even flex throughout.” No wonder it earned the magazine’s “Good Wood” recognition for 2017. www.romesnowboards.com
CHARLOTTE BOY MAKES GOOD (SKIS) Since Renoun burst onto the market last year, Charlotte, Vt., founder Cyrus Schenk, 25, has given up washing windows for a living and devoted himself to getting the word out about his new line of skis. It’s worked: Renoun has been written up in everything from the Wall Street Journal to Entrepreneur. For this year, Renoun launches a carving Z-77-mm and a floatier, 104-mm Endurance. Schenk has been working the trade show circuit where he carries around a ball of what looks like silly putty, wraps it around his fingers and then asks you to hit with a hammer. Hard! The putty immediately stiffens on impact, protecting the fingers. That same material, D3O is the key to Renoun’s “Hyper Damping Technology” or HDT and what gives the skis the ability to stay stiff on impact. That translates into a far smoother ride with less chatter. We’ve skied the Endurance 98s and love them on Eastern hardpack (less so in bumps). They are light, precise and floaty enough to take on crud and corn. What they are not is cheap. But if you want just one pair of skis for the East, the $1,345 price tag (for the Z-77s) is worth it. www.renoun.com
NEW WOOLIES FROM WRJ There are reasons why wool has endured as one of the best insulating fabrics: it’s warm, breatheable and doesn’t hold odors. But that doesn’t mean it can’t be improved upon. Based in White River Juncition, Ibex has done just that with its new Woolies 2 Mid-Weight base layer. Made with Merino wool from New Zealand, this has an interlock knit and weighs in at 230 g/m2. We love the high zip net, the long sleeves and low waist (to keep the pow out) and the fact that this is the perfect midweight layer for alpine skiing or riding or to wear to the bar after. $115. www.ibex.com
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NORDIC
centers of vermont
NORTHERN VERMONT Ski Area
Total Terrain
Machine Skating Typical Season Tracked Terrain
Town
Phone
Website
Blueberry Lake
31 km
31 km
31 km
Dec-March
Warren
802-496-6687
blueberrylakeskivt.com
Bolton Valley XC
100 km
15 km
15 km
Dec-April
Bolton Valley
802-434-3444
boltonvalley.com
Catamount Family Center
35 km
35 km
35 km
Dec-March
Williston
802-879-6001
catamountoutdoor.com
Craftsbury Outdoor Center
105 km
105 km
105 km
Dec-March
Craftsbury Common
802-586-7767
craftsbury.com
Hazen’s Notch
65 km
60 km
60 km
Dec-April
Montgomery Center
802-326-4799
hazensnotch.org
Highland Lodge & XC Center
40 km
40 km
40 km
Dec-March
Greensboro
802-533-2647
highlandlodge.com
Jay Peak Nordic & Snowshoe Center
20 km
--
--
Nov-April
Jay
802-988-2611
jaypeakresort.com
Kingdom Trails
45 km
20 km
20 km
Dec-April
East Burke
802-626-0737
kingdomtrails.org
Memphremagog Ski Touring Foundation
35 km
35 km
35 km
Dec-March
Derby
802-334-1357
mstf.net
Morse Farm Ski Center
25 km
25 km
25 km
Dec-March
Montpelier
802-223-0560
skimorsefarm.com
Ole’s Cross Country Center
48 km
50 km
45 km
Nov-April
Warren
802-496-3430
olesxc.com
Rikert Nordic Center
55 km
50 km
40 km
Nov-April
Ripton
802-443-2744
rikertnordic.com
Sleepy Hollow Inn & Bike Center
35 km
30 km
25 km
Dec-March
Huntington
802-434-2283
skisleepyhollow.com
Stowe XC Ski Center
75 km
35 km
35 km
Dec-April
Stowe
802-253-3688
stowe.com
Stoweflake Resort
5 km
5 km
--
Dec-April
Stowe
802-253-2232
stoweflake.com
Trapp Family Lodge XC Center
160 km
55 km
55 km
Dec-April
Stowe
802-253-8511
trappfamily.com
Rikert's 55 km of trails wind through old forests, farm fields and past Robert Frost's summer cabin. The Center offers a full service rental shop and ski school. Jump on early season skiing with 5 km of snowmaking. Open 7 days a week and home to the Middlebury College Panthers.
The Nordic Center is the gateway to Bolton Valley’s legendary backcountry terrain. It offers guided tours, lessons and rental equipment to get you out to enjoy some of the best Nordic skiing and snowshoeing in New England. Bolton has a 100 km Nordic trail system with 15 kilometers of groomed trails.
www.rikertnordic.com • 802-443-2744
www.boltonvalley.com • 802-434-3444
106 College Cross Road • Ripton VT
4302 Bolton Valley Access Rd • Bolton, VT
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Rikert Nordic Center, Ripton
Bolton Valley, Bolton
Trapp Family Center, Stowe
Timber Creek, West Dover
SOUTHERN VERMONT
Snowmaking
Ski Area
Total Terrain
Machine Tracked
Skating Typical Season Terrain
Town
Phone
Website
Blueberry Hill
60 km
--
--
Dec-March
Goshen
802-247-6735
blueberryhillinn.com
Brattleboro Outing Club
33 km
25 km
20 km
Dec-March
Brattleboro
802-254-8906
brattleborooutingclub.org
Grafton Ponds Outdoor Center
60 km
30 km
30 km
Dec-March
Grafton
802-843-2400
graftonponds.com
Hildene, The Lincoln Family Home
20 km
14 km
--
Dec-March
Manchester
802-362-1788
hildene.org
Landgrove Inn
15 km
15 km
15 km
Dec-March
Landgrove
802-824-6673
landgroveinn.com
Mountain Top Inn & Resort
60 km
40 km
40 km
Nov-April
Chittenden
802-483-2311
mountaintopinn.com
Okemo Valley Nordic Center
22 km
22 km
8 km
Dec-April
Ludlow
802-228-1396
okemo.com
Prospect Mountain XC
30 km
30 km
30 km
Nov-April
Woodford
802-442-2575
prospectmountain.com
Quechee Club
25 km
25 km
12 km
Dec-March
Quechee
802-295-9356
quecheeclub.com
Strafford Nordic Center
30 km
30 km
Dec-March
Strafford
802-765-4309
straffordnordicskiing.com
Stratton Mountain Nordic Center
12 km
12 km
12 km
Dec-March
Stratton Mountain
802-297-4567
stratton.com
Three Stallion Inn Touring Center
35 km
10 km
17 km
Dec-March
Randolph
802-728-3475
threestallioninn.com
Timber Creek XC
14 km
14 km
14 km
Dec-March
West Dover
802-464-0999
timbercreekxc.com
Viking Nordic Center
39 km
35 km
30 km
Dec-March
Londonderry
802-824-3933
vikingnordic.com
Wild Wing’s Ski Touring Center
25 km
25 km
--
Dec-March
Peru
802-824-6793
wildwingsski.com
Woodstock Inn Nordic Center
50 km
50 km
50 km
Dec-March
Woodstock
802-457-6674
woodstockinn.com
Ti m b e r Cr eek
verm nt Timber Creek XC is known for our thoughtfully groomed trail system, we have been called “one of the finest small XC ski areas in the country…bar none.”
Trapp’s XC Center, one of the premier Nordic centers in the East, features 160 km, with 55 km of tracked and skating terrain. Plus: • •
Full retail shop and rentals Professional instruction
• Don't miss Slayton Pasture Cabin for a warm lunch and a roaring fire in the hearth.
TimberCreekXC.com • 802-464-0999
www.trapfamily.com • 802-253-8511
Mount Snow • Rt. 100 North • West Dover, VT
700 Trapp Hill Rd • Stowe, VT 05672
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T TRACKING WINTER
SKIING AT DUSK IN THE BACKWOODS OF THE NORTHEAST KINGDOM.
