Maximum Lift Capacity and Christmas Intern Sacrificing

We’re moments away from the start of another action-packed Holiday Week on the mountain, Newsletter Friends, and the excitement is undeniable (I’m assuming that this shortness of breath, and shooting pain in my left arm is unbridled pre-Christmas enthusiasm). The December weather has been consistently wintry, more than making up for a warm fall, and setting the stage beautifully for grin-worthy carving through the holidays. It looks like our daily intern sacrifices have paid off. You’re wrong again, Scientists. And I know for a fact that I routinely ski faster than the speed of light. Josh filmed it one time on his cell phone.

In this issue:
~ Weekend Projections: The Return of Vista, the Dawn of Timberline
~ Holiday Festivities: A Viking Funeral for 2009
~ Powder Pass: We Hardly Knew You 

Weekend Projections: The Return of Vista, the Dawn of Timberline
It’s Christmas Eve, after all, so I’ll try to be brief and stick to the information I’ve been given. Writing this little thing today is hard enough, I can’t imagine how brutal and exhausting these next 24 hours must be for Santa. He’s like a jolly Jack Bauer. But somehow more judgemental, and less shooty. My point is: after taking a week-long holiday, the Vista Quad will re-open Christmas Day. The lift technicians deserve a lot of credit for getting the Vista out of its funk, but I think most people agree that the real cure was the hours I spent each afternoon sarcastically taunting the motionless chairlift. It’s how my mom taught me to read. And in case that news didn’t already blow your mind, go ahead and grab your skull with both hands because there’s about to be a brain explosion: the Timberline Quad will make its season debut Saturday, leaving us with all 6 of our lifts turning this weekend. If I was a magician, this is where I would throw a smoke bomb and disappear.

For the weekend, this means our trail count will be at a season high, somewhere in the 40s. About one third of that terrain will be farmed out to Christmas corduroy by our groomers, leaving a primary surface of lovely packed powder, with powder on our ungroomed terrain. Starting the day after Christmas, we’ll begin our official holiday period, which extends from December 26th to next Sunday, January 3rd. This means 4 things: (1) All lifts are scheduled to run; (2) The action begins at 8:30am each morning with the Vista Quad; (3) We’ll host night skiing until 8pm every night except January 3rd; and (4) My puppy Baxter will be wearing fake antlers. Because he refuses to wear the rest of the moose costume I knitted for him. Weather-wise, Christmas Day should be spectacular, with sunshine and highs near 30F. Temperatures will stay warm through the weekend, while we await a possible Monday snow storm that the weather prophets have been whispering about. And yet, when I start whispering about snow storms, everyone on the bus looks at me like I’m crazy. It’s a classic double standard. For daily updates, sign up for our snow report here. And if once a day just isn’t enough, you can now follow Bolton Valley on Facebook and Twitter.

Holiday Festivities: A Viking Funeral for 2009
There are certain holiday experiences that are nearly universal. Seeing old friends who’ve moved far away. Digging through your attic for the family Festivus Pole. Waking up early to hide everyone’s presents, and then leveraging your knowledge of their whereabouts for the promise of more and better presents. Eggnog. It’s a magical time.

Around Bolton Valley, we have a few traditional events of our own. For example, there’s no better way to mock the dying embers of the Old Year, than a classic New Year’s Eve Torchlight Parade capped off with fireworks. It’s pretty much exactly how I picture my funeral. We’ll also be hosting a unique New Year’s Eve dinner at Bailey’s Restaurant. I’m not sure what the menu will consist of, but you can call 802-434-6821 for details, or to make a reservation, or to ask why I’m not allowed near the deep fryer anymore. In fact, we’ll be featuring special events every day from Christmas through New Year’s, including snowshoe tours and an indoor amusement center that will have giant inflatable things, a huge video game station, and a teen dance party. And I know you have the same questions I did, but they couldn’t tell me what size trophy I’ll get for winning the dance party. Honestly, the amazed and impressed look on everyone’s faces will be prize enough for me. If you’d like to come up and challenge me, I’ve been told that ski and stay packages for the holiday period will be $99 per person. It includes a lift ticket, your lodging for the night in a hotel room at the Inn at Bolton Valley, breakfast, and the chance to be humiliated by my self-taught dance moves. I call my style “Kick-Boxing Monkey”. You can book that package by calling 1-877-9-BOLTON.

Powder Pass: We Hardly Knew You
And now for some somber news. After a short but glorious existence, the Snow Day and Nor’easter Powder Passes will no longer be available for purchase after Thursday, December 24th. Which is, like, right now. So act fast, I guess. You can buy them online here, and still save up to $16 per day on a handful of lift tickets this winter. On top of that, Powder Pass holders can ski or ride for free on Christmas Day. Which is tomorrow. Man, everything’s coming at me at warp speed here. The extinction of the Powder Pass is both good and bad. It’s bad because it was a good deal on a 2-day or 5-day pack of tickets. And it’s good because I don’t think I could’ve written one more word about these things. They’re in every newsletter. I had a dream last night where an angry Snow Day Powder Pass was chasing me with enormous scissors. I don’t know what that means, but it can not be good.

We’ve come to the end again, Bolton Heroes. Since this is going out on Christmas Eve, you—the person staring at this sentence—are quite possibly the only person who will read this newsletter. So, while it’s just the two of us, I thought you should know...you’re my favorite. I’m not supposed to pick one, but I have. And I hope you get a chance to enjoy our expanded terrain this weekend, with all of our lifts running, lovely snow surfaces, and comfortable temperatures. I’m sure all of the interns we ritualistically fired these past few weeks are proud that their sacrifice lead to such wonderful holiday conditions. So, we wish you happy holidays, and hope your traditional Festivus “Airing of Grievances” frees you from all the lingering resentments you may harbor.

Justin