Killy Closer

I had a decent season, but some big omissions kept it from great or all-time status. I never had an over-the-top deep powder day, and somehow, as hard as it is to do, I missed out on a perfect spring day too.

Deep powder is something that you — or more accurately I — might not get in any given season. Apparently.  It’s a fact of life: powder comes when it will and often doesn’t last long.

But spring is more durable.  Or it’s supposed to be. Each year some snow falls the sky and some is made by man. Eventually it all melts. The days become sunny and warm and the skiing is good. On occasion, these days fall on weekends too.

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Wild Wings: Secret XC Stash in Peru VT

“Did you see how much air I got?”

“I stuck the landing! I stuck the landing!”

When I rolled into Wild Wings, half a dozen kids were taking turns skating down a hill in front of the base lodge and doing tricks off a berm at the edge of their parking lot. Catching air, 180s, you name it. Olympian Andy Newell inspired a generation with his video Generation X Ski, part of which featured him doing tricks on cross-country skis in a halfpipe.

Five years ago, we arrived at Wild Wings in late afternoon, and skied for 45 minutes as it grew dark. Low clouds and mist in the pines cast a mysterioso vibe that had me itching to return.

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Burke: Chasing Winter

Last week winter seemed to be winding down, with above-freezing temps forecast clear up to Canada before St. Patrick’s Day. Desperate to extend winter, I had my sights on a storm forecast to dump nearly a foot of new snow across northern Vermont. After considering my options, I locked onto a hill I’d overlooked in 20 years of skiing Vermont: Burke.

Sherburne Express

I’d read the online commentary: steep, funky, heavily gladed, classic New England twisty with high-quality snow well-preserved by cold temps and a lack of crowds. But to get there you have to drive past some big-name ski areas, most with equal or greater vertical drop, skiable acreage and average annual snowfall.

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