IS THIS THE MOST UNDERRATED SKI AREA IN VERMONT?
Today was a surprise. I had planned to meet Pro Skier Darren White at Sugarbush to ski Mount Ellen. This morning, though, I called and asked what he thought about maybe going to ski Middlebury Snowbowl, a Vermont ski area I've wanted to go to for the longest time. He’d only been there once, to night ski, so he said he’d like to check it out.
*Just a heads up that I don’t know this mountain well, so most pictures don’t have captions.*
Map of the ski area.
Admittedly, I didn’t know much about Middlebury Snowbowl going into the ski day, aside from the fact it’s owned by Middlebury College, and it’s a smaller ski area. The mountain has a little more than a thousand feet of vertical, four lifts, and 28 runs. There are also a bunch of glades that are marked on the map, but they don’t appear to be named. More on the glades in a minute.
When I arrived, I was surprised by the parking situation. They had us parking out on the road that goes by the ski area. This left me worried that it was going to be super-busy and, while it was a little busy inside the lodge, the lifts and runs themselves weren’t really all that bad. I’d say we never waited more than five minutes to ride a lift and, most of the time, it was just a minute or two. That’s pretty good for a major holiday weekend!
As mentioned, today was a surprise. Not because we ended up at Middlebury Snowbowl — but because this place is awesome. It is an underrated gem. There’s a pretty good variety of terrain. You have fun trees, fun bumps, and some decent groomers. Both Pro Skier Darren White and I were surprised at how steep some of the glades were. The best part? You didn’t have to ski the steep parts if you didn’t want to, as there were ample access points.
Soft bumps on a run in the Bailey Falls area.
Riding the Bailey Falls Chair.
A lot of the terrain is natural, such as the Bailey Falls area, which has no snowmaking whatsoever. As a result, thanks to great weather and snow in recent weeks, we were treated to some pretty amazing conditions everywhere on the mountain. The bumps were soft and fun. The 12 groomed runs were packed powder, and everything else was extra-soft packed powder. You really can’t ask for better conditions, aside from an actual snow day.
Let’s talk about the glades, because I think that’s where this place shines, at least to me and Pro Skier Darren White, aka the Glade Master himself. Middlebury has a pretty good mix of skiable trees. Some are steep, some have a low pitch, some are tight, and some are wide open. If you want it, they got it. The trees here are a ton of fun.
Pro Skier Darren White in the trees.
We spent most of our time in the trees and, as you can probably imagine, Pro Skier Darren White put on a clinic out there. The coverage in the trees was fantastic. There were no rocks, etc., to worry about. Some of them even still had powder and it was quite deep at times. I’m not being exaggerative either — it was deep. I even told Pro Skier Darren White that I was surprised some trees weren’t all tracked out.
I’m so glad I finally visited this ski area. What a place! I will absolutely be back, and I think you should check it out, too. Middlebury Snowbowl is the 16th ski area I've skied this season. I’m hoping to make it to 20 different spots this year.
Never Quit Skiing,
Lincoln