So as it turns out our son is going to be a snowmaker at Stowe this year and living in their employee housing. This will be nice for a couple of reasons - it will give me an excuse to make the long drive over to there a few times and it will give me the chance to visit a few of the places there that hold some interest for me nostalgia-wise - specifically Trapps is a place that was on my radar from the early days of my teaching myself to XC ski from books - back in the era of Bill Koch in the Olympics and such. The addition of brewing onsite certainly only helps raise my interest. But this post is more for my son who will be new to the area. Could folks share some recommendations in the following areas: a) nice nearby ski places to hit while he's there - I've never skied MRG or Jay and so those would be top of list objectives for me, but if there are others aside from Smuggs would love to know; b) spots to hit in town for food and drink - the one time we were there we stayed over near Smuggs and hit a nice pizza place on the way out after our day at Stowe - other favorites? c) shops for backcountry gear and ski work for mounting backcountry stuff; d) backcountry local places to visit- my son has been a snowboarder for the past bunch of years and just started picking up skis for fun this past year - he has AT boots and downhill skis but is interested in getting a pair of backcountry skis or switching his bindings to ones that have a walk mode so he can skin and backcountry. I tried the tele sell but he has resisted seeing the light. e) I suppose cheap places to stay for me if there's a local option not on AirbnB
Thanks - might get to ski with some of you folks this year finally -
Almost forgot - if you want to PM me, just say you dropped me one in here so I see - I think the notifications are on but not sure -
help with some Stowe/Smuggs area suggestions
Re: help with some Stowe/Smuggs area suggestions
Oldschool. I sent you a PM.
Jamie
Jamie
Re: help with some Stowe/Smuggs area suggestions
>>spots to hit in town for food and drink
Piecasso all the way!
https://www.piecasso.com
good store for BC ski stuff - "Mountain Ops" will take care of you
Piecasso all the way!
https://www.piecasso.com
good store for BC ski stuff - "Mountain Ops" will take care of you
Re: help with some Stowe/Smuggs area suggestions
Hi Folks,
Figured I should make a little update here for everybody for a variety of reasons that you'll see below.
As I mentioned, my son has been working as a snowmaker at Stowe. My daughter lives in DC these days and saw the option a few weeks back for a cheap flight to Burlington from DC - $39. So we made plans and on Thurs. afternoon a few weeks back I set off to Richmond where we got a nice Airbnb, said hi to the owner (her home), and then went and picked my daughter up at the airport around midnight. Next day between the commute over, picking up my son and the rest we got going just a little late in the AM at Stowe but were skiing by around 10 AM. Unfortunately about 5 minutes into my downhill season on the first run of the year I took a hard fall and wound up falling on my side and on my pole - turns out bodyweight will bend a pole into a pretty sharp arc but your ribs will pay the price for that - took quite a while to get up but I did, wondering if I'd broken one. Sucked it up and skied the rest of the day, including picking my way down Chin Clip which was interesting. All in all an ok day of skiing even having had to back off a little in the afternoon. My kids wanted to go to Burlington that evening so off we went - an hour or more in OGE and then hit a bar and then the little Mexican place El Cortijo for dinner. Saturday my daughter met a friend to ski but I took it slow due to the ribs and skied on the Stowe Rec Path - very nice time. We grabbed dinner that night at Idletyme Brewing Co. - food was good and beer solid but most of the options were not things I'd go for two of - me soldiered through though and the food was quite nice. Sunday was the Stowe Derby and forecast to be bitter cold (this was the weekend that it got warm Saturday then froze). My daughter and I debated about doing the Derby but in the end it sold out and so our choice was made for us, which we were happy with given the conditions expected. They ended up shortening the course a lot and we arrived just in time at the finish to see my son and one of his friends who did it hanging at the finish. My daughter and I went skiing on the rec path again for a little bit - conditions were terrible - and then met up with my son and his work buddies at the after party downtown. Hung around for a while then drove back home.
My son has enjoyed working on the mountain there - unfortunately he and a friend of his were over at Bolton Valley one evening and he wound up totaling his new-to-him Outback on the way out on the access road due to someone who hit a plow and was sitting in the road just around a bend. We are headed back in two weeks - my wife and I this time. Will have to take it just a bit slower skiing - I've been out XC a bunch and I think I may have aggravated my ribs this past weekend. Been a weird year - I'm yet to get out otherwise tele downhill despite my love of it - does not help that my main fix is a 3 hour drive from here. Kind of hitting the XC scene a little more in the meantime. Super cold weekend days in Jan/Feb plus work intervening did not help much. Been a weird year and now being injured is a bit frustrating too.
Hope you're all getting some great days in.
Figured I should make a little update here for everybody for a variety of reasons that you'll see below.
As I mentioned, my son has been working as a snowmaker at Stowe. My daughter lives in DC these days and saw the option a few weeks back for a cheap flight to Burlington from DC - $39. So we made plans and on Thurs. afternoon a few weeks back I set off to Richmond where we got a nice Airbnb, said hi to the owner (her home), and then went and picked my daughter up at the airport around midnight. Next day between the commute over, picking up my son and the rest we got going just a little late in the AM at Stowe but were skiing by around 10 AM. Unfortunately about 5 minutes into my downhill season on the first run of the year I took a hard fall and wound up falling on my side and on my pole - turns out bodyweight will bend a pole into a pretty sharp arc but your ribs will pay the price for that - took quite a while to get up but I did, wondering if I'd broken one. Sucked it up and skied the rest of the day, including picking my way down Chin Clip which was interesting. All in all an ok day of skiing even having had to back off a little in the afternoon. My kids wanted to go to Burlington that evening so off we went - an hour or more in OGE and then hit a bar and then the little Mexican place El Cortijo for dinner. Saturday my daughter met a friend to ski but I took it slow due to the ribs and skied on the Stowe Rec Path - very nice time. We grabbed dinner that night at Idletyme Brewing Co. - food was good and beer solid but most of the options were not things I'd go for two of - me soldiered through though and the food was quite nice. Sunday was the Stowe Derby and forecast to be bitter cold (this was the weekend that it got warm Saturday then froze). My daughter and I debated about doing the Derby but in the end it sold out and so our choice was made for us, which we were happy with given the conditions expected. They ended up shortening the course a lot and we arrived just in time at the finish to see my son and one of his friends who did it hanging at the finish. My daughter and I went skiing on the rec path again for a little bit - conditions were terrible - and then met up with my son and his work buddies at the after party downtown. Hung around for a while then drove back home.
My son has enjoyed working on the mountain there - unfortunately he and a friend of his were over at Bolton Valley one evening and he wound up totaling his new-to-him Outback on the way out on the access road due to someone who hit a plow and was sitting in the road just around a bend. We are headed back in two weeks - my wife and I this time. Will have to take it just a bit slower skiing - I've been out XC a bunch and I think I may have aggravated my ribs this past weekend. Been a weird year - I'm yet to get out otherwise tele downhill despite my love of it - does not help that my main fix is a 3 hour drive from here. Kind of hitting the XC scene a little more in the meantime. Super cold weekend days in Jan/Feb plus work intervening did not help much. Been a weird year and now being injured is a bit frustrating too.
Hope you're all getting some great days in.