Snow, Sun & Fun – Spring Skiing in Vermont

March brings longer, sunnier days and a slew of fun festivals to the mountains of Vermont.  Soft snow conditions, discounted lift tickets, shorter lift lines and fewer layers are just some of the highlights of the Spring ski season. 

Here is a full list of resort offerings and highlights:

Bolton Valley
Bolton Valley Resort officials typically change the hours of operation for skiing and riding with the clocks in the spring, offering up breathtaking sunsets from the resort’s west facing slopes. Skiers and riders ski into the sunset with direct sunlight and watch the sky glow red and orange with the sun setting behind the Adirondacks. Look for spring extended hours in early to mid-March. Special lift ticket pricing is usually in effect as well.   

Bromley Mountain
Spring skiing at Bromley isn’t just sun and fun, it’s cheap, too!  They introduced the Spring Loaded Card last season and are offering it again this coming Spring.  Just $99 for a card, with your picture on it, loaded with four days of great skiing and riding starting after President’s Week!  (Do the math, that's less than $25 a day) Just stop in at the ticket window when you arrive, and they'll scan your card and give you a lift ticket.  The card can be re-loaded with 4 additional days of skiing for $99.

Bromley’s Spring Fling Weekend, March 23-24, is always an awesome time, with

live music on the Sun Deck and a Pond skimming contest on Saturday. The Trampoline Things will be on hand from Vermont’s Summer Adventure to liven up both days, and don’t miss the Fifth annual Duct Tape Derby on Sunday!  In addition, there’ll be a great 2-day E-coupon available at www.bromley.com.

Burke Mountain
Burke Mountain celebrates the sweetness of spring with its annual Maple Festival.   Adults and children alike keep the energy flowing with a good healthy dose of sugar on snow! There’s also the March Season Pass Sale that allows new season pass holders to enjoy the remainder of the season, while locking in next winter’s season pass at an incredible price!  

Join Burke’s wet and wacky annual spring ritual, the Annual Pond Skimming Celebration, in April 2013. Watch as 50 brave contestants skim the pond for a chance to become the King and Queen of the Pond, or make a costume and participate in the pond skimming fun!    

In March 2012, Kingdom Trails held their first Winterbike event. Conditions were perfect for biking on the trails and over 100 participants pedaled the vast network on a gorgeous sunny day ending with a fun downhill race. Seeing the interest in this growing industry of snow specific bikes, Kingdom Trails will begin to design "snow bike" only trails. Not conflicting with Nordic Trails, the winter snow bike trails will provide enough flowy track for avid bikers to enjoy in the winter time. Another Winterbike is planned for March 2013.

Jay Peak Resort
Jay Peak’s 39th Annual Beach Party - Saturday, March 30th, 2013
For more than three decades, Jay Peak’s annual rite of spring saw hula-skirted women (and men), celebrating the return of sunshine by dancing to reggae and consuming frothy adult beverages. But the party was always inside. But with the opening of the new Hotel Jay and Pump House waterpark, the party has moved outside to the fire-pit ringed courtyard between the two. The large, garage-styled doors to the Pump House are rolled up to allow easy flow between the park and the outdoors, and this year truckloads of sand will be brought in to create an actual beach.

Killington Resort
NOR’BEASTER, Killington Resort - March 22-31, 2013
Killington is celebrating the spring season with a ten day kickoff event, the NOR’BEASTER, that will feature a music festival, competitions, soft snow and much more.

Magic Mountain
Magic’s Spring Fling is a legendary southern VT March event as the ski and riding community celebrates warmer temperatures, soft snow and the camaraderie of another ski season. Magic has a big cook-out, music, contests and give-aways with a fun race put on by the Alpine Club for all age groups and skier-types. There are also great ticket bargains to be had online in March and April on Magic’s website.

Mount Snow Resort
Mount Snow has a reputation for putting on some of the best events in the nation, and springtime is home to many of them. On Friday, March 16 lift tickets will be just $17 in celebration of St. Patrick’s Day with green eggs and kegs in the morning, live Irish music throughout the day and the search for the Pot O’Gold containing a season pass good for the following ski season. 

Nothing says spring like soft snow, cold beer and live Reggae music. March 23 – 25, Mount Snow Reggae Fest is back for its fourteenth year and is expected to be as groovy as always with three days of live performances from some of the top talent in the Reggae world. Don’t miss the Sink or Skim pond skimming competition or the always entertaining Duct Tape Derby.

