By the end of the day at Burke Mountain on Thursday, I was covered in ice from head to toe. Although we had already had several inches of snow that morning, it was not what I was expecting to happen weather wise, when I heard about the big storm that was heading our way. Thursday night’s snow chances, turned into a mix of freezing rain and sleet and by Friday morning, all of the beautiful powder from the day before was covered in a layer of ice. I honestly thought we wouldn’t get any snow, and if we did, it would be minimal and crusty. As I started slipping into depression, it began nuking heavy wet snow on top of the ice layer, followed by super fluffy powder!
No Power, Time to Ski
At my house we lost power three times during the day and I couldn’t stand being at home in the dark. The Lyndon Outing Club announced that they would be open for night skiing, so I made my way, through horrible road conditions, to the hill. I wasn’t expecting many other people to be driving on the roads last night, but boy was I wrong! The parking lot was full of cars and when I looked up at the hill it was covered in thick untouched fresh powder!
Taking T-Bar to a Powder Playground
I put on my boots and headed to the T-bar, making my way up to the summit. It was still snowing fairly heavy and there was a bitter cold wind at the top. I could only imagine how cold the lift operator must have been! The wind blew the powder off of the crispy cover on the very top of the hill, but as soon as you dropped in, it was heaven! I mean, I was just floating over the snow and cutting through the powder. I didn’t even notice any of the crust that had formed on top of the previous days snowfall.
During my year of skiing, I’ve never actually skied a long run that was just fresh powder. All my powder experiences have been in the glades for short spurts. This was a whole new experience for me and I absolutely loved it. I made about ten runs on the face and some of the side trails, which were completely untouched! It was hands down one of the most fun times I’ve had this season.
One of the Oldest Ski Hills in New England
Founded in 1937, The Lyndon Outing Club is one of the longest running ski hills in New England. It is purely volunteer run and truly a gem for the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont. I joined the Board of Directors, of the LOC at the beginning of this season to help promote this wonderful historic ski hill. I recommend that anyone visiting the NEK or is skiing at Burke or Jay Peak to visit the LOC for day or night skiing. And while you are at it, make sure and have one of their tasty burgers in the lodge!
Links
- Check out Stoked! Jan’s Ski Blog for more of his skating off-season adventures.
- Visit skilyndon.com for more information.
- You can also follow the Lyndon Outing Club on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
- Follow Jan Welch on Instagram.
About “Stoked! Jan’s Ski Blog”
I’ve spent my entire life living in cities, where I was able to urban, distance and aggressive skate all year long. In December of 2017 I moved to rural Vermont and found myself in the dead of winter, with snow all around me. Winters in Vermont are long and harsh, making skating nearly impossible 4-5 months out of the year. I live 2.5 hours from the nearest city and an hour from the nearest trails, making skating even in the summer much less frequent then I was used to.
Something needed to supplement my skating during the off season, so I took up skiing on January 2nd of 2019. From the moment I put on skis, I was hooked! Skiing gives me the exact same feeling I get from urban skating. Through skiing I am able to replicate the feel of carving around on city streets and playing on whatever obstacles catch your eye. This blog chronicles my stoke on skiing during my skating off season.
– Jan Eric Welch (Founder of bigwheelblading.com)
Share Your Stoke
Are you a skater that also skis? Are you a skier getting into skating? If you want to write about your adventures, passion, journey or stoke for this site please contact me.
Follow Big Wheel Blading on YouTube // Instagram // Facebook
Join the Big Wheel Blading Facebook Discussion Group
Patreon
If you enjoy our articles and content at bigwheelblading.com please take a moment and visit our Patreon page. Your patronage will help us continue to create content in our quest to unite all of inline skating and help the sport grow as a whole. // patreon.com/bigwheelblading
Become a Patron!
