Good spots near Lebanon NH?

I am going to New Hampshire/ Vermont next week in the Lebanon area. What are
the xc spots I should not miss?
Thanks,
Gary

I am going to New Hampshire/ Vermont next week in the Lebanon area. What are
the xc spots I should not miss?

Woodstock, Vermont is home to a very good touring center, run by the upscale
Woodstock Inn & Resort. The touring center is headquartered at the resort's
golf course, a mile or so south of town on Route 106. (To get to Woodstock,
take I-89 north to Vermont exit 1, US 4, west.) Note, however, that half of
their trails are in a separate area ("Mt. Tom") just north of downtown
Woodstock. I personally like the scenic view from the top of the main ("Mt.
Peg") area.

Another very good nearby touring center, Norsk in New London, is less hilly and
less scenic than Woodstock, but has intelligently designed, well groomed
trails. To get there from Lebanon, take I-89 south about 30 miles to exit 11.

Those are the cross-country areas closest to Lebanon. Depending on how much
time you will be in the area, how much tolerance you have for driving, and how
motivated you are to seek out different trails or more challenging terrain, you
could also do a day trip (about 1 1/2 hours each way) to Burke or Stowe.

Hopefully Sunday night's snow will compensate for yesterday's rain ...

Lew Lasher
Cambridge, Massachusetts and Stowe, Vermont

Lew et al,
Turns out, we'll have a ski house this season near Okemo, VT. I see Okemo
has a Nordic center with a modest 8km of skate trails. Then there is
Woodstock (as you mention) and Mountain Meadows at Killington... Down south
is Viking Center near Londonderry. Any worth a recommendation? Or are
there another other gems I should aim for. We have two weeks off for xmas,
and I'd like to get some mileage in... err, kilometers in.

Pray for snow.

--
Mark Frost
Bedford, NH, USA

"Lew Lasher" wrote in message
...
I am going to New Hampshire/ Vermont next week in the Lebanon area. What
are
the xc spots I should not miss?

Woodstock, Vermont is home to a very good touring center, run by the
upscale
Woodstock Inn & Resort. The touring center is headquartered at the
resort's
golf course, a mile or so south of town on Route 106. (To get to
Woodstock,
take I-89 north to Vermont exit 1, US 4, west.) Note, however, that half
of
their trails are in a separate area ("Mt. Tom") just north of downtown
Woodstock. I personally like the scenic view from the top of the main
("Mt.
Peg") area.

Another very good nearby touring center, Norsk in New London, is less
hilly and
less scenic than Woodstock, but has intelligently designed, well groomed
trails. To get there from Lebanon, take I-89 south about 30 miles to exit
11.

Those are the cross-country areas closest to Lebanon. Depending on how
much
time you will be in the area, how much tolerance you have for driving, and
how
motivated you are to seek out different trails or more challenging
terrain, you
could also do a day trip (about 1 1/2 hours each way) to Burke or Stowe.

Hopefully Sunday night's snow will compensate for yesterday's rain ...

Lew Lasher
Cambridge, Massachusetts and Stowe, Vermont

Mark Frost wrote:

Turns out, we'll have a ski house this season near Okemo, VT. I see Okemo
has a Nordic center with a modest 8km of skate trails. Then there is
Woodstock (as you mention) and Mountain Meadows at Killington... Down south
is Viking Center near Londonderry. Any worth a recommendation?


For years I have been meaning to go to Mountain Meadows (which, after
all, was listed in Raymond Ellman's definitive 1987 treatise ... blah
blah blah) but I haven't gotten around to going there. Sounds
definitely worth a visit. I did manage one trip to Viking. Nice enough
place, but I don't remember anything especially distinctive about it.
Woodstock, which I've been to several times, was distinctive for its
scenery.

If you like backcountry skiing, the Catamount Trail passes through the
west edge of Okemo State Forest. According to the just-published 8th
edition of the Catamount Trail Guidebook, that area is pretty much all
snowmobile trail as far north as Lake Ninevah, where there is about 8.5
miles of non-snowmobile trail through the Coolidge State Forest.
According to the guidebook, "this is a challenging section with several
short, difficult stretches that are steep and narrow in places." Plus,
this section (section 11, formerly section J) has undoubtedly the best
name of any on the Catamount Trail: "Ninevah Four Corners to Tin Shanty."

Lew Lasher
Cambridge, Massachusetts and Stowe, Vermont

I don't think that you should overlook Eastman in Grantham. A little closer
than Norsk and far better grooming. IMHO
Fitzgerald

OK, I'll bite; "fun downhills"???? (one persons fun is another's death
plunge), what kind of downhills? Ok for approx intermediate skier?
gr
"Trevor Peterson" wrote in message
...
I don't think that you should overlook Eastman in Grantham. A little
closer
than Norsk and far better grooming. IMHO
Fitzgerald
The grooming is indeed better at Eastman, but there are a bunch of roads
you
have to cross. You might want to try Oak Hill/Silver Fox, they have some
fun
downhills when its icy. The grooming there is usually not great though.

"GR" wrote in message .. .
OK, I'll bite; "fun downhills"???? (one persons fun is another's death
plunge), what kind of downhills? Ok for approx intermediate skier?
gr
yeah they should be fine, especially cause we are getting snow right
now. I like em.

"Fitzgerald" wrote in message news:rkCCb.38551$8y1.163102@attbi_s52...
I don't think that you should overlook Eastman in Grantham. A little closer
than Norsk and far better grooming. IMHO
Fitzgerald

I'm not sure the last time you skied at Norsk, but John who is now in
his 3rd season running the place is a fanatic about grooming. This
season they have a new grooming machine. They have also opened up
many trails that had gone unused for years. They are now up to about
75km total. For trail conditions see www.skinorsk.com.

Eastman is also a nice destination and about 15 minutes closer to
Lebanon.

Jonathan Scheuch

I last skied at Norsk on March 9th 2003.I ski there when I don't feel like
driving to Waterville, about 12 days last year. I agree that John is fanatic
about grooming but that doen't mean that the grooming is great.He is still
waiting for the new machine the last I heard.
Fitzgerald

Comments and questions;
I do admire what Norsk does and tries to do, but I am of the opinion
that I would rather have 50K of well groomed trails than have 75K that
one guy can barely keep up with.
The silver Fox trails in Hanvoer are great but Dartmouth does not
groom for public use, more for it's private use and it allows public
access. Best to check the Dartmouth website to see when it was last
groomed. Donnie Cutter does a great job with an old groomer and the
John Morton trails are fantastic and very burley.
Does anyone know if Woodstock / Mt. Tom grooms for skate yet, or much?
Last I looked they did not.
Has anyone skied Blueberry Hill in Goshen VT? It looks like it should
be great.
Finally, we are looking forward to skiing Windblown XC in New Ipswich
NH (near Peterborogh NH again. What a great place, so well taken care
of, great hilly terrain and the only "open slope" I have seen.
And of course we have our season passes to Trapps - what a deal at
$200 for a family.

John

"Fitzgerald" wrote in message news:GbkDb.398648$275.1265941@attbi_s53...
I last skied at Norsk on March 9th 2003.I ski there when I don't feel like
driving to Waterville, about 12 days last year. I agree that John is fanatic
about grooming but that doen't mean that the grooming is great.He is still
waiting for the new machine the last I heard.
Fitzgerald