We’re firing up the ski season early in Vermont this year! As the snow falls and we finish digesting our Thanksgiving turkey, skiers have been out enjoying just about everything that the Catamount Trail and the Vermont backcountry has to offer. From long tours through quiet woods to telemark turns along the edge of a meadow to a steep powder shot just around the corner, our local trail sections and zones offer so much to a skier’s imagination — and we’ve been lucky to get to ski so much of it already this year!
Today is Giving Tuesday, so we thought we’d share five of our favorite reasons to support the CTA and strengthen the growing Vermont backcountry scene. Collected from fellow skiers and donors over the past years on skintracks and during lunch breaks, these reasons to give aren’t just an idea — they’re the path to a powdery tomorrow for every skier who loves heading out on days like today.
1. We’re developing new terrain to promote better skier access.
Leading the charge toward better skier access for alpine touring in Vermont is our chapter program, now five years old and many backcountry glades deep. Our four chapters all work closely with partners like the US Forest Service, Vermont local government, community outdoor organizations, and volunteer groups to bring you a new ski and splitboard experience in the Green Mountains. As profiled recently in publications like Backcountry Magazine and Northern Woodlands, the CTA, its chapters, and our Vermont Backcountry Alliance program have been on the forefront of a new model for legal glading. We’re not stopping there — we’ve got new projects in the works every year to bring glades to your corner of the state.
2. We’re protecting the Trail for skiers to come.
The Catamount Trail is 320-plus miles of backcountry goodness, spanning the entire state of Vermont. That’s an enormous amount of land to protect from the threats of land development, deforestation, and road intrusion — not to mention the threat of climate change. Fortunately, we’re not alone in the fight to preserve Vermont’s long forest corridors: we’ve got partners at land trusts and state organizations to make the protection of the Catamount Trail a viable project moving forward. There’s nothing sweeter than knowing that a section of the Trail will still be a backcountry corridor in ten, twenty, or fifty years, ready for snow to fall and skiers to come discover it.
3. We’re maintaining trails and gladed zones for the best possible skiing in all conditions.
It’s a common backcountry experience to spy an amazing ski line or route, only to be foiled by downed trees, choked vegetation, and trapdoor brush under the snow. When you ski on the Catamount Trail or skin up one of the backcountry zones managed by our chapters, you can know that lots of volunteer effort — literally, tens of thousands of hours — has gone into making your ski day the best it can be. We work tirelessly from May to November to get volunteers out on the trails and glades, keep them well-equipped, and make sure that the “maple jungle” of undergrowth gets put back in its rightful place — all so you can ski through it on a bright sparkling day or during a puking, nuking powder dump.
4. We’re bringing up the next generation of skiers through Ski Cubs.
What would you see if you showed up at the Bolton Valley Nordic Center on a Saturday morning in January or February? A group of kids — between the ages of 8 and 14, of all races, ethnicities, and socioeconomic backgrounds — enthusiastically trying out nordic skiing for the first time, that’s who. These intrepid young skiers learn to ski over the course of a winter as part of our free Ski Cubs program, offered yearly to students from the Burlington area who have not had access to winter outdoor recreation in the past. Over the course of seven weeks of snowplowing, herringboning, kicking, gliding, falling down, getting up, repeated over and over again, the Ski Cubs come to know their great wintry backyard and get a feel for an exhilarating and healthy lifelong sport.
5. We’re sending out tours all winter long.
Ever feel like you would love nothing more than to go on a big ski in a new part of Vermont — if only you had a group of fun, like-minded schussers to go with? Our Multi-Day Tours and Single-Day Tours are a great way to meet other skiers, explore new terrain, and get connected to the broader Catamount Trail community. Whether you’re skinning up a steep climb on Section 17 in Huntington, or carving turns down Dutch Hill, you’ll be surrounded by like-minded enthusiasts who want to share in enjoying some time on skis. Check one out this winter and see what all the buzz is about.
Bonus: We’re bringing the backcountry community together in our home state.
Let’s face it, backcountry skiing can feel like a solitary sport, and this isn’t always a good feeling. But you need only attend an event, like the Vermont Backcountry Forum or the Bolton Valley Aprés-Ski, to realize how many backcountry-loving friends you have out there. Together, we can create a bigger, stronger, and friendlier backcountry community that can advocate for more trail protection, more responsibly-managed glades, and more opportunities to chase down those elusive fresh tracks.