BY ANNIE PROULX PHOTO BY BRIAN MOHR/EMBERPHOTO
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The house stands in Vermont’s crooked terrain of slanted field and steep wood. A hundred years ago people worked the copper mines and raised sheep in this town. The metal and the sheep are long gone and the population has withered to a few hundred.Yet a network of abandoned roads from those old days, reamed out from time to time by log skidders, still laces the hills. Under deep snow they become superb backcountry ski routes. My skiing time notches a precise part of the winter day. Sitting and scribbling, telephone talk, reading, typing—how stiff and restless one gets. But in late afternoon, the work ends. The final hours of light are mine and over the years I have come to love skiing in the blue dusk. So important to me are these hours that only a blizzard can keep me inside. When I start out on the hill it is often sun gilded and, on the return, I can see the way only because of the faint luminescence of the snow and because my eyes have adjusted to the failing light. The crepuscular rim of twilight seems a powerful and mysterious hour for me. The wind drops and a stillness falls. The fading sunset colors unroll like bolts of French silk behind the woods. Wildlife begins to move. I have seen fisher cats, coyotes, foxes on these dusk occasions. The temperature drops suddenly, well below zero, sometimes so low it is like skiing on fine sand rather than snow. For reasons I cannot explain, I like this biting cold. I ski hard, become warm, then hot. For a few years, brush has grown up on the hill behind my house, the old pasture reverting to cherry and bramble. In October, a neighbor mowed a trail through the rampant growth. Before the first snow fell, it looked good. But the first trip down was frighteningly fast with a crazy, jumping turn in the middle, and then a straight shot to the bottom. Not fun in the dark. So, halfway down I reverted to the rough, found an oblique but loopy path through the bushes. Business as usual. It was a strong winter. Snow and more snow and the relentless cold made it difficult to ski off-trail. The dry snow, four feet deep, was weightless fluff that did not settle. Skis sank far below the surface. Going
Annie Proulx is the author of numerous books, including The Shipping News (which won both the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award,) and of the short story, “Brokeback Mountain,” which was made into a film. She graduated from the University ofVermont and lived here in this state for 30 years. Her most recent novel is Barkskins. She now lives in Seattle, Wash.
downhill, a wave of snow rose above my knees; going uphill, I slithered and plunged. I prayed for a warming trend. It did not come. And I took to the skimobile side trail that lies half a mile beyond my hill. In the late afternoon of weekdays, it was deserted and I flew madly over its surface, across a brook and down a series of steep chutes and twisting corners, an eight-mile loop through the woods, while all around me, deep in the fading light, lay the unblemished, impossible snow. The physiological advantage of going out late in the day, every day, after the winter solstice is that one becomes intensely sensitive to the lengthening daylight. A minute, another, another, a slow gain of a few minutes a week. The eyes, the senses, the body, responds to these additional slivers of light with joy and a sense of wellbeing. Here is proof that that the world is turning, spring spinning our way again. One clear night in February, two friends came over. It was our chance to ski under the full moon. The snow had finally hardened after a brief thaw, and eight inches of fresh powder made perfect cross-country conditions. The night was very windy and bitterly cold. Before we went out we put Vaseline on our exposed faces. Outside, the moon was riding high and full, the west wind tearing smoke devils off the snow. We climbed the hill, skied down the other side, the lee side, safe from the wind that clashed and clicked the branches of trees on the ridge above. We veered off the trail after a few miles and traversed a hilly pasture. The White Mountains lie roughly 50 miles to the east, great jags filling the horizon in clear weather, but that night the wind was terrible in the mountains, gusts to 100 mph, and the whole Presidential Range boiled in the moonlight like a dim, milky froth. One we skied in the brilliant moonlight, past the wreck of a deserted farmhouse, along logging roads, the moon glancing through the trees. Our skis kicked up a glittering wake, crystallized exhalations plumed from our mouths. At last the long climb back and the final, reluctant descent in violent wind. Back in the kitchen, faces burning, we drank Zinfandel and at midnight spaghetti with plenty of fiery peppers in the sauce. Outside, the thermometer read eight below zero. In spring the layers of snow melted slowly, exposing old ski tracks made months before. The marks of our moonlight journey, pale welts across the decaying snow, revived that night so cold and windy, so wild and beautiful, we could hardly bear to stop skiing, even when the moon disappeared. n
Originally published as “Skiirrg Ffome in the Dadfl byAnnie Ptoulx. SKI Magazine, January 1995. Cogright @ 1995 by Annie Ptoulx. Used with permiesion. All rights reserved. resewed.
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Dream Home
When his son Mac (right) started winning national competitions, designer Ray Forehand decided Vermont was the right place for the family. He redid this house in Winhall using local art such as the American flag (done all in bottle caps) by Kyle Bogossian. The stone scultpure on the bar is by Jen Herzer, from
Caption goes here Caption goes here Caption goes here Caption goes here Caption goes here Caption goes here
Photo Š2016 Durston Saylor
Manchester’s Epoch Gallery.
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T FR HE HO EE ME STY
Photo by Jesse Mallis
LE
ner g i s e rior d e t n i ont, isa Lynn m r e to V me. By L e v o to m right ho d e g , beg eded the s r a t tyle s ey just ne s e e r ing f right. Th d d u th b e was o b , s kid d the tim o w t heir d decide t n e Wh orehan Ray F vtskiandride.com Holiday 2016 33
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Photo ©2016 Durston Saylor
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Photos ©2016 Durston Saylor
Blame the kids. Ray Forehand, his wife Anne Marie and their two kids, Savannah and Mac had a great life in Southport, Ct. The kids did well in school. Ray had an established business, Forehand + Lake, designing multimillion dollar homes and refurbishing interiors across Fairfield County—the types of homes that appear in glossy design magazines where the owners are only identified as “the owners.” His weekend ritual, though, for the past 20 years has been to pack up the car and drive to a mountain-side home in Stratton. That’s how it started. “The kids started to become good skiers,” he sighs. “Really good. Next thing we knew, they wanted to enroll in Stratton Mountain School.” Savannah, a competitive mogul skier, did so in 2012 and Mac, her park-skiing little brother a year later. “The more time we spent up there, the more we wanted to be part of the year-round community,” Ray says. So they traded in their on-mountain contemporary for a farmhouse in Winhall. Anne Marie and the kids moved up full time, and Ray now commutes back and forth, spending as many three-day weekends as possible. Savannah, who reached national-level status as a freestyle skier, has gone on to college at Skidmore. “What we liked about SMS,” Forehand says, “is the academics are just as important as the athletics.
The barn doors (left) open into the “party room,” where the Forehands often entertain. That room opens into the rest of the house (top) or can be closed off when not in use. The den (above), features a black and white photo by Stratton photographer Hubert Schriebl. Charcoal raffia wallcoverings and a soft striped chenille pull-out couch bring warmth to this room which doubles as a guest room.
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Photo, ©2016 Durston Saylor, R.J. Forehand, top
The Forehands, above, at Copper Mountain this past year, just after Mac (middle right) won his age group at the USASA Nationals. Forehand’s firm, Forehand + Lake, outfitted the party barn (right) with chairs and a couch they designed using C+C Milano fabrics, an oak coffee table with a Marinace granite top and a photograph of gondolas over Braunwald, Switzerland. The main part of the house (left) will soon look out at a pond the family is digging in the front yard.
Savannah really wanted to go to an elite college and study nursing. Because of the education she got at SMS, she can do that.” As for Mac.. well… this past April, at age 14, he won his slopestyle division (ages 13-15) at the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association Nationals (USASA) at Copper Mountain, beating more than 80 others from around the country. Freeskier Magazine has called him “the real deal” and his videos have prompted members of the NewSchoolers digital community to comment: “Damn, what’s the X Games going to look like in five years.” (Watch him in action at vtskiandride.com). “Because of the kids, we’ve really become a part of this whole
freestyle community,” says Ray, who recently joined the board of the USASA foundation. “And we wanted a place off the mountain where everyone can hang out.” Though the house had good bones, Forehand has put his designer’s touch on everything from the furniture to the landscaping. A one-acre pond was dug this fall and he opened up the barn by adding windows. (“Barns are typically so dark,” he says). Throughout the house, the design too is best described as “freestyle,” mixing vintage Vermont pieces, modern Simon Pearce lamps and scavenged artwork with contemporary furniture of his own design. There’s even a nod to the west where Savannah and Mac spend much of their time with chairs upholstered in Pendleton blankets. “The barn is great because we can have parties there with 150 people—and we do—or we can close it off when it’s just Anne Marie and the kids there. It has its own heat and water system,” Forehand says. For now, they are living the dream—almost. “If I could find a way to move my business north, I’d move here full time in a heart-beat,” he says. Maybe he should take a lesson from his kids. n
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Photos ©2016 Durston Saylor
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THE NIGHT SHIFT BY EVAN JOHNSON
PHOTOS BY OLIVER PARINI AND MIKE HITELMAN
driv Photo by Mike Hitelman
While you are asleep, there’s a small army of scientists, snowmakers and cat
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Even though Stowe receives over 300 inches of snow each season, the lights stay on after the sun goes down and groomers begin work on some 39 miles of trails.
T Photo by Mike Hitelman
drivers out there making sure the corduroy is perfect for the morning.
