7 Reasons We Love Vermont Skiing
Vermont skiing is our happy place. As you can probably tell from the many posts I’ve done on the subject, we are a family of skiers. My entire family came to this game late. I only learned how to ski in my 40s!! But ever since that first season when we strapped ski boots on and took lessons at Mont Tremblant, we were hooked.
We love to get out on the slopes for the day and then return to a cozy, warm room to relax and unwind. We’ve skied in several places but one of our favorite places to ski as a family is Vermont. The slopes and the atmosphere are some of the best we’ve ever experienced, and we work hard to visit Vermont at least once a year. Because I love it so much, I wanted to share my favourite reasons to make Vermont skiing a part of your life, as well.
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Why We Love Vermont Skiing So Much
We live in Canada, and while there are a lot of great places to ski here, we still head down to Vermont if and when we can. There’s a feeling of adventure in that neck of the woods and such a love for nature that you just can’t find anywhere else. Vermont residents just seem so connected to their outdoor space and appreciative of it too. Each time I visit I feel like I want to stay and live there.
With that in mind, here’s why we love hitting the slopes in Vermont so much.
The Mountains
Obviously, you need great slopes for a great ski trip, and Vermont has them in abundance. The mountains of Vermont offer some of the best skiing to be had anywhere in the east. No matter which resort you choose, you’ll find ski runs with powder that sits right in that sweet spot of not too fluffy and not too hard-packed. I’m not sure of the scientific reason behind it, but the snow in Vermont is almost always perfect.
Something for Everyone
Whether you’re a downhiller, snowboarder, or cross-country skier, you’ll find what you’re looking for in Vermont. Every resort seems to have something for everyone, from beginner courses to advanced runs for all types of skiers. Here’s one that is JUST for skiers. DYING to get back there soon. Maybe this season we will make it back to Mad River Glen.
Take that in for a moment. Skiers only. Yes please. No gigantic divots in the snow where snowboarders dug their board in to stop. I am all about this.
The People
We love the people in Vermont. They are incredibly kind and helpful – and I’m not just talking about service personnel and resort staff. Of course, the staff in the resorts are helpful and approachable. That vibe is what keeps them in business. It’s not just the staff, though. The other skiers are some of the friendliest I’ve ever met on any ski trips and frankly everyone I’ve met in Vermont just seems grounded. If you fall, there’s almost always someone there to give you a hand back up. They are eager to share their experience and give you a heads up on which runs are really rocking that particular day.
Family Friendly
Vermont is one of those places that seems to attract the family-oriented set. As with any place, you’ll find some partiers and skiers who play the trails fast and loose, but on the whole, Vermont skiing is an extremely family-friendly experience. You’ll find lots of families and kids on the slopes, all of whom are conscious of the safety of themselves and others.
The Food
I can’t say enough about the food in Vermont. We’ve stayed at several different resorts in the area and every one of them had the most amazing food I’ve ever had at a ski resort – at any resort, really. The folks in Vermont are big on fresh, farm-to-table food, and it shows. When you sit down for a meal at any resort in the area, you’re sitting down to the freshest, tastiest food you’ll find at any resort anywhere. Here are a few of the places we have eaten and LOVED.
Mint – a Vegetarian restaurant in Waitsfield, Vermont. Really impeccable flavours.
American Flatbread – Ridiculously fresh flatbread pizza.
An Easy Drive
Even consummate road-trippers like us aren’t interested in protracted trips when we want to hit the slopes. Vermont’s proximity to Canada, particularly our area in Ontario, makes it a straightforward drive to any resort we want. While it takes us about 9 hours especially if it’s snowy, it is a pretty easy to follow route. In fact the highway straight through New York is about 5 ours of the trip and can be super boring, but a boring drive is a good thing actually compared to some of the white knuckle drives we’ve done just to Collingwood, Ontario.
And if you choose to fly during the winter Porter has some decent flights typically 2 times a week straight to Burlington Vermont.
Expertise
In all of our trips to various ski resorts in Canada and the States, we’ve been super fortunate to find exceptional ski instructors. We have excellent memories of Martha in Vermont at Smugglers’ Notch. She went above and beyond with our girls, at a time when we were struggling to figure out if one of the girls has juvenile arthritis or not (that meant none of the ski boots were fitting her well that year and Martha problem solved that one brilliantly.) And she straightened Ainsley’s turns out.
They live and breathe skiing in Vermont, and it shows. Thanks to the pros in the area, our family’s skiing has improved dramatically. They’ve helped us with everything from stance to pole placement, and it’s made skiing so much more enjoyable. One year I gained more in one hour with Leigh at Mad River Glen than I had gained all year skiing at home on our small ski hill in Ontario.
Make Vermont Skiing Part of Your Life
If you love to ski, Vermont should be at the top of your list of places to visit. The atmosphere, slopes, people, and food of the Vermont area make Vermont skiing some of the the best skiing, in my family’s opinion. Whether you’re a traditional skiier, snowboarder, free-styler, or cross-country enthusiast, you’ll find something on the slopes of Vermont’s incredible ski resorts.
