Vermont Travel Notes

The New York Times Travel section last week published an article about athenaeums around the eastern US, mainly New England. "Where Greek Ideals Meet New England Charm" includes a mention of the St. Johnsbury Athenaeum, a combined library and art gallery located in downtown St. Johnsbury. It's an outstanding facility where you can easily lose track of time.

The town of St. Johnsbury is a wonderful place to visit and great entrance to Vermont's Northeast Kingdom. Other attractions in the area include the
Fairbanks Museum, Old Stone House Museum, and Stephen Huneck Dog Mountain.

More information about these attractions and others are listed on the Northeast Kingdom Chamber of Commerce website.

(c) 2008 Jeff Connor (except the photo above) Grunberg Haus

Budweiser Clydesdale horse photo from Mount Snow

Mount Snow is the only northeast ski area that will be hosting the Budweiser Clydesdale horses this year.

They will be available for viewing at a Friday night pizza party, a Saturday afternoon parade, and in one of the parking lots after the parade.

Mount Snow Ski Resort is located in southern Vermont near Wilmington VT, between Brattleboro and Bennington.

More information is available at the Mount Snow Events Calendar.

(c) 2008 [except the photograph] Jeff Connor

One of the largest telemark ski events in the country takes place every year at Mad River Glen ski area in Fayston Vermont.

The North American Telemark Organization TeleFest takes place this coming weekend, March 8 and 9. About 1,000 telemark skiers will be taking part in races, clinics, equipment demonstrations, fun runs, and parties.

The cost is $54 per day or $104 for two day. and includes lift ticket, clinics, use of demo gear, contests, and Magic Hat dance party.

About a week later, March 17 - 21, the next door ski resort at Sugarbush will host the FIS Telemark World Cup Finals with the best telemark skiers in the world competing.

If you are not familiar with telemark skiing, you can read a good article about it on Wikipedia.

(c) 2008 Jeff Connor (except the photo from NATO) Grunberg Haus Inn

That's the question I got from a wonderfully cheerful person somewhere south of the Mason Dixon line who had never seen snow and was calling in early March. He wanted to know if he had missed the snow this year or if there was still time left to travel to Vermont and see snow. I was happy to tell him that most years we get the greatest amount of snowfall in March compared to other months.

Most of the people I speak with are surprised to hear we get more snow in March. When they are seeing the beginning of Spring where they live, Vermont is building to a grand winter finale.

To see what I mean, take a look at Stowe Resort's five year weather history. Not only is March the snowiest (I guess that is a real word), but it's the end of the month when the largest amounts of snow are falling. The last week in March averages 32 inches at Stow, far more than any other week there.

Stowe's Snow Report shows 309 inches of snowfall so far this season, just short of the season average of 327 inches.

It's been a great year for skiing and other winter activities but don't feel that you have missed it if you have not been here yet. There is plenty of snow here for you to enjoy and more is on the way.

In fact, this is a good time of year to enjoy winter. The days are longer, temperatures are higher, and there aren't as many people skiing, snowmobiling, snow shoeing, etc. I wish more people were aware of how good it can be here in March. It would be great to see the ski areas and the Vermont's Department of Tourism getting the word out about March. I'm sure more people would come if they knew what it is like here this month.

For the more technically inclined, and maybe a few inexperienced skeptics, you can view a current snow depth map from the National Weather Service to see how much snow you can expect when you travel to Vermont or other New England states.

The areas in dark blue represent depths of 20 to 39 inches (50 cm to 100 cm), and the purple lines, which you can see run along the mountain ranges, represent 59 to 98 inches (150 to 250 cm). Those are current snow depths, not the amount that has fallen this season. The map is updated every day.

Plan a trip to Vermont and enjoy this great winter season we will continue having for the next month.



(c) 2008 Jeff Connor Grunberg Haus Inn

The Inn at Baldwin Creek in Bristol Vermont has a restaurant called "Mary's" that is well known and highly regarded around here. It has won many awards and reviews including Yankee Magazine 2005 Editor's Choice Award and 2005 Restaurateurs of the Year award from the VT Lodging and Restaurant Assn.

Each month, the Inn holds a dinner presentation and the selection this month is artisan cheese. The featured speaker is Jeff Roberts of Montpelier, VT, author of the Atlas of American Artisan Cheese , co-founder of the Vermont Institute for Artisan Cheese at the University of Vermont, and a Slow Food USA director.

Jeff Robert's Friday March 14 presentation includes dinner at 6:30 pm with tastings of regionally-produced artisan cheeses and a talk based on his research, stories about artisan cheese makers, and links to broader changes in American agriculture.

You can make a reservation by calling toll free 888-424-2432 or emailing info@innatbaldwincreek.com. The dinner and talk is $25 per person.

This presentation is part of The Inn at Baldwin Creek Annual Table Talk Dinner Series which are held the second Friday of every month. The inn's website has a list of the monthly presentation dinners as well as cooking classes.

Mary's Restaurant Chef/Owner Doug Mack has been there about 24 years. You can see him making fried zucchini flowers (!) on Vermont Public Television's Feast in the Making cooking program.

(c) 2008 Jeff Connor Grunberg Haus Inn

Photo courtesy of October Siberians

I read today that the famous Alaska Iditarod race is starting this Saturday and it lead me to thinking about all the sled dog activity here in Vermont. (Side note: many participants in the sport prefer the term "sled dog" rather than "dog sled" but you will see both terms used even by the people who run professional operations.)

In fact, if you would like to see a sled dog race and won't be in Alaska this week, there is a race you can watch at Burke Mountain Ski Resort in East Burke VT. There will be races both Saturday and Sunday.

A number of operations around Vermont offer sled dog rides and a couple of them offer skijoring too. Skijoring is done on skis and involves the dog(s) pulling the person via a harness attached to the dog. I've seen skijor racing a couple of times and it's impressive how fast they get going. You certainly don't want to fall down . . . I'm not sure the dogs would stop for a while - they're pretty enthusiastic.

The best one-stop source of information about sled dog rides in on the Vermont Outdoor Guide Association website. Atii is listed as one of the sled dog outfits but they are taking a year off from sled dog rides because they are rebuilding their group of dogs. Many of the current dogs have gotten too old to pull. However, Atii is still offering skijoring this year.

It's a unique adventure. Give it a try.

(c) 2008 [except the October Siberian photo] Jeff Connor Grunberg Haus Inn