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Just after midnight, the windswept face of the mountain resembles the surface of the moon or the bottom of the ocean—featureless, remote and oppressive.The lamp on your helmet feebly pierces the night around you as gusts of wind nearing 30 miles per hour hit you in full-body blasts. Snot freezes in your nose and a heavy clump of ice on your balaclava or beard grows with every breath you take as you haul a 100-foot-long hose through knee-deep snow to a waiting snow gun. At the end of the night, you return home and fall effortlessly and deeply asleep.The crazy part is you’ll be doing this again tomorrow. You’ve read (and likely griped) about El Nino and La Nina, and heard about lake effect snows from Lake Champlain, but when it comes to getting the most out of the ski season, having the ability to create your own forecast doesn’t hurt. Every year when the temperature drops, Vermont’s alpine and Nordic ski areas combine increasingly sophisticated snowmaking and forecasting technology with some old-fashioned muscle-power to give winter the jump-start it needs. The results: whales of creamy snow and wall-to-wall coverage, beginning as soon as the leaves fall and continuing through winter. And when Mother Nature gets stingy, the snow guns and snowmaking ponds and the men and women that manage them can, like last year, be the ski resorts’ saving grace. On Oct. 25, Killington Resort opened for what is consistently the longest season in the East. An arsenal of 1,700 guns and 88 miles of snowmaking pipe blasted for 10 hours to layer the Rime and Reason trails on the North Ridge—a total of 600 vertical feet—with five inches of the good stuff the day before. For Jon Kuehn, a Killington snowmaker with 17 years of experience under his helmet, it’s a sight he loves. “It’s sort of addicting,” he says. “You’re creating large piles of snow and seeing your creation every day.” Getting two trails open before Halloween is one thing, but preparing Killington’s centerpiece trail—the double-diamond Superstar—
ready for a FIS World Cup Race and the likes of Lindsay Vonn and Mikaela Shiffrin is another story. For a world-class race, the snow surface has to be deep enough and hard enough to withstand any weather. Killington’s snowmaking team took advantage of a late-October cold snap to blast snow piles up to 10 feet deep on Superstar in preparation for the November 26-27 races. Asked about concerns for rain or the erratic weather patterns, Kuehn laughs. “We give it some, the rain takes some, but we’ll give it some more when it gets cold again,” he says, confident in the resort’s ability to create enough snow. Under ideal conditions, Killington’s snowmaking system delivers 10 million gallons of water per day to more than 250 snow guns, covering 60 acres with 12 inches of fresh snow every 24 hours.
A Hard Day’s Night
New snow guns, automated systems and better temperature forecasting have vastly improved the quality and quantity of the snow produced throughout the state. At Stowe Mountain Resort, the snowmaking system has evolved into an elaborate science. Over the past three years, a $10.5 million snowmaking expansion has replaced the majority of on-hill snowmaking pipe, added over 600 tower guns and 36 automated fan guns, and upgraded pumping stations. Plus, the new energy-efficient guns from HKD allowed the resort to eliminate the need for eight diesel compressors and saved 100,000 gallons of diesel fuel used to power them. “With a fixed piece of equipment you have to connect the hoses and fire away,” says Stowe’s V.P. of mountain operations Scott Reeves. “With the new automated fan guns, it’s as easy as a click of the mouse.” Still, much of snowmaking is physical work.While crews use snowmobiles, four-wheelers, and snowcats, there’s still plenty of walking to be done. Over the course of his nightly shift, Killington’s Kuehn says he walks about 10 miles while dragging or carrying equipment or
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hoses that can weigh up to 30 pounds.“Now’s the time of year when I start eating a lot of food and burning a lot of calories,” he says. Meanwhile, the work exposes snowmakers to extreme winter weather. At 20 degrees below zero, even the heavy parka and pants they wear can feel like a paper bag, and snowmobiles have to keep running, as they may not restart if shut off. At the summit, wind chill can drive temperatures to as low as 80 below zero. At the Middlebury College Snow Bowl, a small but dedicated staff of 12 mans the snowmaking system in three eight-hour shifts every day, meaning even general manager Peter Mackey suits up to wrangle snowmaking hoses. The equipment is heavy and in the dark, even experienced snowmakers can become disoriented. “Even with these high powered headlamps, it doesn’t compare to working in the daytime,” he says. “It’s hard to be mindful of where you are, and then you’ll hit a steep section you weren’t expecting and go for a ride downhill.”
Photo top by Mike Hitelman; right and left by Oliver Parini
Less Cowboy, More Scientist
In 2013, Okemo Mountain Resort made its largest investment in snowmaking in a decade; nearly $1 million in pumps, pipeline and a variety of snow guns to cover nearly all of the resort’s trails, ranging from 225 HKD SV tower guns to more mobile guns that can be dragged on sleds. All that new equipment allowed the area to go from green grass to skiers and riders linking turns trails after just 10 days of blowing snow. “Operation Snowburst,” as the resort named its expansion campaign, saw another boost the following year, with 100 more HKD tower guns. These newer snow guns feature valves that can regulate water flow for the weather conditions, going from low-flow at high temperatures (above 32 degrees Fahrenheit) to higher flow at lower temperatures. While the older HKD guns pushed 50 CFMs (cubic feet of air perminute), the newer guns go between 80 and 100 CFM of air. Today, 98 percent of Okemo’s 655 skiable acres are covered by its snowmaking system, manned by groups of about 10 snowmakers per 12-hour shift. The story is similar at Mount Snow, Vermont’s southern-most ski
Though new push-button tower guns make the work easier at Stowe, much of snowmaking still relies on checking the guns and hoses (top). Middlebury’s Anthony Marsella (left and right) traverses a whale of snow. Snowmaking produces massive piles of snow six to ten feet high. These help establish a base for the entire season and can be groomed out to cover the entire trail.
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Snowmakers use what they call the “sleeve test,” (top, at Stowe) where a snowmaker stands under the gun to see if the manmade snow freezes on his jacket, which demonstrates how fine the snow is. “At night, we depend solely on that as opposed to the daytime when you can see the plume coming out of the gun,” Middlebury College Snow Bowl’s Peter Mackey says of the snowmaking system (left). “That’s hard to do at night.” The amount of time the snow stays in the air is called “hang time.” The lon-
resort. In the past decade, the resort has added 645 low-energy snow guns and 10,000 feet of snowmaking pipe from the base area to the summit. A new 120-million gallon snowmaking reservoir called the West Lake Project is due to be completed by the 2017-2018 season. The new guns allow the system to start up more quickly and uses the water more accurately for the temperature range snowmakers are working in. Mount Snow’s vice president of Mountain Operations Brendan Ryan says the result is more cost-effective snowmaking and more consistent snow quality. “An old-school snowmaker with 30 years of experience who’s dialed in can make fantastic snow with the older, louder, ground gun technology, but it’s more susceptible to changes in pressure,” he says. “There’s a lot more going on when you’re in the balance of air and water. It’s harder to make mistakes with these new fan guns.” As a result, Ryan says the nature of the work on the hill has changed. “The guys that do best in this work take a real interest in the technology. It’s less of a cowboy attitude, there’s more science involved,” he says. Last year, in a season that saw temperatures in the 60s on Christmas, Mount Snow pumped 18 percent more water than any other year in the area’s 62-year history and was blowing snow into March. “Having this lower energy technology allowed us to continue to make snow where it would have otherwise been cost-prohibitive,” Ryan says. “It helped to save our season, as challenging as it was.” n
Photo top by Mike Hitelman, middle an bottom by OliverParini
ger the snow’s in the air, the more subject it is to winds and has more time to freeze.
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Come visit Vermont’s 3rd oldest ski area and learn why the Snow Bowl is beloved to all who know it!
$35
www.middleburysnowbowl.com
Weekday ticket (Season passes discounted through November)
$100
Lease packages for ages 10 and under. See more rates online.
able at t es a v a i l a c f i t r Gift Ce 802-443-7669
F
amily-friendly atmosphere includes FREE access to our Sunkid Wonder Carpet, a cozy lodge with wireless internet and great food. On-site ski shop open 7 days a week starting Nov. 2 with lease packages, rentals, retail and full tuning. Middlebury Snow School has over 30 instructors who offer all levels of coaching in skiing, snowboarding and telemarking. Ask about the Middlebury Ski Club activities for kids, they’re phenomenal!
500+
acres of trails, glades & woods with a border-to-border all-access terrain policy. New this year is a redesigned uphill route!
Ski Middlebury Terrific skiing • Unbeatable value • Authentic Vermont
Middlebury was ranked amoung the Best 12 towns in the nation to live in by Outside Magazine in 2015!
Discover it! • Fatbiking, Nordic Skiing
and Snowshoeing • 55+km of trails • 5km of snowmaking • Over 2000 acres of conserved land to explore...
R
ikert Nordic Center is located on VT Route 125 just 2 miles west of the Snow Bowl. 5km of snowmaking extends the season to a consecutive 130 day average. Season passes and multi-day passes available. On-site rental shop with xc skis, fat bikes, snowshoes, sit skis and more! Open 7 days a week from Nov.-March. Great rates, terrific value, tons of fun!
Gift Certificates Available: Call 802-443-2744
www.rikertnordic.com Winter in Vermont... at your pace.
RETRO VT
BY BILL MCCOLLUM & GREG MORRILL
POP QUIZ: TEST YOUR VT SKI HISTORY IQ With a colorful cast of characters, athletes and visionaries, Vermont has a rich history of firsts. How much of the Green Mountain’s ski history do you know?
F
or a small state, Vermont has played a big role in the evolution of skiing and snowboarding. Home to the first ski lift and half-pipe, it’s also been the birthplace of the National Ski Patrol, the first snowboard competition and the nation’s longestrunning ski race. How much of Vermont’s ski history do you know? Give yourself one point for each correct answer and then see how you scored on the following page. Better yet, stop off at the Vermont Ski & Snowboard Museum in Stowe or see Vtskiandride. com/quiz/ for detailed answers.
