Getting There
Many great things have been said about Burke; and the mountain has been on my list of places to visit since it’s re-opening. After several years of poor management and closings, Burke re-opened last season and remains one of Vermont’s best kept secrets.
I woke up early on Saturday morning around 4:50 A.M and quickly grabbed a bite to eat, packed the car, and had the wheels rolling by 5:20 A.M. The darkness at this early time seemed greater than normal even considering the time of the year. Gloomy clouds were promising socked in peaks and they delivered on their promise.
Having never driven to the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont, I opted to drive through the Franconia Notch on I-93 in New Hampshire instead of taking I-89. I believed this would be the faster and more interesting route and this proved to be a sound assumption. Although most of the peaks were socked in the clouds, I-93 through the Franconia Notch still remains one of my favorite drives even when the weather does not cooperate. Franconia Notch had a localized snow storm that made driving on the Parkway interesting. But the storm relented as I passed Cannon, as I looked longingly at Avalanche, Paulie’s Folly, and Zoomer.
Total mileage to Burke Mountain via this route from the New Hampshire boarder was 170 miles and took just under three hours. Upon reaching Burke Mountain, I by-passed the lower mountain Base Lodge and headed to the Mid-Burke Lodge which allowed quick access to the better terrain. The Lodge was populated with racers from both the Burke Mountain Academy and The New England Masters circuit along along with some locals.
First Tracks
First Tracks were actually second tracks, but close enough for my tastes. Someone beat me up the Willoughby Quad and made tracks on East Bowl just before I got there. East Bowl was recommended to me for a first run due to its natural snow conditions, great rolling terrain, and off the beaten path character. After unloading the Willoughby Quad, a 3-4 minute traverse earned me 4-6″ of nearly untouched fresh powder. I gleefully took a few falls in the fresh pow between making turns in the untracked.
At the bottom of this tiring first run, another traverse was required to get back to the Mid-Burke Base Lodge. A little longer than the top traverse, it was amazing to see more animal tracks in the snow than ski tracks. Although East Bowl is a fantastic run; especially for powder buffs, you pay for this run with a traverse back that the Trail Map notes is “not snowboarder friendly.”
I decided to ski the mountain from right to left as seen from the Trail Map). I hit up some great blue square cruisers on skier’s left including Upper/Lower Bear Den, Upper/Lower Willoughby, and Lower Fox’s Folly. These slopes were wide open and featured perfect groomed packed powder! Upper parts of the mountain had an inch or two of fresh snow on top of the groomed snow. Burke Mountain is a great place for a ski academy, any of the above mentioned slopes were ideal for top to bottom racing (Warren’s Way tends to receive most of the race traffic). For my own purposes, they got my legs warmed up and made for some great high speed turns.
The New England Masters were racing Giant Slalom on Upper/Lower Warren’s Way while the Burke Mountain Academy racers were practicing on Lower Fox’s Folly. My only remaining options for the right side of the mountain were the Black Diamond Trails under and just to skier’s left of the Quad. The Shoot is a marvelously thin and narrow slope about ten feet wide at best and the location of a former Poma lift line. Quick turns made this trail a blast. That got me down to Upper Fox’s Folly which was groomed up top and natural snow below. The natural snow was a short lived, but a nice treat. Fox’s Folly was roped, so I detoured to The Ledges.
The Ledges were bumped up featuring natural conditions. Some light and fluffy snow made them enjoyable, but the bump lines were irregular. Occasional Thin Cover went virtually unnoticed and easily avoided.
Lunch Thoughts
Quickly tiring legs brought me back to the Burke Mid-Lodge for an early lunch break. The morning conditions were excellent! Perfect groomers and some natural anow trails showed me that Burke has depth and variety. I had the opportunity to share a lift ride and conversation with some of the locals in the morning. They were extremely friendly and warmly welcomed visitors to their mountain. The Mid-Burke Lodge was warm, cozy, and bustling with activity without feeling crowded. Food prices and portions were reasonable if not excellent. I have paid twice as much to receive half the quantity and quality at better known resorts. Everyone was friendly and genuinely excited about skiing. Burke has an amazing atmosphere unmatched by most of the more well known ski areas and resorts of New England.
