Go enjoy one of the last days on the hill this weekend. Bring two canned goods and you can get a $35 lift ticket voucher! A great day to ski and support a great cause!

Here are details: Adult or Child 3-Day Consecutive Lift Ticket for $99 (includes VT Sales Tax). Available Monday Feb. 23 through Friday Feb. 27, 2009. You must present a valid VT ID. This promotion cannot be combined with any other offer, promotion or discount.

For more information visit www.stowe.com or call 800.253.4SKI

It is a great article, check it out “Spending the Night Atop Mt. Mansfield”, NY Times, 1/23/09

Image from NY Times article, Spending the Night Atop Mt. Mansfield, 1/23/09

When it comes to skiing my daughter keeps saying “Yes, Mom, I know Mom!” or “Mom, I do this every weekend, I’ve got it”. These comments usually follow me trying to lend her a face mask on below zero days or when I suggested she wear a helmet if she insisted on skiing the trees. WELL, I finally get to respond with, “See Mother knows BEST!”.

After her first face first digger into the snow she finally started wearing the helmet that a few of her friends and I insisted she wear. And can I tell you how happy this makes me…. very. And if you take a look at the above photo of her helmet, cracked, post crash #2, you’ll see why!

She lost control after hitting an ice patch on Hayride at Stowe with no edges, going at a high speed. Thank god she was wearing her new helmet, it was only the 2nd day it made an appearance! While she is claiming the helmet made her feel like it was OK to go that fast, I can tell she’s very thankful she was wearing it.

Now my “Slow down” and “Get your ski’s tuned” comments are followed up with, “Already on it Mom”.

With the bizarre early season weather we’ve been having, I am not all that surprised! This past Sunday afternoon brought snow, around 2 to 4 inches. Monday brought below zero temperatures and Tuesday night to Wednesday morning brought RAIN. Then it decided to snow a few more inches yesterday afternoon and right now, it feels like a storm is on the horizon. So we wait…

If there is any question about winter being here to stay, I think tonight will be the final nail in that coffin. I am hoping this storm brings enough cover to open the xc trails at Trapps! See you out there.

Winter on Mt. Mansfield

This is what it looked like in Stowe this week-end. The mountain is open and from all accounts has great skiing. I am going to take a tour of the new base lodge this week and get my season’s pass. It seems that Stowe Mountain Lodge is rented for the holidays and from all accounts the rental properties are filling up with holiday rentals. Gas prices are down, the airlines are impossible to travel on and Stowe is getting dressed for the holidays. I can’t think of a reason not to come to visit us. Oh and should I mention, THERE ARE THE BEST REAL ESTATE DEALS TO BE HAD SINCE THE 90′S.

Check out the conditions at the Stowe Mountain Resort here!

The Smuggler’s Notch road has been closed for the season. This is one of the first signs that winter is just around the corner. Of course reaching this conclusion is not much of a leap when it’s already snowed enough for a few brave skiers and riders hit the hill. Along with that, temperatures have been cool enough for the Stowe Mountain Resort to have the snow guns going. You can see the mist raise off the top of the Mountain like fog.

The surest sign is my daughters constant praying for snow and praising of her new skis. Oh and how she’ll need a helmet this year, so she doesn’t knock herself out upon her return to downhill skis from teley after 18 years.

Yes, winter is knocking at the door in Stowe, Vermont. And if the early snow is any signal, we’re in for another good year of snow!

It had been so beautiful the day before, even my tired 30 year old Maggie, was convinced to come along. She moved back from California last year and I still love the idea of having her in Burlington; easily accessible for something as simple as a xc ski and latte.

It is days like yesterday and over the New Year that I am reminded why I moved to Vermont all those years ago and why she decided to move back East. With the snow clinging to the trees ,deep in the woods at Trapp’s ,it is hard to miss the beauty of this place.

We skied for a few hours and grabbed a bite at the Stowe Coffee House. A cup of soup, panini and latte satisfied our hunger. We drove up Taber Hill, content, happy and ready to do some couch time. So, yesterday as I watched the snow drift down to cover our nearly bare lawn, I smiled and remembered, life is pretty good in Stowe, Vermont.