Photos courtesy Vermont Ski & Snowboard Museum
1. In 1934, Robert and Elizabeth Royce, proprietors of the White Cupboard Inn, installed the country’s first rope tow on Gilbert’s Hill near: A) Stowe B) Brattleboro C)Woodstock. 2. In 1940, Minnie Dole and three others gathered at Johnny Seesaw’s Inn near Bromley and, after a few glasses, dreamed up: A) the National Ski Patrol B) pond skimming C) the U.S. Army’s 10th Mountain Division. 3. Her parents ran Pico Peak ski area and she became the first and only U.S. woman to win Olympic gold medals in slalom and giant slalom. A) Andrea Mead Lawrence B) Barbara Ann Cochran C) Mikaela Shiffrin. 4. Vermont Academy in Saxton’s River held the first Winter Carnival, (later replicated at Dartmouth College), in: A) 1909 B) 1952 C) 1968.
5. The Fisk Trophy race, started in 1937 and the longest ongoing trophy race in the country, is held at: A) Mt. Snow B) Pico C) Suicide Six.
Vermont was home to the first rope tow in America and to Olympian Billy Kidd (below).
6. Penny Pitou became the first American Olympic medal winner in downhill with a silver in Squaw Valley in 1960. She also took the silver medal in giant slalom. At the time, she was skiing for: A) Bennington College B) University of Vermont C) Middlebury College. 7. In 1963, this Manchester resident set a world speed record of 105.285 m.p.h. in Portillo, Chile and then went on to establish a skiing apparel company: A) Stein Eriksen B) C.B. Vaughn C)Willy Bogner. 8. In 1964, Billy Kidd won the nation’s first men’s Olympic silver medal in slalom at Innsbruck, Austria and then added a bronze in combined. Kidd grew up skiing at: A) Sugarbush B) Killington C) Stowe. 9. The year that Vermont boasted over 80 ski areas and the number one ranking in national skier/rider visits: A) 1966 B) 1986 C) 2006. 10. The current number of alpine ski and ride areas (including private clubs, but not backyard lifts) with working lifts in Vermont is: A) 12 B) 18 C) 24. 11. The year that Vermont boasted 4.7 million skier/rider visits, second only to Colorado in numbers: A) 1975 B) 2005 C) 2015.
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RETRO VT
Stratton’s Ross Powers airs it out (top left). Skiers ride an early T-bar (top right) at Pico which, at one time, was run by the parents of Olympian Andrea Mead Lawrence (above).
18. In 1982, this area hosted the first snowboard national championship. A) Pico B) Suicide Six C) Jay Peak. 19. In 1985, five-time World Cup medalist Mike Holland set the world distance record in ski jumping with a leap of 186 meters. He hails from: A) Brattleboro B) Norwich C) Ludlow.
13. This Richmond native won the Hahnenkamm combined in Kitzbuhel, Austria in 1973, a first for U.S. ski racing: A) Barbara Ann Cochran B) Bobby Cochran C) Marilyn Cochran.
20. The first Vermont skier to win an Olympic gold in moguls was: A) Hannah Kearney B) DonnaWeinbrecht C) Suzy Chaffee
14. Three Cochrans raced on the World Cup in 1972, but this one also took home the gold medal at the Sapporo Olympic: A) Barbara Ann B) Bobby C) Lindy.
22. In 2006, this place became the nation’s first carbonneutral ski area: A) Mad River Glen B) Middlebury College Snow Bowl C) BoltonValley.
15. The first U.S. Olympic Nordic medal is a silver won by this skier from Guilford at Innsbruck, Austria. A) Bill Koch B) Andy Newell C) Jessie Diggins. . 16. Jake Burton Carpenter started a snowboard company in Londonderry and tested his boards at this mountain, the first area in the world to allow snowboarding. A) Magic Mountain B) Stratton C) Bromley. 17. This skier and second home-owner brought what has became the largest employer in Vermont to the state: A) Tom Watson, Jr., son of the founder of IBM B) Win Smith, former Merrill Lynch VP and owner of Sugarbush C) Maurice Greenberg, former president of AIG.
21. Which snowboarder won the inaugural half-pipe at the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics? A)) Ross Powers (Stratton Mountain School) B) Kelly Clark (Mt. Snow) C) both.
23. Racing out of Burke Mountain Academy, at age 15 this racer was the youngest to win a national alpine title, the youngest to claim a World Championship title (age 17); and Olympic gold medal (age 18). This skier still holds the U.S. record for most World Cup victories with 19 in slalom. A) Tiger Shaw B) Chip Knight C) Mikaela Shiffrin Score yourself a point for each right answer: 1-8: You are permitted to wear flannel, but only on the bus ride back home to New Jersey. 9-16: Not bad, but you might want to sharpen those edges. 17-23: How many generations of your family lived on the farm? Answers: 1.C), 2. C), 3. A), 4. A), 5. C). 6. C) 7. B), 8. C), 9. A), 10. C), 11. C), 12. B), 13. B), 14. A), 15. A), 16. B), 17. A), 18. A), 19. B), 20. B), 21. C), 22. B), 23. C)
Photos courtesy Vermont Ski & Snowboard Museum
12. Founded by Warren Witherell in 1970, this school became the nation’s first ski racing academy: A) Stratton Mountain School B) Burke Mountain Academy C) Green MountainValley School
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COACH BY DOUG STEWART
THE 3 SECRETS TO A PURE CARVE If you want to move up to “expert” status, you have to master a carved turn. Here’s how to lay down tracks, go faster and make the purest turns on snow.
A
fter all the time we spent on groomers last year (because the woods, without snowmaking, were frankly a bit scary), I have felt a re-awakening of the
carved turn. Have you felt it? The ski industry over the past few seasons has been so focused on making skis true allmountain masters, that the ability to hold and rip on a firm surface has taken a backseat to floating in the snow and releasing the turn. Fifteen years ago when we lived through the side cut revolution, skis were evolving to allow mere mortals to feel a pure carved turn without having to go mach schnell. Back then everyone was obsessed with carving turns. Recreational ski equipment tried to emulate what the world’s best racers were doing. At the very least, it helped weekend warriors make some clean turns on their local hill. Today, all the cool kids are talking about rocker, alpine touring skis and boots with a walk mode. Most recreational skis are no longer toned-down versions of race gear. But that shouldn’t keep all of us from laying down trenches on our favorite trails, particularly in the early season before the woods build up a base. While the term “carving” is known by most skiers, it is surprising how few skiers actually know how to carve a turn. SKI Magazine recently polled ski instructors from around the country and the consensus was that about 10 percent of skiers on a given hill can actually carve a turn, but many more think they are carving. As a boot fitter, this reminds me of the statistic that 86 percent of skiers are in a boot at least one size too big. Is there a correlation? Yes! There is a certain amount of accuracy needed to carve a turn well, and many skiers just aren’t set up for success. A proper fitting boot, with decent alignment of the foot, ankle, and knee goes a long way towards engaging the performance of a ski. Having a ski that is properly tuned with sharp edges, including more than the “standard” 2 degree side bevel, is also a step in the right direction. So, if you have proper fitting boots, tuned skis, and are standing on a well-groomed trail, what’s keeping the carve from happening? The
three most common carving issues I see on the hill are the skier’s stance, a move I call the “push,” and basically just too much body English. FIND YOUR STANCE Many skiers don’t come down the hill in a functional or athletic stance. Having your feet a hip-width distance apart and holding a healthy amount of ankle flex into the front of your boots goes a long way to improving your ability to carve. You should ski in a stance that would give you a fighting chance of not falling over if your buddy came up and pushed you on the shoulder. While standing on the flats, do a few hops off the ground where both skis leave the snow and stay level or horizontal. This will engage your ankle, and will usually help your feet find that functional hip width distance apart. If you find it hard to either leave the ground, or to keep the skis horizontal when you do, this can be a sign of not being properly balanced in your boots. While leaving the ground is not a requirement of carving turns, being properly balanced in your boots is. A well-balanced stance gives you the chance to access and precisely control the edge angle of your skis and using your edges is essential to a well carved turn. ROLL YOUR SKIS Once you have a strong and efficient stance, you can move your body over this stable base of support. Far too many skiers push their feet away from where they want to go. If a skier is in a strong stance, with properly aligned boots, then he or she can move in the direction of travel which will engage the edges of the skis, and create a clean, carved turn. This is very different from pushing your feet and skis off to the right, to then try to make your body go to the left. The next time you are in your gear, stand on a flat, or across the hill so you aren’t moving, and get in a good, athletic and balanced stance. From here, practice just rolling your skis up on edge using your feet and ankles to do so. Roll up into the edges of your skis slowly and smoothly while keeping both skis symmetrical and at the same edge angle. Also, be sure to practice making that progressive edging move in each direction (turn around to try the other
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Former World Cup racer Pam Fletcher
Photo by Jeb Wallace-Brodeur
carves some big arcs at Sugarbush.