Afternoon Runs
Back on the slopes, I tackled the other side of the mountain. I tracked down the lazy Deer Run (which doubles as a Toll Road for autos during the summer) to the thinly covered Upper/Lower Doug’s Drop. So thin was the cover on the first pitch that there was no way of getting around the grass. So I picked the least grassy area and pointed the skis straight. After a quick ten foot drop, conditions improved and the bumps began. Very similar to The Ledges, this trail had fairly random bumps not allowing for much rhythm. Thin cover areas kept me awake in places, but overall this run was great!
Trying to hit all of the thin cover black diamonds as soon as possible, I opted for Wilderness next. This was my Run of the Day. Coverage was great for almost the entire run which had the best bump lines on the mountain. Not a wide trail yet not narrow either, I quickly fell into an enjoyable pace and let go a classic “Whoo!” Wilderness provided excitement and I returned later in the afternoon for seconds.
Powderhorn and the four Dippers provided great blue square cruisers. Sections of Upper Dipper and Big Dipper had excellent pitches. If they were left natural to bump up, these runs would surely constitute expert run status.
On lookers lower left of the mountain, there are four natural snow/bump trails. Lew’s Leap was rather thinly covered but the cut of the trail was unique and enjoyable. Both Lower Doug’s Drop and McHarg’s Cut-Off are Blue Squares by name, but were heavily bumped up and really fun. Good cover and particularly nice bumps were found on Lower Doug’s Drop. Mountain Marsh was another blue square trail that was nicely bumped.
Another great run was Boarder Line. A narrow Black Diamond bump run towards the bottom of the mountain. Plenty of fun to go around despite the occasional thin cover.
After a brief stop at the Mid-Burke Lodge for a snack, I repeated most of my early afternoon favorites including Wilderness, The Ledges, Lower Doug’s Drop, The Dippers, and the cruisers on the lookers right side of the mountain. A fantastic afternoon of skiing!
I was amazed with Burke for many reasons. Burke Mountain’s layout is fantastic. With an isolated beginners area at the base of the mountain completely separated from the main mountain, developing skiers and first timers can learn on gentle terrain without fear of fast skiers. Not that any one on the main mountain skis like a beginner. Burke skiers can hold their own and skied well, especially the many racers that zip around the mountain. The blue squares were divided into perfectly groomed cruisers and soft and bumpy natural snow trails, a great combination that is rather rare in New England. They do not have a huge expert skiing selection; however, their natural snow trails are excellent and the glades are challenging.
Nothing at Burke is excessively steep and most trails have a similar and consistent pitch. The cut of each trail and the condition of the snow gives each trail its own character. Fox’s Folly, the double diamond run under the Willoughby Quad, looked a bit hairy and brought thoughts of a slightly less steep Red Line from Magic Mountain to mind. East Bowl provided a very unique experience in feeling like you were skiing out of bounds. Its natural contours and continuous curves were a treat.
Burke has an open tree policy but the woods are not patrolled. Burke does not mark glade trails which is amazing considering most ski areas try to increase trail count any way possible. If Burke counted tree trails, the trail count of 34 would increase to at least 45. Any other mountain counts every little trail they can, but not Burke. Burke has several small connecting trails that go unnamed. If these were counted as well, Burke could boast well over 50 trails.
But this is not the way with Burke, no bull shit trail counts. Burke skis way bigger than the map would indicate and gives the advanced skier varied and interesting ways to get around the mountain. The slow summit quad is Burke’s only major problem. Normally, I enjoy older slow ski lifts, but even I voiced ascent with locals, racers, and other lift riders that the slow lift is a short coming. Hopefully with increased revenue, Burke can improve their lift situation.
Be sure to include Burke in your ski plans if you enjoy uncrowded, cheap, classic New England Skiing with great people, no lift lines, excellent snow, quality food at reasonable prices, and amazing character and ambiance. What more is there?!
