Cold Smoke & Birch Glades in the Green Mountains
Driving north up I-89 ahead of a February nor’easter for quiet dawn skin tracks and tightly spaced New England hardwood trees.
Activity Skiing · Travel
Distance 18.4 km
Elevation 1,340 m
Moving Time Full Day
Telemetry View on Strava
People who only ski out West love to tease New England skiers about ice, and nine Saturdays out of ten they aren’t completely wrong—Eastern edges stay sharp for a reason. Yet when a coastal low stalls in the Gulf of Maine and drops thirty centimeters of dry crystal over the Green Mountain spine, tight white-birch glades turn magical.
Alpenglow at -14°C before clicking into bindings
Thermos of ginger-red-date tea waiting at the summit
After four laps until our quads burned, we thawed frozen eyelashes at a general store woodstove over cheddar soup and maple creemees—regardless of outside temperature, maple soft-serve in Vermont is mandatory.