Come On, Vermont!

Vermont is in a unique position. Largely rural — and without a major metropolitan area within the state’s borders — Vermont has avoided the levels of infection from the pandemic that have affected other states in the Northeast, and the rest of the country.

Middlebury Snow Bowl
Middlebury Snow Bowl

While infection rates in Vermont aren’t really that different than many of the more rural areas of New York, because Vermont doesn’t have those dense urban areas, the statewide rate for infection has been much lower than other states. (For example at the time of this writing, Chittenden County infection rates are equal to or above those in the neighboring NY counties just across the lake.)

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Indy Pass adds Jay Peak

Jay Peak logoIn what might be the biggest pass news of the preseason, the Indy Pass has announced the addition of Jay Peak to its lineup for the 2020/21 season.  This is huge for Indy skiers as Jay — a powder and tree skier’s paradise — is, or was, probably the most notable unaffiliated mountain in the northeast.

The blockbuster announcement was broken moments ago in an exclusive, by the industry’s fastest growing podcast, the Storm Skiing Journal. In addition, SSJ will be airing a podcast with Jay Peak’s GM, Steve Wright, later this afternoon.

Now entering its second season, Indy has posted some explosive growth of its own.

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Stowe: Before the Shutdown

Snowmelt was already dripping from the eves of the Mansfield Lodge when I swung off Vermont Route 108 and into the Stowe parking lot. It was 45 degrees and climbing, the sun parked amid scattered clouds overhead, with nearly empty trails stacked along the face of Mount Mansfield.

This was before the world was turned upside down. Before our season had ended — not on Superstar in shorts, but with us in our homes and communities waiting to see what would happen next.

It was Tuesday, March 3, just a couple days after a freight train of lake effect snow had blitzed the mountain with the biggest dump of the season.

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