Our 2 night/3 day stay in the backcountry of Bolton Valley (Sun-Tues) was absolutely amazing. Bolton Camp is reached by a gen- tle and steady 1.5 miles downhill slope on groomed nordic trails below the resort base area. While this ‘primitive’ backcountry hut lacks the amenities found in the newer VT Huts, like Chittenden near Brandon Gap, or classic European-style aesthetics of AMC huts like Zealand, it more than makes up for it in old-school charm and the warmth out- put from the work-horse woodstove. While Sunday night temps dipped below zero, our group enjoyed dinner and conversation at a cozy upper 60F inside! Thankfully the sustained cold and dry weather preserved the 2.5’-3’ powder that Bolton had received during the preceding week.
Our stalwart group of skiers/campers chose to skin up the ridge above Bryant Camp to the Stowe View overlook and investigate lines into Cottonbrook basin. This area is well-known as some of the more challeng- ing terrain accessible from Bolton Back- country, and isolating since it descends off the north aspect into a roadless area to- wards Waterbury Reservoir. At the ‘turn-around’ point, some members of our group decided that a gentler return to food and drink at the bar at the backcountry base area made quite a bit of sense, while others (myself included) investigated these northerly powder lines into Cottonbrook. I am highlighting this moment, because these group decisions are important ones to consider, to plan for, and to respect when traveling in the backcountry. Prior to that time, our group had already discussed contigency plans for safety, personal comfort levels of risk, and travelling in buddy-pairs."
"At the ‘turn-around’ point, some mem- bers of our group decided that a gen- tler return to food and drink at the bar at the backcountry base area made quite a bit of sense, while others (my- self included) investigated these north- erly powder lines into Cottonbrook. I am highlighting this moment, because these group decisions are important ones to consider, to plan for, and to re- spect when traveling in the backcoun- try. Prior to that time, our group had already discussed contigency plans for safety, personal comfort levels of risk, and travelling in buddy-pairs.
"Next season,
we’re planning to
Schedule a similar trip---
so stayed tuned"
The line we chose in Cottonbrook was rather narrow
in a shallow ravine and required some skill to
dodge trees through the variable pitches. About
2/3rd down, the terrain opened up into a mid-angle
birch forest that I found very pleasant though too brief... While the descent was fun AND challenging, I will admit that the return climb back into Bolton
and the intersect with the Bolton-Trapp trail was simply.... challenging. I would advise to leave some gas in the tank for this uphill, if choosing to ski Cottonbrook
or Stowe View, since it not just grade, but
the angle and camber of the uphill track that is a
workout.
Overnight the temps warmed a bit, the sky dropped a little snow in the upper elevations and after our group packed out gear from the Camp to our ve-
hicles, Dave and I decided to skin back up to the ridge to explore some lines dropping back into the resort. From a spot with a spectacular view of Camel’s Hump, we followed some tracks downhill into a series of wide open birch glades, finding fresh powder tracks at the margins. These glades continued over several mid-angle pitches until eventually spilling us out on to resort trail. Bolton Valley offers a single-use lift ticket for $20, so after a quick lunch at the lodge, we stole a lap and ducked back into the trees near the summit of Wilderness Peak. Throwing our skins on briefly, we traversed Heavenly Highway onto Moose Glen and followed a single skiers line off-trail through some hobblebrush overgrowth and then into lines of nearly untouched pow- der meeting back up with our previous run. Suffice to say, Bolton Valley (with
Vermont’s highest base elevation) does not disappoint"
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