jamesdeluxe
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jul 17, 2020
I hadn’t been to Orford since 2005 and forgot how good a mountain it is. Definitely the best overall terrain in the Townships: lots of steep offpiste shots, some excellent long glade runs, and plenty of cruisers — it’s got everything covered.
Conditions-wise, it’s temperamental in that it can get raked by strong winds up top and only gets about 160-ish inches annually, I believe. Think of it as the Whiteface of the Townships. But when the snow is in great shape, like it was yesterday, Orford’s a fun time:
While clicking in at the bottom of the high-speed sixpack/gondola, we were told that a local celebrity would be showing us around: multiple World Cup champion freestyle aerialist Lloyd Langlois. Orford named a run after him, so I was expecting an older gentleman, and was surprised when a younger bloke about my age skied in:
Really nice guy, he works weekends at Orford as a mountain ambassador and has a big question mark on his back in case you need to ask him any questions:
So that’s it — six ski areas (Jay Peak, Smugglers Notch, Sutton, Bromont, Owl’s Head, Orford) in five days. Amazing how close everything is in the Townships, very easy to cobble together a multiple-mountain visit. Here’s a pic from the top of Orford’s Giroux peak with Owl’s Head on the left and Jay Peak on the right. You can see a sign for the Lloyd Langlois trail, albeit misspelled.
Conditions-wise, it’s temperamental in that it can get raked by strong winds up top and only gets about 160-ish inches annually, I believe. Think of it as the Whiteface of the Townships. But when the snow is in great shape, like it was yesterday, Orford’s a fun time:
While clicking in at the bottom of the high-speed sixpack/gondola, we were told that a local celebrity would be showing us around: multiple World Cup champion freestyle aerialist Lloyd Langlois. Orford named a run after him, so I was expecting an older gentleman, and was surprised when a younger bloke about my age skied in:
Really nice guy, he works weekends at Orford as a mountain ambassador and has a big question mark on his back in case you need to ask him any questions:
So that’s it — six ski areas (Jay Peak, Smugglers Notch, Sutton, Bromont, Owl’s Head, Orford) in five days. Amazing how close everything is in the Townships, very easy to cobble together a multiple-mountain visit. Here’s a pic from the top of Orford’s Giroux peak with Owl’s Head on the left and Jay Peak on the right. You can see a sign for the Lloyd Langlois trail, albeit misspelled.
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