The Earning Turns Blog

Bolton Valley: Vermont’s ATV Indy

Posted on by Sam

Thanks to some strategic scheduling, I found myself in northern Vermont with some free time on Friday. After talking with Harvey and checking the Indy Pass resort list, I loaded up my car early and made the short trip to Bolton Valley.

As I approached, I started getting excited. It’s the kind of mountain road that feels like it will lead you to a promised land. Bolton reveals itself slowly; a few miles up the access road, you’ll pass the quaint Timberline Lodge. I continued on to the base lodge a few minutes further up.

Rolling in to the main base area, I saw other early-bird AT skiers. Bolton has a friendly uphill policy, and quite a few locals take advantage of it for early morning workouts.

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Tagged: Bolton Valley, Earning Turns, Indy Pass, VT9 Comments

Skinning: Junior Steps Up

Posted on by Brownski

Saturday night Junior slept soundly for twelve hours straight. Like any teenage boy, he’s accustomed to sleeping in on weekends until somebody makes him get up but that’s usually because he stays up late playing XBox, watching YouTube or TV or some other crap.

On Saturday he crashed early and was immediately out. I’m proud to say it was all my fault. That morning, at my insistence, he skinned up to the top of Plattekill with me for the first time. He did great.

I don’t want to give the impression that my son is in bad shape or anything. He’s a typical high school kid who plays sports. But when I told him we were gonna do a skin before riding the lift the rest of the day, he wasn’t into it.

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Tagged: Earning Turns8 Comments

Spring Slides: Wright On!

Posted on by ml242

The Adirondack High Peaks are a mystery to me. Seen from afar, they are both vast and tiny, occupying a fraction of the otherwise enormous park. Even with the stunning density of 4000 footers accessible from the Adirondack Loj, they’re both in your face and utterly inaccessible.

Adirondack slide skiing

I know this well as many of my backcountry trips to the park end with epic workouts and fantastic stories, that often don’t have much to do with the skiing. This day on the Wright Peak Slides was no different.

Last Sunday I had a bag packed with technical gear for my first ski descent down the Trap Dyke, but my body hardly felt up for the task and a familiar sense of a mission unaccomplished set in its place. Rather than continuing up from the Marcy Dam to pursue Colden, our group allowed me to present a case to try the Angel Slides on Wright Peak instead.

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Tagged: Adirondacks, Backcountry, Earning Turns, High Peaks4 Comments