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COACH side if you are on a slope, so you are always rolling the legs up the hill). After you have a good feel for making this edging move statically, it is time to find a mellow slope that you can basically straight-line without fear of going too fast. Start straight down the hill in a strong and balanced stance, and then slowly roll your feet and ankles to put your skis on their edges. Don’t try to twist or turn the ski, just get a feel for what the shape of the skis does for you. As soon as the skis start to change direction, roll back to the other side and engage the other set of edges. This will create a very shallow turn, and you will be going full speed. A carved turn like this will not slow you down. This is the way racers ski a race course, and keep all of their speed while making turns around the gates. The challenge they face is in getting their skis to bend and make a carved turn tight enough to stay in the course and to make all the turns with very little skidding which slows them down. This speed and efficiency is the fun of carving. It is also why it is so rarely seen on the slopes. If you were to ask a group of recreational skiers why they turn, all most all of them would say ‘to slow down.’ This view of turning connects the turning movement with braking for most skiers. Carving is different; carving is changing direction without braking, or losing speed.
increases, and speed increases, we need to continue to move our bodies farther into the turn and continue to increase the angle on our skis. What starts with our feet and ankles becomes our knees, thighs and hips moving farther into each turn. While our lower body continues to move in and add more edge angle, this is complimented by our upper body staying level to the hill and not tipping over. This calmness and stability is something many skiers lack. If the shoulders and arms are leaning like an airplane wing making a turn, then the skis lose their ability to engage a high edge angle and continue to carve. One of my favorite ways to calm my body and make sure I am staying level with my shoulders, so that my feet and legs can carve, is to do a pole dragging drill. Make a run on a groomer and keep both of your poles close to vertical and sticking into the snow about a foot out to the side of your toes. As you make a turn to, say the left, make sure both poles stay touching the ground.You will find that the tendency is to leave the left pole on the ground, but let the right one float off the snow. Drive down that outside shoulder and arm so that the pole stays in contact with the snow, and the legs can keep the skis on a higher edge.Your carve will be much stronger, and more balanced with this drill, because with level shoulders you will stay more balanced over the outside ski, and the movement of your upper body towards the outside of the turn will help your legs move farther inCALM YOUR BODY side of the turn. Keeping the arms and shoulders from tipping and twisting So, how does this slow pure carving on a mellow slope become high speed will really clean up your ability to carve your skis. performance carving? This move of just tilting your feet and ankles so that While carving isn’t everything, and most of our turns will have a bit the skis engage the edges and carve is just the start. As the pitch of the hill of skid in them, the ability to purely carve a turn is mandatory for any expert skier. All we really do with our skis is tip them and turn them. All of our skiing is a mix of these skills of tipping and turning. The blend of these two movements is what determines the outcome of our turn. THE RIGHT CARVING STANCE In order to master the blending of the two skills and to ski all types of turns like an expert, we need to be able to seperate, and master these skills individually. A pure sideslip in one direction, connected to a pure sideslip in the other direction would be the BODY: application of turning without edging. Tipping the Calm and SHOULDERS: skis on their edge and letting the shape of the bent facing the Square skis make the turn without any twisting or turning is fall line and facing the basis of carving. Any expert skier should be able downhill to make this move. The next time you find a nice newly-groomed piece of real estate, take the time to play with some of these ideas, and paint some railroad tracks all over KNEES: POLES: that slope! Angled and
Even, with the tips just above the snow
flexed
ANKLES: Rolled inward
SKIS: Paralell and angled on edge
An examiner for the Eastern division of the Professional Ski Instructors of America (PSIA), Doug Stewart has been teaching skiing at Stowe for over 20 years. Stewart divides his winters between being a full time boot fitter at Skirack in Burlington, training the ski school staff and his clients at Stowe, and running certification training and exams.When he’s not at work, Stewart loves skiing with his wife, and chasing their 8- and 10-year-old sons around the slopes of Vermont. n
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Burke Vermont
new Burke TAY in the S ter. w o n d n a Ski ference Cen n o C d n a l ote Mountain H
It’s that simple. Play in the snow. Carve some turns. Enjoy dinner out. Snowshoe in the moonlight. Snuggle by the fire. Tuck in for the evening.
Get a good night’s sleep–you’ll need it. Because there’s more to do tomorrow.
Nordic Adventure Center: 802 626-6005 East Burke Welcome Center: 802 626-0737 burkechamber@burkevermont.com www.burkevermont.com
info@kingdomtrails.org www.kingdomtrails.org
Book Online at: skiburke.com Call Reservations: (866) 966-4820 General information: (802) 626-7300 or info@skiburke.com www.SkiBurke.com
COACH BY BUD KEENE
A
PPhoto courtesy Bud Keene
t the start of each ski season, most of us just buy our season passes, get new equipment, put on a fresh outfit and then get out. We plan to have fun, and we hope to improve. But by setting some goals and coming up with a Personal Progression Plan you can significantly increase your chances of that, regardless of what level you are at. Maybe you’re thinking: “Why do I need goals in my skiing or riding?” After all, don’t I just ski “for the fun of it.” Well, think about it: you move forward in your career, your living situations and your relationships.You try to be a better tennis player, golfer, surfer, or climber. It is a natural to want to excel at things, to be a little bit better this week than we were last week. After all, what triumph or personal achievement are you going to brag about at the bar down the road over a drink or two? Maybe you have a cat skiing or backcountry trip planned? Maybe you want to ski or ride a trail that you have never dared to go down?
Maybe you dream of venturing into the woods for the first time? Of hitting a bigger jump or a more challenging rail than you have ever attempted before? Perhaps you aspire to make 50 straight short-radius turns down a steep pitch that you have always had to stop and rest on or sideslip down before? Maybe you feel like you could do your first-ever top-to-bottom run, or do more runs in one day than you have ever done? Or perhaps you see yourself performing a new trick for the first time, or going bigger out of the halfpipe than ever before? Having a goal, and then a logical plan in place—and sticking to it—is a sure-fire way to get better and progress in our sport. A former pro rider who has coached Shaun White and other Olympic medalists at the elite level, I can tell you with confidence that although yours’ and Shaun’s goals are going to be totally different, the process of achieving them is actually exactly the same. First, let’s take a look at Shaun’s way of getting things done:
WHAT’S YOUR PROGRESSION PLAN? At the start of each season, pros make a game plan. If you really want to get better at skiing or riding, you should too.
Keene in New Zealand where he’s coaching the national team
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Your recreation destination The gear and knowledge to help you make the most of this winter.
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SHAUN WHITE’S PROCESS The beginning point for Shaun’s plan is pinpointing his goal. He’ll then work backward from that point, identifying the individual pieces of the puzzle that he needs to check off along the way. He then comes up with a timeline with checkpoints to confirm his progress. Once the plan is made, he gets to work. Shaun’s plan and timeline follow a familiar pattern: 1) Develop the strength and flexibility that will be necessary to achieve the goal (offsnow preparation). 2) Break it down into components that are buildings blocks toward achieving the goal, and practice them (small achievable goals). 3) Put all of the components together and achieve the goal when the time and situation are right (connect the dots, do it!). 4) Repeat and practice the newly acquired skill/movement/trick/run to make it second-nature (ingrain a skill through repetition). He will also commit to a timeline for these checkpoints. An example might be: 1) Be physically ready and capable of performing the feat prior to hitting snow by mid-November, 2) Practice and master the new skills/movements that will be necessary for it by mid-December, 3) Perform the individual components of the new goal and begin edging up to it by mid- January, and 4) Link everything together and accomplish the goal by mid- February when the snow, weather, situation and your physical and mental state are all in alignment. Ok so we are going to adopt Shaun’s structure for progressing (it’s certainly worked for him!) and we’ve got our template.: 1) OFF-SNOW PREPARATION You are going to want to build a strong general level of fitness going into the season, perhaps sign up for a ski or ride-specific training class at your gym. But there are also tons of things that you can do in and out of the gym to train more specifically for the feats that you want to perform. Think about what you need to meet your goal: Maybe it’s building stamina, in which case treadmills, stationary bikes, stair-steppers, and hiking/running trails etc. are widely available. Flexibility may be what that you need in order to do what you want to do. Get yourself to stretching, yoga classes, etc. Cross-training opportunities abound as well. If you want to be comfortable in the air, practice on a trampoline, diving board or airbags. Mountain-biking extends your comfort zone in the woods which will transfer over to your skiing and riding. Rock-climbing can help suppress fear and golf will improve hand-eye coordination, focus, and overcoming adversity. Tennis, soccer, and agility ladders train you for quickness and agility. The list goes on. Analyze your goal, and devise a training program that mimics and strengthen the movements and specific strengths you are going to need to achieve it. 2) SMALL ACHIEVABLE GOALS Break your goal down into small steps that unto themselves are not daunting and are easily achievable. By attaining each of these small goals you will put yourself in the position to ultimately link them together. For instance, if your goal is to perform a 720 degree spin off of a jump, you will need to learn a 180, a 360, and then a 540 first. If it’s 50 turns down a certain steep pitch that you’re after, maybe plan to make
EXCEPTIONAL CARE. COMMUNITY FOCUSED.
