Stowe village is a natural choice for skiers and snowboarders going to northern Vermont. It is conveniently located right off I-89 and within a reasonable drive from all ski resorts in northern VT. The best part, however, is a choice of lodging available in Stowe village. Chances are you can find lodging options for any budget or taste. Of course, weekends and holidays will burn a hole in your wallet, but midweek prices tend to be very reasonable. On our last visit we stayed at the Mountain Road Inn: a very simple yet charming place that was totally empty on Wednesday and Thursday. We had a sauna, swimming pool and a hot tub to ourselves for all three days that we stayed there. And all of that was for $119 per night.You can go higher or lower than that, but the point here is that there is a choice of places and prices.
Mountain Road Inn in Stowe Village
Do not expect to find a vibrant nightlife in Stowe village but I can assure you that there are plenty of restaurants and bars to satisfy most if not all gastronomical preference. You can find whatever you want, from pizza to sushi, but if you are a budget conscious traveler, I would highly recommend to flip through menus in advertising brochures. In one place you can order an excellent, 9 oz burger for about $10, and in another you might not find anything cheaper than $20. Do you research – it might help to save some extra dollars. (On my last trip in January I went for Quiznos and supplemented it with a locally produced micro-brew – it works well for under $20!)
And finally, Stowe village is an excellent midpoint between various ski resorts. It took us around 35 minutes to get to Bolton Valley, 1 hour 10 minutes to Jay Peak and about the same time to Sugarbush resort. Needless to say, Stowe and Smugglers Notch ski resorts are within a really short driving distance. Just try to visit it during midweek..
Stowe Mountain resort in Vermont is known for its famous Front Four black diamond trails and steep lift ticket prices. This is not a place to hang out if you don’t have a solid credit line or a thick wallet – one day of skiing during the peak period will cost you “paltry” $89.00. And even if you skip the lines and holidays, the prime days – excluding Saturdays and early/late season -will burn the $84.00 hole in your pocket. In other words, ski during the early or late season; or, plan ahead and save some cash that might make a ski vacation more affordable at Stowe Mountain resort.
2010 ski calendar at Stowe Mountain resort
I uploaded a high resolution version of a calendar on Flickr. You can click on the “all sizes” tab and access/download the 1024 x 695 and/or 1550 x 1050 versions. Use this calendar as a reference. I tried to be as accurate as possible, however, if you note a mistake, please let me know – reading fine print is not always easy! It was not very clear whether Saturdays are considered to be peak days during the whole season – including the early and late season. I only counted them as peak days during the prime and peak periods. And always double check with the official Stowe web site to make sure that all numbers are correct.
The trick here is to buy a multi-day tickets – SEVEN DAYS IN ADVANCE TO SAVE 15%. All right, so you might say that 15 % is not that much to bother with; I will argue otherwise – you could potentially save additional $12-$13 off the regular multi-day ticket rate. For example, if you visit Stowe Mountain resort during Christmas week and ski for four days, you will pay about $77.25 per day (a multi-day rate if you buy your tickets at a window.) However, if you manage to find 10-15 minutes and internet connection before you visit Stowe Mountain resort, you will pay around $65.62 per day (a multi-day rate if you order your tickets through the Vacation Rewards Program.)
If you have tried backcountry skiing/or provide backcountry tours in Stowe – Smugglers’ Notch area, I would be very interested in setting up an interview with you. You can email me at sergeynm@yahoo.com to discuss details.
Sometimes it is hard to describe in words why do I like skiing and outdoor lifestyle in general. So the other day I was browsing through Vermont collections on Flickr and stumbled upon a photostream depicting various images from Stowe, Vermont. And all I could say was..”simply amazing”. And to me, the whole collection pretty much sums up the reasons why I am always “stuck on snow”!
Above the clouds
Stowe in the morning
Morning in Vermont
Snowy Trees
Stowe
Sunrise trail new years eve
[caption id="attachment_128" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="Vermon is brighter"][/caption]
These pictures were taking from Flickr and you can view the whole collection by its author here
All pictures are copyrighted by its author under Creative Commons
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