Trip report - Craftsbury, Vermont - 7 Dec 2003

I skied today on groomed trails at the Craftsbury Nordic Center in
Craftsbury, Vermont. Conditions were generally very good for classic;
skaters said that the snow wasn't packed quite enough yet. All the
relatively short trails near the touring center were open (their Web
site says 14 km which sounds about right). The longer trails had enough
snow, but they had not yet had enough time to groom everything. The
ponds were not frozen enough yet for skiing.

Northern Vermont didn't get quite the huge amounts that have been
reported in southern New England, but I don't think there are too many
people in the northeastern U.S. right now who are complaining about lack
of snow. We really needed another foot or so of snow now, because the
snow from November 14 was starting to wear a little thin.

Yesterday I helped out with trail work on a new section of the Catamount
Trail in Elmore (section 25 in your new Catamount Trail guidebook,
section V in the old guidebook). The new section, which starts in
Elmore State Park, is easier to get to and more gradual in its ascent to
the crossing of the Worcester Range, where it meets up with the old
trail. It's still a little early for backcountry skiing, though,
especially on stream crossings.

Lew Lasher
Cambridge, Massachusetts and Stowe, Vermont