Planning a trip

[AileenL]

hi there, i am tickled pink at the idea of "skiing across vermont." i am planning on purchasing the catamount trail guidebook and i know i won't be able to do the whole thing in a week. but i had a few general questions:
1. Is the 2nd week of January a good time to ski on the trail?
2. Which section(s) do you think are good for beginners and quite scenic and enjoyable?
3. Is there a way to ski parts of the trail without blowing my budget?
4. Is there a transportation service available for people who start at one point and end at another?

Thanks so much! Aileen

[Paul D]

Aileen,

The CTA is 300 miles long, so it is best to plan to ski it in chunks. There are group trips almost every almost every weekend starting in January.

If you want to ski earlier than that, post something on the forum. The snow if pretty good in most of the state right now, so as long as the weather last, the time is right to ski.

Paul D

[Lynn Fisher]

Hi Aileen: Just to add to Paul's good advice.

Last year, the 2nd week in January would not have had good skiing, but it really should have! However, February is the more reliable month for state-wide snow. That said, I'm planning to lead an advanced tour on January 12 this year and am getting warmed up already.

In general there's no good way to arrange transportation from one end of a segment to another. If you're doing this yourself, the best thing to do is to join in one of the tours posted on the Events calendar and take advantage of the car drops. If you're planning on a full week, perhaps you can ski the trail twice - ski half way in a section, then back to the car. I think Paul did several sections this way. It takes twice as long, but hey that's twice the fun.

As for "scenic and enjoyable" I don't think you can go wrong - the trail is beautiful; I don't think there's a part that I would recommend skipping except for perhaps the road walk to cross the Winooski River and Route 2. Some snowmobiled sections are unpleasantly busy on weekends, but that's the exception. The guidebook will give you a good overview of each section so you'll know what to expect.

I still recommend joining a group tour especially if you're a new skier or unfamiliar with the area. The events schedule is posted in the "News" section of these forums and should be linked to the home page soon.
Have fun skiing! Lynn

[AileenL]

Paul, Lynn
Thanks so much for the great advice. I'll keep my fingers crossed for snow in early January. I tried looking at the various events on the calendar (didn't see any) but I did find a PDF of winter 2007-2008 guided ski tours. My plan is to find something to ski out to (stay there) and ski back. Thanks again!
Aileen

[Paul Hansen]

Hi Aileen, here's a link to where you can download the events calendar PDF. It isn't in the online calendar yet.

Winter Events 2008 - Free guided ski tours along the Catamount Trail

Paul