Photo by Peter James Eisenhaure on Unsplash

The Green Mountains of Vermont turn white each winter, with the snow we downhillers and XC enthusiasts love to enjoy.  Here’s what’s new in Vermont for the upcoming season, including new lifts, terrain and snowmaking, to make the season better and last longer, along with some special anniversaries, too.  

 In alphabetical order, since that’s the only fair way –

Bromley

The resort has upgraded snowmaking for better coverage.  

Burke Mountain

Known for churning out Olympians, Burke Mountain is a top destination in the Northeast Kingdom. There is upgraded snowmaking this season, including increased water pressure delivery to its high efficiency snow guns, allowing it to open more terrain faster and more efficiently.

Killington

The Beast of the East continues to upgrade and improve its snowmaking system, replacing large sections of pipeline and adding more low-energy snowguns to their arsenal. Folding in the variable speed electric compressor from last season, there is more efficiently-made snow that ever before. Killington is also adding a new Pinoth Bison X groomer and winch to their technical grooming fleet. The winch increases snowmaking accuracy by providing snow depth readings, ensuring snow goes where it’s needed and eliminating waste and saving time. The Canyon Quad got a motor rebuild.

Lydon Outing Club

Small but mighty and with a passionate crew, Lyndon Outing Club rolls into the season with a new groomer and new terrain park features. The area is one of the state’s few places offering night skiing.

Mad River Glen

The iconic and beloved resort celebrates its 75^th season. The traditional 75^th anniversary gift is diamonds, which is fitting since Mad River continues to be a staple for those seeking expert terrain on natural snow in northern Vermont. Mad River Glen comes into the new season with upgraded snowmaking for the lower mountain and it’s increasingly popular kids’ ski school program.

Magic

Magic doubles uphill capacity this season with the anew Summit Quad. Combined with the continued 1,500-ticket-a-day cap (including holidays) and the new RFID POS system allowing new and returning skiers to skip the ticket window, the area promises little to no lift lines. An expanded snowmaking pond and upgraded intake pipe more than doubles the snowmaking abilities.

Mount Snow

The resort has reconfigured its beginner area and upgraded its administration building.

 Okemo

Okemo now participates in the My Epic App program, along with all other Vail Resorts destinations in North America.  The hands-free program is new this season, allowing pass holders to keep pass information on their phones for ticketless access, eliminating the need for even an RFID card.  It’s also in use at Mount Snow and Stowe.

Pico

A local favorite, Pico got a new haul rope on the Summit Express. The complete overhaul of the ski area’s pump house and addition of 25 new low-energy snowguns triples snowmaking capacity, which means making snow faster over a larger area with less energy.

Stratton

Stratton starts this season with a reimagined Learning Zone, complete with three new covered magic carpets in the main base area, new park locations on East Byrnes Side and Betwixt, and the new Stratton Boardercross (formerly Big Ben). There’s also new snowmaking technology which can double output. The time saved can be spend running the area’s new Prinoth Bison X groomer.  New RFID scanning at all major lifts means quicker lift loading for more time on the slopes. Ski Butlers is also now available as a rental service.

Stowe Mountain Resort

Stowe is introducing the updated My Epic App with Mobile Pass hands-free technology, which allows guests to buy their pass or lift ticket online, activate and store it in the app, put their phone back in their pocket, and be scanned automatically when loading the lift, via low-energy Bluetooth.  The technology is available at all Epic Pass locations in the US this season.

Sugarbush

Continuing to invest heavily in snowmaking upgrades with another $3 million dedicated to enhancing snowmaking infrastructure, Sugarbush focused on projects on Mt. Ellen this summer. These investments cap a multiyear effort to improve snowmaking systems, including energy-efficient upgrades to Northstar, Inverness, and the Summit Quad terrain. Combined with new pumps, the upgrades allow Sugarbush to make snow across the mountain faster and with less energy, to recover more quickly from thaw-and-freeze weather events.

Trapp Family Lodge

The family-owned XC destination has replaced and repaired culverts and landscaping, and improved brush management. There are plans to install a new HKD fan gun to cover more ground and expand the ski season.  Apres ski often means a glass or mug of crisp Austrian lagers from the in-house Trapp Brewery.

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Evelyn Kanter

Evelyn Kanter is a NYC-based travel and environmental writer and a senior skier who would rather ride a chairlift, river raft or zipline than the subway, and has done so in the more than 100 countries she’s visited, skiing in many of them. In what she calls a “previous life”, she was a TV and radio news reporter for ABC News and CBS News, now a regular contributor to major publications, including airline inflights and AAA magazines, and has written or contributed to more than a dozen travel guidebooks.Her latest are “100 Things to Do in NYC Before You Die”, Fodor’s Essential Germany and Fodor’s New York City. Evelyn's website is www.ecoxplorer.com

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