Pushing snow with the Snowcat blade at Woodstock Nordic Center
The 2023 cross country (XC) ski season in New England was almost nonexistent in New England for XC skiers through late February, but the season was saved for skiers in the Woodstock, VT area by the dedicated “snow farmers” at Woodstock Nordic Center in eastern Vermont. The ski area has 45 kilometers of skiing behind the Woodstock Inn and across town on another trail network in the Marsh Billings Rockefeller National Park. Nick Mahood, the Nordic Ski Director at the area commented, “We had snow on December 18 and not again until January 21 and we maintained a ribbon of trails the entire period by pushing snow starting two days after the first snowfall.” There was also an extended snow drought, above freezing temperatures, and rainstorms during the period until a February 23rd snowfall.
Despite the snow scarcity, there was cross country skiing on four trail loops totaling about two miles of pushed snow from the golf course fairways and snow banks. “We kept our trail groomers (Justin Quinn and Andrew Arnold) busy and the other staff at the center were able to keep working.” Two miles may not seem like much mileage, but while Woodstock Nordic had skiing, there were plenty of New England cross country ski areas that were forced to close down during the same time period.
Ribbon of a trail with snow taken from the sides to withstand warm temperatures and low snow accumulation
The groomers have not been required to work additional hours to perform their snow farming responsibilities as they’ve become very proficient at relocating snow. They borrow snow from cache sites such as snow drift areas and piles of snow created from sliding down off of roof tops of some buildings at the resort. Mahood stated “We’ve moved away from shoveling snow and hauling it by hand to cover bare spots. The groomers use the snowcat blade to leave a layer of snow on the ground and they’ve been able to avoid scouring into the grass and dirt below. The Woodstock Nordic Center Mt. Peg trails include terrain on the resort golf course so not harming the land is very important. “We also use a skid steer to harvest snow from snowbanks after the plow guys leave some piles of clean snow which does not have dirt or sand for us from the parking lot.”
Typical snow farming techniques for cross country ski area operators include relocating snow and using implements such as rollers and compactors to solidify snow on the trails. Power tillers can break up ice that develops in high use areas or sections of the trails that are susceptible to thawing and freezing. Track moulds are pulled behind the snowcat or snowmobile to create ski tracks for classical cross country skiers, and for skate skiers they prepare a wide lane that is a packed flat corduroy platform.
Gliding at Woodstock Nordic Center
Keeping the trails open allowed the Woodstock Nordic Center to provide recreational opportunities for inn guests and season passholders and also maintain local ski team training programs. The center was also able to continue to offer rental equipment and ski lessons as well as run a retail operation and offer restaurant service during the “bad” weather period. By late February the weather pattern changed and the snowstorms began to hit the region.
The Woodstock Nordic Ski Center offers trails at the Mt. Peg and Mt. Tom areas and the Woodstock Inn & Resort facilities include the a 10,000 square-foot Spa, the Resort's Saskadena Six alpine ski area, the Resort's Golf Club, and a 41,000 square foot Racquet & Fitness Club.
The Woodstock Inn & Resort is a 142-room, AAA Four Diamond Resort and a member of Preferred Hotels & Resorts. The village of Woodstock is located in Vermont's Green Mountains and it is a visitor destination with antique shops, art galleries, boutiques, restaurants, and specialty food markets in the downtown area.