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Introducing Mountain Haus
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VTSki&Ride-fall16-3.67x9.4.pdf 1 8/31/2016 3:33:09 PM
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50 solid turns down a mellow trail, then 50 down a slightly steeper trail. Finally go to your steep trail and start with 10.Then graduate to 20, then 30, and so forth down that pitch until you get to your 50. If getting after it in the woods is your aim, start by dipping into little woods shots off the sides of the trails for a turn or two before committing to a full-blown woods run with no easy bailout option. When you are feeling confident and the conditions are just right, go for it with a friend. Attach a timeline to your effort so that it’s not just “out there” with no accountability. Of course snow conditions can be fickle, so timelines may need to be changed, but better to commit to a schedule.
C
M
Y
OPEN DAILY 10 a.m. - 5 p.m.
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3) CONNECT THE DOTS, DO IT! No matter how much preparation you do, there comes a time to pull the trigger. And when it’s time (and you will know it), there are two things to keep in mind: First, you have prepared for this moment, so feel empowered! You have trained specifically for this. You have broken the feat down into checkpoints of ability that THE TRUE you have systematically achieved MEASURE OF and you are ready. Choose the day and the condiSUCESS IS tions intelligently. When it’s 30 degrees below zero and overOWNING cast is not your time to send SOMETHING something new. When the sun is shining and the park is perfectly AND groomed is the time to take your BEING ABLE trick to the next level. When two feet of fresh have fallen overTO DO night is when to venture into the woods. When your steep pitch is fresh corduroy is probably the time to attack it for your 50 fallline turns. Be smart and tilt the odds in your favor!
IT IN ANY CONDITION.
K
NEW EARLY LEARNING EXHIBIT
4) INGRAIN THE SKILL THROUGH REPETITION Finally, practice your new accomplishment when conditions are good to ingrain it and really own it. It’s great to do something once, but the true measure of success is owning something, and being able to do it in any condition. Repeat your feat in conditions just slightly less-favorable than the conditions you had when you first accomplished it. Eventually you will be able to do it in a challenging situation. Then it will be time to move on to a new goal. Bud Keene has been named National Coach of the Year, the highest coaching award in Olympic sports. He has coached Olympic snowboarding gold medalists Shaun White and Hannah Teter, freeski silver medalist Gus Kenworthy, extreme snowboarder Jake Blauvelt and dozens of other stars. He currently is coaching the New Zealand national ski and snowboard freestyle teams. He lives just north of Stowe with his wife Alex and hosts BKPRO coaching camps around the world.. n
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THE GREEN MOUNTAIN CALENDAR NOVEMBER 26 – 27 Audi FIS World Cup, Killington, Vt. Racing greats including Mikaela Shiffrin and Lindsay Vonn take to the Superstar Trail in this FIS women’s slalom and GS event. Ski movies will premiere and O.A.R. plays. killington.com
12/4 Cares & Shares Food Drive Day, Ludlow, Vt. Donate at least five non-perishable food items, a new child’s toy or new clothing item, and receive a coupon for a $39 lift ticket. okemo.com 12/10 Full Moon Hike, Ludlow, Vt. A guided full moon hike to the summit of Jackson Gore. okemo.com 12/17 Jay Peak Presents: Get The Led Out, a Tribute to Led Zeppelin, Jay, Vt. The Foeger Ballroom at Jay Peak Resort hosts Get The Led Out, playing a variety of tunes from the beloved rock band. jaypeakresort.com
DECEMBER 12/3 Sugarbash at Sugarbush, Warren, Vt. An 80’s-themed prom party at the Gate House Lodge. sugarbush.com 12/2-3 Vermont Holiday Festival, Killington, Vt. The Killington Grand Hotel hosts a family holiday party with music and activities. Proceeds benefit the Vermont Foodbank. killington.com 12/2-4 Country Holiday Fest, Waitsfield and Warren, Vt. Waitsfield and Warren host a holiday festival with shopping, open art studios and the arrival of Santa Claus. sugarbush.com 12/10 BrewFest at Smugglers Notch, Jeffersonville, Vt. Smugglers’ popular BrewFest with local and regional beers for sampling, music, food, prizes, and a souvenir glass. smuggs.com
12/17 Nancy Kerrigan Skating Exhibit & Clinics at Spruce Peak, Stowe, Vt. Olympic Medalist Nancy Kerrigan returns to the Ice Rink in the Spruce Peak Village Center for a special pre-holiday skating exhibition. stowe.com 12/17-18 4th Annual Artisan Craft Show at Spruce Peak, Stowe, Vt. The new Pavilion Building in the Spruce Plaza hosts Vermont’s finest artisan craft vendors for last minute holiday shopping. stowe.com 12/18 Santa Sunday at Bolton Valley, Bolton, Vt. Dress as Santa and ski or ride for free. boltonvalley.com 12/25 Here’s Santa, There’s Santa at Bromley, Londonderry, Vt. Skiers and riders that dress up as Santa at Bromley can ski for $25. bromley.com
䴀攀洀漀爀椀攀猀 圀漀爀琀栀 匀栀愀爀椀渀最 琀栀攀氀椀琀琀氀攀洀攀爀椀愀 䴀漀甀渀琀 匀渀漀眀
琀栀攀氀椀琀琀氀攀洀攀爀椀愀 伀欀 氀攀琀ᤠ猀 最漀 戀愀挀欀 渀漀眀 䀀洀愀琀琀攀礀伀 ⌀瘀攀爀洀漀渀琀 ⌀洀漀甀渀琀猀渀漀眀 ⌀最漀瀀爀漀 渀椀挀漀氀攀㔀㘀㠀㈀ 䄀爀攀 礀漀甀 甀猀椀渀最 礀漀甀爀 猀攀氀昀椀攀 猀琀椀挀欀㼀㼀 䀀琀栀攀氀椀琀琀氀攀洀攀爀椀愀 琀栀攀氀椀琀琀氀攀洀攀爀椀愀 䠀愀栀愀栀栀愀愀愀 渀漀 樀甀猀琀 琀栀攀 最漀 瀀爀漀℀ 䀀渀椀挀漀氀攀㔀㘀㠀㈀ 洀漀甀渀琀猀渀漀眀
嘀攀爀洀漀渀琀ᤠ猀 䌀氀漀猀攀猀琀 䈀椀最 䴀漀甀渀琀愀椀渀 刀攀猀漀爀琀 匀欀椀 ☀ 匀琀愀礀 匀琀愀爀琀椀渀最 愀琀 ␀㘀㤀 䈀愀猀攀搀 漀渀 搀漀甀戀氀攀 漀挀挀甀瀀愀渀挀礀⸀ 匀漀洀攀 爀攀猀琀爀椀挀琀椀漀渀猀 愀瀀瀀氀礀⸀
䴀伀唀一吀匀一伀圀⸀䌀伀䴀⼀匀吀䄀夀 簀 㠀 ⸀㈀㐀㔀⸀匀一伀圀 58 Holiday 2016 vtskiandride.com
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DEMO DAYS 12/10 December Demo at Okemo, Ludlow, Vt. 12/10 Demo Day at Mount Snow, Dover, Vt.
JANUARY
12/11 Test Fest at Killington, Killington, Vt.
1/7 – 8 The 24 Hours of Stratton, Stratton, Vt. Skiers and snowboarders of all ages take to the slopes for 24 hours. Individuals and teams vie for the most vertical feet skied and raise funds for the Stratton Foundation. stratton.com 1/8 Pico Telemark Clinic, Mendon, Vt. The Catamount Trail Association hosts a clinic for telemark skiers of all levels. The course will take place on easy and intermediate terrain and will focus on demonstration and practice. catamounttrail.org 1/14 Rikert Nordic Fat bike Roundup, Ripton, Vt. Bring your own fat bike or rent from the fleet and join group rides on and offtrail led by Rikert staff. Smaller bikes available for teens. The day will include demos, games and a BBQ. rikertnordic.com 1/15 Newschoolers Tell a Friend Tour at Sugarbush, Warren, Vt. Free pizza, schwag and a chance to ski with Line Skis team members in the Riemergasse Terrain Park at Mount Ellen. sugarbush.com 1/14 Let It Glow Laser Light Show & Fireworks Spectacular at Okemo, Ludlow, Vt. Okemo hosts a laser show with digital graphics in front of The Sitting Bull. Fireworks serve as a grand finale. okemo.com
12/10 Mountainfest Demo Day at Stowe, Stowe, Vt. 12/17-18 Powe. Snowboard Demo Days at Bolton Valley, Bolton, Vt. 12/30 Jay Peak Demo Days, Jay, Vt. 1/14 Ladies Nordic Ski Expo at the Trapp Family Lodge, Stowe, Vt. 1/14 Jay Peak Demo Days, Jay, Vt.
