After skiing Cannon on Saturday and staying the night in Whitefield, NH, it was onto Burke Mountain in Vermont for skiing on Sunday. First Tracks!! Online Ski Magazine provided discounted tickets to its readers for this excessively cold outing. The temperatures were substantially below freezing with severe frostbite danger and the slow Willoughby Quad chairlift was not helping in that department. Most skiers took two or three runs then went inside to warm up.
Burke is a carvers’ and groomer skiers’ paradise despite its other bolder offerings in the trees. As a F.I.S. Certified Super G trail, The Dippers made for excellent wide GS turns. Bear’s Den and Willoughby are character trails that also provide excellent high speed grooming while also retaining many rolls, twists, and turns characteristic of older style trails. East Bowl was also groomed, unfortunately. But regardless, this trail is always excellent and a must ski every visit to Burke.
After warming up on the groomers, I went in search of natural snow and more interesting terrain. The liftline trail Fox’s Folly was well covered and skiable despite the early season. Last January at this time there were rocks and other hazards on this delightful liftline trail. Next to Fox’s Folly is The Ledges which sported a hard pack that did not delight. Doug’s Drop was the best skiing on the mountain and seemed overlooked by most skiers. The bumps were excellent with some light fluff on top and occasional thin cover but generally excellent for mid-January. A narrow former lift line near The Dippers called Tightrope was also rocking excellent bumps as well.
A great day of skiing at Burke as I have come to expect from the mountain after my initial visits last year. Burke Mountain has it all from the best groomed cruisers and racing terrain, to natural snow and bumps, to sweet and challenging tree runs with all trails cut with character. An uncrowded, attitude free, cheaper alternative to the larger mega resorts, Burke continues to receive my highest recommendation for skiers of all ability levels.