Saturday, April seventh The Third Annual Mount Snow Winter Brewer’s Festival returns with more than 15 breweries from around the region pouring over 40 of your favorite beers and ciders while The Gladiator Extreme Bump Contest rocks Ripcord with talented bump slayers and mogul meister wannabes alike looking to get down Mount Snow’s steepest trail with as much speed and style as they can.

Mad River Glen
Longer days, more reasonable temperatures and generally the deepest snow pack are the big reasons to come ski Mad River Glen in the spring time. Another great reason to come in the spring is the great deals. Look for screaming good on-line ticket specials at www.madriverglen.com.

Okemo Mountain Resort
For bragging rights that include an awesome goggle tan, skiers and snowboarders head to Okemo Mountain Resort for a variety of springtime events and activities that culminate on April 6. It’s a chilly spring dip for costumed contestants who don’t make it across an 80-foot long slush pond. Fabulous prizes are awarded in various categories. How about a wet and wild Tug o’ War to determine the strongest (and driest) team in the Valley? This single-elimination battle lands one team in the slush pond each round. The victorious team of eight will win $250. Registration is free and limited to 16 teams. Visit www.okemo.com for more events.

Smugglers’ Notch Resort
At Smugglers’ Notch Resort, families who visit during March Break (March 10-15, 2013) can enjoy many of the special events usually reserved for the major winter holidays, like fireworks and après celebrations, without paying holiday pricing. From March 16 through April 6, 2013, the popular Club Smugglers’ Winter Base Package starts at $85 per youth and $115 per adult with lodging, daily lift tickets and use of the indoor pool, hot tubs, FunZone family entertainment center and snow tubing as inclusions. Spring celebration events include the statewide Maple Open House Weekend on March 23 and 24, 2013, when the resort serves as a convenient home base for guests who would like to explore local sugarhouses, and the resort’s BrewFest on March 30, 2013, featuring favorite local and regional brews, music and munchies

Stowe Mountain Resort
Spring for the Mountains Package
There’s nothing better than spring skiing and snowboarding in Vermont, unless it also entails spa services, gourmet dinners and a private farm-to-table dinner in your private penthouse residence after a day on the mountain. Stay at Stowe Mountain Lodge for three nights during the month of March or April and enjoy two days of spring skiing with a private guide, the signature Vermont Maple Syrup & Brown Sugar Scrub treatment at The Spa and Wellness Center  and a private dinner cooked just for you in your residence.
Use the promo code SPNMTN when booking this package.

Stratton Mountain
T-shirts, goggle tans and sunglasses are the recommended uniform for spring skiing and riding (though March is typically the snowiest month, so it’s still a good idea to be prepared for some serious pow-slaying). Among favorite spring-time festivities like BBQs and the pond skim is a new event, 24 Hours of Stratton, where teams will ski and ride around the clock and raise money for the Stratton Foundation. The only open-to-all event of its kind in the U.S., it’ll be 24 hours and more of celebrations, music, parties and skiing and riding on March 22-24.  www.stratton.com

Sugarbush Resort
Once the lifts close at Mt. Ellen in late March, the Lincoln Limo - a 12-passenger luxury cabin snowcat equipped with a flat screen TV and cushy seats - is available for private bookings for skiing and riding on Sugarbush’s highest peak.

Sugarbush is the only resort in the Eastern U.S. to offer cat-serviced opportunities such as skiing/riding, dining, sightseeing and more. The April Cabin Cat Lincoln Peak experience – for parties as large as 24 people – takes advantage of warm sun and soft snow.

For the late season fun – which runs until the snow melts - a Sugarbush guide, a gourmet barbeque lunch and a cash bar at the Glen House is included in the cat skiing package.

Trapp Family Lodge
Trapp Family Lodge boasts some of the finest Nordic spring skiing in the Northeast. Tucked in the snow shadow of Mt Mansfield, our higher elevation trails (above 2000’), northern exposure, and northern latitude hold snow well even during low snow years. Oslo, Bobcat, Slayton Pasture Trail, and Hareline become the focal points after the snow in the valley has melted away during late March and early April.

During those heady days of March and April skiing we also enjoy those perfect freeze thaw cycles that produce corn snow in abundance. Who doesn’t love skiing spring corn skiing? With the Slayton Pasture cabin situated in the heart of the upper trails, and used as an outpost, one can enjoy a full day of spring skiing while the rest of the world is cleaning up in the lawn.