1/14-28 43rd Annual Stowe Winter Carnival For one week, Stowe hosts snow golf and volleyball, ice carving competitions, ski movies, kids’ events, tournaments and a beer garden. stowewintercarnival.com 1/28 Winter Trails Day at Smugglers’ Notch Resort, Cambridge, Vt. This annual celebration of snowshoeing and cross country skiing is free for novices and nationally sponsored by the Snow Sports Industries of America to encourage newcomers to these winter sports. smuggs.com
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BECAUSE YOUR VACATION SHOULD BE EVERYTHING YOU EXPECT.
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Nestled in the heart of Vermont's Green Mountains, count on Fairfield Inn & Suites Waterbury Stowe to provide the unique experience and comfort your family deserves. To reserve your room, call 1-802-241-1600 or visit Marriott.com.
Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott® Waterbury Stowe Waterbury, VT Rates are per room, per night, based on availability, not available for groups of 10 or more rooms.
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THE GREEN MOUNTAIN CALENDAR 1/29 Ski for Heat, Londonderry, Vt. Bromley hosts a fundraiser to help local neighbors in need of heating assistance. skiforheat.org
1/7 Ski The East Junior Extreme Challenge at Jay Peak, Jay, Vt. Jay Peak’s youngest skiers show off their technique on some of the mountain’s most technical terrain for the judges. jaypeakresort.com
1/31 Okemo’s 60th birthday, Ludlow, Vt. Celebrate with Okemo in the Clock Tower Base Lodge. Sing “Happy Birthday” and enjoy a piece of birthday cake. okemo.com
1/7 Grommet Throwdown at Okemo, Ludlow, Vt. Okemo designs a park specifically for skiers and riders 13 and under. Park instructors give clinics in the morning, followed by a competition. okemo.com
COMPETITION 12/17 Rails 2 Riches at Killington, Killington, Vt. The East’s most lucrative rail jam, Rails 2 Riches, officially kicks off the shred season for pro and amateur skiers and riders from across America. killington.com 12/17 Mountain Dew Vertical Challenge at Okemo, Ludlow, Vt. Okemo kicks off an annual eastern race series with a free, ski race on Okemo’s Bull Run open to all ages and abilities. Race registration starts at 8 a.m. with racing starting at 11 a.m. okemo.com 12/27, 1/16, 2/20 Grommet Jam #1-3 Dover, Vt. Mount Snow hosts a series of three amateur rail jams for skiers and riders 12 and under. mountsnow.com 1/3 Tuesday Ski Bum Race Series at Stowe – Ongoing, Stowe, Vt. Stowe’s recreational ski league starts up with races every Tuesday. Race every week and improve your team’s standing’s. teammmsc.org
1/14 Mini Shred Madness at Killington, Killington, Vt. A rail jam for skiers and riders ages 13 and younger. killington.com 1/15 USASA Rail Jam and Slopestyle Series at Stratton The second in Stratton’s rail and slopestyle competitions in the Suntanner Park. .stratton.com 1/16 Mad River Glen Family Tournament, Fayston, Vt. Mad River Glen’s most popular race pits generations against each other to find the overall family winner. madriverglen.com 1/21 Junior Unconventional Terrain Comp at Mad River Glen, Fayston, Vt. An all-terrain competition for skiers 14 and younger, top finishers will qualify for the Triple Crown Unconventional Challenge as well as all the Ski the East Freeride Tour events. madriverglen.com For more events, see VTSkiandride.com/calendar/
Work hard. Play hard. A college where you can build your own skis or board in the lab before testing it out on our Randolph Center campus rope tow. Cool? Totally. Contact us today about our FREE Transfer Housing Scholarship. That’s FREE housing for any student with 12-plus credits.
ROBBIE MEEHAN ROBBIE MEEHAN
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OFFERING REGIONAL, NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL LEVEL PERFORMANCE TRAINING CAMPS OFFERING REGIONAL, NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL LEVEL FOR THE 2016-17 SCHEDULE, VISIT BUDKEENE.COM PERFORMANCE TRAINING CAMPS FOR THE 2015 SCHEDULE, VISIT BUDKEENE.COM
Small College. Big Outcomes. vtc.edu/skiandride • 800.442.8821 • admissions@vtc.edu
FOR THE 2015 SCHEDULE, VISIT BUDKEENE.COM 60 Holiday 2016 vtskiandride.com
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The Green Mountain State is home to some of the best breweries, wineries, cideries and distilleries. Many of them use the finest Vermont products, including local apples, grapes and 100% maple syrup to create their unique libations. For more information, links and maps to each location check out www.vtskiandride.com.
133 North Main St, St Albans, VT 802-528-5988 www.14thstarbrewing.com
14th Star Brewing started as a daydream in the mountains of Eastern Afghanistan. While deployed overseas, soldiers have plenty of time to contemplate two things: Beer and getting out of the Army. 14th Star’s now owner and head brewer Steve Gagner and his buddies were doing just that in 2010 when the idea came to the long-time homebrewers: Why not open a brewery, preparing for the day we can retire from the Army? Thus started the journey from a handwritten business plan in the back of a notebook to a fully-licensed craft brewery.
64 Vt. Route 104, Cambridge, VT 05444 802-644-8151 www.BoydenValley.com
Experience Vermont’s award-winning Winery, Cidery, & Distillery. Crafting a variety of products including VERMONT ICE using sustainable agriculture and socially responsible practices. Tastings, Free Tours, and seasonal Gourmet Cheese Plates available. Two convenient locations: Cambridge – Winery & Tasting Room (only 7 miles from Smuggler’s Notch) and Waterbury - Tasting Room Annex at Cold Hollow Cider Mill (minutes from Stowe). Visit our website for hours and tour times. sponsored content
46 Log Yard Drive, Hardwick, VT 802-472-8000 www.caledoniaspirits.com
Caledonia Spirits is a craft distillery in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont. Raw honey distinguishes our Barr Hill vodka, Barr Hill gin, and Tom Cat barrel aged gin by imparting a pure and soft botanical essence into each bottle. All of our spirits reflect our deep connection to the land and Vermont’s agricultural heritage.
Open daily 12-5 for free tours and tastings at the distillery.
3597 VT-74, Shoreham, VT 802-897-2777 www.champlainorchards.com
Open daily 9-5. July-Nov. Please call ahead. We offer guided tastings of our locallymade hard cider including our Original Hard Cider, Mac & Maple, Limited Edition Ginger Spice as well as our Pruner’s Pride and Honeycrisp Ice Cider. All our ciders are made onsite with our ecologically grown apples. 100% of our electricity is generated from our solar orchards. 2015 Winner of Vermont Cider Classic.
316 Pine Street, Suite 114 Burlington, VT 802-497-1987 www.citizencider.com
We are cider makers who love to take fresh local apples and ferment them into delicious, refreshing, dynamic, clean and fulfilling cider! We use 100% locally sourced apples and cider for 100% of our products, 100% of the time. Never made from concentrate, ever! Our goal is bold, yet simple: Make cider for the people, by the people. Visit us on Pine Street in Burlington for tastings and a great meal.
610 US Route 7, Middlebury, VT 802-989-7414 www.dropinbrewing.com
Steve Parkes and Christine McKeever, owners of Drop-In Brewing and the American Brewers Guild, pride themselves on educating brewers and creating worldly beers with Vermont character. In a small but fun atmosphere, customers can try our 7 beers on tap in our tasting room and take home any of three different sized growlers.
622 Keyser Hill, St. Johnsbury, VT 802-745-9486 www.duncsmill.com
At Dunc’s Mill, we know that true craft spirits take time, care and effort. That’s why we try to do everything the right way. We have one goal: to create from scratch the highest quality spirits that can be produced. We do every step of the process by hand, and it’s all done in-house. Find our rums at over 50 locations around Vermont, or call and arrange a time to come visit.
VERMONT BEER, WINE, CIDER + SPIRITS
DRINK VT
150 Main Street, Newport, VT Near Jay Peak 802-334-1808 www.edenicecider.com
VERMONT BEER, WINE, CIDER + SPIRITS
Founded in 2007 on an abandoned farm in the Northeast Kingdom, Eden produces high quality ice ciders, aperitif ciders and naturally sparkling hard ciders from heirloom and true cider variety apples grown at our own and 5 other local orchards. Slow Food Snail of Approval, Good Food Award Gold Seal, Great Lakes International Cider Competition Best in Show 2015.
740 Marshall Ave, Williston, VT 802-999-7396 www.goodwaterbreweryvt.com
353 Coburn Hill Road Newport, VT 802-334-7096 kingdombrewingvt.com
This working farm is the northernmost brewery in Vermont. It has a greenhouse for food production, a Black Angus beef herd for spent grain and trub recycling, a geothermal cooling system and wood-fired hot water... we are Vermont Green.
