What about them? Well, they are pretty good, wide and flat at Stratton resort. As one of my friends once commented: “Do not leave your significant other behind in NYC, leave her behind learning first turns on beginner trails.” It might sound a bit harsh but in reality, having your friend learning skiing at Stratton resort is not a bad idea. After all, there are many, many dedicated beginner trails there. Of course, almost any resort has some beginner trails, but just because they are colored in green does not mean that any beginner can ski them. So if you are are, or someone in your party, is a total beginner type, head towards Tamarack.

From there you can access a number of wide and somewhat flat trails to master your first pizza pie turns. In matter of fact, you can also practice cross-country skiing techniques – who said that every beginner hill should actually be a hill?

Stratton resort ski map

Tags: beginner ski, beginner slopes in Vermont, stratton resort, Vermont ski resorts

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. 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, Vermont

Do not expect to find a vibrant nightlife in Stowe 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 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..

Tags: northern VT, stow lodging, stowe village

Until last year I heard a lot of positive things about Arcteryx and their products. I wanted to get one badly but alas , Arcteryx does not belong to a “cheap gear” category. So after some serious considerations and extensive time spend on googling up discount coupons, I finally decided to give Arcteryx a shot. A hundred dollar question was simple: “What could I buy at that price range?” and “What do I really need?”.

After a brief battle between “what I need” and “What I can afford” I picked a baselayer category since that was what I needed most. First of all, I didn’t have a decent baselayer at that time and most importantly, I needed something to wick moisture…a lot of moisture because I tend to sweat a lot when engaged in athletic activities. Therefore, Arcteryx Rho LT came to my mind and shopping cart as a natural choice.

From a product description:

These synthetic foundations enable warm, dry next-to-skin wicking performance. Lightweight fibers move moisture rapidly, and a silver ion treatment reacts with sweat to cut stink out of the technical equation.

I got my Arcteryx Rho LT for around $60 which is much more wallet friendly compared to a regular price of $99. Hint: line up a bunch of retailers and google up discout coupons. Chances are you will find last year’s color at a steep discount which you can further increase by using a coupon.

Logically, I could not wait to get an undershirt regularly priced at $100. So, when I finally received a package, I didn’t waste any time, opened a package and the very first thought was…”Damn, it is small!”. Hint: Arcteryx Rho LT runs on a small side, so I would suggest to size up. When picking a size I consulted a chart that indicated that I could go with “medium”. Well, at 5″8, 165 pounds I generally wear large, however, Rho LT was supposed to be skin hugging so I decided that since conventional wisdom and size charts indicate “medium” I probably should go with medium. It turned out that either my “conventional wisdom” or a size chart was wrong because medium was too tight and I had to exchange it for a larger size.

Arcteryx Rho LT is made in Canada so in terms quality you can expect top notch craftsmanship. It is also extremely soft against skin and I will go as far as to say that after wearing couple of comparable shirts, this one is easily number one. I will hesitate to call it a midweight baselayer but worn with appropriate mid layers, it kept me warm and dry at Sugarbush where on that particular day temperatures hovered around 15F.(Note: I wear a hard shell, so basically I am talking about a base layer, fleece and shell as my set up)

Since it is a synthetic piece, I expected it to stink badly after a day of skiing and to my greatest surprise it performed rather well from that perspective as well. I guess silver ions do keep funk at the minimum

Bottom line:

If you need a lightweight, soft against skin and fitted baselayer, Arcteryx Rho LT should meet and exceed your expectations. If you consume lots of beer or just simply out of shape, wearing Arcteryx Rho LT on a casual basis will make it even more obvious, so consider that. I would not buy Rho LT at $100 bucks, however, there are plenty of online retailers and discontinued colors to choose from, so you should find this baselayer at $60-$70 dollar range. After all, I don’t think that discontinued colors have much of an impact on technical quality and as far as I am aware, last year’s silver ions should perform just as good as the ones used in 2008/2009 Rho LT models.

Here is a quiet interesting trailer produced by “Field Productions” and featuring PK Hunter, a Norwegian skier sponsored by K2. Pay specific attention at 1.33 min. of the trailer – there is an awesome jump!

Tags: Field Productions, Get Lucky trailer, K2, PK Hunter