Warren, VT 802-272-8436 www.lawsonsfinest.com
GoodWater Brewery blends classic beer styles with modern tastes. Come visit us at our Williston location and check out the 20 BBL brewhouse adjacent to the tasting room. Enjoy sampler flights, pints and of course, growlers and cans to go.
Lawson’s Finest is a small artisanal brewery located in Warren, VT, producing an array of hop-forward ales, specialty maple beers, and unique creations of the highest quality and freshness. Find our beer at lawsonsfinest.com.
4445 Main St, Isle La Motte, VT 802-928-3091 www.hallhomeplace.com
5 Bartlett Bay Rd South Burlington, VT 802-658-BREW MagicHat.Net
We make the most distinctive Hard Cider, Ice Cider and Apple Wine in the world. Enjoy them around your meals or as wedding favors & toasts or sitting on your front porch watching a sunset.
Where ancient alchemy meets modern-day science to create the best tasting beer on the planet. Come watch our spores dance and play! Visit the Artifactory for FREE samples, FREE tours and the most unusual shopping experience!
8814 Route 30, Rawsonville, VT Junction VT Rt 30N and VT Rt 100N 802-297-9333 www.CraftDraughts.com An intimate shop with over 300 craft beers plus ciders, meads and two rotating Vermont taps for growler fills. A muststop for craft beer lovers traveling through southern Vermont.
632 Laporte Road, Route 100 Morrisville, VT 802-888-9400 www.rockartbrewery.com
Enjoy samples of our beers during your visit and have a growler filled to take home to enjoy later. We have the best selection of our beers on tap. You’ll also find great Rock Art swag, Vermont foods and wonderful items from local artisans.
485 West River Rd, Brattleboro, VT 802-246-1128 www.saplingliqueur.com
Conveniently located just off I-91, stop in to see how all of our handcrafted spirits are made! While you are here you can pick up a few bottles and souvenirs, learn about the distilling process straight from our master distillers, and of course, taste all of our delicious liquors. sponsored content
Drawing on the alchemy of a father/ son dream, Smugglers’ Notch Distillery creates Vermont inspired, small batch, and remarkably distinctive vodka, bourbonbarrel aged rum, hopped gin, 802 Blend gin, bourbon and wheat whiskey.
Open daily for tastings at both locations 11 to 5.
1197 Exchange St, Middlebury, VT 802-388-3000 www.stonecutterspirits.com
Stonecutter Spirits captures complexity and tradition in their barrels of awardwinning Single Barrel Gin and Heritage Cask Whiskey. Sip samples of each--or try a seasonally-rotating craft cocktail--as you gaze at hundreds of aging barrels from their hip, cozy tasting room in Middlebury, Vermont.
von Trapp Brewing 1333 Luce Hill Rd. Stowe, VT 802-253-0900 www.vontrappbrewing.com
von Trapp Brewing is dedicated to brewing the highest quality Austrianinspired lagers with a Vermont twist. Experience “a little of Austria, a lot of Vermont,” in every glass. Plus come visit our new bierhall at the brewery!
52 Seymour Street Middlebury, VT 802-897-7700 whistlepigwhiskey.com
WhistlePig showcases the tremendous flavor potential of rye while maintaining a smooth and balanced profile, identifying it with the most acclaimed whiskeys in the world.
1321 Exchange St Middlebury, VT 802-385-3656 www.woodchuck.com
Here at the Woodchuck Cidery in Vermont, we handcraft every batch of Woodchuck Hard Cider. Our Cider Makers utilize the highest quality ingredients and meticulously oversee each small batch from start to finish. We reinvigorated American cider in 1991 and continue to lead the category through our commitment to craft innovative and refreshing hard ciders.
FIND MAPS AND MORE INFO AT www.vtskiandride.com/drink-vermont
DRINK
VT
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802 254 5306 www.whetstoneciderworks.com
Kingston Black, Cox’s Orange Pippin, Ashton’s Bitter, Dabinett, Reine de Reinette, Belle de Boskoop.... What do these apples have in common? You can find them in our award-winning, dry, food-friendly ciders. Our family-run ciderie handcrafts small batches of fine cider here in Southern Vermont. Taste the difference that locally-grown, traditional heirloom and cider apples make.
Pine Street Brewery Flatbread Brewpub 716 Pine Street 115 St. Paul Street 802-497-0054 802-861-2999 www.zerogravitybeer.com Visit either of our two locations for two distinct ZG experiences: The Pine Street Brewery houses a 30-barrel brew house, full canning line, tasting room, retail shop and a sundrenched beer garden in Burlington’s South End Arts District, and our original location in downtown Burlington at American Flatbread features the full line-up of ZG flagship and Specialty brews alongside some of the finest wood-fired pizza you can find. Cheers!
VERMONT BEER, WINE, CIDER + SPIRITS
276 Main Street, Jeffersonville, VT Barrel House Tasting Room 2657 Waterbury Stowe Rd. Waterbury Center, VT 802-309-3077 www.smugglersnotchdistillery.com
Roth’s Vermont treehouses include this one at Lincoln’s Zeno Mountain Farm as well
The Chairlift Q+A
as one at Burlington’s
BY LISA LYNN
MAKING FRIENDS WITH RYAN MILLER Since moving toVermont, the lead singer of the band Guster has been actively seeking out ‘high functioning weirdos.’
this super band of really good skiers called Yukon Cornelius [named after the character in the TV film, “Rudolph the Rednose Reindeer”]. It’s Ed Robertson of Barenaked Ladies, Stefan Lessard of Dave Matthews Band, Spymob’s Eric Fawcett and that dude from Pearl Jam [Mike McCready]. They are always figuring out these cool ski trips and I’m like “Uh, can I come along? Need another singer?” You played Grace Potter’s Grand Point North festival here (shown at left) in Burlington in September. Are you tight with Grace and the local music scene? Yeah, Grace is great. But there are some other really good bands coming out of Vermont like Madaila, Kat Wright and the Indomitable Soul Band, Caroline Rose and And the Kids—they’re playing with us in Boston. You’re from Texas, and lived in L.A. and New York. So what brought you here? My wife Angela grew up in the Northeast Kingdom and the Randolph area, and she always wanted to come back. I was like, “We’re never f-ing moving to Vermont.” Two weeks after our son was born, she says, “We’re moving.” In 2010, we did.
yan Miller, Adam Gardner and Brian Rosenworcel met during a freshman wilderness orientation program at Tufts and formed an alt-rock band. Twenty-five-years later, the band Guster is still going strong with four albums, the hit single Fa Fa Fa and a 25th anniversary concert tour with four shows in Boston, Jan. 12-14. Miller has also composed numerous film scores and hosted a series on Vermont PBS.As part of the show, called “Making Friends with Ryan Miller,” Miller traveled the state seeking out “high functioning weirdos.”
Whom haven’t you met that you’d like to be friends with? “I’d really like to meet Jake Carpenter—he just seems he’s on my bandwith and hey, I’m a B-list celebrity, maybe he’d hook me up with a Burton board? I’m kidding, that’s not my M.O.— I just think he’s cool. Also Ben Cohen [of Ben & Jerry’s] and Martine Rothblatt, [who created the robot Bina48]. She’s badass but elusive.
So if this is a chairlift interview, what chairlift would we be on? We live in Williston—not the big box store part but in the secret hidey-hole, out-inthe-woods part. I can be on at Stowe or Smuggs or Sugarbush in like 20 minutes, and we went over to the Catamount Outdoor Center the other day. But mainly, we’re at Smuggs since my wife and two kids do the Smuggs’ program. I’m not a shredder: my board doesn’t leave the ground—just give me the longest groomed blue I can find.
What have you discovered since moving here? There are all these cool little communities, like Greg Davis’ experimental music series. I went to Main Street Landing’s free horror movies and was like “Look at all these cool, weird film people.” These scenes exist in Vermont, but you have to seek them out. I had never been to Shelburne Museum before, and how weird and far out is that? I could really get into going back to the Apothecary shop in Shelburne or to see the 19th century mechanical doll exhibit or the Horseshoe Barn.
It seems like Guster plays in a lot of ski towns. So Adam [Gardner] is a crazy good skier. He’s been in a Warren Miller film, and he always figures out how to book these places. We played at the Hermitage Club last February, and we’ve played the Pickle Barrel in Killington and Okemo. It’s great, we all go, do a concert and then ski and ride with our families. Adam’s also put together
Do you feel like a Vermonter yet? I’m still trying to be a Vermonter.You kind of have to work hard at it but it’s slowly happening. By and large it’s a wonderful community and I’ve been very charmed and welcomed .Vermonters are so proud of being from Vermont. It becomes contagious when you figure it out. —Lisa Lynn n
Photo by Brian Jenkins
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Did it help to film “Making Friends?” Yeah, I missed the really creative, artist culture you get in cities, so I went looking for high-functioning weirdos. It’s great, I got to meet people like Alan Newman [who started Magic Hat] and these weirdo farmers and lots of other cool people.
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